My 60L Cube

[MattW]

Sorry to hear about the shrimp and guppies. The plants and hardscape look great together, that moss will definitely be used by the laoches, I bet. That first pic looks like the Kuhli is enjoying itself, back after a mining trip . I was wondering about Kuhlis in my big tank, but I also have coarse gravel and soil, so I'd best not. Sand would work great with them.

Ooo, what canister did you end up with?

 

[Jinx_]

Sorry to hear about the shrimp and guppies. The plants and hardscape look great together, that moss will definitely be used by the laoches, I bet. That first pic looks like the Kuhli is enjoying itself, back after a mining trip . I was wondering about Kuhlis in my big tank, but I also have coarse gravel and soil, so I'd best not. Sand would work great with them.

Ooo, what canister did you end up with?

I'm happy with how the hardscape turned out, I was worried for a good while it wouldn't be enough buce and moss

That loach gave me a heart attack I thought for a good minute I buried and hurt him whilst tearing plants out~

It's a simple canister: https://ebay.us/m/LvYiHf

Hose is hard (broke my scissors), intake and outlet connection points are pretty flimsy, instructions not very clear. Setting the filter up took me over two hours, but I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed

In the end, it all worked out and filter works well. Although it does 400L/H, water is still murky 🫩

 

[MattW]

I'm happy with how the hardscape turned out, I was worried for a good while it wouldn't be enough buce and moss

That loach gave me a heart attack I thought for a good minute I buried and hurt him whilst tearing plants out~

It's a simple canister: https://ebay.us/m/LvYiHf

Hose is hard (broke my scissors), intake and outlet connection points are pretty flimsy, instructions not very clear. Setting the filter up took me over two hours, but I'm not the sharpest tool in the shed

In the end, it all worked out and filter works well. Although it does 400L/H, water is still murky 🫩

Within time, that Buce and moss will take over. I have a load of Buce in my 60L which looked great and grew really well, until the crypts in front grew taller.. now you can't even see them anymore .
They look like really fun fish to keep, from what members have posted. Must be a very inquisitive species.

lol I have the exact same filter on my 90L. I too had issues with the hose. I ended up putting the hose in a tub of boiling water to adjust and fit it onto the canister itself. In the end I didn't use the floss pad and bio balls. Only went with sponge. It's just reminded me I need to clean the filter soon. Been at least 2 months since the last clean! Strange that the tank is murky. Perhaps there is something leeching? I had some murkiness in my 60L once and used some Accu-clear. It did a decent job and took about 2-4 hrs to clear. Best to find the cause, though.

Also, just be wary of the fitting at the bottom of the filter. Mine came loose slightly and leaked water onto the oak stand the tank was on. I just keep the filter in a plastic container now just to be safe.

 

[Jinx_]

I killed java moss one too many times...
But I won't let it happen this time, and I really do hope the buce will grow in nicely! Two really nice plants being honest.

Some keepers say kuhlis are shy, some say they're not... I'd say it's down to how bright your tank is, how many plants/hardscape you've got. Mine are out and about all the time, constantly foraging and having zoomies

I thought about putting the hose in some hot water, but esentially I ended up just suffering through with it lol.
So I can take out the floss and bio balls? It feels bit too much, but instructions have me scared the filter will fail or something....

Murky water was due to me messing about, plus the filter was already full of gunk
Tomorrow part 2 of cleaning...

Actually, the leaks are the scariest part of owning canisters.. I forgot to close the inlet tap before turning the filter off, and water leaked out before my brain had a spark of power coming through

Ok done... Half way at least.
I'm still not done putting all the plants in their respectful places, all thanks to murky water.
I have too much hygrophila, and guppy grass I don't want in the tank. So additionally, I'll set up a small jar/vase just to accomodate excess plants and plants I don't want to get rid of.

Hardscape at the moment feels too excessive, probably as I might have bit too much helanthiums (two kinds of same species, totally accidental). So planting these might be difficult, especially if my kuhlis might want to uproot these all the time.

 

[MattW]

I killed java moss one too many times...
But I won't let it happen this time, and I really do hope the buce will grow in nicely! Two really nice plants being honest.

