Tim's Biocube 29 Low Light / Low Tech Planted

[TLTGF]

Howdy,

It's been a long time since I've been here posting builds or anything else for that matter.

Some of you may recognize my previous builds as Tim's 54 Gallon Reef, Tim's Biocube 29 Angler Tank, and Tim's MOWLR Build (Peacock Mantis).

Well if you followed my Angler build you know that my poor tank got nuked by some unknown toxin and wiped out the fish. I transferred and sold the coral to the LFS, and the tank went to the basement.

I decided a couple months ago that I wanted to get back into a build and try out a planted tank, with just a few small fish for movement.


So... I've started lurking the forums again and reading all I could process, since I never did freshwater, and jumped right into Salt. I've gotten a lot of good (sometimes conflicting) info, as always, but I think I've gotten enough good stuff to make it work. I'm going to be posting my journey, my ideas, and set-up, and I'd love for you guys to keep my going with criticisms as well as positive reinforcement.

I'm currently in week three of my build, so I'm starting a bit late. Here's what's happened so far:

I brought the Biocube up for a major deep cleaning with vinegar and water. I ran the system for a week to dissolve all the salt residue and coraline algae.

I then gave it a good bath to remove all of the crap in the back filtration area of the tank.

Once that was done and the tanks was rinsed and dried, I ran it again with the tap water just to purge the system of anything and emptied yet again.

Last week I purchased three bags of Seachem Flourite to get a good 3" of substrate, along with a nice piece of driftwood and a medium/ large rock.

I ran the system for a week testing the water as I went. The only additive was Seachem Prime.

My test results were stable from the beginning at:
AMMO: 0
Nitrite: 0
Nitrate: 0
Temp: 78
pH: 7.0
GH - 6

I knew that the cycle hadn't started yet, but I read that I could plant immediately. So after running for a week, and doing one 80% PWC to clear up some of the fogginess from the Flourite I went to the LFS for a final signoff and purchased some plants.

I added the following plants:
Bacopa caroliniana
Anubias Nana (x2)
Microsorum pteropus var windelov (Windelov Java Fern)
Microsorum pteropus (Java Fern)
Cryptocoryne wendtii
Nymphoides aquatica (Banana Plant)
Vallisneria
Sagittaria subulata (Dwarf sag)

I tried to put them in last night in basically where I though they will stay, but I want to add some more plants asap, so they may be relocated today.

I dosed Seachem Flourish and Excel this morning.

My plan is to start adding some type of ammo source to kick-off the cycle and monitor for 2-? weeks it takes to build up enough to add some fish.

I'm planning to add the following fish:
(8-10) Paracheirodon axelrodi (Cardinal Tetras)
(3) Puntius sachsii (Gold barbs)
(2-3) Otocinclus sp. (Oto Cats)

Please let me know what you guys think about my current state, and my future planning.

I'm up for any and all feedback because it all helps!

[TLTGF]

Two things:

1) I can't upload any pictures, and it appears this is an ongoing issue since last month...
2) I forgot to mention that my lighting is the Rapid LED retrofit. I'm only using the 12 "cool white" LED's and not the 12 "Royal Blue", the "Cool white" LED's are approximately at the 6000 spectrum.

[ImACoolguy]

Welcome back!

You can try an image hosting site like photobucket or imgur and see if you have better success with pictures.


Caleb

[TheresaM]

Sounds nice, I never had luck with those banana plants

Are gold barbs ok in small groups like that? I know cherries are, thought other needed to be in larger schools.

[TLTGF]

Theresa, thanks for the quick feedback. I hope my banana survives only because it looks so silly.

As for the barbs, you are right, I overlooked it, but liveaquaria recommends groups of 6 or more...

With the stocking calculator increasing to 6 barbs with 2 oto's and 10 tetras puts me at 98% stocked. Id rather keep it at a lower stock level, so I'll keep on trucking to find a fish that I can keep a couple rather than 6!

The goal of this tank is purely to have a tranquil addition to the room with the Plants being the stars. I'm just looking for pops of color and movement from the fish.

Any suggestions that might have the same yellow / orange coloring that isn't a school-er?

Thanks again!

[TheresaM]

You could probably do a pair or trio of A. australe, although they might be a bit too red in terms of what you're looking for. Male guppies or platies maybe?

[TLTGF]

Right on.

I've been checking since my last post on just about everything I could find.
I didn't see the Australe specifically, but other killi's needed cooler water and my cube is a constant 78 with no heater.

The guppies and platys both recommend higher GH levels than the Oto's and Tetras and my current water is lower than recommended for them.

I may just bite the bullet with the gold barb school, and make sure I keep up on PWC's.

That said, those will be the last fish I add, so three or so weeks to cycle, tetras come first, 2 -3 weeks later, I'll add the Oto's, and 2-3 weeks later I'll decide on barbs, or others...

So... I've got time on my side!