# Nbot's 29g D. Puffer Low-tech Planted Biocube (New Pics 9/3/07) 56K



## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Well, the wife has been wanting a dwarf puffer tank for 7 months or so, finally going to do it, she's been out of town for 3 weeks, its a surprise for when she gets home Been a little stressed to get it setup on time so it cycles so we can start w/ some Oto's (6?) when she gets here. Next will be some Amanos & RCS (lots), then the puffers (4) and the other tank mates will be 3-4 Kuhli loaches.

Note: I was trying to design something that didn't have the typical empty top section of the tank. The dwarf puffers I've read, to help mediate their aggressiveness, need things that break their line of sight, so wanted something going up to the top of the tank to make it "compartmentalized" so the d.puffers could have more "space" to themselves... 

Tank is the biocube, so far I really like the biocube:
Pros: filter is quiet, has a nice all-in-one non cluttered look. I just need to find a heater that fits in the 3rd compartment and there won't be any equipment inside the tank at all. Lighting is nice, except the Actinic is way more "blue" than the actinic on my 55g, not sure why, don't like it as much (edit: new pros: water changes are EASY! Just stick the python in first chamber and drain, it will automatically stop at 50%!!. Also, stuck some foam in the return from the pump, less agitation now)
Cons: the filter pump is ridiculous, its meant for like a high-tide area salt tank, it really moves the water, every plant is swaying, not sure if that's bad for too much movement but I prolly wouldn't mind something a little less active. BIG CON: No hinge on the lid...I guess they make it like this so you can pull it off, but there should be like a "half hinge" to hold it in place if you just want to flip it back.

Modifications to the biocube: 
1. I simply filled it up PAST the "max" level on the outside window, so that the 2nd filter chamber area got completely filled up. This eliminates the dry/wet filter and I basically have a built-in cannister filter. I put filter floss under the tray on the 2nd chamber, then on top of that tray 2 mesh bags full of Fluval bio-filter from my established 55g (hoping to have this cycled asap), then a bag of fresh carbon and a bag of purigen, then on top of that the blue/white foam to catch the big stuff. 
2. note, I did *not* have to cut away part of the dividing wall from chamber 1 to chamber 2 like some people have been suggesting, the pump has so much flow I don't see why anyone would need to
3. I threw away the little slide-in filter package that's supposed to go in chamber 1

Material:
Substrate: Peatmoss, Aquasoil Amazonia II. I used 12 litres
Lighting: comes w/ 36w 10K, and 36w Actinic (just over 1wpg)
Rocks: Petrified Wood, pretty neat looking I thought...
Plants: All low-tech plants: Anubias coffelias and nana, java ferns, four leaf clover, dwarf sag, crypt wendtii (red/bronze), balansae, hygro corymbosa, wisteria, and going to try some dwarf hair-grass that someone threw in as an extra for me
Moss: Java moss, Peacock moss, Phoenix moss (MacClellan, ie Mossman, hooked me up roak style w/ the moss, also have some Xmas moss, and a tiny sample of string and flame moss to work in, but might put them in the 55g we'll see)
Beer: Miller Genuine Draft Light (got to watch the calories)

Step 1: Big problem w/ step 1, getting the hard-scape to come together, read about it here. (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/general-planted-tank-discussion/50004-preparing-driftwood-soaking-boiling-baking-super.html
I take out the Amazonia II that I had already put in the tank back when I thought the boiling was going to work, arghh, and finally got the driftwood to stay attached w/ the super-glue. This process was a little more involved, b/c I had to tie the moss around the driftwood, THEN super-glue it to the plexi, then do the next piece etc. I used a turkey basting brush to apply water to the previous pieces so they didn't dry out while I was doing the next pieces...

So, this part took many hours, wrapping each piece w/ moss then gluing, while keeping the other pieces wet, redbull & vodka helps me thru the hours:

Pic of Phoenix moss on wood:









Pic of Peacock moss on wood:









Pic of all the pieces glued-in (the one in the front right, I had some flame moss on there, but thought it looked to sparse, so broke off the bond and redid w/ java moss and re-glued)









turkey basting:









All done, whew!!! What a long process what w/ the failed boiling and all...I celebrate w/ a beer or 2









Threw in a thin coat of organic peat moss, instead of AS powersand:









Carefully hand poured in the AS Amazonia II, its funny, this stuff really smells like soil, not sure why I was expecting something different...:









Side shot:









Here's a pic after 1/2 of the plants or so are in. You can see how murky the water gets from the aquasoil, it is not very easy to work w/ if you are not an expert "planter", which I learned that I am not lol. Planting in gravel is easy, but the AS makes you realize you really are not efficient. I called it quits for the day to let the water clear up so I could see what the heck I'm doing. 









and...









