# 1ft Cube - Jungle Scape



## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Tank: 30cm Cube
lighting: 30cm Up Aqua LED light
Filter: Ehiem Aquacompact 40
Hardscape: Driftwood and seiryu stone
Substrate: ADA La Plata Big
Plants: Narrow leaf java fern, Java Fern Mini, Bolbitis, Anubias Nana, Anubias Nana Petite and maybe some Buce.

30CM Cube - Low Tech Aquarium by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


I set the tank up about 4 days ago, hoping to get this to grow into more of a jungle, this is my first low tech so not to sure what I am doing with these plants. But its been fun so far.


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## chinaboy1021 (May 30, 2003)

Low tech is beautiful.


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> I set the tank up about 4 days ago, hoping to get this to grow into more of a jungle, this is my first low tech so not to sure what I am doing with these plants. But its been fun so far.


This makes me really want to setup a low-tech for shrimp. Hah with the plants you are using you probably don't have to do much and they will do well.




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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Added some buce plants to the drift wood (attached to lava rock sitting on the wood) any ideas on the species 

Low Tech 30cm Cube Aquascape by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## second (Jan 31, 2005)

Nice looking tank


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Trimmed back a lot of dead / dying fern leafs, think i prefer hightech! Tho ill hang in there with the low tech and see if they can bounce back!

30cm Cube Aquarium by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

I guess the only bad thing with low-tech is you have to be really patient to see results.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Very true Opare, I am learning that! I added a few cherry shrimp and Darwin Algae Eating shrimp and they have cleaned up the fuzz and diatoms I was starting to get, still a bit of brown algae / diatoms around but I think the shrimp will feast for a few days!


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## someoldguy (Feb 26, 2014)

That's a really nice tank , but now comes the hard part . Waiting . Give it 6 months and it'll look amazing .


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Added more marimos and some more narrow java fern

_MG_5903 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Looks nice, one cool thing about low-tech - Instant Scape! 

Colm is that the 24mm pancake lens your using for most pics.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> Looks nice, one cool thing about low-tech - Instant Scape!
> 
> Colm is that the 24mm pancake lens your using for most pics.


Thanks mate, yes adding mature ferns is good but I find they tend to melt a bit. Yes all my recent photos have been with the 24mm cannon pancake lens, I really like it, cheap and compact but still nice sharp photos, I have been using a fairly high ISO of 800 as I cant be bothered setting up my tripod for my tank photos so they are a bit grainy


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Thanks mate, yes adding mature ferns is good but I find they tend to melt a bit. Yes all my recent photos have been with the 24mm cannon pancake lens, I really like it, cheap and compact but still nice sharp photos, I have been using a fairly high ISO of 800 as I cant be bothered setting up my tripod for my tank photos so they are a bit grainy


Yep, photos are nice and crisp. I think I'll pick one up, good width for walk-around as well.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> Yep, photos are nice and crisp. I think I'll pick one up, good width for walk-around as well.


Yes I mainly purchased the lens for my up-coming holiday to America, was going to be the only lens I was going to bring with me, tho i really want something wider so I am going to purchase the canon 10 - 18mm which also seems good value for money.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Yes I mainly purchased the lens for my up-coming holiday to America, was going to be the only lens I was going to bring with me, tho i really want something wider so I am going to purchase the canon 10 - 18mm which also seems good value for money.


Too funny, I was just going to mention the 10-18 to you. It's an incredible lens for the money and alot of fun when you shoot that wide and it has IS as well. The build quality is very light so be careful when you handle it.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> Too funny, I was just going to mention the 10-18 to you. It's an incredible lens for the money and alot of fun when you shoot that wide and it has IS as well. The build quality is very light so be careful when you handle it.


haha good recommendation  I am looking forward to shooting the nice wide lens, we are visiting yosemite and grand canyon in winter, should look spectacular as I am coming from hot sunny Western Australia where we never get any snow!


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> haha good recommendation  I am looking forward to shooting the nice wide lens, we are visiting yosemite and grand canyon in winter, should look spectacular as I am coming from hot sunny Western Australia where we never get any snow!


Oh wow, very jealous, You will get some speculator shots with the wide angle. Been to yosemite and canyon is next up. Have fun!


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## adele54 (Oct 23, 2016)

LOVE this tank! What are the plants floating?

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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

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adele54 said:


> LOVE this tank! What are the plants floating?
> 
> Sent from my Nexus 6 using Tapatalk


Thanks the floating plants are frogbit, i forgot the technical name.


