2.7 litre Pico challenge

[James Marshall]

Hi Folks

A while ago I bought a couple of 6 inch clear glass cubes, sold as vases in my local florists. I thought they would make ideal homes for Pico scapes, and now with the aid of a couple of cheap Argos desk lamps it’s time to set them up.
I took on scaping duties for one of the cubes, and the other I offered to my girlfriend Jenny, who has recently been threatening to try her hand. She happily accepted and challenged me to a duel.
I’ve no idea if the scapes will be a success, as the tanks are only 2.7 litres, and we will not be using filters or CO2. Instead we will have to rely on sufficient lighting, liquid carbon, ADA substrate and ferts, and an 80% water change each day
Here are some specs and photos of initial hardscapes.

Tank: 15 x 15 x 12 cm
Volume: 2.7 litres
Lighting: 20W desk lamp for 6 hrs a day
Substrate: ADA aquasoil amazonia powder
Background: frosted plastic backing
Liquid carbon and ADA ferts system
No Filter
No CO2

My scape is on the Left, Jenny's is on the right

The tanks in place on the kitchen worktop.

Cheers,
James

 

[french tony]

They both look excellent!
I'm looking forward to see what your choice of plants will be. I'm guessing some carefully arranged mosses like Xmas moss could be interesting?
I'm gonna keep an eye on this thread!

 

[hydrophyte]

What a fun project. I like that those vases are square and not round like most similar items that I have seen in florist shops.

 

[Superman]

Both look really good.
Looking forward to seeing them planted

 

[viktorlantos]

James, these looks really good. i like the shape of the vase but they both looks good.
will be intresting to see how this goes. with the amazonia don't you think there will be too much ammonia at the begining?
i mean there are a risk that the tank will have algae at the first few weeks without filtration.

 

[James Marshall]

Cheers Guys, thanks for your comments.

Viktor- I am also concerned about the ammonia levels in the initial stages.and I will start out with 2 large water changes per day. If this does not work then I will hang bags of zeolite in the tanks, although i don't know how effective this will be with no circualtion.

Cheers.
James

 

[Superman]

One way to combat the initial ammonia leeching would be to perform a blackout until the ammonia spike has gone? Just keep performing daily water changes and covering up. I would of thought that with no filtration this spike could be present for some time.

 

[James Marshall]

Thanks Clark, blacking out the tanks may be the only solution to algae problems in this situation. Though as you say the ammonia spike could last some time so I don't know if the plants will survive such a long blackout.

We are going to have to plant the tanks before this weekend, as the plants are coming from another tank which is being broken down then. Otherwise I would have filled and water changed them daily for a couple of weeks before adding plants.

Has anyone ever tried liquid ammonia removers?

Cheers'
James

 

[amy4342]

Wow, these are looking lush! I wonder if something like this http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... K:MEWAX:IT, would help with circulation? I've bought one for a bowl I'm setting up, and I'm going to put it in a small black box with a sponge in front of it, a DIY internal filter. Sad eh!

 

[andyh]

wicked! off too florists tomorrow!

 

[James Marshall]

Cheers folks, glad you like them.

Amy- that's a fantastic idea, i've actually used these when building model boats as a child, i never thoght of using one in an aquarium. If i remember rightly they kick out a massive flow for their size, so i would run it well below the recommended voltage. Please let me know if it works, as i'm a big fan of DIY kit.

Andy- you may also want to pop into Argos, the desk lamp i got there was only £7 and it works a treat

Cheers,
James

 

[James Marshall]

Well, the tanks are planted now, it did not take too long to plant them, although it was a bit fiddley working in such a small space. The tanks were filled via an airline hose and did not cloud at all during the process. I was going to use the newspaper method, but i feared my hardscape may not take the weight .
The plants used were:
In Jenny's tank: HC and Staurogyne Sp.
In my tank: HC, Staurogyne Sp and Riccia.
Due to their tiny size it was possible to plant the HC very densely, which I hope will help combat algae to some extent.

Here are some photos, taken a couple of hours after planting.

My Tank

Jenny's Tank

Jenny seems really pleased with her scape, as this is her first attempt. I do hope the tanks survive the ammonia spike that the aquasoil will inevitably cause.

Cheers,
James

 

[Steve Smith]

Looks great James! They look bigger than they actually are!

 

[aaronnorth]

looks great, and you are brave using a open sand foreground too

 

[Themuleous]

Love the tanks, for my comp tank I think I'll run an air pump into the tank to get at least some water movement.

Sam

 

[LondonDragon]

Love the picos would be interested to see how these develop and how much work you have to put into it to keep them in top shape, keep us posted

 

[AdAndrews]

Planting looks awesome, dont you think your argos lamp will be a bit overkill, surely its way too much lighting for a little cube. :?:

 

[James Marshall]

Looks great James! They look bigger than they actually are!

Thank you Steve, creating a good sense of scale is always my primary goal.

looks great, and you are brave using a open sand foreground too

Cheers Aaron, true it's a bold move to use the sand, but if i planted throughout i feared i would lose the 2 small rocks under the plants.

Love the tanks, for my comp tank I think I'll run an air pump into the tank to get at least some water movement.

Sam

Thanks Sam, i'm very much considering water movement myself at the mo, I may make something out of the tail rotor from a miniature RC helicopter.

Love the picos would be interested to see how these develop and how much work you have to put into it to keep them in top shape, keep us posted

Cheers Paulo, i think they're going to be quite labour intensive. Water changes take ages, as i have to syphon the water through an airline hose, and i do two 80% changes a day.

Planting looks awesome, dont you think your argos lamp will be a bit overkill, surely its way too much lighting for a little cube. :?:

Thanks Ad, yes i do think lighting is overkill, but that's kinda my thing . On my 20 litre tank i use 48W of T5 lighting 2.5 inches from the water surface.

Cheers,
James

 

[AdAndrews]

alrighty, see what i can find
thanks
Adam

 

[LondonDragon]

Cheers Paulo, i think they're going to be quite labour intensive. Water changes take ages, as i have to syphon the water through an airline hose, and i do two 80% changes a day.