Filled up the tank the rest of the way, this is a few hours later, water is starting to clear: 









Day 2, coming soon...we'll see how shoddy of a job planting I did, relevel the substrate, and attempt to get in the anubias, FLClover (ground cover), sag etc.


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## cleekdafish (Jun 13, 2007)

fantastic...luv ur setup...why did u glue the moss?:icon_eek:


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## Yoshi (Apr 5, 2007)

Looks like a great start  Seems like you've spent a lot of time planning and executing the layout of the tank.


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Thanks, yes, spent a TON of time, probably over 100 hours easy researching this new tank...since my 55g is high-tech, it was a whole new ball game for plants, substrate, etc!

The moss is tied on w/ cotton thread (I was an idiot and bought the "moss thread" from ADA, any green cotton thread will work...). Was told to tie the moss on tight so the rhizomes can attach to the wood...


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## Zer (May 23, 2007)

looks nice man


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## macclellan (Dec 22, 2006)

Nice and different. I like what you did with the moss/driftwood.

ADA Moss String? Nice! 

I bet you're gonna wish you didn't glue down that driftwood the first time you want to retie moss...you'll have to tear down your whole tank by the looks of things. I just shove my 'moss towers' down into my substrate...but I don't use aquasoil. (too light and fluffy?).

Start with a short light cycle to keep algae at bay. My lowlight tank has been growing glacially slow, but healthy and algae free with 7 hours.


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## Blacksunshine (Oct 11, 2006)

I'm liking the layout you have goin there looks real good. keep this journal updated.


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## Guillermo (Dec 19, 2005)

Nice setup, what kind of rocks are those ? They are really nice.


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## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Very nice, though I would lose the big rock in the center, and the little ones in the front. 

Where did you get all that Fissidens? Local collect?


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Thanks ya'll!

Fissidens was a raok from MacClellan....

Rocks are petrified wood, I like them for now, time will tell! Might pull them out later for some more bushy plants, but for now that's the look I was going for...

Here's a pic of day 3, added in dwarf sag and some dwarf hairgrass (can't see from this pic) and installed the laborious four leaf clover one by one w/ tweezers, yikes...you can see the Amazonia is still a PITA to work with, see how dusty the water is, I'm doing daily water changes, it is clearing up but slowly...Really if Eco complete did the same ph & kh lowering that AquaSoil did I would recommend it to all beginners instead, who cares if AS does 20% better plant growth....


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## screename (Dec 8, 2004)

You werent messing around with that moss thread :eek5: Looks great so far!!! Cant wait to see pics with the water cleared up!


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

No, I don't mess around...


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Cool layout, I wasn't sure about it at first though. I especially like the first pic with only a few inches of water, right then I knew it would be an interesting scape, that looks like it would be a cool little turtle vivarium or something, like some eerie place out in the middle of a bog. Nice work, I just hope the moss doesn't take away from the effect of the wood once it starts growing. Keep us posted.


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## SearunSimpson (Jun 5, 2007)

I can't really tell from the pics, but I hope you didn't plant that Java fern into the substrate, for your own sake.


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## Subotaj (Oct 16, 2006)

it will be awesome tank.


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Thanks...the java fern, one big bunch on the right is a huge root mass tied around a 3" round rock, the big bunch on the left is a 2"X4X "mat" from AquariumPlants.com, I wasn't sure what it was going to look like, but its like a piece of thin wood w/ the roots all wrapped around it, I just have it setting on top of the AS, not buried (I tied a rock to the bottom of it to sink it)

Well, we'll see about the moss on the driftwood, you could be right, but maybe then I'll take out the rocks for more space, or who knows, haven't thought that far ahead to be honest, I'm not sure how bushy it will grow in the low-tech setup anyways. But, it was my aim to have vertical plant growth etc so the d.puffers wouldn't see each other all the time so they could live more peacefully w/ each other....instead of the typical "open" top area of the tank that you usually see



> I bet you're gonna wish you didn't glue down that driftwood the first time you want to retie moss...you'll have to tear down your whole tank by the looks of things. I just shove my 'moss towers' down into my substrate...but I don't use aquasoil. (too light and fluffy?).