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## adele54 (Oct 23, 2016)

I really like the way that looks, I will have to get some for my Cherry tank..thanks for the reply !!

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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

_MG_6360 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Added Co2 to this tank, lets see how all the ferns respond, the glass diffuser makes a hissing noise, its driving me crazy, may need to try a different diffuser.

IMG_7919 
by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## ed.junior (Feb 2, 2017)

Try the Tropica 3 in 1 diffuser. It is a very decent ceramic diffuser. Also, you should place the diffuser as low as possible, to allow the CO2 to diffuse.

What is your fertilization routine? Going the Walstad route seems to not be your preference, what about Estimative Index? You could fine tune it to your tank. Are you doing weekly WC? 

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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

ed.junior said:


> Try the Tropica 3 in 1 diffuser. It is a very decent ceramic diffuser. Also, you should place the diffuser as low as possible, to allow the CO2 to diffuse.
> 
> What is your fertilization routine? Going the Walstad route seems to not be your preference, what about Estimative Index? You could fine tune it to your tank. Are you doing weekly WC?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G920F using Tapatalk


Thanks, Tropica isnt distributed in Australia, the little glass diffuser has actually stop making then hiss / squeak noise, because I am running co2 24/7 the bubble rate is less than 1bps more like 0.5bps the flow out of the diffuser never gets to the surface as its just 2 or 3 streams of micro bubbles which get blown from the filter around the tank, drop checker is staying a nice lime green, I have used this technique on my 2 other high tech tanks and has worked well to keep most algae at bay and the ph level nice and stable. Some ppl say it is a waste of co2 but when I was turning the co2 on a few hrs before light, I had to run a very high bubble count to get the 1 point ph drop, so basically I am using the same amount of co2 with the 24/7 method.

For ferts I use the EI method, but only dose to about half the recommended values, I dont have demanding plants in any of my tanks. This particular tank I was not really dosing much at all when low tech but I will ramp up the dosing now.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Moved some ferns around, looks much better now, bit more balanced

IMG_8008 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## shhh (Jan 1, 2016)

I really love the different height levels you have in the tank and that there are large color blocks of different shades of green. Gorgeous tank!


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## cininohio (Jan 13, 2016)

So beautiful!


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Thanks guys, I added 10 Celestial Pearl Danio's today, really nice fish! Hard to photograph tho, they are shy! In the photo below I managed to capture 3 in front of the buce plants

IMG_8099 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

Wow, subscribed!


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Few more photos

IMG_8217 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8215 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8164 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8156 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Picked up a second hand Macro lens, tricky to focus on fish that dont want to stay still but I can see this lens being a favourite! 

Here are some photos of the CPDs, they seem to be liking crushed up dry blood worms, they are not the biggest fans of the dry food I have for my boraras but I have ordered some other feed to try. They are getting a little more brave and when feeding today I am pretty sure all 10 came out to the front of the tank.

IMG_8454 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8469 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8521 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8458 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Niyona (Feb 20, 2010)

LOVE these CPD's! I have a 20 long that will eventually house these. Where did you get yours?


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Niyona said:


> LOVE these CPD's! I have a 20 long that will eventually house these. Where did you get yours?


I am in Perth, Australia, luckily another aquascaper here in Perth has a keen interest in breeding nano fish so I picked up 10 from him.


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## cininohio (Jan 13, 2016)

Gorgeous!


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## Opare (Sep 9, 2015)

Fantastic photos!


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Thanks guys, I added 6 Pigmy Corys today, they are a bit easier to photograph, not shy at all  Again colours are probably all over the place still learning as I go with photography, particularly macro photos. Because the corys hand near the front glass you can see all the dirt and scratches on this tank 

IMG_8741 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8723 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8730 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8687 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8641 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr

IMG_8672 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

quick iphone video, love how much activity there is in this tank now, cant believe i kept planted tanks for so long with no fish... never again! 

https://vimeo.com/209573933


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

your tank is stunning! and I must say the stocking choices you made are amazing, they all perfectly go along with your scape! also great photos  
Nate


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Corys look to cute resting on the buce leafs.


IMG_9091 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9090 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9089 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## RWaters (Nov 12, 2003)

Absolutely beautiful! Your pictures are so crisp! BTW, how was your trip to the canyon? :smile2:


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

RWaters said:


> Absolutely beautiful! Your pictures are so crisp! BTW, how was your trip to the canyon? :smile2:


Thanks  my whole trip to America was great, the grand canyon was amazing but my highlight was Yosemite National Park, that was is jaw dropping!


