Starting a new cube tank using roots (so far manzanita, bogwood, and redmoor that I had lying around) and Lava rock. Tank is a 60l Dennerle cube.
Substrate is Nutribasis 6in1, then Dennerle Scaper's soil, topped with Unipac Samoa fine sand and small Dennerle Yukon pebbles. (Probably will add more pebbles and beech leaves etc. for final layout).
I went quite far down the path of setting up a nano reef in this tank (check eBay now if you want a bargain on an AI Prime light!) but I decided that for now I can't afford the time, money, and stress it would require (from what I can tell a nano reef is probably less work than a high-light high-tech planted tank, but with much less room for mistakes). For the moment I'm holding on to the AC70 filter and Jebao SW-2 I bought for making a reef/macroalgae tank. The Jebao may be overkill but it's very adjustable and I wonder if it might be good for moss growing. With it flowing over porous lava rock perhaps I'll get similar "live" rock benefits in terms of filtration as on a saltwater tank. Thinking of planting emergent plants in pots in the AC70 filter box (the heater is in there too).
At the moment I'm planning Riccardia, Fissidens, Bolbitis, Buces, and maybe Blyxa for this one. Lighting will hopefully be the new Kessil A80, which I've ordered with the free mounting bracket on offer currently from sponsor Aqua Essentials (that offer was what made my mind up to get on with the tank and shelve the saltwater plans).
Here's how the 30l Roots and Lava V1 ended up. I was quite happy with the look, but at the small size it was quite unstable for fish (hence none in the photo), and I think pure London tapwater was too hard for the mosses and Bolbitis to really thrive. This time I will be using 2/3 RO and 1/3 London tap, which should help but I think may mean I have to give more careful thought to fertiliser.
Substrate is Nutribasis 6in1, then Dennerle Scaper's soil, topped with Unipac Samoa fine sand and small Dennerle Yukon pebbles. (Probably will add more pebbles and beech leaves etc. for final layout).
I went quite far down the path of setting up a nano reef in this tank (check eBay now if you want a bargain on an AI Prime light!) but I decided that for now I can't afford the time, money, and stress it would require (from what I can tell a nano reef is probably less work than a high-light high-tech planted tank, but with much less room for mistakes). For the moment I'm holding on to the AC70 filter and Jebao SW-2 I bought for making a reef/macroalgae tank. The Jebao may be overkill but it's very adjustable and I wonder if it might be good for moss growing. With it flowing over porous lava rock perhaps I'll get similar "live" rock benefits in terms of filtration as on a saltwater tank. Thinking of planting emergent plants in pots in the AC70 filter box (the heater is in there too).
At the moment I'm planning Riccardia, Fissidens, Bolbitis, Buces, and maybe Blyxa for this one. Lighting will hopefully be the new Kessil A80, which I've ordered with the free mounting bracket on offer currently from sponsor Aqua Essentials (that offer was what made my mind up to get on with the tank and shelve the saltwater plans).
Here's how the 30l Roots and Lava V1 ended up. I was quite happy with the look, but at the small size it was quite unstable for fish (hence none in the photo), and I think pure London tapwater was too hard for the mosses and Bolbitis to really thrive. This time I will be using 2/3 RO and 1/3 London tap, which should help but I think may mean I have to give more careful thought to fertiliser.
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