Some keepers say kuhlis are shy, some say they're not... I'd say it's down to how bright your tank is, how many plants/hardscape you've got. Mine are out and about all the time, constantly foraging and having zoomies

I thought about putting the hose in some hot water, but esentially I ended up just suffering through with it lol.
So I can take out the floss and bio balls? It feels bit too much, but instructions have me scared the filter will fail or something....

Murky water was due to me messing about, plus the filter was already full of gunk
Tomorrow part 2 of cleaning...

Actually, the leaks are the scariest part of owning canisters.. I forgot to close the inlet tap before turning the filter off, and water leaked out before my brain had a spark of power coming through

Ok done... Half way at least.
I'm still not done putting all the plants in their respectful places, all thanks to murky water.
I have too much hygrophila, and guppy grass I don't want in the tank. So additionally, I'll set up a small jar/vase just to accomodate excess plants and plants I don't want to get rid of.

Hardscape at the moment feels too excessive, probably as I might have bit too much helanthiums (two kinds of same species, totally accidental). So planting these might be difficult, especially if my kuhlis might want to uproot these all the time.

View attachment 369693
View attachment 369694

I have a few varieties of Buce in my tanks, all look great and healthy, so I doubt you'll have any issues .

The floss pad will polish the water (fine particles), but this will clog easily, especially if you have lots of detritus, wood mulm, etc. Personally, I don't use filter floss unless it's really needed. As for the bio balls, it's personal preference IMO. The majority of beneficial bacteria in the tank I have the canister running on are in the substrate, so I don't bother . That tank has topsoil with a thick gravel cap. So lots of room for the bacteria. I suppose you could keep the bio balls in as a backup. If you need to set up another tank, you have mature media at hand.

A filter full of gunk is a picture I know too well! I made that mistake once , fishy water + carpet don't mix well.
Ahh having too much of one plant.. Most of the time I can't bring myself to bin cuttings. Like, I feel it's a waste to get rid of a good cutting . Recently, I've been using stem cuttings as floating plants in my 60L, and the shrimp swarm them when I feed.

Looking good so far, Khuli's will make use of any hiding spots, I bet. As for the hardscape, it all depends on what scape you're going for. I wanted my 60L to have the main focus of the wood and cobbles at the front, which has now been covered over by plants

 

[Jinx_]

I have a few varieties of Buce in my tanks, all look great and healthy, so I doubt you'll have any issues .

The floss pad will polish the water (fine particles), but this will clog easily, especially if you have lots of detritus, wood mulm, etc. Personally, I don't use filter floss unless it's really needed. As for the bio balls, it's personal preference IMO. The majority of beneficial bacteria in the tank I have the canister running on are in the substrate, so I don't bother . That tank has topsoil with a thick gravel cap. So lots of room for the bacteria. I suppose you could keep the bio balls in as a backup. If you need to set up another tank, you have mature media at hand.

A filter full of gunk is a picture I know too well! I made that mistake once , fishy water + carpet don't mix well.
Ahh having too much of one plant.. Most of the time I can't bring myself to bin cuttings. Like, I feel it's a waste to get rid of a good cutting . Recently, I've been using stem cuttings as floating plants in my 60L, and the shrimp swarm them when I feed.

Looking good so far, Khuli's will make use of any hiding spots, I bet. As for the hardscape, it all depends on what scape you're going for. I wanted my 60L to have the main focus of the wood and cobbles at the front, which has now been covered over by plants

I tried cleaning out the floss, but that was near impossible to clean well. It's at least reassuring I don't need the floss or bio balls, and not setting up another tank in a veryyyy long while so I'll be good then
One more thing about the filter, do I really need that plastic mesh/cage thing to sit on top of the sponges? It just seems bit unnecessary to me IMHO.

It definitely hurts to throw out some cuttings, my hygrophila is so well established and grows SOO QUICKLY! I throw out so much of it, it's incredible I also managed to propagate a little bit of my crypt beckettii (however it's spelt ), I was about to throw out one sizable shoot, but I esentially pulled it back in, along with some cutting of the hygrophila... So I need to set up that small jar just to accomodate the plants. After some time I'll put copepods and gammarus in there, cause why not

I was thinking about kuhlis and shrimps when it comes to the hardscape, and also just so there's bit of a wall separating bigger plants from smaller ones. I'd put some staurogyne repens at the front (it'd look SO good!), but moss balls sadly take up bit of the space as well

 

[MattW]

I tried cleaning out the floss, but that was near impossible to clean well. It's at least reassuring I don't need the floss or bio balls, and not setting up another tank in a veryyyy long while so I'll be good then
One more thing about the filter, do I really need that plastic mesh/cage thing to sit on top of the sponges? It just seems bit unnecessary to me IMHO.