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Updated FTS. Everyone seems happy, plants are going well after adding co2, buce has really picked up and looks a bit more colourful. Removed some of the Bolbitis at the back as I want to use in in my 60p

IMG_9112 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

You are the reason I got CPD's lol


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

BettaBettas said:


> You are the reason I got CPD's lol


How are you liking them? They are very shy, lots of ferns to hide in at the back of my tank, they spend most of their time back there but come out for food and the odd scavenge around the marimo balls


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## GMYukonon24s (May 3, 2009)

Those are some beautiful pictures you took thanks for sharing.


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## sushisnake (Feb 4, 2012)

Gorgeous tank! And really inspiring - I've subscribed- thank you for sharing it. Which buce did you use?


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## BettaBettas (Aug 21, 2016)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> How are you liking them? They are very shy, lots of ferns to hide in at the back of my tank, they spend most of their time back there but come out for food and the odd scavenge around the marimo balls


 mine are babys so that may change the personality, but they are always out which is strange to me because like you, people say they are super shy. Havent found that yet lol, sometimes I catch like 2 of them hiding in the "bushes" or something which im fine with. But overall they are an epic fish to me.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

sushisnake said:


> Gorgeous tank! And really inspiring - I've subscribed- thank you for sharing it. Which buce did you use?


Thanks for the kind comments guys, I am not 100% sure what Buce species are in this tank, I think the buce on the wood to the left are bucephalandra kedagang or brownie brown, they all look very similar especially without co2, these buce plants are starting to colour up nicely since adding co2, the buce bottom right I and not sure, have added a few other tiny pieces of buce over the weekend, will try take an updated photo this week.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

IMG_9126 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## Cmeister (Jul 5, 2009)

How would you feel about posting a video of your tank to some soft music or something?


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## sfshrimp (May 24, 2016)

What photo body are you using? Looks good for pancake.



doylecolmdoyle said:


> Few more photos
> 
> IMG_8217 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr
> 
> ...


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Cmeister said:


> How would you feel about posting a video of your tank to some soft music or something?


I would like to try my hand at taking a nice video, hopefully will do soon.



sfshrimp said:


> What photo body are you using? Looks good for pancake.


using a Canon 7d, the 24mm pancake lens in nice, I use it for all my full tank shots, lately I have been using a 100mm macro for the close up fish shots


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## Alf2Frankie (Mar 29, 2017)

Do you ever rotate the marimo's, or are they just fine leaving them how they are? I think they look like mini rolling hills, very epic.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Alf2Frankie said:


> Do you ever rotate the marimo's, or are they just fine leaving them how they are? I think they look like mini rolling hills, very epic.


They should be rotated, I rarely do tho, have found they dont really rot or die on the side that doesn't get light, they just dont grow as fluffy on that side, tho I would recommend rotating them once a month.


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## awesometim1 (Oct 31, 2013)

Just found this tank journal and loving it. I LOVE the way the Marino balls look in the front. Must be super for the shrimp and really fills out the scape. I guess Marino balls can be good for low tech scapes to fill out the foreground. 


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## NickAu (Feb 24, 2017)

Your shrimp will love to graze on the Marimo moss balls.

In fact true Marimo moss balls are not moss, they are algae. 


> Aegagropila linnaei, known as Marimo (毬藻?, literally "ball seaweed") in Japanese and as Cladophora ball, Lake ball, Mossimo or Moss Balls in English, is a species of filamentous green algae (Chlorophyta) found mostly in a number of lakes in the northern hemisphere. A marimo is a rare growth form of the species where the algae grow into large green balls with a velvety appearance. Colonies of such balls are known to form in Iceland, Scotland, Japan, Estonia and, in 2014, Australia.[1]
> 
> 
> The rapidly declining population of lake balls in Mývatn is of special concern, but for unknown reason some of the main patches have all but vanished in recent years. At Lake Akan a great effort is spent on the conservation of the lake balls. This includes an annual three-day marimo festival in which the Ainu people, the indigenous people of Hokkaidō, play an important part. Because of their appealing appearance the lake balls also serve as a medium for environmental education. They bear a certain likeness to the Earth in being green and round and in their need to rotate in order to receive light on all sides. In Japan the marimo has been a protected species since as early as 1920, defined as a natural treasure. Small balls sold as souvenirs are hand rolled from free-floating filaments. The marimo was given a status of protected species in Iceland in 2006. Both Lake Mývatn and Lake Akan are protected, the former as a nature reserve, the latter as a national park.
> ...


