# MedRed "Cubed" - 30 Gallon Journal (R.I.P 01/2010)



## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

I bought this Oceanic 30 Gallon Cube last weekend. I have everything i need for it except for the plants and the wood (although I might get some big pieces of stone.) I set it up the same day with 3 bags of eco complete. This was my first time using eco complete. I will never use anything else again (pending plant growth). I hate, hate, hate washing AS and Flourite. I dumped the eco complete in the tank and filled with water. i had ZERO cloudiness within an hour. The below pictures are a little cloudy as I'd just pushed the gravel around and buried the rocks in it so see how tall they are. I have a very specific vision for this tank... I can't begin setting it up until I get the branchy wood I ordered (coming from the UK).

I'll be updating pics as new stuff comes in.

Oceanic Cube and stand (black)
5lbs CO2 Canister with Red Sea CO2 system
Eco Complete Substrate
Coralife 1x96 watt Aqualight
Marineland C220 Canister (modified intake and soon to try a RENA spray bar)
Black Jasper Rock (quartz based so completely inert)

PS... I suck at photography. The rock is not in any final configuration. I thought I'd see what it looked like under the water. 





























I originally wanted this tank but i thought it was too small. I bought a 40 gallon stretch hex 3-4 weeks prior. After setting up the 40... i still lusted after the 30... Here are some pics of the completed Hex. It's more of a general planted tank. I have special plans for the Cube :icon_twis




























The fish in the net is an apistogramma panduro male that was waiting for his breeding tank to be set up. I have no idea why i took the last two pictures but thought I'd include them.


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## filipem (May 1, 2008)

looks good :thumbsup:


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

filipem said:


> looks good :thumbsup:


thanks... i can't wait to to get it rolling. This tank will be home to freshwater pipefish.


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## Ozymandias (Jan 17, 2008)

really like the 30 cube. how did you mod the intake of the c-220 and when you try out the rena praybar could you tell use how it works (i have the c-220 and like it just with it came with a spraybar)

also the 40 looks good


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Ozymandias said:


> really like the 30 cube. how did you mod the intake of the c-220 and when you try out the rena praybar could you tell use how it works (i have the c-220 and like it just with it came with a spraybar)
> 
> also the 40 looks good


thanks! 

The c220 doesn't come with an intake extension... and marineland doesn't make one for it... aack!!!!!. I poked around at the LFS and found an extension that works for it. I still need to cut some length off of it. 

I also unboxed a rena and matched up the hosing to some 5/8" tubing at the LFS. It seems to be a perfect match. My concern is that visually, the Rena tubing I have looks wider than either my magnum or my c220. I guess I could measure the circumference with a paper tape measure. I ordered the spray bar assemblies anyway... My LFS is anxiously awaiting the outcome as they've been asked a few times about a spraybar for marineland products.


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## Ozymandias (Jan 17, 2008)

good to know, (i was acually suprised that marineland does not make spraybars for there filter, especially the c series)


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## jasa73 (Jun 3, 2007)

looks great! I have the exact aquarium sitting empty for some time. I've been tempted to get it set up again and start planting it as well. <sigh> There goes more money! Must...resist....


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

ok... bought a couple more new rocks... I won't use all of them by any means... but I wanted enough variety to choose from. 










The wood for the tank shipped today! This is the piece I decided to go with. 










Not sure If I will cover the branches with Flame, Fissidens, or willow moss yet. 

I'm a little worried that I may not have enough light for glosso. I have a 96 watt PC over the tank. I've never had such a low wpg in a tank that i've attempted glosso in. I may end up selling the light (and i had to order the stupid thing). I may end up with metal halide. I keep the light off all the time so I don't have to battle algae before I even get it off the ground. There are endlers in the tank at the moment. I think I'm going to stock this tank with freshwater pipefish, coral red pencils, Taeniacara candidi, Gold Aphyosemion australe, and maybe some freshwater gobies and/or dwarf crays (just found out about the dwarf crays today!).


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## newlyearthbound (May 26, 2008)

willow moss 100%. loooove the look of willows.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

what about weeping moss...?


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## CobraGuppy (Sep 23, 2007)

Can't wait to see the final hardscape. Beautiful piece of driftwood!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Thanks Cobra. I will unfortunately have to center the wood... because of its dimensions. My goal is to make the sides of the tank just as viewable as the front. we'll see how this all pans out. I know it's been beat to death about glosso and light requirements... but 3 wpg makes me nervous.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> what about weeping moss...?


That is a possibility as well.


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## ikuzo (Jul 11, 2006)

don't worry 3 wpg i enough. the wood is very nice.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

ok... just bought another 96 watt coralife PC. I have some plants that have come in (thanks to those who provide the mosses). I'm just waiting on the wood so I can get started! I might hook up the CO2 tonight just to have it done.


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## fish underwear (Mar 1, 2006)

MedRed said:


> ok... just bought another 96 watt coralife PC.


So you have 2 coralife 96 watts on there for a total of 192 watts over 30 gals? This can't be right or is it?

