"The Cube" Dragon Stone and Manzi

[clone]

That is what I have got for Chrismas a little early this year. The tank is currently dry until my glassware arrives from China.
Tank: ADA 30-C new logo
Light: DIY 8w ,8x1.2W Osram Oslon leds 4000K day light 95CRI
Filtration: External canister800LpH glass Lilly Pipes
Heater: no for now but probably Hydor 200W in line
Hardskape: Ohko stone, Silicate sand, volcano rock
Substrate System: Full ADA substrate( Penac P/W, Clear Super, Bacter 100, Tumerine BC, Amazonia AS, Insted of powersand I have used Bonsai Pumice Granules
CO2: Pressurised with internal diffuser
Flora: Hemiantus Micranthemoides/ Callitrichoides, Fissidens and Java moss
Fauna: unknown yet

Somehow I did not made photos of the actual setup probably was too excited to take pictures. I will leave "steb by step" setup tutorials for the guys with patience to do that and knowledge...and also a good cameras.
You can see the Colour Rendering difference between Osram Daywhite 4000K and Cree XB-D 6500K chips on the right tank. Crees are the smallest ever 2.4x2.4mm and very powerfull, also running very cold temps compared to Osrams. Colour Rendering Index for the Osrams is the highest ever created on LED 95% compared to XB-Ds where the colours look washed and unnatural i will say "yellow-green"
I will see if the Osrams will grow plants as nice as XB-Ds though.

I am kind of dissapointed from the new ADA tanks. The glass look bluish and the silicon work is lower quality compared to the old Cube Garden. I am really sorry that the company which claims that quality and attention to detail is their priority start to produce their stuff in China and insted to make things better ...turn to worse. Hopefully will have some good results with the ADA "magical" Substrate additions.
Thanks for watching.

 

[sanj]

I am kind of dissapointed from the new ADA tanks. The glass look bluish and the silicon work is lower quality compared to the old Cube Garden. I am really sorry that the company which claims that quality and attention to detail is their priority start to produce their stuff in China and insted to make things better ...turn to worse. Hopefully will have some good results with the ADA "magical" Substrate additions.

I imagine, this is a teething period. I remember when I was a little kid and people used to complain about the poor quality of Japanese made cars, now there isnt much that beats them. Still its not much good when/if you are receiving substandard products. Are ADA tanks cheaper than they used to be since they moved production?

BTW I cant see any photos. Is it just me?

 

[Andy Thurston]

I cant see pics either

 

[clone]

I imagine, this is a teething period. I remember when I was a little kid and people used to complain about the poor quality of Japanese made cars, now there isnt much that beats them. Still its not much good when/if you are receiving substandard products. Are ADA tanks cheaper than they used to be since they moved production?

BTW I cant see any photos. Is it just me?

Well people was right. The best cars are European BMW, Mercedes , Ferarri, Lamborgini are not Japanese. Why the biggest discoveries for the humankind are invented in europe not japan? Anyway ADA claim that their silicon is German quality and tanks are handcrafted by who??? Cheaper chinese manifacturers??? The price is still the same like the old tanks, unfortunately. Dont get me wrong< I am not complaining of ADA just was surprised that smart people do stupid things, loke lowering quality of a market leding product like Cube Garden.

 

[Andy Thurston]

Selling substandard goods on the back of a good name. plenty market leaders have done that eg sony, Microsoft nokia

 

[sanj]

Why the biggest discoveries for the humankind are invented in europe not japan?

I think that is just a little unbalanced to compare the historical contribution of one country verses an entire continent...but lets not go way off topic.

 

[clone]

Hi, some update on The Cube

I know, have to get rid of that heater. Thinking for Hydor inline wich I am very happy with on my other tank.
Some things has changed:
- Added manzi wood, which fills the empty space of the tank
- Lost hemiantus Micranthemoides due to melt, but still has some zombi stems an roots....it will come back
- some issues with diferent types of algae including good old fella CYANO
- started dosing PPS Pro as my other tank
- noticed that LED osrams oslon are slower growers than Cree LEDs.....but it is too early to give any feedback....the plants still rooting...might be the wavelenght????of that light
- today get bored and stuck some mosses an hydro cuttings on that manzi branch.....emmersed we will see if will work for me I have seen awesome stuff emmersed so I am excited ......
- decide that the cube will be home for some red, orange and may be yellow sakuras.....what do u think of 3.50 each? any advice or someone that can make a better offer please?

Any feedback always appriciated, thanks for watching.

 

[Michael W]

That looks really nice Nikolas! Well done.