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

NickAu said:


> Your shrimp will love to graze on the Marimo moss balls.
> 
> In fact true Marimo moss balls are not moss, they are algae.
> 
> https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marimo


Yes, the scientific name is Cladophora and is a form of algae, little tuffs will form on other hardscape, looks kind if like green fluffy BBA, but grows much slower and is not to much of a problem to clean off, personally I just let the marimos do there thing. 

From all observations my shrimp (common cherries and Darwin Algae Eating shrimp) dont actually eat the marimo balls, they do like to rummage for left over fish food in the marimos


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Feeding time! 

IMG_9173 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Pics look good. The 24mm is just a fantastic lens considering size and price. Even the fish shots look good, looks like you didn't use OCF either.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> Pics look good. The 24mm is just a fantastic lens considering size and price. Even the fish shots look good, looks like you didn't use OCF either.


Thanks, yah no flash, tho with some of the 100mm macro shots i have used a speedlight flash attached to the camera, I find its hard / impossible to get really close macro shots in focus without a flash.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Thanks, yah no flash, tho with some of the 100mm macro shots i have used a speedlight flash attached to the camera, I find its hard / impossible to get really close macro shots in focus without a flash.


I looked at some of your shots of the rasboras on flickr, very nice. Just curious, how did you setup the flash. Was it on camera or off from above?


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> I looked at some of your shots of the rasboras on flickr, very nice. Just curious, how did you setup the flash. Was it on camera or off from above?


Thanks, the flash was on the camera yet to try shoot with the flash off the camera, need to get a mount or something for the flash.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Thanks, the flash was on the camera yet to try shoot with the flash off the camera, need to get a mount or something for the flash.


Did you diffuse it? With the 100mm you had to be a pretty good distance away probably a foot. Did you aim into the glass?


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> Did you diffuse it? With the 100mm you had to be a pretty good distance away probably a foot. Did you aim into the glass?


No Diffuser, cant recall if the flash was aimed directly forward or tilted up a bit, I guess because the tank that had the Rasboras was so shallow (25cm) the flash in effect would sit above the glass, tho I have shot macro in the same way with this 30cm cube, again perhaps the on camera flash sits above the glass, so I dont get to much reflection, I would like to try an off camera setup!


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## awesometim1 (Oct 31, 2013)

How is your experience keeping CPDs with cherry shrimp? I've read a lot of mixed reviews. 


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

awesometim1 said:


> How is your experience keeping CPDs with cherry shrimp? I've read a lot of mixed reviews.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


They may eat the shrimplets, not to sure, they probably do, still have a lot of shrimp in this tank tho.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> No Diffuser, cant recall if the flash was aimed directly forward or tilted up a bit, I guess because the tank that had the Rasboras was so shallow (25cm) the flash in effect would sit above the glass, tho I have shot macro in the same way with this 30cm cube, again perhaps the on camera flash sits above the glass, so I dont get to much reflection, I would like to try an off camera setup!


O.K thanks, I've never had any luck taking fish pics with the speedlite on the camera.


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## awesometim1 (Oct 31, 2013)

You're the reason I'm considering CPDs lol. The tank is perfect right now. Must be so fun watching those little fish swim around!!!

I have another question:
Do these fish bother shrimp in any way? 

I'm concerned because most of my tank is going to be hc carpet and I want to see the shrimp out and about on there...


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

awesometim1 said:


> You're the reason I'm considering CPDs lol. The tank is perfect right now. Must be so fun watching those little fish swim around!!!
> 
> I have another question:
> Do these fish bother shrimp in any way?
> ...


Ive never noticed the fish going after the shrimp but they probably eat any shrimplets / baby shrimp, they are pretty shy fish in general but over time have became more confident, still they spend most of the time at the back in the java ferns


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## awesometim1 (Oct 31, 2013)

Ok thanks for your response! Keep up the good work !


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## bereninga (Mar 18, 2006)

Awesome photo work! I haven't tried to use flash on my camera for macro shots since I don't have an off-camera setup. But you made a pretty good common sense point w/ a shallow tank (I also have a 12" cube): it's so shallow that the flash ends up above the glass. I always just assumed that there would be a reflection.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Jungle cube is going well, have not needed to touch any of the plants for months now, just enjoy looking at the life inside

IMG_9608 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## awesometim1 (Oct 31, 2013)

Looks great!!


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Took some photos today, the Male (more colourful?) CPDs didnt really want to come out, the big females where out and about with the pigmy corys buzzing around as usual. 


IMG_9884 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9883 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9869 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9863 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9859 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9858 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9857 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9853 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9839 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9832 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9830 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9818 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9817 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


IMG_9893 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

No real changes here, ultimate low maintenance, never trimmed any plants in the tank, tho I should thin the frogbit out, its getting a little dark in the tank.