I have this exact same tank sitting in my garage for the past 2 years. I have been thinking about putting it back up so I have been trolling. I'm looking forward to watching your build progress.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> what about weeping moss...?





fish underwear said:


> So you have 2 coralife 96 watts on there for a total of 192 watts over 30 gals? This can't be right or is it?
> 
> I have this exact same tank sitting in my garage for the past 2 years. I have been thinking about putting it back up so I have been trolling. I'm looking forward to watching your build progress.



Yes. I will cycle one for a burst period. I wasn't happy with 3 watts per gallon for glosso. Never tried it before. Come on wood!!!!!!!!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Keep in mind I want the glosso to wrap around the back of the tank as well... maybe a crescent moon shape. I took some pics of the light dispersion using the different lights. I need to get legs for the new light strip.

Back Light on









Front Light on









Both on


















Check foreground and background to see the difference.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Still waiting on the flipping wood! I had to make a move and pick up the neon rasboras (blue form) today as they were dwindling quickly. I still need 10 or so more of these guys but my lfs can't seem to get anymore in! grrrrrrrr. I'll snap some pics of them tomorrow as they are all sleeping soundly.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

still waiting on the wood! arghhhhhhh! Just added 21 of these little buggers today... sundadanio axelrodi blue form. These guys aren't full color yet... but they are really cool looking to me. I can't do anything with aquascaping or planting until the wood comes. I have plants and moss sitting around and floating in baggies all over the tank.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

well, when the wood does come, it will look cool!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

It's killing me!!!!! i have this plain tank with rocks in it. I already have all the mosses i will need, all the glosso, and two other plants i want to incorporate, I really didn't want to add any fish until it was decorated. The tank is completely cycled and ready to go. I still need to hook up the co2. It's going to break my heart to cut any of the wood though.


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## jinx© (Oct 17, 2007)

Nice start and I will be watching for progress reports myself.

I was given the exact tank awhile back and currently working on a stand for it.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Just added orange and chocolate australes! still no wood :-( :grumpy:


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## fishboy87 (Feb 19, 2008)

If your worried about glosso working out in 3wpg. Don't be. It works just fine in one of my tanks at 2.5wpg and no co2 so 3wpg+ with co2 should not be a problem. By fine in my tank is 5" of runners a week for one individual plant. So no worries. One more thing. Tell me how that co2 works for you as i plan on using the same system for my 29.


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

The fish you got looks like Cardinal Tetras, but they look so much cooler than Cardinals!


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

This tank is going to be wicked, I can tell  The wood is just fantastic looking, hope it comes soon! And the fish are just the neatest!

Where did you get the wood from?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

fishboy87 said:


> If your worried about glosso working out in 3wpg. Don't be. It works just fine in one of my tanks at 2.5wpg and no co2 so 3wpg+ with co2 should not be a problem. By fine in my tank is 5" of runners a week for one individual plant. So no worries. One more thing. Tell me how that co2 works for you as i plan on using the same system for my 29.


i ended up getting another 96 watt light. I will run the 10,000k all day and the 6700k for a noon burst. I don't like the 6700k's so much as they are too yellow/green for me. I ended up exchanging the red sea for another Milwaukee. I never opened the package or anything... but it looked too messy with the amount of plumbing going here and there. I also thought the reactor was too big and conspicuous for the size of the tank. It also didn't come with a solenoid. 



Chrisinator said:


> The fish you got looks like Cardinal Tetras, but they look so much cooler than Cardinals!


They are super sweet. I was going to put them into the 40 gallon instead of the cardinals but i was afraid that they wouldn't school tightly enough. In their tank at the LFS they were all over the place. In the end... their rarity got the best of me and I had to get them before they were gone. They do school quite nicely. So I was worried for nothing. These are the blue form. I was also able to pick up the red form for another tank as well. They are not as colorful yet as they are really young. I'll post that tank up soon as it just went through a recent rescape. 



stargate_geek said:


> This tank is going to be wicked, I can tell  The wood is just fantastic looking, hope it comes soon! And the fish are just the neatest!
> 
> Where did you get the wood from?


I got the wood from here 
http://www.thegreenmachineaquatics....+Root+Wood/cat_name=Redmoor+Individual+Pieces

They have been awesome to work with. We both had a learning experience as they weren't aware that the regular method of shipping did not have a tracking# included. Shipping is expensive so they assumed tracking would be included (Royal Mail gave a tracking number but it doesn't work for international orders). They will automatically upgrade the shipping from now on. I'm patiently (kinda) waiting for the wood. It was supposed to take 5-8 days and it's been a little over a 2 weeks. If It doesn't get here this week, I will be out of town all next week. If it's not here in 30 days I have to make a claim with royal mail.

Oh... as promised... Pictures of the Chocolate and Orange Australes. They are a beautiful fish. I have 3 pairs of each. Pardon the algae. I will clean it before the aquascape begins.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

The good news is... the wood arrived today.

The bad news is... USPS did not attempt to buzz my condo like they normally would. So I have to wait until monday to pick up the package. I'm anxious to check and see if there is any shipping damage since some of the branches are so thin.