 

[clone]

Thanks dude at lest someone reply to my postigs

 

[Lindy]

That looks lovely, very natural. Your different coloured sakuras will breed with each other.

 

[clone]

Thanks Lindy. The tank is still unmatured enough. Do you think I should get just one colour of sakura shrimp? Do I have to add alder cones and catappa leaves, what about shirakura mineral stone? I read that enhance the shrimp health and colour.
Thanks

 

[JohnKoncz]

looks really nice

 

[Lindy]

I think alder cones and catappa leaves are more for crystal shrimp as they make your water more acidic but I might be wrong. I've got crystal shrimp so don't know anything about sakuras other than they didn't like my soft, acidic water and all died.

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk

 

[clone]

I use pure RO water pH 6-6.4 so I can not have sakuras. TDS around 80. I have no experience with shrimp apart of Amano`s which are very happy in my other tank. In sakuras description saying they can live in pH 6-10

 

[clone]

Hi, I moved House resently and the Cube somehow survived..........the skape slide down a bit, but plants settle down now ..........I lost my Amanos srimp ...unknown reason couse all of the fish are ok, I suggest stess die the move and ammonia spike due to aquasoil mess up...here are the pics.....still fighting with tread algae

And a little off topic project weathered rustic bookshelf and the Cube cabinet made DIY

Hope you enjoyed it. Any suggestions why experience tread algae. I dose PPSPro regime which is very lean on ferts. The light is with 10h photoperiod. Plants are growing as well good no matter the algae????
Thanks

 

[darthpaul]

Cabinets look great (as does the tank) how did you do them?

 

[clone]

There are many techniques online once you type distressed or weathered furniture DIY, what I have used is steel wool and vinegar technique. Put steelwool in glass jar and fill with vinegar( distilled if possible) you can use apple or whitewine vinegar. Leave it for about a week to dissolve the wool...should look like black liquid in to the jar. Make some black tea possibly very strong I used Earl Gray. Open a beer an relax...cause the monkey job is just about to start. Buy different grade sand paper....the roughest work better to strip varnish or paint there is also stripping gel for furniture....what we need is pure wood at the end with no lack or paint on it. Sand down the entire piece of furniture...meanwhile drink couple of beers or bottle of wine.... Then rest and imagine how old your furniture will look at the end....if you need lighter weather effect dissolve the vinegar solution with some water or paint lightly the black vinegar liquid. beforehand tale the cooled tea and paint all over the furniture cause that is the base of the weathering effect..the tea consist tanins which will react with the vinegar-steelwool liquid and give weathered effect. So paint the tea first , wait untill dry and paint the black vinegar solution as many times as you want to achive you level of weathering.....bare in mind the colour will change when all furniture dry out.....also different wood gives different colour of the stain...the job is more artistic than you think
Better try on piece of the same type of wood or on the back of the furniture first let it dry to see what you get out of your vinegar solution solution.
The fishtank cupboard is just tea then vinegar technique sealed wth furniture wax polished then.
The bookshelf is the same vinegar and tea, but finished with paint and then wiped to get greyish look.....wipe when the paint is semidry or still wet to achieve different effects....always seal with wax for furniture tet it dry on the wood and then polish with linen free cloth. To achieve old look sand down the corners and the edges as much as you want ...to give wear and tear look the furniture has been used from minimum 3 generations so....
Enjoy the whole process... I discovered that you can stain the pained ares as well painting vinegar solution on the paint....so the paint oxidise and look oldish and weathered....
You can kust distress your furniture by hammer or sandpaper then paint it in colour , than sand down the edges so will keep the colour but will look used a lot and very old......
It might be a technique of doing cracked paint I know they sell this paint in the art shops to paint picture frames or so......but it might be expensive as well

Good luck[DOUBLEPOST=1398340546][/DOUBLEPOST]Dont forget to make the whole thing in the garden, garage or well ventilated area.
Use dust mask when sending the wood and gloves
Use googles and mask, and latex gloves when painting with the tea and vinegar solutin- both leave bad stain on your hands and carpets or wood floor ...so
Use waterbased paints for garden or cupboard paint ....just bought from Wilko was on sale £1 for a tin just bargain the wax was about £5 in Wilko....they have it in B&Q the range of paints in there is awesome
Put some cover for the floor underneath your working area I bet the vinegar will burn even you grass in the garden if spilled

 

[clone]

My other cabinet vinegar and tea then painted and distressed the paint with rough sand paper also the corners and handles

 

[Alje]

Hi Nikolas
I was hoping you could tell us more about your DIY LED builds please