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Seven Moss Cube
- Thread starter Joel S
- Start date
I recently moved house and I knew that I'd miss the view out over tree-tops that I had in my last home. (even though now I do have access to a lovely garden round the back).
I've kept planted aquariums on and off for the last 18 years or so (off more than on in the recent past). Some more high-tech than others. Here are a few that I've found old photos of:
60cm, yeast and sugar CO2, flourescent light. Can't remember much more. 2003?
45cm, yeast and sugar CO2, Halogen light? 2003
45cm, pressurised CO2 (rented from pub supplier), modified Pod and Ikea lamps (3x 11w bulbs). 2008-ish
Close up from that stage.
Same 45cm tank about a year or more later. CO2 very, very low dose. Glass top fitted. Left entirely alone for months on end..
And this is my current 30cm bow fronted cube, 10 or 11 days after planting (filter running for a little before then). I planned to make it much more slow-growing and low tech, but I got carried away with what was available at London suppliers and on Ebay
Now that I've come down with a cold or summat or other, and have otherwise gone slow, it seems to be the right time to put a journal together…
I've kept planted aquariums on and off for the last 18 years or so (off more than on in the recent past). Some more high-tech than others. Here are a few that I've found old photos of:
60cm, yeast and sugar CO2, flourescent light. Can't remember much more. 2003?
45cm, yeast and sugar CO2, Halogen light? 2003
45cm, pressurised CO2 (rented from pub supplier), modified Pod and Ikea lamps (3x 11w bulbs). 2008-ish
Close up from that stage.
Same 45cm tank about a year or more later. CO2 very, very low dose. Glass top fitted. Left entirely alone for months on end..
And this is my current 30cm bow fronted cube, 10 or 11 days after planting (filter running for a little before then). I planned to make it much more slow-growing and low tech, but I got carried away with what was available at London suppliers and on Ebay
Now that I've come down with a cold or summat or other, and have otherwise gone slow, it seems to be the right time to put a journal together…
The tank is an AquaStart 320, which I bought because the local shop in Walthamstow had them at a very reasonable price and I could see how my existing Eden 501 filter and small heater would fit well with it.
Here it is about three weeks ago, running the filter in with a few bunch plants and rocks tied with moss (standard type java moss of whatever kind it was they had grown themselves at the LFS). At that point I was waiting for an order from The Green Machine.
Here it is about three weeks ago, running the filter in with a few bunch plants and rocks tied with moss (standard type java moss of whatever kind it was they had grown themselves at the LFS). At that point I was waiting for an order from The Green Machine.
A week or so later my Green Machine order of ADA Amazonia powder, gravel, a piece of Redmoor root, and mosses arrived. I tied the root with Taxiphylum Barbieri, Taxiphylum Barbieri Flame, Christmas moss, and the generic Java moss, using black nylon thread.
a great selection of lovely tanks there joel, most look bigger than they are.
very well done and look forward to seeing the new one grow in.
very well done and look forward to seeing the new one grow in.
Really nice tanks there Joel.
All with yeast co2 too which is more impressive.
The latest tank looks really nice, look forward to following your journal.
Cheerio,
Ady.
All with yeast co2 too which is more impressive.
The latest tank looks really nice, look forward to following your journal.
Cheerio,
Ady.
Thanks Iain and Ady,
The early ones I made in Cornwall in days when nobody knew who Takashi Amano was and CO2 injection was more like a myth. This current one is setup using a Sodastream bottle and an adaptor to fit it to the regulator and solenoid that I bought a few years ago. When I first fitted it to the Sodastream I was blasé and wasted probably half a tank by not fitting it carefully enough. Now it seems to be working fine, though the adaptor is aluminium and the thread doesn't seem like it'll last forever.
More plants from Aquatic Design Centre in Great Portland St central London, about 10 days ago.
The early ones I made in Cornwall in days when nobody knew who Takashi Amano was and CO2 injection was more like a myth. This current one is setup using a Sodastream bottle and an adaptor to fit it to the regulator and solenoid that I bought a few years ago. When I first fitted it to the Sodastream I was blasé and wasted probably half a tank by not fitting it carefully enough. Now it seems to be working fine, though the adaptor is aluminium and the thread doesn't seem like it'll last forever.
More plants from Aquatic Design Centre in Great Portland St central London, about 10 days ago.
The experimental side-project I mentioned:
Moss (a big bag of what was being called Christmas moss at Wholesale tropicals in Bethnal Green) and plants tied to a ball of stones, clay, and Sphagnum moss. (The clay is taken from what Green Machine uses as substrate balls for Wabi Kusa, but when it arrived I had been reading that ADA Wabi Kusa is more like just a weighted ball of Sphagnum, so I used some of the clay under the Amazonia in the 30cm and just a little bit with the stones in this.