To further complicate things... I'm flying out of town on Monday morning. I will have to stop by the post office en route to the airport. The wood will then sit in my car until I get back on Friday. 

The best laid plans of mice and men often go awry.


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## Chrisinator (Jun 5, 2008)

Great to hear about your wood came!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

wow, i really like the fish. 

hope your wood ends up ok.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Chrisinator said:


> Great to hear about your wood came!


Me too!








@[email protected] said:


> wow, i really like the fish.
> 
> hope your wood ends up ok.


Thank you. I will end up netting everyone out so I can decorate. I still have some cool fish to add. I may do some of those orange dwarf crays as well.


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Yeah, the wood came! To bad about the pick up thing! Have fun on your trip though.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

picked up the wood on the way to the airport today. Looks great! can't wait to get started on the tank this weekend.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

The wood is in... most of the fish are in... I can't take a pic yet as I have a lot of plants floating around. I need more plants!!!!!!!!!!

The wood was an exercise in patience. I watched 1 episode of family guy and 6 episodes of reno 911 while preparing the wood (roughly 3 hours). I had my green string, super glue, misting bottle, scissors, fissidens, anubias nana petite, and flame moss ready. 

I was wanting to try out a method i'd come up with and it worked flawlessly. I started with tying the string around the branch and making a knot as close to the trunk on the branch i was working on. I then secured the loop with a dab of super glue. Next I added segments of flame moss on top of the wood while i wrapped the string around the branches. When I got to the last 1" or so... i switched to fissidens. I then finished wrapping around the wood. Holding the string in place I added a drop of super glue to the underside of the last few loops. Cut of the extra string... and I had a nice cleanly wrapped branch! I had to constantly mist the branches to keep the moss from drying out. After I was done with the moss... I super glued A. nana petite where the branches meet the trunk. 

I did start to run out of flame moss on the last two branches. those branches will be get another layer of tying once the moss grows up some. 

Today will be separating stems of glosso for planting as well as wrapping rocks in subwassertang. The scape isn't all that pretty yet. I have zones I've left open for certain plants... and some of the areas don't have enough of the plants I need to be filled in properly. 

Some of my plants look ratty as they have been floating around in the tank for well over a month now. Everything should fill in nicely though. 


I'm exhausted! And this was all after I decided at 1:00 am on Friday to perform all of the maintenance on most of my other tanks so I could free up my Saturday. Note to everyone... never extract water from a tank of sleeping fishes. Across all the tanks, I ended up sucking up 1 ember tetra, 1 female threadfin, 1 clown killie, 3 rasbora briggitae, and 1 blue borelli. Luckily there were no injuries or deaths. It's rare for me to suck up a fish... and I sucked up a lot in one night! The blue borelli was scary as I drain that tank directly into the toliet. I luckily had a bucket in the bathroom and made it just in time to splash him in the bucket. 

I've added 3 pairs of Coral red pencils, and 4 pairs of Taenicara candidi as of yesterday. I also have 30 amanos, and 10 otos as well.


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## prototyp3 (Dec 5, 2007)

Good to hear the wood arrived and in an undamaged state. Did it sink, or did you have to hold it down with the rocks?

Can't wait to see!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Me too! It wants to float. I actually left some of the branches long so that it will hold itself down by the tension against the glass. It's actively discharging bubbles. 


i really needed to do the glosso today but i'm exhausted! i'll be peeling superglue off of my fingers for the next two days.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

good luck with that. every time i got superglue on me, i could not get it off. i had to just wait for a few weeks until it disintegrated (or rather, my skin under it disintegrated).


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Just planted my glosso today... stem by stem... talk about tedious. Tweezers are awesome for planting glosso btw. Thanks again bigstick! I also planted some downoi. It is very stemmy so i laid it on its side and planted it horizontally. the tanks looks like a hot mess. The wood looks messy with the moss at this point. It will look nice once the flame moss takes hold. I'm really excited with how this is turning out. My school of axelrodi blue form looks amazing. They school super tight and wander all over the tank. picked up a nice school of black darter tetras today as well. They don't quite look like this yet...









but i have a few males getting a nice dorsal. I also realized i hate the 6700K light. i bought a 10000k just to try it out. the 6700k is wayyyy too yellow and ruins the color of the axelrodi. The 10000k looks amazing... but doesn't look as bright. More plants coming soon... and pics soon as well.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

*The Ugly Duckling*

Ok... so most of the plants are in. I definitely will need some grow in time. The moss on the wood looks messy messy and the pics only make it look worse. I've had a lot of junk floating around that's trapped itself in the moss I will be picking this out with tweezers this weekend. It's flame moss so it should look pretty neat once it makes it move towards the sun. 

I am awful with a camera so i'm unable to capture the depth of the wood. it actually is touching the front of the tank. Here you go!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

all that flame moss will look awesome!


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## fishbguy1 (Feb 29, 2008)

whoa...sweet!

YESTERDAY...I unpacked this EXACT tank at my work...lmao...I fell in love immediatly, and I will get that tank one day...haha


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

The flame moss is already starting to grow upwards... Now I just have to count the days until the ratty look goes away... lol. 

