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Ian's nano cube

Hey great cube Ian, I got permission for my kitchen cube at the weekend, and immediately ran out and bought one before she changed her mind!

At risk of sounding like a numpty, I have followed your thread since the beginning, and haven't seen any mention of heaters??

Does this mean that you dont need it for your shrimp, or you've got one and I did'nt notice!

Cheers,

J.
 
I don't want to appear like a numpty either (though I usually do, LOL). But are vivarium heater pads any use for small nano's like this?
 
@ jalexst, thanks for the comment. A for the heater, there isn't one. Most shrimp do great at lower temps. This tank stays around 23 degrees...it's a warm kitchen. They are already reproducing, as you can see from the vid. CRS do well also at this temp, so IME theres no need for a heater.

@ Chris, to be completely honest, i'm not sure. I have no experience with them.
 
yeah the vid is great! What temperature can they go down to? ... there's no way my kitchen is 23 degrees, not all the time anyway,

Cheers...
 
you'd be surprised at what the temp water will stay at. I water change with tepid water (around 23-24 degrees), and it tends to stay at that. The literature says that CRS will do at 20 degrees and cherries will be fine at 16 degrees.
 
Thanks Ian,

When I finally set up guess I will monitor the temp for a while before I add...

It will make such a difference if I can get away without having a heater in such a small tank.
 
One more thing..

How do you find your LED light? I am in process of choosing the lighting for my nano and I came accross an article on TGM website saying that they don't rate LEDs.

Here if you want to read... http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/ar ... -led-light

I wondered how you were getting on with yours since your scape looks great so far...

Cheers mate.

J.
 
The LED is growing Glosso, HM, Riccia and E Tennilus. Thats all i'm bothered about. I'm not sure what 'stringent' checks TGM do??? i wonder if anyone else knows?? I wonder how scientific they are as well?? We know that any light can grow a plant. We know George Farmer uses TMC LED plates and grows plants fine. I know TMG are a sponsor of this forum, so don't want to say anything against them, but the evidence doesn't appear to be to scientific, it's more anecdotal. The problem with this kind of evidence is, that you can either believe them or me as we are both using anecdotal evidence.

I love the LED lighting, it add a diffent angle to the tank. It's great watching the shimmer as well.
 
ianho said:
The LED is growing Glosso, HM, Riccia and E Tennilus. Thats all i'm bothered about. I'm not sure what 'stringent' checks TGM do??? i wonder if anyone else knows?? I wonder how scientific they are as well?? We know that any light can grow a plant. We know George Farmer uses TMC LED plates and grows plants fine. I know TMG are a sponsor of this forum, so don't want to say anything against them, but the evidence doesn't appear to be to scientific, it's more anecdotal. The problem with this kind of evidence is, that you can either believe them or me as we are both using anecdotal evidence.

I love the LED lighting, it add a diffent angle to the tank. It's great watching the shimmer as well.
Click to expand...

Lol, Ian, your results speak for themselves. Having said that, I think TGM want to ensure that they remain at a certain level within the industry rather than becoming "just another retailer". They are certainly achieving that at the moment. LED's are a bit of a minefield, and there is no doubt a lot of the cheap stuff out of China has no great longevity (my LFS guy bought some to see what they were like and had a 90% failure rate within 6 weeks). TMC stuff seems to be more than ok though. And their customer service is excellent in my experience. It boils down to what works at whatever budget you can afford ultimately. I would LOVE an ADA Mini M with the proper lights. But the light costs more than my tank and filter put together. (Sigh.....)
 
Nice one Ian, I think you're right they're making sure they got the best of the best I suppose... which is great!

Thing is we are all taking advice from eachother as we all gain more experience of our hobby. That is why I spend so much time on this forum, to soak it all up! :geek: unfortunately in trying to learn so much to make sure I spend wisely, there is still an element of trial and error: got to bite the bullet and buy something, based on experience of others, and see what happens for me. But then I learn that way too 8)

Anyway I digress, Your tank looks great and certainly has inspired me!

think I'll give the LEDs a bash.

Nice one :thumbup:
 
unfortunately in trying to learn so much to make sure I spend wisely, there is still an element of trial and error: got to bite the bullet and buy something, based on experience of others, and see what happens for me. But then I learn that way too
Click to expand...

I totally agree, the price of the TMC LED, it the same as the Arcpods/superfish lighting systems. I love LED lighting and would love to give it a go over my main tank. The LFS tank i did is also using the TMC led freshwater strips and the plants are going great guns in there. I sure you'll love the LED J, they look really neat as well.

and thanks for the compliment.
 
ianho said:
sorry it's a little late...it's been crazy at work.

here's a short vid (view in 720p) of the different lights. The first is the TMC aqua ray 200 (9000K), the second is the arcpod with it's standard pink bulb, and the third is a household bulb in the Arcpod (2700k)



the standard bulb is the worst for me...
Click to expand...


The differences are amazing !!! I wanna get some of those tiles.... Out of interest Ian, would they be worth adding to a larger tank to increase lighting (like my 175L that currently has 2x24w T5's ?) or would they not punch the light down far enough ? I love the shimmering effect that LED's give either way and think I will put something on the tank. But I am contemplating doing a nano. (Talk about run before you can walk, lol)
 
was clearing out the cupboard this morning and found this...

6846985253_a1d3194774.jpg
doaqua1 by Ian Holdich, on Flickr

I bought it a year or 2 back, and never used it. I had a thought...

so nipped to my LFS and bought this!

6846986507_2500dcea97.jpg
doaqua2 by Ian Holdich, on Flickr

we are now proper high tech!
 
ianho said:
was clearing out the cupboard this morning and found this...

6846985253_a1d3194774.jpg
doaqua1 by Ian Holdich, on Flickr

I bought it a year or 2 back, and never used it. I had a thought...

so nipped to my LFS and bought this!

6846986507_2500dcea97.jpg
doaqua2 by Ian Holdich, on Flickr

we are now proper high tech!
Click to expand...


Ohh check you out !! MR Lah de dah with all your posh stuff hehe. Not that you bloomin need that, the tank is awesome regardless. Do you need a regulator with those baby bottles still ? Im picking yes.
 
@ Chris, yes you do need a reg for it and you get a little reg in the set.

@ Tom, thanks for the offer, but i got one with the little cylinders. It's a neat little set.
 
just took a quick snap shot of the tank tonight...it's getting really neglected at the moment. My new job is taking up a lot of time at the moment...don't mention implementation within the NHS.

The water hasn't been changed for 2 weeks, it has been topped off. There is approx 50 shrimp in there at the moment, that most likely why it's stayed clean. The riccia needs trimming, the HM needs trimming.

6929223077_f93664577c.jpg
snap shot by Ian Holdich, on Flickr
 
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