# *UPDATED..FINALLY** Finally got my 2 8x8x8" nano cubes!



## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

I got the 2 cubes a few days ago, and the filters and heaters came in today. So I decided to set it up and see how it all looks like. I picked up that lamp today also at homedepot. It uses a 6500k 18watt bulb. 

The filters Im using are the Red Sea Nano filters, and the heaters are the 7.5watt Hydor mini heaters. They're the flat black heaters. Since I dont want to look at them inside my tank, I shoved them inside the little filters. It works great. 

Anyway here's some pics.





































That Voss bottle is where I keep my Excel in. I just thought it looks neater in that bottle than in that bottle it originally comes in.

Tell me what you guys think


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

where's the plants? 

I like the cubes, if I recall correctly you got them for $15 each? That's a pretty good deal.

I know you're worried about the light not being enough, but I think you should just see how your setup does with the plants you want before shelling out more money....you'd be surprised what can grow under what light with a little patience.

Plant heavily to begin with, as if you're not using high light and CO2 it will take a while to fill in.


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

Yeah I did get them for $15 each! it was a steal! These clear glass cubes usually go for $50, that is if you can even find them in stores. 

Im still brainstorming on the scape of the tanks. I was thinking of doing an Iwa gumi style on one of them and the other is that I'll put flourite on the sides of the tank and put a path of sand in the middle. 

Im not really sure, I have so many ideas in my head right now! 


Actually, my Original plan was to get two of these 12x12x2" Clear glass square bowls and put them underneath the cubes. Then put something under the front of the cubes so it will have a little slant going to the back. Then I was going to extend the tubes of the filters and make them suck up water from the 12x12x2" bowls underneath and pour it into the cube, then the water will run back down the back of the tank. It would be a nice effect seeing the water run down the back of the tank. Then plant it iwa gumi style and also put some substrate around the bowl and plant some HC all around it. It would be so cool, but the problem is that I cannot find these 12x12x2" square bowl anywhere! I cant find them in any stores or even online. The only place I found them is in this website where I got the pic, but they're out of stock. And also they cannot ship them, they're only available to be picked up:icon_cry: If you guys know where to get these, let me know!


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## Saraja87 (Jul 18, 2007)

A kitchen store. You can get normal pyrex pans that'll do the trick. 



Raimeiken said:


> Actually, my Original plan was to get two of these 12x12x2" Clear glass square bowls and put them underneath the cubes. Then put something under the front of the cubes so it will have a little slant going to the back. Then I was going to extend the tubes of the filters and make them suck up water from the 12x12x2" bowls underneath and pour it into the cube, then the water will run back down the back of the tank. It would be a nice effect seeing the water run down the back of the tank. Then plant it iwa gumi style and also put some substrate around the bowl and plant some HC all around it. It would be so cool, but the problem is that I cannot find these 12x12x2" square bowl anywhere! I cant find them in any stores or even online. The only place I found them is in this website where I got the pic, but they're out of stock. And also they cannot ship them, they're only available to be picked up:icon_cry: If you guys know where to get these, let me know!


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

Saraja87 said:


> A kitchen store. You can get normal pyrex pans that'll do the trick.


I tried kitchen stores and no luck. Pyrex isnt a bad idea, but I want this one to keep the design consistent. because Pyrex have a different look on them than my cubes.


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

I have that lamp at home!!!!!!!!!!!


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

yeah I got it on clearance and I grabbed the last one! I love it, it looks so sleek and modern.


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

yeah, they are quite expensive though.


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

fishman9809 said:


> yeah, they are quite expensive though.


how much did you get yours? I got mine for $29.99 I thought it was totallly worth it if you compare it to other brands like Ott Lite desk lamps. Those ones go for over $50 and some over $100


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

oh, my parents got it for 49 bucks. A lot more than you did. *lucky you*


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## harold (Mar 8, 2008)

Would this lamp work on a standard 10 gallon? Can you post a link?

Thanks!


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## mott (Nov 23, 2006)

Just a note DO NOT keep your excel in a clear bottle, Excel breaks down in light, by the time you start dosing it may be it may be too late...


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

mott said:


> Just a note DO NOT keep your excel in a clear bottle, Excel breaks down in light, by the time you start dosing it may be it may be too late...


 
woah I didnt know that :drool: how come it breaks down?