After all the time i spent to cut the individual runners on the glosso... i think I may switch to UG. I totally dig that look... And this tank has the unobstructed floor for it.


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

UG looks awesome, and although you've put in all the work on the glosso, I vote for the change 

Looking awesome


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

arggggggg! The glosso is already settling in super nice. It's really perky, making new leaves, and zero melting. If I order the UG from Aquaspot world It won't ship until July 21st as they are not shipping until then. The glosso will have spread a lot by that time. I may not want to pull it up. I could pull it up now and just have a bare floor. UGHHHHHHH. I don't know why i didn't do UG right off the bat. I try not to duplicate ground covers in my tanks and I already have glosso in a couple of tanks and none with UG. Anyone know where else I can find UG?


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## kittytango (May 7, 2008)

It looks really good! I love the drift wood! When it is growing well it will be Really awsome, can't wait for a update!!!


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Let it grow in, then sell it all to someone in SnS and use that money to buy UG


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

kittytango said:


> It looks really good! I love the drift wood! When it is growing well it will be Really awsome, can't wait for a update!!!


Thank you. This will definitely need time to grow in to be presentable.



stargate_geek said:


> Let it grow in, then sell it all to someone in SnS and use that money to buy UG


If I let it grow in i'm not going to want to change it... lol. I wish Aquaspot World wasn't closed for the next two weeks.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

The flame shouldnt take too long  It is one of the fastest, if not the fastest growing moss I have.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

so... today i did the unthinkable... I pulled up all the glosso. I wasn't going to have the balls heart to do it if i let it go any longer. It was growing so well... another week and i'd have been looking at runners. Pulling it up was  a kick in the balls heartbreaking as well. The roots had developed a lot in the short week. *sigh. I'd been eyeing some dying UG that was left over from an ADA order at my LFS. I bought it today and planted the remnants. What was there was very thin. I'll be super lucky if any of it makes it. I'm hoping that it will do something between now and the 2 weeks until I can order some from Aquaspot World. I would decide to order something right when they were not shipping for two weeks. *Sigh. so... We'll see how this goes... Counting down the days until I can have an awesome carpet of UG.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

If it makes you feel better, the UG that came in originally looked awful, I would even say it has improved since arrival. (Unless you were forced to take the very last portion, that did look bad...)

At any rate, the UG I bought looked really bad, but it is growing really well in my tank now. I thought it was going to die for about 3 weeks, and it kept getting uprooted, but it is now filling in nicely, despite being attacked by BBA:icon_roll 

Good for you giving up on the glosso, it will be much better for your sanity in the long run.

I'm looking forward to seeing this fill in, it has a lot of potential!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

really minsc? i didn't pay attention to it then. I did take the very last portion. There were just a few hairs sticking out...lol. I'm hoping that this will start to catch by the time I can introduce more. This is the best tank I have for a UG carpet as it's so open.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

So today I notice that my CRS had all but disappeared. There were dead shrimp anywhere and no signs of any being eaten. There are only so many places to hide in this tank and none were there. I didn't think they would be hiding since they've been out in the open since day one. The last logical explanation was the filter. I poured the water out into a net and discovered 10 living CRS. WHOOO! I was concerned about it before but it didin't seem like it'd be a problem as I'd seen them walking on the filter intake and it didn't look like they would get sucked in or even walk in. I have fashioned a sponge pre filter. I will need to find a a more permanent/aesthetic solution. Pantyhose will require too much work as it clogs easily. I'm thankful that everything turned out all right. The little stinkers are munching away on the Pelia like nothing happened.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I had a few ppl recommend these to me a few months back and I REALLY like them- I've got them over all my filters now. :thumbsup: 

http://www.petsmart.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2752618


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

thanks laura... that looks a lot better than the white aquaclear sponge i have now... I can probably shave it down quite a bit too.


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## kittytango (May 7, 2008)

Any new pictures yet ???  The wood will be so awsome when it has the moss grown in! I may have missed it, but what are the little plants you have all over the front??


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

I'll take some new pics soon. flame moss is just starting to perk up. The little plants were glosso... i pulled them up the other day in favor of the UG. I just noticed all of my CRS are missing again! I'm going to open the filter now... I was staring at the tank wondering what was going on... Then i saw the gaping holes of the spraybar. I bet they are going in the spray bars holes... Off to find out of this theory holds water... pun intended.


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## kittytango (May 7, 2008)

LOL, I guess your shrimps love to hide! I'll be getting some shrimp, hopefully in the mail today! I put a breeder box to put them in till the tank is Shrimp Safe. did you find them in the spray bar?

What did you do with the Glosso? And what is UG???


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Is the mystery of the shrimp solved?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

kittytango said:


> LOL, I guess your shrimps love to hide! I'll be getting some shrimp, hopefully in the mail today! I put a breeder box to put them in till the tank is Shrimp Safe. did you find them in the spray bar?
> 
> What did you do with the Glosso? And what is UG???