Well, really just need the super-glue to hold long enough for the wood to get "water logged", I think after that I can mash them into the AS (and make another big cloud AS storm...)


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I was thinking flame moss would look really good on the wood.


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## relaxing (May 10, 2006)

Any updates?


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## pet-teez (Aug 17, 2007)

I would love to see an update too


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Howdy ya'll....finally got the tank settled in a bit, a few updates:

1. No dwarf puffers yet, just getting the Kuhli Loaches quarantined and added to the existing Oto's, Amano's, and Cherries.
2. The plants are growing like crazy! New tanks are good for stem plants, and the AQUASOIL IS SIMPLY AMAZING FOR ROOT GROWERS. The Wisteria is growing like a weed, just trimmed it down for these pics, the Anubias are pumping out leaves, the dwarf hair-grass is growing good, the dwarf sags are looking not so dwarf anymore, the sunset hygro is a little too green from the lower light levels (but still growing fast), the 4LC is popping up new shoots daily...
3. Bit of algae problems ....HOWEVER not the usual new tank stuff....managed to avoid most of that! It seems my problems are LOW CO2 and LOW nutrient related, oddly enough:
a) Clad--growing up around the Peacock back right driftwood
b) GSA--growing pretty good on the glass, just scraped it off today for pics
c) BBA--yes, there is some here, on the 4 leaf clover (4LC), unfortunately the guy I got it from, there was already BBA on there, and now its taken off w/ the low CO2....I've started spot treating excel (but not over-dosing since I have shrimp and the moss doesn't like heave excel use I'm told). Hopefully the increase of Excel and starting to light dose some dry ferts will help curb these 3 algaes....if not I'll have to hook up a 5lb pressurized CO2, but really trying to get the low-tech approach down, in contrast to my 55g...

I also had to make the tank "fish-safe" since I had a Kuhli "jump" over into the back area where the pump is and get sucked into the pump...poor buggar my wife was sad...I'll post more on those mods later.

From the front:









From the left (if you look closely you can see an Oto, the body of a Kuhli loach, and a Cherry shrimp)









From center: (see the Amano flying across the screen and a cherry...you'll have to FORGIVE the light-green string on the front-left Phoenix moss driftwood, I ran out of the darker color...will redo sometime...)









From right:


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## Agrippa (Jul 25, 2006)

Things seem to be coming along quite well. 

Have you considered seeding your tank with snails? In the wild, dwarf puffers tend to specialize in hunting these little invertibrates, so having a thriving population of snails to chase after would lend a little mental stimulation for the occupants of your tank (and is, of itself, rather interesting to observe!) 

This, too, should help in limiting agression towards the other occupants of your aquarium- if your puffers always have easily recognized food to pursue, they will be less likely to turn on your shrimp and view them as possible meals. In addition, I have observed that agression amongst the puffers themselves greatly declines when they have ample food; in my own tanks, I keep 3 (1m 2f) very fat puffers together in a well planted 5g with almost no agression, in part because I make certain that they have more than enough food. 

I would advise that you toss in a few pond and ramshorn snails and let them (over)populate and establish themselves now, so that when your puffers arive, they will have a thriving population to chase. Who knows- they may even help with your algae problem.

Good luck!


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Thanks Agrippa...I hadn't quite thought of it like that, for minimizing agression and providing a real live 'hunt' for snails for the DP's....but makes sense....I definitely have a snail population flourishing in there, all the plants I got off people here on SnS came w/ Snails...but this is the one time I was like "OH WELL!" they'll be food someday....I may throw in some more though from my other tank to really spike the population now that I think about it, even though there are a few dozen in there now and growing already...


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## zackish (Jun 12, 2007)

Wow....that is a very nice tank.
How come you glued the moss though rather than just wrapping it in whatever is around it?


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

That's two people that've said that, guess I worded it oddly...I glued the driftwood to the plexiglass, I wrapped the moss w/ thread to the driftwood to be clear once and for all No gluing plants......


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## LordMaximo (Aug 31, 2007)

*Puffer tanks*

I have a 10 gal. puffer tank with two dwarfs and a yellow green spotted puffer. I also have a 5 gal. tank with shrimp and snails for feeders. I tried to keep the snails in with the puffers, but over a period of two weeks the big one will clean out a dozen. Even when there is plenty of other food sources.
The shrimp are a major meal for the puffers, right along with the snails. 