It definitely hurts to throw out some cuttings, my hygrophila is so well established and grows SOO QUICKLY! I throw out so much of it, it's incredible I also managed to propagate a little bit of my crypt beckettii (however it's spelt ), I was about to throw out one sizable shoot, but I esentially pulled it back in, along with some cutting of the hygrophila... So I need to set up that small jar just to accomodate the plants. After some time I'll put copepods and gammarus in there, cause why not

I was thinking about kuhlis and shrimps when it comes to the hardscape, and also just so there's bit of a wall separating bigger plants from smaller ones. I'd put some staurogyne repens at the front (it'd look SO good!), but moss balls sadly take up bit of the space as well

I will admit I haven't tried it without the cage. I think its main purpose was to house the bio balls? I just use it to compress the sponges down so there is some room at the top of the canister.
A live food culture + plant storage is a good idea. I have another 12L that I just made and was wondering what to do with. I was considering buying some daphnia from the LFS and starting a culture. It's just getting green water that will be the issue.

They will definitely like the hardscape. I could never get that plant to do well for me, sadly. It's a nice-looking plant too. I gave up on moss balls My first couple of planted tanks had them and they took up lots of room as well. I did try to propagate them once but that didn't work at all.

 

[Jinx_]

I will admit I haven't tried it without the cage. I think its main purpose was to house the bio balls? I just use it to compress the sponges down so there is some room at the top of the canister.
A live food culture + plant storage is a good idea. I have another 12L that I just made and was wondering what to do with. I was considering buying some daphnia from the LFS and starting a culture. It's just getting green water that will be the issue.

They will definitely like the hardscape. I could never get that plant to do well for me, sadly. It's a nice-looking plant too. I gave up on moss balls My first couple of planted tanks had them and they took up lots of room as well. I did try to propagate them once but that didn't work at all.

I'm not sure what the cage is for, instructions show it's to push down the sponges. But not sure why I would need it if wet sponges are heavy enough to stay down.

Sadly my jar is about 1.5L, not ideal big size + volume of dirt and sand. But good enough for some snails, copepods and gammarus. It could be self sustaining, with some additional supplementive food. Eventually if gammarus go well and they reproduce, I could add some to my main. Best thing is, I can use my tank water to fill the jar up!! And plants have bio film and bacteria on them, so I'd just need snails to fuel the cycle well enough.

I would do daphnia as well, but the green water is what puts me away

S.Repens is a really nice plant, it has done well for me... until other plants started taking over and caused it to melt
I'll see which plant I'll put where, maybe I'll be able to stuff s.repens in.

Moss balls feel like plastic lol, they don't seem to grow and do anything besides sucking gunk in around them and take up space. I really would say they're a waste of space and money, unless you're doing a scape where you want open space and some weird space balls in the open

 

[Jinx_]

I planted both helanthiums late in the evening yesterday, only one seems to be uprooted, which is fine with me tbh.

Everyone's enjoying themselves

 

[Jinx_]

My missing plant, water sprite, has arrived today sound and well. So I will be planting that now.

And ordering 50 shrimps tomorrow! 40 cherries, 10 silly amanos

 

[Jinx_]

Bit of a disappointment, it'll be 30 cherries (some have been already bought out before I purchased them) and 10 amanos. At least some shrimps for now, and they'll coming in tomorrow!!

 

[Jinx_]

They have arrived....

The amanos are TINYY! I was shocked

They're so much smaller than the cherries lol

 

[WhistlingBadger]

They have arrived.... View attachment 369890
The amanos are TINYY! I was shocked
View attachment 369891
They're so much smaller than the cherries lol

They’ll grow pretty fast.

 

[Jinx_]

They’ll grow pretty fast.

Amanos do grow pretty fast... and so does their greed

One of my old ones just passed away. They're pretty cooked looking shrimps now

 

[Jinx_]