IMG_0083 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Here is a quick video I shot this evening. 

https://vimeo.com/234126319


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## The Dude1 (Jun 17, 2016)

This is gorgeous! Amazing progression. That scape is just perfection.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

The Dude1 said:


> This is gorgeous! Amazing progression. That scape is just perfection.


Thanks dude  it has been very low maintenance and one of my favourite tanks to look at.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

Looks good! Slow growers with co2 can be lush too.

It almost looks like the moss balls are spreading out or is that just the photo Would be cool if they lost their ball shape and formed a carpet.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> Looks good! Slow growers with co2 can be lush too.
> 
> It almost looks like the moss balls are spreading out or is that just the photo Would be cool if they lost their ball shape and formed a carpet.


Cheers, the moss balls have flatten out a bit do appear less defined and round, they grow super slow but the new growth is a bit more fuzzy and not as compact.


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## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Cheers, the moss balls have flatten out a bit do appear less defined and round, they grow super slow but the new growth is a bit more fuzzy and not as compact.


I have some in my 1.5G and I too noticed the fuzzy growth. At first I thought it was algae. I guess if you keep the tank up long enough (maybe 5-10 years) you might end up with a flat Marimo Moss carpet.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

houseofcards said:


> I have some in my 1.5G and I too noticed the fuzzy growth. At first I thought it was algae. I guess if you keep the tank up long enough (maybe 5-10 years) you might end up with a flat Marimo Moss carpet.


Yes would take for ever! I did have a giant marimo ball, maybe 8cm or more across. I put it in my outdoor tank in direct sunlight and it got infested with algae, in the end I thru it out. Must have been so old I felt bad but it was starting to split up and was infested with hair algae.


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## giwan (Sep 11, 2017)

wow, the development of this tank is absolutely amazing! 
what kind of bucephalandra is that on the wood, is it the "broad wavy"?


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

giwan said:


> wow, the development of this tank is absolutely amazing!
> what kind of bucephalandra is that on the wood, is it the "broad wavy"?


Gday, I am not sure what species of buce they are, to me looks to be 3 or 4 difference species they where purchased from a local aquascaper who didnt know what species they are, some are a nice purple blue and some are green and some a bit more brown.


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## giwan (Sep 11, 2017)

doylecolmdoyle said:


> Gday, I am not sure what species of buce they are, to me looks to be 3 or 4 difference species they where purchased from a local aquascaper who didnt know what species they are, some are a nice purple blue and some are green and some a bit more brown.


haha, yeah that's bucephalandra. even the same species can have different colors depending on their location in the tank.
wondrous plants.


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Tank has become a bit to wild, will harvest some of the buce etc for my planned blackwater bookshelf tank.


IMG_0881 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Jungle is humming along, need to be thinned out a bit, pretty much never see the CPDs any more, they just stay at the back in the Java Fern, the Dwarf Corys are fun to watch and always active.


IMG_1195 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## finfan (Jun 16, 2008)

Dude... your tank is awesome... read through the entire journal. Also, the perfect fish for the tank and the fish photography is stunning. #inspired


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Gave the jungle a bit of a clean up, pinched off some Java Fern leaves and opened up the front to a bit of light, not bad for a tank that has never been trimmed / thinned out.


IMG_1216 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

The activity of the Pygmy corydoras really caught my eye this evening so I decided to shoot a quick video, the Celestial pearl danios mainly hide these days but you catch the odd glimpse of them.

https://vimeo.com/255752795


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Cleaned the filter in the first time in awhile... tank actually has flow again! Decided to remove the fine filter floss as it was slowing the flow to much. Need vac the moss ball, they have collected so much junk along the glass.


IMG_1394 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Moved some embers into this tank, i like them in the cube! 

IMG_1870 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

bit of a institute photo, the tank is so dark now you can hardly see in it with the light on 

IMG_2001 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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## doylecolmdoyle (Sep 22, 2015)

Added two more pigmy corys today, a local fish store had a few they looked so sad in the holding tank they had them in so I decided to rescue them, i may go back for the rest of them, i forgot how tiny young pigmy corys are, the existing pigmys I have are almost double the size, think I have 6 or 7 in here now, not that you would know/spot them, really need to thin out the java fern, this photo was taken with 3200 ISO and I had to boost the shadows a heap. The tank is very dark but I dont mind, i think it looks cool! 

IMG_2351 by Colm Doyle, on Flickr


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