No shrimp in the spray bar

The glosso is sitting in a baggie next to the tank... It's beeen there a couple of days. Not worth doing anything with at this point. UG is a grassy foreground plant that looks like this 





stargate_geek said:


> Is the mystery of the shrimp solved?


NO! I don't know where they are  They could be hiding in the plants or a few other places... but they have been all over since i placed them in the tank. None of the fish bother them and There aren't any dead bodies. I doubt they walked out of the tank but I should look. I have to solve this quickly as I have some CBS coming today. I don't want to throw them in this tank if there is an issue... but i'll never be able to get them out of another tank if I have to dump them somewhere else. I bought the CBS to compliment the CRS dang it!


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

wow. i have never seen that plant before; ive heard of it, but never seen it. its pretty cool - GET IT! it will look awesome in your tank.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

so... i've seen a CRS here and there...maybe they are just hiding out... and apparently I have other concerns with my CBS as they were overnighted yesterday and ended up being stuck on Fedex tarmac in Tennessee. I hope they are ok when they arrive tomorrow.


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Shrimp are pretty tough.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

several of the CRS just showed up right before lights out. Wheww!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Thats a relief  Those shrimp are awesome.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

yeah... they are out and about now that the light is out. weird... they have not had an issue with being social before. Now I will turn my attention to the CBS that should arrive tomorrow. I hope they are all ok.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

This tank has undergone a major rescape. I wasn't happy with how centered the wood was. There isn't much I can do because the wood is too big and I refuse to hack on it. I am replacing the giant hairgrass with cyperus helferi... and i'm in the process of adding the UG (thanks gsmitchell for the start! :thumbsup: ) I've also removed all of the rocks. I'm going to keep the look of this tank very simple. The flame moss is growing upwards but slowly. I'm also going to replace the 2 96 watt PC lights with one 150 watt MH. The two lights get in my way a lot. The addition of the MH will force me to drastically lower my light cycle. 

laura... thanks for the tip on using the zoo med sponge as a prefilter:thumbsup: . It works perfectly! i thought it was going to be too big (I'm stupid because I have handled this sponge many times when cleaning my zoo med). It's way more aesthetic than using a hacked away aquaclear sponge and required no modifications. I took the strainer off of my inlet and slipped it on. No more CRS in the filter.

I'm going out of town for a week so I hope to have some pics by the weekend.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

This tank is slooooooooow to take shape. I'm not quite happy with it and I have to keep moving, tying, redoing stuff. The UG came in today.

This is 15 portions for Aquaspot World. The dark areas one some of the portions are melted pieces. The other side of some of the dark areas are not melted... some are melted all they way through. The travel definitely set the UG back. All of the other plants that came in were in perfect shape. I will need a month or so before I can give Aquaspot UG a recommendation. 










Here's a front shot of the tank... not pretty yet but getting there...









Here's a side shot









And here's my favorite plant in the tank...Eriocaulon setaceum. It seems to like the tank so far... It's weathered a few moves.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

the moss is starting to look awesome  Thats is some incredible pearlinating action you got going there


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

The pearling doesn't take away from my unhappiness with the tank so far. I need the stems to catch up to each other so I can shape them up. The UG will take a long time to fill in. The flame moss and the fissiden tips on the branches will also take awhile to grow in. I gave up on picking out the junk that keeps getting caught up in the flame moss. I need the tank to settle in and me to quit moving stuff to get everything where I want it. 

I ordered some cyprus helferi for the right rear of the tank to augment the few pieces in place that I found at the wet spot. I hope what I've ordered is enough to fill in the back right... that stuff is hard to find!

I'll be adding more Downoi to the lower left.

Friday I upgraded to a Current USA Sunpod with a 150w HQI Metal Halide. It came with a 14,000k that was too blue but made my axelrodi look spectacular. I didn't have the patience to wait the 100 hours for the color shift. Today I picked up a 10,000k Ushio Aqualite. The color is more yellow/white than the blue/white I was expecting. Not perfect but good. Now for the ringer... I'm still running the 96w 10000k power compact at the front of the tank. I'm going to switch it to a 50/50 to cut the light and to bring back those blues i've had a taste of. 

This is a lot of light but I should be able to handle it. The PC will be running as a midday burst. I've been running 192w so far with just a touch of thread algae. The SAE's and amanos have kept it in check. 

I also forgot to detail a mis hap from two weeks ago. I woke up on a saturday and found the tank looking dark. The water looked perfectly clear but appeared dark... as if the glass were lightly tinted. I thought maybe one of the bulbs had blown. Both were on and at what appeared to be full power. I performed a water change the following morning. The water itself was crystal clear, but dark tinted. I couldn't for the life of me figure out what had caused this. The water looked fine the day before. I ended up replacing all of the water in the tank. I then went out of town on Sunday and came back friday.

The water was much darker, but still clear. The darkness was so significant that it took a toll on the plant life in the tank. I remembered that the thursday before I noticed the dark water I'd added a black twist tie from something electronic to tie down something in the tank. I took that out and performed a full change again and the darkness did not come back. I came back this friday to a normal looking tank. Something was leeching out of the twist tie.

