# Quarter gallon No tech Cubes



## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

I set this vase up about a month ago when I had some extra DHG. The vase is from Ikea and it's about .25 gallons. There are a few tiny pink ramshorns and some MTS in there at the moment.

I decided to take a few pictures while I was doing a small water change tonight. 
here it is empty:






I'm really surprised by the growth in this tank given that it doesn't have a light fixture and I don't dose any ferts.





I decided to use filter carbon as the substrate because I had it as a temporary substrate a few years back and the HC I had in it seemed to do really well even without ferts or high light. I decided to see if it was the carbon that helped. So far the DHG has grown great and I haven't had a spot of algae! I'm thinking of setting up another 1 or 2 of these, but I'm not sure what plants I want to use--maybe HC. Any suggestions?


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## Supercracker (Jun 5, 2015)

This is a really cool idea, makes me want to do one now! You could try some four leaf clover but they may grow too tall, I've got a 1.5g cube and my clover is probably over a foot tall.


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

*Nice cube!*

That looks so cool with the DHG and wood, amazing how something simple looks really good. 
Here's my exact same vase, however, it's just used as a somewhat grow-out spot. I don't know what that stem plant is, unidentified pet store special. 

Java moss growing out, also Java Fern.

Happened to have four baby ramshorns hitchhike in, they're maybe an eighth of an inch long. I put a bladder snail in, now there's babies 

I mostly just leave it alone, one minor water change in the past month, but plenty of top-ups. It's not pretty but it makes me smile.


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## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

Thanks guys! It's a fun little tank and really easy to maintain. Mostly just top offs. I like the idea of the clover, but I'm worried it would get too tall :icon_conf
I'm thinking of doing one with either HC or UG and some anubias petit as the center piece. I got excited and picked up 3 more vases at Ross today for like $3-4 a piece. So there're lots of opportunities to try things out! Maybe I'll do one with some glosso too 

Daisy Mae, I like yours! It's a good idea as a grow out tank. Is that an IKEA light behind it? I think I have the same one haha


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## FishFan13 (Jan 15, 2015)

This post made me think of my DHG project.


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## Supercracker (Jun 5, 2015)

holoublahee said:


> Thanks guys! It's a fun little tank and really easy to maintain. Mostly just top offs. I like the idea of the clover, but I'm worried it would get too tall :icon_conf
> I'm thinking of doing one with either HC or UG and some anubias petit as the center piece. I got excited and picked up 3 more vases at Ross today for like $3-4 a piece. So there're lots of opportunities to try things out! Maybe I'll do one with some glosso too
> 
> Daisy Mae, I like yours! It's a good idea as a grow out tank. Is that an IKEA light behind it? I think I have the same one haha


I just measured my tallest clover and it's 15 inches tall, but I also have done no trimming on that tank ever. I'm sure that if you kept trimming it after a while the plant would learn to not grow so tall.


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

holoublahee said:


> Thanks guys! It's a fun little tank and really easy to maintain. Mostly just top offs. I like the idea of the clover, but I'm worried it would get too tall :icon_conf
> I'm thinking of doing one with either HC or UG and some anubias petit as the center piece. I got excited and picked up 3 more vases at Ross today for like $3-4 a piece. So there're lots of opportunities to try things out! Maybe I'll do one with some glosso too
> 
> Daisy Mae, I like yours! It's a good idea as a grow out tank. Is that an IKEA light behind it? I think I have the same one haha


Yes to anubias petit! Great idea! I was at Winners checking out cylinder vases yesterday, lol. Planning on a fine gravel capped dirted nano. Probably will be using trimmings from whatever I have and no tech. Sun tunnel in the bathroom where it will likely be placed. It's fun doing these little vases. 

And yes, it's an Ikea Jansjo LED. They're super handy, I have two clip lamps and two desk lamps. the other desk lamp is being used to light up the girl child's snail tank. 

Thanks much for the compliment.


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## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

FishFan, that's a really cool light bulb! I really like that idea. 

Supercracker that's a tall clover! Do you think I would be able to get the clover to stay just above the surface of the substrate?

Daisy Mae that sounds like a really cool vase! please share if you set it up.


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## MoreyFan (Jul 3, 2014)

Incredible the water stays clear without film on the surface. Beautiful.