The plan is to just leave this to see how it goes. I like the idea of letting the plants do their thing in the Wabi Kusa stye, but submersed rather than emersed.
A few days later. The light is an Ikea clip on LED. There are a lot of things that could go wrong here I know, but currently it looks more natural than the 30cm cube!
Moss (a big bag of what was being called Christmas moss at Wholesale tropicals in Bethnal Green) and plants tied to a ball of stones, clay, and Sphagnum moss. (The clay is taken from what Green Machine uses as substrate balls for Wabi Kusa, but when it arrived I had been reading that ADA Wabi Kusa is more like just a weighted ball of Sphagnum, so I used some of the clay under the Amazonia in the 30cm and just a little bit with the stones in this.
The plan is to just leave this to see how it goes. I like the idea of letting the plants do their thing in the Wabi Kusa stye, but submersed rather than emersed.
A few days later. The light is an Ikea clip on LED. There are a lot of things that could go wrong here I know, but currently it looks more natural than the 30cm cube!
30cm about 11 days after planting. The lighting is an 11w daylight bulb from BLT direct, plus a 9w daylight in a Pod that I had lying around, and at the back 48 daylight LEDs and 24 blue ones. The LEDs are the waterproof type used on the bottom of cars and available on ebay for next to nothing. They aren't too bright but I'm hoping they will help get some more light at the back, where the design of the hood blocks the main light.
Fauna is now Red Cherry shrimp (some large ones and some very tiny ones from when I discovered that the Freshwatershrimp headquarters is ten mins from my house!), Amano shrimp, Green Neons, and Otocinclus. Plus many snails that came in with LFS moss.
In the first few days I was quite alarmed by the slime that grew on the Redmoor root, but found online that this is quite standard. I couldn't fit the wood in any of our pans to boil it, so it went straight in - weighted by stones tied on with the moss (very fiddly and annoying). I've used some liquid carbon on the slime which seems to have made it go away quicker, but the I read that this is not good for Fissidens moss and Riccardia, which I had just got from ebay and planted in the same area. It's true that the Riccardia in particular has gone white where it was in contact with the liquid carbon and the slime, so now I'm leaving it to see how it goes on it's own -the Riccardia is already growing back over this area so hopefully it's ok.
I'm considering getting a TMC mini led 400 light for this set up, with mount bracket and controller. I think there's easily enough light here already, but I love the idea of being able to control the light level on the timer. And since this tank is partly a replacement for a view out over treetops I'd like to be able to see it from this angle, and maybe let some of the stem plants emerge:
I'm also keen to get using a full led setup as it's got to be the future. I already feel odd enough about sitting around worrying about the environment while pumping electricity into a tank full of plants and creatures that've been shipped all over the world...
Has anybody used Holiday Aquatics for equipment? Also, does anyone using the Mountaray bracket know if it's likely to fit the thick plastic edging on this tank? I'm sure I can modify if not, but I'd rather not have to.
I'm also keen to get using a full led setup as it's got to be the future. I already feel odd enough about sitting around worrying about the environment while pumping electricity into a tank full of plants and creatures that've been shipped all over the world...
Has anybody used Holiday Aquatics for equipment? Also, does anyone using the Mountaray bracket know if it's likely to fit the thick plastic edging on this tank? I'm sure I can modify if not, but I'd rather not have to.
fish fodder
Member
Hi, the mountaray won't fit over the plastic I'm afraid, There is literally enough space to slide onto bare glass
Thanks! I had come to this conclusion too, but it's good to have it confirmed. I also think it might sit too far forward for this tank anyway, and look a bit large too. I'm thinking of ways I could hang it or mount another way. I'm sure I can come up with something -either a bracket for the tank edge, or one on the wall, or a even a board fitted behind the tank with a bracket on it.
mike455555
Member
wow stunning tanks looking forward to seeing this one evolve more 
What's annoying is that the Aquaray 400 comes very close. In person it seems a fraction warmer, and obviously has all the shimmer and shadow points etc of an LED. But to get a similar light level I'd have to mount it really near the surface, which would defeat a good deal of the initial object.
I could try it out for a while, but I'm loathe to do that because I haven't yet built a mounting bracket, and while I think it's capable of growing what's in the tank, the plants are doing so well with the current setup!
I had planned on going lower-light/slower-growth later on, so I could wait a bit and set it up later with plants that I'm sure would do ok. The shame is this was how I'd imagined the tank initially, before I got carried away. But I'm really enjoying the way they're growing at the moment.
I could return it (stressing because I very slightly tore the box when opening it), and get the Grobeam 1500 to go with the controller (using the controller was probably the main thing that sold me on the idea in the first place. But that's a lot more money (especially as I wasn't planning to buy the 400 until I had a sudden urge!) and I wouldn't run it at full. Also that tile would look pretty massive over this tank...