A few setbacks thus far but I'm optimistic that within 2 months the tank should be worthy of the MedRed name. The wood was the biggest appeal and my biggest downfall. I'm planning to put together another cube that will be perfect. The Solana from Current USA.


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## Tex Gal (Mar 28, 2008)

I'm liking your tank. I think once the UG takes off and you get the downoi in the back and shape your stems it's gonna look great.

Be careful with your light. My UG is finally taking off, along with my downoi and now I'm fighting long green hair algae. There's always something....


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

Don't sweat it, your tank will look great soon!
UG takes a while, but once it starts to get going, it really accelerates 

If you ever have any spare setaceum, I would love to do a trade. I've picked up a bit of fun stuff lately I think you might enjoy...


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Tex Gal said:


> I'm liking your tank. I think once the UG takes off and you get the downoi in the back and shape your stems it's gonna look great.
> 
> Be careful with your light. My UG is finally taking off, along with my downoi and now I'm fighting long green hair algae. There's always something....


Thanks Tex Gal. How long did it take for your UG to take off? you got your from Aquaspot as well right? I just added nerites to this tank. I need to order some more. Hopefully they stop any hair algae in its tracks



Minsc said:


> Don't sweat it, your tank will look great soon!
> UG takes a while, but once it starts to get going, it really accelerates
> 
> If you ever have any spare setaceum, I would love to do a trade. I've picked up a bit of fun stuff lately I think you might enjoy...


thanks minsc. I'll definitely be up for a trade when the setaceum gets too bushy. I love it. Looks like something right out of dr. seuss.


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## NstyN8 (May 9, 2008)

Be careful
Those SAE are known to eat moss...


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

IME a SAE will only eat moss when there is nothing else. first and foremost they eat fish food, algae wafers, and such; then they eat algae; and finally moss and other soft plants to keep from starving.


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Looks awesome!


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

This tank is looking great!
I'm sure in no time you will be pleased with it.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

NstyN8 said:


> Be careful
> Those SAE are known to eat moss...


They've played nice so far. I have them in other tanks with flame moss, Christmas moss, and Fissidens. That's not to say that these guys won't develop a taste for it. 



stargate_geek said:


> Looks awesome!


Thank you stargate



mizu-chan said:


> This tank is looking great!
> I'm sure in no time you will be pleased with it.


Thank for the words of encouragement mizu


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

This is unrelated in a related sort of way (figure that one out) guess what? I just found the same tank and stand on craigslist for $75!!!!! I'm going to move my tanganyikan tank into this on Saturday. Their old tank will now need some sort of purpose. Iwagami!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

MedRed said:


> This is unrelated in a related sort of way (figure that one out) guess what? I just found the same tank and stand on craigslist for $75!!!!! I'm going to move my tanganyikan tank into this on Saturday. Their old tank will now need some sort of purpose. Iwagami!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!


You know, there good deals start out as good deals, then you sink $1,000 into them


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

lol i know right. I will use the cube as an upgrade for my tanganyikans. The old 20 gallon will then turn into an iwagumi. I already will have filtration for both tanks. I'll need more escargot shells, sand, a light fixture, and slate for the tanganyikan tank. I won't need anything else other than I'm still looking for a plagiostoma (help!). The 20 gallon will need plants, fish, lighting, a bubble counter, a heater, a pump, an airstone, substrate... you know... since i'm freeing up this stand... i wonder if there is an amano rimless tank that will fit on it. LOL... the brain churns. There may be a 20 gallon high with an eclipse hood for sale pretty soon in Portland.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

It's official. Just ordered an ADA 60H. This has become the most expensive $75 i've ever spent!


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Where do you order ADA tanks?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Through my LFS. I'm sure they get them from aqua forest.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Wow, great deal on craigslist


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## mizu-chan (May 13, 2008)

Holy crap. :icon_eek:


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

So... i picked up the new cube... It also came with a nano tank! aack! so yes... I have decided to swap the tanganyikans into this new tank, set up a full blown ada 60H on the stand the tanganyikans were on. This will leave me with an unused 20 gallon tank with filtration and hood. 

Sorry to hijack my own thread... but now back to our regularly scheduled program.

Today is the first day I look in this tank and i'm pleased with what I see. The MH does wonders for the colors of the plants and fish. My plants are pearling like crazy. I can see the bubbles rising up from halfway across the room. 

As for ordering UG from Aquaspot World, I'd skip it. I'm down to maybe a 4th of the UG that was ordered. I may end up being down to a fifth. The clump i received from gsmitchell is growing super well and starting to spread.


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## brohawk (May 19, 2008)

Hey MedRed,

You still have the CRS in the tank w/ the Australes? Do the Australes hassle the shrimp? I have a couple Fp. Gardneris (I know, completely different but a similar appearance) that won't even allow an Amano shrimp to live more than a week! Are your Australes aggressive at all towards their tankmates, or maybe I just have a particularly nasty bugger?