Maximo


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Maximo, 
Well, I've been getting most of my DP advice from http://dwarfpuffers.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=10&sid=aeeea4b3bbc0e5d662c09b64e588f4f5
(DP's and Tank Mates) and I'm not sure if we are actually going to go DP after all...My wife loves the Kuhli's and the Amano's and Cherries, if a DP killed one she'd be crazy upset. Everyone seemed to post that Kuhli's and Oto's and Amano's were ok 98% of the time w/ DP's, but now I'm not so sure...

AN UPDATE ON THE BBA:
I've started spot treating the last week or longer, with 3ml (1ml per 10gallons) syringe full of Excel, turning off the filter, and oozing it onto the 4LC...works great! 

CLAD: I'm hoping the excel increases the CO2, and started putting in a wee bit more of dry ferts and CSM+B once per week. Picking it out when I see it.

GSA: I scraped it off the glass, and I'm cheating and plugged in my TurboTwist 3x that I had on my 55g to try and knock it out a little, we'll see if it helps.

Otherwise, the 4LC is sending out 8 inch shoots (I should've gone for Dwarf 4LC!) the Wisteria grows like a week, the Java ferns are pumping out little babies, I'm going to have to start trimming back the java mosses, the Peacock moss is growing nicely, the anubias are pumping out leaves, a little GSA where they get too much light on the leaves...


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## clddleopard (Feb 22, 2004)

My dwarf puffers ate all of my ghost shrimp in a moderately planted tank in a matter of days! I would think the amanos at least would be a little pricey to risk. I was sad when my 20 cents apiece ghosts disappeared! My puffers do leave the otos alone though. Kuhli loaches are a great idea for a puffer tank, since they spend so much time in the substrate (well, it sounds like a great idea at least!). If you do decide to add puffers, let us know how they coexist with the loaches.


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Well...I think I'm going to have to rename this thread, and the tank! The 29g KUHLI LOACH tank...! My wife loves the loaches so much she doesn't want to risk DP's on them...so, it looks like its going to end up a community tank, we'll see...

Here's some current pics, the moss has really filled out. GSA seems to have calmed down w/ the regular ferts, there is a tiny bit of BBA still on the clovers, I'm doing Excel spot-treatment still every other day w/ a syringe w/ the filter off. My main problem is some blanket week (clad) still growing out of the mosses...hmm, might try some SAE's to eat that stuff? I wonder if they would eat the Clad...I put some more amano's in there but they don't seem to be doing the job. The Wisteria pretty much takes over the tank and I have to cut it back a ton every few weeks.


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

Looks great, the moss is really laying out nicely. IMO, that tall wisteria is messing up the composition in the top pic, I would let the crypt and moss dominate there and keep the wisteria as a low ground accent like it is in the other pic. I know what you mean about that stuff, my trick was clipping it all the way down at the substrate and make it grow back from nothing, it's easier to maintain it as a low grounder that way, but I'm suspecting every wisteria owner already knows this. I think wisteria is strongest in a scene when it's just fresh tips as accents, where as the full plant usually breaks everything else up too much and creates a scattered scene to me.


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Good point I agree...you should've seen the Wisteria a few days ago I was worried about taking out too much of it at once since I'm having some algae problems and want it to out-compete the algae, but plan is to get it out of at least not as such a central presence, I think you are right even less than I was planning on. Thanks for the input....


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## jaidexl (Sep 18, 2006)

I have to say though, it's cool in the first pic how it's bendy behavior adds to the 'branch coming out of a mossy cliff' effect. Too bad it's so hard to control it's taller growing behavior, we could make that stuff happen more often, you never know where a branch will decide to meander to, that's another reason I've never had great success at using it as a background or large centerpiece.


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## Zulu (Aug 18, 2005)

The wisteria is going to dominate your tank. I'd recommend getting a cheap bucket, cutting the side and folding it down, like a ramp, then putting a small pump in the 30 to pump water into the bucket, the "ramp" cut down part of the bucket aiming back into the 30. put the wisteria and some other weeds in the bucket. This'll suck up excess nutrients to stop algae from wning: your tank, and the tank won't get dominated by the wisteria. It's the cheapest overflow setup you could possibly do.


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## Nbot (Apr 15, 2007)

Hmmm, that would do-away w/ the low-tech Bio-cube purchase (having one little tidy setup w/o a bunch of extras going in and out...I'm thinking that I'll just have the Wisteria in there for a few more months(?) until my other plants grow up and can handle the nutrient duties themselves...that's the plan at least.


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## wakemenow (Aug 3, 2007)

Any new updates or photos?


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