# Trigun808's 5g Cube! Grassy paradise? updated 9/30/09!



## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

hey guys i have set up one more tank, im kinda late on the journal but here
the tanks is a 5g cube 
Light is Archaea 27w light with 10k bulb
Pressurized co2 split from 60p
zoomed 501 canister
ada amazonia soil
some sand
i also will be dosing ada step 1 and brighty k
occasionally special lights

im using a hardscape is well, please lmk what u think of it :icon_wink

as for my plants:
my foreground will be UG
-rotala butterfly
-downoi
as of right now i might be looking for some erios

fish:
-red pencilfish
-otto




























thanks! i might make this a CRS tank 
all comments welcome!


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## Strick (Apr 6, 2009)

I like the look of it. But the bare spot in the front corner is kind of an eyesore. Did you run out of substrate? A little bed of white sand would provide a nice contrast there and give any future corys a playground.

Also, 27 watts over 5 gallons might be a little much. You may have to play with that a little if you start having algae problems. 

Love the rocks! Where'd you find them?

Some ground cover would be nice, too. With that much light, and amazonia soil, and CO2, you could grow some nice, compact glosso, or HC. The shrimp will love it.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

that spot in the front is actually white sand already but i just didnt take a good pic my bad!
the whole foreground will be UG and ill try and get some eriocaulons to put in there!
as for the rocks, i got them at a local aquascaping store


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## Kolkri (Dec 9, 2006)

The white spot (sand) does make it look unfinished. Looks like your off to a good start. Can't wait to see it when it grows in and you add the fish.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

maybe i should just fill that sand area in with soil lol
although i could just add more sand


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## Kolkri (Dec 9, 2006)

Post a picture maybe it looks better with more sand added.


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## cintamas (Feb 17, 2009)

1st of all, I really like the colors in those rocks! Good pick. I think that because this tank has a rim, the level of sand that you've put in barely reaches the top of this rim and is hard to see from those photo angles. I got it though 

I like the idea of a full UG carpet. The rotala butterfly is a beautiful choice for both it's color and texture, but the leaves look a lot more elongated than I though they would. Anywho, good luck! Can't wait to watch this progess.


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## Francis Xavier (Oct 8, 2008)

Those look like shou stones to me. My advice is use long narrow plants, like Hair grass, these accentuate the effect of the stone, for an example you can look at the first scape of the tank in my signature to see how this looks.

That being said, UG isn't a bad choice to use with it either, since it has that grass look when it's grown in, just in a different way. I'd stay away from using HC or glosso though since they aren't -as- suited for this rock type (which is very slate-like and vertical) as UG or hairgrass. In fact a hairgrass background and UG foreground isn't a bad route to go. The good thing about these stones is that because of their coloration the need for a red plant or the like is unnecessary.

I see where you are trying to go with the hardscape, and could give you pointers on improving it if you wish, but it's a little difficult to do once it's filled with water! It depends on your current focus, plant growing skills or hardscape skills.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

yea i love the shou stones!
dont be afraid to throw out pointers! im all for it!
i also wanted to put a small erio in there but idk..
i seem to have LUCK when growing plants as well, hence the LUCK lol
but keep the comments coming!
more UG should be coming in next week for this tank


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

bump this back up , the UG is growing good already (ug was from my 60p) and im getting next week and im hoping to pick up some CRS and CBS so yea i cant wait


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## Francis Xavier (Oct 8, 2008)

I would say try to pick up some more shou stone so you can make a more intricate hardscape, seems like the selection in the tank's placement was made out of a limited amount of options, and shou stone is never easy to work with.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

bump this back up im picking up a erio australia (not the norm type) it grows almost the same as matto grosso! 
and ill take pics soon!


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Dang I like the look of the Downoi and the red Rotala in the back.

Is that Shou Stone?


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## Down_Shift (Sep 20, 2008)

Strick said:


> I like the look of it. But the bare spot in the front corner is kind of an eyesore. Did you run out of substrate? A little bed of white sand would provide a nice contrast there and give any future corys a playground.
> 
> Also, 27 watts over 5 gallons might be a little much. You may have to play with that a little if you start having algae problems.
> 
> ...



I'm running a 27w over my 2.5g and it's doing fine. I've 2 of these setups.

His tank is a bit tall for a 5g so i think he'll be good. the red is REALLY REALLY popping love it


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

thanks! like i said , will update very soon and i think ill put that eriocaulon in the left corner , it is shou stone and i love it !


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## cintamas (Feb 17, 2009)

Are you using purigen as part of your filtration? Or do you just have crystal clear water because you got lucky? hahaha. At first I was mesmerized be the beautiful green downoi and red rotala, now that I'm looking again.....I realize how CLEAN and CLEAR the water looks (esp for a tank using aquasoil). Can't wait for the updated pics!