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## PinoyBoy (Mar 14, 2008)

thats pretty smart. putting the heater inside the HOB.
wouldnt it be too much for the bacteria or the filter
cause of the heat??


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

I dont know. The box said that the heater only turns on when the water drops to a certain temp. There's not controls on the heater itself. It said that the heater will help raise the temp 2-3 degrees up.


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## aquaphish (Dec 20, 2002)

mott said:


> Just a note DO NOT keep your excel in a clear bottle, Excel breaks down in light, by the time you start dosing it may be it may be too late...



I second that statement!!!


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

aquaphish said:


> I second that statement!!!


but why does it breakdown? I've never heard this before


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## esteroali (Oct 24, 2007)

*Omg!*

Sorry I don't mean to thread hijack...I have the same set-up at my work desk.RCS and oto.
Damien


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

where did you get the cubes, sorry if you have said this before


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## Austinv (Jan 8, 2008)

The heater does raise it a few degrees, it usually keeps the water around 76 or room temp. Its a good little heater. Where did you get those cubes though???


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## esteroali (Oct 24, 2007)

*American Signature Furniture*

That is where I got mine for 28 Bux


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

PinoyBoy said:


> thats pretty smart. putting the heater inside the HOB.
> wouldnt it be too much for the bacteria or the filter
> cause of the heat??


IME this isn't the greatest idea; I had problems periodically with my Azoo palm HOBs drying out- if this happened you'd not only burn up your filter motor but possibly also your heater.

Nice looking setup though!!


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

I got the cubes on eBay since I had no luck finding them locally.


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

esteroali said:


> Sorry I don't mean to thread hijack...I have the same set-up at my work desk.RCS and oto.
> Damien


nice set up! how long have you had yours running now?


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## esteroali (Oct 24, 2007)

*Office Tank*

About 4 months. I started it at home but then my cat kept drinking out of it. I was using excel/pps-pro so I took it to work. It originally had a soil substrate with an eco cap. At work I collected stuff from the pond out back. Bad idea.There must have been Copper in the soil and other nasties....tank crashed. I then rinsed soil from eco and now has shrimp. I battle alge because I am scared to use Excel with my babies. Water changes are SO EASY!. Wish I never used soil!


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

do you put any ferts in there?


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

sorry to hear about your soil experiences......I've had the opposite experience with soil. Plants have grown very well with no need for ferts or excel. I used the cheapo top soil from Lowes, mineralized with additives like the method AaronT has outlined @ APC and ASW.

If you were getting alot of algae it may be from adding extra macros with a soil substrate.


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## esteroali (Oct 24, 2007)

*Ferts......*

I was dosing PPS-pro. I do not test the water very much. One of these days I need to get a test kit. I lost a couple baby shrimp so stopped fertilizing. I am not sure if it was Chlorine, I usually run the water through a Brita filter pitcher and let it sit 24hrs but I forgot once last week....or an ammonia/nitrate spike from cleaning. There is still some soil mixed in the Eco and there is a piece od driftwood in there too. If I dose it is usally just micros. Also the light is a spiral CF 13w and it may be too close/much.
Damien


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

how often do you do water changes? and also try raising the light


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

my question was never answered. Why does excel break down when it's in a clear bottle?


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

perhaps the fertilzer is a live substance? Like enzymes to us?

any pics of the setup?


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

oh I see. I just never heard of that before. I've had it in that bottle for a while now and the excel still works. 

I don't have any updates on the setup yet, Im still waiting for some plants to come in.


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

you bring up a good point Raimeken.....I've heard that many times about Excel breaking down in light, but I cannot find any definite evidence on a search suggesting this. I posted a question to Seachem, hopefully they can clarify this.....


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## deleted_user_16 (Jan 20, 2008)

I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before, but what substrate are you using?


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

fishman9809 said:


> I'm not sure if it has been mentioned before, but what substrate are you using?


I got some flourite left over from my other tank back then, so I'm going to use that along with some sand. But I'll crush up the flourite a little bit, I want it to look a little finer. The grains are a little too big for my taste


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

I just set these up a week or two ago, so the plants arent fully grown in.









Here's what they looked like the day they were setup. The tank on the left has been running for a few weeks prior to filling it up with water. I just let the plant grow in emersed, so it'll take a hold faster.