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## Supercracker (Jun 5, 2015)

To be honest I have no idea if you would be able to, somebody else who maybe has more experiene with that plant might be able to tell you. The cube I have is my first time growing it and like I said I haven't trimmed it ever.


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## Supercracker (Jun 5, 2015)

So I was at the store today and happened across this little cylinder vase, had to pick it up and steal your idea (sorry, not sorry :tongue. I used dirt capped with blasting sand, DHG and in the back there's a piece of Ludwigia that I accidentally broke while cleaning the other cube.


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Supercracker said:


> So I was at the store today and happened across this little cylinder vase, had to pick it up and steal your idea (sorry, not sorry :tongue. I used dirt capped with blasting sand, DHG and in the back there's a piece of Ludwigia that I accidentally broke while cleaning the other cube.


Perfect! Now it just needs to grow in. These little guys are fun and addictive, great for using those bits and pieces from other tanks.


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## Supercracker (Jun 5, 2015)

Daisy Mae said:


> Perfect! Now it just needs to grow in. These little guys are fun and addictive, great for using those bits and pieces from other tanks.


I know I can't wait for it to start growing in, the DHG was taken out of my 10g and I'm hoping that it will survive. My fiance keeps telling me no more tanks, well I found a way around that, this isn't a tank it's a flower pot! lol


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Supercracker said:


> this isn't a tank it's a flower pot! lol


I'm gonna use this line!

Sorry, holoublahee, I think that's a bit of a hijack. However, since I'm subd to this thread, I am hoping that you show us your next lovely vase once you do it up. I really want to see that anubias petit centerpiece.


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## Supercracker (Jun 5, 2015)

Yeah, I may have accidentally hijacked this thread, sorry.


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## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

Hahah no worries! I like seeing what you have set up--I'm excited to see how that vase grows in, it looks pretty cool.
I'm in the process of ordering a few plants, so it'll hopefully be up next week! I wasn't able to find and HC though 
I think I'm going for some UG in one, maybe glosso in the other, but I would much rather use HC because the leaves are so much smaller and it would look so nice!


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

I'm not brave enough to try HC, too much work for me. I like the effect of the small leaves though, how it can make the tank look bigger.


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## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

Yeah that's the effect I was hoping to achieve! I don't think it would be that much work in a set up this small. I feel if I need to, dosing excel or even adding a small DIY co2 wouldn't be too much trouble in .25 gallons. 
I really want to set up one of the vases to see how the HC does, but I don't want to deal with emersed. I also I don't need a portion the size that most people are selling and I don't want to waste the extra! Maybe someone has some trimmings to donate? That would be pretty sweet


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

holoublahee said:


> Maybe someone has some trimmings to donate? That would be pretty sweet


Sweet indeed. You live in a place with reasonable shipping for small packages, and lots of USA forum members who RAOK trimmings, so it's very possible!


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## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

Update time!
I set up 3 more cubes last week after I got a bunch of plants in. I wanted to wait to update once I got settle at school. Two of the three new cubes are doing well, but the UG in the third is melting! I put it in the window where it gets more light, and started dosing excel. Hopefully that helps. 

Here's the original cube. One of my betta fry hitched its way to Ohio in the filter of one of the tanks. I have absolutely no idea how it got in there or survived the trip--there was no water in the tank. I put it in this cube to raise it up!




This cube just has some hydrocotyl 'japan'




And the final cube is a few anubias petite (decided to scrap the centerpiece idea when I couldn't get my hands on HC) and some moss that I can't remember.



Hopefully the UG bounces back with the added sunlight!

Bump: Oh! I almost forgot. To avoid surface film from forming, I do top offs using a spray bottle. It disrupts any film and doesn't move anything else around.


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## Daisy Mae (Jun 21, 2015)

Is that a rock (looks like a half dragon egg) with the anubias nana petite???


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## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

No! Thats actually a pine cone that was on a beach long enough that it totally smoothed out--they feel really cool when they are dry. I think it's beautiful! It's either from Maine or Portland.
I got it from a very kind woman who lives in town and has a massive driftwood collection. She also gave me the wood for one of my other tanks (the 6.25 arc)


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## Bartohog (Dec 31, 2011)

Very impressive work, lots of engenuity displayed.


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## holoublahee (Jan 1, 2013)

Thank you! and thanks again for the plants  I'm very excited for these to grow in a bit more.


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## Smells Fishy (May 7, 2015)

Been trying to do something like this for ages, but its hard!


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