The tank's coming around nicely btw!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Thank you Browhawk! I still have the CRS and I added some RCS. The Australes don't care about the shrimp at all. I have seen them go after a particularly small one, but it was more curiosity than anything. The little shrimp lived to fight another day. I have amanos in the tank as well. The australes don't show any aggression to each other or other fish. That was the main reason I picked them. A lot of killies are nasty.


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## brohawk (May 19, 2008)

Well good for you for doing the research FIRST! I fell for the whole wow, those look cool, I'll take 'em bit. But good to know about the Australes option in the future. Thanks!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

I never owned any killies before the clown killies. I wanted to make sure that I bought killies that were 1) good looking 2) perennial 3) peaceful. You'd almost think those things were mutually exclusive with killies.


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## volatile (Feb 13, 2007)

Hey MedRed,

I didn't know what UG was but I noticed you and other people talking about it in other threads. I googled it and it is said to be a carnivorous plant that eats crustaceans?! Has it been eating your CRS?? Or is it only able to eat little crustaceans like "seed shrimp"?

http://www.tropica.dk/article.asp?id=731&type=news


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

it has little bladder traps that are only big enough to eat plankton sized things.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Update.

This tank is still slow getting it how I like it. Stems are growing in nicely. A lot of the UG died when it was planted. I wouldn't recommend ordering it from ASW. It doesn't like the shipping period. The rest is starting to fill in. I'm thinking it will be a couple of months from this point before everything turns the corner.


















Now



















...and some other pics

blurring across this pic is one of the most well endowed live bearers out there...Girardinus metallicus. I couldn't get the male to sit still for a picture so I included a general picture. These guys love picking at hair algae. They are definitely good algae control.

















Some stray riccia from another tank wedged itself in the flame moss and is growing there. I don't plan to pull it out... the pearling action is too sweet!










small field of downoi









UG finally showing promise!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

That white and black fish is sweet! I thought that its bottom half had gotten gnawed off. Great growth! Flame moss is awesome


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Really starting to shape up!

I don't see any flame moss in that pic, though- those look to me like Fissidens and Xmas moss?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

clwatkins10 said:


> That white and black fish is sweet! I thought that its bottom half had gotten gnawed off. Great growth! Flame moss is awesome


Thanks! They are awesome... very striking appearance. I have 2 trios. I hope to breed them



lauraleellbp said:


> Really starting to shape up!
> 
> I don't see any flame moss in that pic, though- those look to me like Fissidens and Xmas moss?


Thanks Laura. The tips of each branch are done in fissidens. The moss below is flame moss. The upwards growth looks a little wonky right now because i just retied all of the branches again. I think this is my last time to tie down moss in this tank.


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

You get that much pearling with a bubble ladder and glass diffuser? Is it pressurized or DIY? Nice tank!!!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

pretty sure its pressurized, with diy, he'd have an algae farm!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> You get that much pearling with a bubble ladder and glass diffuser? Is it pressurized or DIY? Nice tank!!!



Thank you zoo! Yes clwatkins is correct... I run pressurized with a ph controller. I ditched the ladder... i knew it wasn't optimal but i liked the way it looked... Switched to a rhinox diffuser/mister. It's bubbles are a lot finer than most diffusers. 

If you think the riccia is pearling... check out the link of what this tank does during the day!

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/g...iscussion/71260-150w-hqi-96w-pc-30g-cube.html


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

I haven't updated this tank in a LONG while. It's still a work in progress at this point. I'm currently working on creating a red/purple backdrop. I've pulled out quite a few plants a rearranged others. This pic was taken just before the lights went off tonight. My UG has finally started to spread. I think I'll have a nice full carpet by December. I unfortunately don't have the camera or skills to take good pictures.


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## Ozymandias (Jan 17, 2008)

looking good, and i'm jealous of you're UG btw,


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

lol... thanks oz. I can't get this tank to photograph well. it looks way better in person. I do need to let the recent changes grow in. I should look nice in the coming months.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

When your ready to part out and sell your ug, let me know


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

looks like the aquaspot world plants are regrowing 

how long did it take to regrow?


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

for the price... it wasn't worth it... most of it died... a few sprigs were left to hang on. The best thing was a small healthy patch I received from gsmitchell. I was able to break it up a couple of times and spread it out. I also had a few pieces that were ratty looking from my LFS's amano plant order. It took a good bit of nursing to bring everything back to health. I wonder if a video would be better to actually get a look at the tank.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

A new beginning... after a trim and a new direction


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

Beautiful! Is that UG on the bottom? Mine did not make it. Are there chocolates in here?


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## Black Hills Tj (Jul 19, 2008)

I really like it. I'd like to see some pics of it once the dust/dirt/etc settles from all the changes.


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## @[email protected] (Oct 24, 2007)

looks great. just needs something to the right of the driftwood.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

@[email protected] said:


> looks great. just needs something to the right of the driftwood.


I pulled up a lot of stuff from that area. I'm going to let the UG fill in and the polygonum kawaganeum will fill in the back area. i've been constantly pulling and rearranging stuff in this tank. I have some Cryptocoryne cordata 'Rosanervig' that you can see planted that i'm not sure if it will find a permanent home in this tank. I think this tank is done... now just time to see how it all grows in.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Updated pictures coming soon. 