This tank will be cloudy for a few weeks because of the substrate I put in it. It'll all settle down at the bottom...
It's Flourite mixed with mushed up AS, peatmoss, orchid bark and coco husk. It was a substrate I made a while ago for my vivarium. I had some left overs so I decided to use it for this tank.









pics of the HC that's been growing in there for a few weeks.









Here's what they look like now


















here's the HC growing submerged now.









I planted two kinds of plants in here. Pennywort (the ones in the middle) and Hairgrass (its hard to see it, it'll take a few weeks before it all grows in) I have red cherry shrimps in there along with 2 dwarf puffers.


I put in about .5ml of Excel in the tanks everyday. I dont dose any ferts in there directly BUT I do top off the tank every two days (8oz of water). I get the water straight from my high tech planted tank though, so the tanks do get some ferts.


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## deMastro (Mar 18, 2008)

Thats looking very very nice!!!


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

thanks!


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

im glad to finally see some plants in there, i like it!


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## bubbless (Nov 19, 2006)

consider me subscribed...i wanna see how the cubes progresses:bounce:


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

they look amazing 
i love the right one, it looks great with the driftwood coming out and everything.
great job


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## nugzboltz (May 20, 2008)

Great looking tanks - I love how that wood sticks out of the tank.

I've only been able to find circular glass vases/containers in my local shops, so I've got a cylindrical nano tank, which makes it tough to see in. If I can find some rectangular ones, I'd love to do a setup like yours!


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

nugzboltz said:


> Great looking tanks - I love how that wood sticks out of the tank.
> 
> I've only been able to find circular glass vases/containers in my local shops, so I've got a cylindrical nano tank, which makes it tough to see in. If I can find some rectangular ones, I'd love to do a setup like yours!


dont go to a petstore. Go look for them at craftstores (Michael's), walmart, target, Pier 1, or any other stores that sell decorative stuff or furniture for homes. The biggest ones I've seen here are 7x7x7" I got mine on eBay though for less.


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## jmr201 (May 7, 2004)

Many chemicals react with light either causing them to break down or undergo a chemical reaction with something else. In this case it breaks down. The science behind why is not important and it is probably confusing. Same thing with peroxide, has to be kept in a dark bottle.


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

jmr201 said:


> Many chemicals react with light either causing them to break down or undergo a chemical reaction with something else. In this case it breaks down. The science behind why is not important and it is probably confusing. Same thing with peroxide, has to be kept in a dark bottle.


 That makes sense about the peroxide in the dark bottle


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## hooha (Mar 14, 2004)

per a Seachem rep, UV light can cause some breakdown of excel, but he states ambient light doesn't cause much of a change.....at least he certainly didn't say Excel requires to be out of sunlight....


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## KeyLargo (Jun 5, 2008)

Are you growing the HC with Excel only or are you adding co2? Very nice tanks by the way.


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## HatchetHaven (Mar 9, 2008)

Well, the Juwel tanks default set-up includes hiding the heater in the filter. I've had no problems with the filter yet in 6 months, so....

Wow, I love the way those tanks are coming along! I think it would be a good bet to have a Betta in one, and maybe some shrimp/a school of Ember tets in the other.


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## waterfaller1 (Jul 5, 2006)

They are looking great.I have two 10" cubes that share a light. I did not see if you posted it, how many wts is your light? I would watch the dps carefully. In that small of a tank and without much to break up their line of sight, they may begin to have issue with one another. I tried dps together in mine at first, and even with lots of plants they didn't get along. Yours might be different though. They are usually cool with shrimp. I wish you luck.:icon_smil


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## monkeyruler90 (Apr 13, 2008)

any update pics?


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## Fraterns (Aug 7, 2008)

10x10x10 $21.25 each
http://www.wholesale-glass-vases.com/square-vases.html


Bottom container you were looking for.
http://www.wholesale-glass-vases.com/square-vases-2.html


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## CL (Mar 13, 2008)

So...how are these tanks?


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## Raimeiken (May 20, 2004)

ahahaha! I totally forgot about this thread. I got sucked into making my Vivarium so I kinda neglected these two little ones. I actually tore down one of them and now Im using it to grow some cuttings for my new Viv.

The other one is overran by cherry shrimp. it's a bit dirty right now so, I'll clean it sometime and take new pics LOL


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