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

hahahahaha thanks man
i was too lazy to make a trip to get purigen, so yeah not using it in either of my tanks.
oh i needa do an update! i got some growth going on 
jealous of my clear water? hahaha 
i do water changes every week if that helps and i use some of my RO water


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

Can't wait to see this update! 
i'm sure jealous of your crystal clear water... 
hehe.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

dammit! cant find my camera! ah........ imma go searching for it


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## hyphination (Sep 25, 2008)

yo! wheres the update at?


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

lets see some pics!:bounce:


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

hahahah ok here it is guys! my eriocaulon kimberly (suppose to grow just like matto grosso) and the difference in growth haha sorry to keep u guys waiting


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

i got pics of my 60p as well... growing DHG and that erio just keeps getting fuller haha


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## itzjustjeff (Apr 27, 2009)

hey, just wondering, i bought the zoomed 501 for my new 5 gallon project too. do you need a prefilter for your crs? or are they doing fine? beautiful tank btw


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## ZooTycoonMaster (Jan 2, 2008)

Wow awesome UG in the 5 gallon!


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## speedie408 (Jan 15, 2009)

ZooTycoonMaster said:


> Wow awesome UG in the 5 gallon!


X2 I wish my UG looked like that :frown:

Nice looking nano dude! Your 60p looks very nice as well.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

thanks guys , i would put a prefilter jusssst in case so like a coarse spoinge over it and cut it to the shape
the zoomed is a great filter, its perfect!


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

i need someone to adopt my female german blue ram she has great coloring


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

nice nice nice!
why are you getting rid of your ram?


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

ahhh cause i needa make room, u gonna take it off my hands? lol


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

haha, i have no idea where i would put her....maybe in my 24g cube hehe
i know cintamas has a few electric blue rams. he might be interested.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

hey guys update will be coming soon!


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

lets see those updates! XD


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

here ya go guys!
the ug grew quite a bit, and the downoi got bigger haha see some of my shrimps? the rest are hiding haha
and my ugly prefilter! 
tank stays at around 73-76 degrees and water parameters are great
ph is at like 6.6 hopefully they will breed!


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## Randy Lau (Mar 29, 2008)

Oh wow I like how the tank progressed and everything looks very healthy! I would like to try out UG once I can get my hand on some (my excuse to start up another planted tank.)

Regards,
Randy


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

Wow, that's some great growth. Good job :thumbsup:


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## hyphination (Sep 25, 2008)

wow thats a lot of UG. awesome growth man! are those chili rasboras in there?


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## KentCurtis (Jan 22, 2009)

sweet tank! what ar eyour GH/KH readings? I noticed you said you used some RO for changes


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

thanks guys and yeah those are phoenix rasboras and chili rasboras with 1 lonely red pencilfish haha
now i use pretty much all ro water changes
uhhhhh man i gotta looks at my stuff later


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## FrostyNYC (Nov 5, 2007)

What beautiful erio and downoi! Very nice. And UG too. Its a tank of very trendy plants.

But that sponge prefilter dominates the tank. Maybe get a smaller one or trim it?


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

haha yep ill trim it now xD


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

haha im done trimming the prefilter and it looks much better!
and i just mowed the ug down a little
i might change the bulb soon....
should i go with a 6500k or a 10000k?
it a 10k currently!


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

mmm..... im thinking that if i change the bulb, it would be alot better yeah?
well, everything is doing nicely and i did trim the ugly sponge haha


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## ddtran46 (Jul 8, 2008)

I think that a 6500k/10000k combo will look awesome. Your plants looks super healthy....I'm jealous. haha


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

ahhh its gotta be 1 or the other cause its the 27 watt archaea light (clip on)
and thanks man! im super jealous of your hc!!!! i could nev er grow it!


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

looks good man! why can't i ever get plants that healthy? sigh..haha. the tank is lookin good!


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## danepatrick (Jul 17, 2006)

let's get some pics since that trim! :bounce:


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

I love the Ug it looks awesome! I have the same Erio great plant aint it? Sweet little tank and nice 60p too

Why don't you put the filter input behind the Rotala?


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

ummmm idk haha maybe i will move the filter tube around 
and i will take pics tonight!


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## Cichlid Junkie (May 13, 2005)

Try a piece of woman's pantyhose over the intake. It takes up less room and is hardly noticeable. I've done that before on my nano CRS tank and it works well. The shrimp didn't have any problems with it either.


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

mmmm maybe ill try that. i also have the fine mesh bags for like purigen and stuff so that would work too


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

.................


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## trigun808 (May 18, 2008)

ok i spotted a pregnant crs in there, will update soon


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## kcirtappatrick (Mar 16, 2009)

sweet! its about time those suckers started to breed.


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