# 4.5 DIY Cube planted November 9th 2013



## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

Just sent in an order for glass for a cube I want to build! I've never made a tank before:help:

specs: 25x25x30 cm somewhere around 5g I think. I also want to have it a little taller than the sides, so that after I put in the substrate the space that is left over is close to the width of the tank.


I'm probably going to have a lid made from acrylic (PMMA), something simple with a space cut out for the filter.

I'm going to order a Azoo mignon 60 filter after the weekend, and probably going to be without heater, my place is usually around 72°F (20-23°C) so that's ok. I've been looking for black sand in the LFS with out success, and then it hit me, duh all the beaches here are black sand!!! So I'll be collecting some sand soon, before it gets to cold

Lighting will be in the form of an IKEA work lamp with a CFL bulb.

Flora will be cuttings from my "big" tank,

Possible candidates:
Anubias Barteri Nana Petite, attached to a small piece of driftwood or a locally sourced lava rock.
Hygrophila Polysperma Rosanervig 
Hygrophila Polysperma
Ludwigia Repens
Hemiantus micranthemoides
Alternanthera reineckii roseafolia
Cryptogyne something or the other

Fauna... maybe a betta or some tiny fishes I really want to get some Sundanio Axelrodi, but I probably won't:/ We'll just see what my favorite fish guy has for me when it is ready and cycled.

Anyways I just had to share!


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## Da Plant Man (Apr 7, 2010)

I'm excited to see this progress. Looks really well planned.


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## difrent7 (Nov 24, 2012)

Looking forward to seeing more updates on this build! I have been considering making a tank but wasn't sure how it prices out compared to buying something similar already made.


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

difrent7 said:


> Looking forward to seeing more updates on this build! I have been considering making a tank but wasn't sure how it prices out compared to buying something similar already made.



Well if I were in the States I could probably build it very cheap, and get a cheap filter. I'm very envious of your cheap filters >.<

The average price here for a nano tank is 165$, I found one for less but I also found one that was more. I'm not even going to tell you about the import taxes and handling fee that I have to pay if I order stuff from abroad. Every time hear you guys talk about prices I hear Cartman (from South Park) saying "you bastrard" in my head  OK no more complaining!!!

The glass is 9000ISK (74$) with polished edges, I'm going to ask for unpolished edges so it should be less than that, I'll know how much less tomorrow.

peace


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## xev11 (Jan 19, 2010)

Good luck with the project. I've been to Iceland and really enjoyed it. Great scenery, history, food, and locals. I went during the volcano eruptions a few years ago and had a few adventures.


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## twkoch (Aug 29, 2013)

subscribed!


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## Chizpa305 (Feb 13, 2011)

I did a very good plastic lid for my 5 gal aquarium once. But I ended up removing it because it bent a little from the heat of the light. It also accumulated droplets of condensed water and made it look a little ugly.


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

Chizpa305 said:


> I did a very good plastic lid for my 5 gal aquarium once. But I ended up removing it because it bent a little from the heat of the light. It also accumulated droplets of condensed water and made it look a little ugly.


I haven't decided if I want to have a lid made, at the moment it's out of my budget. 

I changed my mind a little from what I had planed, I ordered all glass panels in 6mm (1/4 inch) and also changed the size so I could glue it together with the bottom on the inside instead of glueing the sides on top of the bottom, in my opinion that looks better.
Glass will hopefully arrive on Wednesday, the plan is to silicone it together when I get it on Wednesday. I'll keep you all posted:icon_smil


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## thelub (Jan 4, 2013)

looks like a fun project. Building tanks is fun!

Doing a floating bottom isn't recommended unless you have some sort of frame to hold the glass. Its just not as strong. It will work but not recommended. I just recently rebuilt a 10g tank and did a flat bottom and it looks pretty slick IMO


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## tetra10 (Aug 5, 2012)

can't wait to see this project come along


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*Finally!*

Finally found some time to stick this thing together! You'll have to excuse the sideways picture.










As I was putting silicone on the glass the gun broke so I had some problems, and there is silicone all over the glass, I'll need to use a glass scraper to clean it up:icon_frow That thing was brand new too!

Here is the filter, pre filters, Seachem Matrix, and Flourish that I ordered. I have already cut off the bottom of the sponges in the filter and put some Matrix in it. The filter media is going to go into my established tank to seed.
I also have a 25w heater I found in a LFS, it's from Flamingo and is about 8" long and has adjustable heat. The link is to the heater.










Now all I have to get is the sand, black beach sand, sieve it to get rid of bigger particulates, rinse it and boil it. I already went to a lava field and collected some small lava stones and I also found a small piece of driftwood.

But before any of this goes into the tank I have to wait 2 days and test it for leaks. 
Wish me luck:icon_smil


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*planted!*

Front view









finally planted, ended up using old gravel that I had with Tetra Crypto root tabs. I'll probably end up taking out the lava rocks and replace it with dw, if I ever find a nice piece, and attaching anubias petite to it, I'm just waiting for it to grow out a little bit more in my "big" tank before I take cuttings.