This tank is DRASTICALLY different. I had a horrible experience with this tank. I bought some pond aquasafe from my lfs that was being clearanced because of old age. I use aqua safe so i figured it was a bargain. Either the aquasafe had gone bad... or someone put something in it. I performed a 50% water change. I came back 30 minutes later and everything was dying. Whatever was in there killed all of the fish, shrimp, and snails. I spent the night netting out dead fish. Then the next day I noticed that all of the plants were melting. I lost ALL of the UG... Even the tough stems and moss melted. The $ value of what was lost in this tank makes my head swirl. There's more to this story but it's 2:30 in the morning and I'm too tired to write everything. 

After breaking down the tank, I bought an industrial size box of baking soda and washed out the tank with a lot of baking soda paste to soak up anything left in the tank. I used a lot of vinegar to neutralize the baking soda and finish cleaning the tank. The tank was rinsed and let dry. The canister filter underwent the same treatment and was fitted with new hosing. 

I will take pics of the tank's new set up tomorrow. I plan on adding back axelrodi blue form to the tank. I'll also add some valiant chocolates. I plan on using pelvicachromis taeniatus bipendi as a showcase fish. I'm not sure what I will use for the surface... maybe net out my espei from the 40 gal.


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## stargate_geek (Mar 31, 2008)

Oh man. That sucks big time! I would call aquasafe and let them know, maybe they can recall or something... and they might give you a refund or something? 

But the seriously sucks! The closest I ever came to that was my mom forgetting to fert a tank and turn on the light while I was was gone for 2 weeks. But that was maybe $30 of plants; not even close to what you lost!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

the tank is a little cloudy from planting more UG. I need to figure out what i want to do for the back left. I need something tall. I'm thinking some E. Setaceum. Biowheel is on the tank for the initial cycling.

















blyxa









downoi


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Well at least the UG and Downoi made itroud:

How's the tank?


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## yikesjason (Jul 2, 2008)

Well, at least it is a nice looking restart.


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## Minsc (Jul 9, 2006)

So this was the tank... that really sucks!
It is looking good again already though!

E. setaceum would look awesome


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Awesome. The petite clump is top notch. The ug is saweeet.  lol


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Well at least the UG and Downoi made itroud:
> 
> How's the tank?


The Downoi and UG are new. Whatever was in the water completely melted the UG I had before



yikesjason said:


> Well, at least it is a nice looking restart.


Thank you


Minsc said:


> So this was the tank... that really sucks!
> It is looking good again already though!
> 
> E. setaceum would look awesome


Thanks. I agree. now to find some.



clwatkins10 said:


> Awesome. The petite clump is top notch. The ug is saweeet.  lol


Thank you sir.


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

update...

just added the stems on the left. needing clean up the pieces of shed UG and do some tidying up.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

woowweee
It's grown so much!


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Trimmed up overhead shot. Pardon the decimated algae wafers










I can never take a good picture of this tank... my camera blows. I weed whacked the UG down quite a bit. t was a little leggy. I covered it over with more AS to give it a better foothold for growing out. Don't worry it's not smothered. It's already growing back out. You can see it growing up through the new AS at the front of the tank. 

I have increased the light duration one hour, and cut the hanging distance of the light in half. I also hadn't been fertilizing... so now doing that as well. Sounds like an algae disaster waiting to happen right? Hopefully this will keep the UG low growing

I shored up the rock work on the right hand side so that the hard scape will still be visible when the UG grows back in. The R. Macandra and L. Brevipes were new additions thave haven't fully filled out their positions yet. 

Also... thought I'd show off the stars of the show. Nanochromis Tranvestitus. It's a beautiful Dwarf cichlid from Africa. 










Also... have a few zebra Otos... I love their coloration... especially under 10,000K Lighting.










Current inhabitants
8 Yasuhikotakia sidthimunki -Dwarf chain loaches (these guys school like they are tetras... very cute to watch)
15 Barbus hulstaerti - Butterfly Barbs
20 Aplocheilichthys normani - Lamp eye Kilies (the Metal Halide brings out the glow in their eyes to stunning levels)
Trio - Nanochromis Transvestitus (started out as two pairs but lost a female early on)
6 - Otocinclus cocama - Zebra Otos
Regular otos
Amano shrimp.

gonna add some assassin snails and call it a day.


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## Ugly Genius (Sep 27, 2003)

I love the 4/18 shots on the previous page. The tank's looking wonderful. You have style, man. Love it.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

that petite makes me wanna steal your tank


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Ugly Genius said:


> I love the 4/18 shots on the previous page. The tank's looking wonderful. You have style, man. Love it.


Thanks UG. I had to then the moss and trim the UG. I'm hoping to train the UG to stay lower to the substrate. Once It grows in... I think I will finally be happy with the tank. I really enjoy where it is now.



clwatkins10 said:


> that petite makes me wanna steal your tank


You have a petite fetish. lol:icon_lol:


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## MedRed (May 20, 2008)

Broken down due to my move.


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