Bucephalandra Puddle - nano cube

[Makeila]

I haven't been in the hobby very long, but bucephalandra has become my favorite plant since starting. I had a tiny 1 gallon/3.9 liter cube lying around, so I decided to put it to good use

I also built a DIY industrial looking lamp and stand to go with it.
Note - I have already switched the T and coupler to hide the wiring.

Light: DIY using Soraa high CRI 5000K LED (not sure of PAR rating, so using a dimmer for now)
Substrate: White sand
Fertilizer: NIlocg Thrive
Hardscape: Red okho/dragonstone and manzanita twigs
CO2: DIY citric acid and baking soda - approx 1 bubble/3 seconds, drop checker yellow

There is a great California-based online aquascaping store called Buceplant.com here in the states, and I ordered all of the buce from them.


Planted:

I have 7 varieties of buce in here:
Kedagang round
Brownie brown
Brownie phantom
Lamandau mini purple
Pink biblis
Purple adonis
Purple blue

Right now my goal as this scape develops is to get a greater variation in leaf color. I have DIY CO2 and EI liquid ferts, but no circulation, so we'll see how it goes. If anyone has tips or experience with that it would be greatly appreciated!

Setup video:

 

[Edvet]

Which water are you using in the dropchecker?

 

[Makeila]

Which water are you using in the dropchecker?

The manufacturer says it's a 4dkh solution - not sure if I trust it completely, but from using it in previous tanks, it seems to be decently accurate

 

[Danny]

I really like this, but without any circulation you won't be able to actually spread the co2 or ferts so not much point using it.

Because of the size you would be better with full water changes every day or two I think.

 

[Makeila]

I really like this, but without any circulation you won't be able to actually spread the co2 or ferts so not much point using it.

Because of the size you would be better with full water changes every day or two I think.

Thank you! That's what I'm most worried about. Because the tank is so small, would the CO2 diffuse through the water enough to reach each side of the tank?
And by water changes, do you mean the purpose is to expose them to atmospheric CO2?

 

[tam]

Very nice! I like that outside the tank looks as good as the tank itself. Particularly with a little tank, they can easily get lost in the room, but that's definitely going to be a feature.

Maybe add your fertiliser to your water change water and give it a good mix first, then it's already distributed evenly and you don't have to worry about in tank mixing.

I don't know about about CO2 diffusion - I guess you could experiment with your drop checked position.

 

[doylecolmdoyle]

Your drop checker is a very weird colour, interested to see how this one goes!

 

[Edvet]

expose them to atmospheric CO2?

That;'s why i suggested a daily full waterchange too, keep them in the air for say 10 minutes, preferably before lights on.

 

[zozo]

Neat and lovely setup, well done! Looks realy great.

I noticed lamps made from this material for sale on Ebay and other sites. It also inspired me to make something like this as well but never got to it.

Realy funny detail is they integrated a small turn switch and hooked it to the valve shaft to switch it on and off.

Yet not found out what type of turn switch they used for it. But i'll find it one day i bet they must be around as spare part somewhere.

To give you some ideas of whats possible and a lot safer to make and safer to handle too, look for DC 12 volt LED lamps. They have to same performance but are easier and safer to drive. The AC110 or AC220 volt versions all have and internal driver/transformer converting AC110 to x DC voltage depending on what the led chip is designed for. And as you already say in the VID, sharp edged iron and AC 110 volt is not realy a combination to be careless with.. And since you obviously are already way ahead of many with DIY than the next step, converting something like this into DC 12 volt is peanuts and realy fun. It also opens up a few more options to play with. those low power parts are usualy also less bulky and much smaller and easier to build in..

For example most DC 12 volt driven LED can be dimmed with a PWM controller.
https://www.banggood.com/12V-24V-Pu...eed-Switch-Controller-Regulator-p-916751.html

Next thing is, since you are running the light on a DC 12 volt power supply.. There are also DC 12 volt mini water pumps which perform pretty good for their size, also for external use and not expensive at all. This could inspire you to DIY a small external filter with 10mm tube.
https://www.ebay.com/itm/Ultra-quie...364367?hash=item2cc0551c8f:g:otUAAOSwZKBZMXnO
If you have this 2 watt extra on the DC 12 volt PSU driving the light, than you can hook the pump to it as well.

I once made one with this pump for a very small 10 litre tank and used 50mm PVC tube, reducers, 8mm hose connectors and a 50mm PVC coupling to open it up to put in the filter sponge. It's the grey tube one in the picture bellow and it worked like a charme, a simple mini DIY canister filter.

Good luck and keep on DIYing and Scaping..