Side view









Top view









Flora
Alternanthera Reineckii
Ludwigia Repens
Hygrophylia Polysperma rosanervig
Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae
Lemna Minor
Pistia Stratiotes

Fauna
one pond snail that snuck in (no I did not notice it!!!) 
once my baby mystery snails grow a little bit bigger I'll put a few in (temporarily), I'm afraid of crushing them now they are so tiny.
Meet Pollux, he is moving in once it is cycled.









The filter is waiting for a transformer (??) bought it from the states where there is 120V we have 220V here.
The heater will be but in later today to speed things up growing wise, also thinking of putting in an airstone along with some cory eggs, there is a storm and they have gone spawning crazy! I only have 3 peppered and 3 schwartzii that could be responsible, I think it's the peppered 
P.s I also have 8 pygmy cory, I love cories!!!


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## xmas_one (Feb 5, 2010)

Nice job on the tank!


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

Thanks I can't wait for it to grow in!


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*10 days*










Ten days! Some growth, not that much...I always forget to put in the fertilizer. I saved some cory eggs from my big tank and put them in there, probably will not work. But I'm finally seeing the fry in the egg, they are starting to show through the shell

Can you see the cory eggs??


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## acejohn (Sep 4, 2010)

Can't wait to see those little corries!


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

I think some of the eggs have hatched, but I can't see the fry yet, I think I need to go out and get a magnifying glass. I'm rescuing eggs almost every day now, 4-5 a day these last few days, I hope at least some of them survive.


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## Carlin (Sep 9, 2013)

Hey, how much did the glass cost you? What are the specs on the sheets of glass you used? I want to see if I can get an estimate also.


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

Carlin said:


> Hey, how much did the glass cost you? What are the specs on the sheets of glass you used? I want to see if I can get an estimate also.


Well I live in Iceland so you can definitely get it a lot cheaper! I paid around 74$ for it, with polished edges. Keep in mind that EVERYTHING is very expensive here, I would have bought a readymade tank if I only could find it here! nothing but ugly expensive acrylic tanks here!

The specs are: 
outside measurements are 250x250x300 MM that is 10x10x12" aprox.
Cut and polished glass is:
bottom 238mm x 238 mm
front and back 250 mm x 300 mm
sides 238 mm x 300 mm
the glass is 6mm thick.
make sure to get a good "gun" for the tube of silicone, mine broke down in the middle of glueing, I had to do a lot of cleaning up after I put the tank together.
I'll definitely make another one later though


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*we have fry!!!*


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## Legot (Jun 29, 2013)

What is your substrate??? It looks pretty cool, as does the rest of your tank!


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

Legot said:


> What is your substrate??? It looks pretty cool, as does the rest of your tank!


Thanks 
The substrate is from a Belgian company called flamingo, I don't know if you can get it in the States, here is a link to the product on their site  
The little balls roll all over if you drop some on the floor, lots of fun cleaning up


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## Anya (Oct 26, 2013)

Loving the baby!! <3 Cute build.


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*Omg!!*

my pygmy cories are spawning in the big tank! I have already saved 3 eggs and placed them in the cube! :bounce: I love cories SO much!!!


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## fishyjoe24 (Dec 10, 2009)

Nice little tank, I've always had a think for cube tanks.


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*Fry!*

Week old corydoras fry.


















Sorry for the crappy cellphone pics, I need to get a camera with a macro lens...will do that when my money tree starts blooming


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## kcoscia (Jul 24, 2013)

so cute!


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*New video*

A new video of the cory fry, I tried to shoot the whole tank but the camera in my phone didn't want to focus so I edited it out
They were just so spritely I had to share

http://youtu.be/6ISeqKvDAjA


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

I love cories as well, one of my favorite fish - the fry are so cute. Good luck on the pygmies hatching.

Tank looks great, good job on putting it together.


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

*Update*

The official count is 25 fry, I relocated 13 fry maybe 3 weeks ago and another 12 today. They are going into my 27G tank with their mommy and two daddies.

In other news... I now have shrimps in the tank, low grade cherries. Added 10 3 weeks ago, and already I have 3 berried females, I just hope I didn't scare them so bad, when I was hunting the fry, that they dropped the eggs. I'll post a picture next week after I do a trim, don't want to do a trim now, I want to let the shrimpies relax a little first:icon_wink

Growth is not fast in this tank, I don't have CO2 and I don't really put in ferts or Excel. I don't do water changes very often and only add ferts when I do do water changes, mainly I do top offs. 

I know I feel ashamed:icon_redf


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## terrapedes (Jul 5, 2013)

Tank now, have to cut the Alternanthera reineckii it has grown but didn't do so well while I was away for Xmas.








One of my Mama shrimp, I think I have 3 or 4 berried.




Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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