Tank 3 - Superfish Aquacube
I received a Superfish aquacube as part of a subscription gift to Practical Fishkeeping Magazine. I am going to set it up to house a pair of freshwater gobies; either Stiphodon elegans or S. atropurpureus and a breeding colony of Cherry shrimp (Neocaridina denticulata sinensis). I am going to make a diary of how I set the tank up, the changes I make to it and any problems I encounter. I will add pictures to show how it develops over time.
28 November 2007
The aquacube is 30 x 30 x 30 cm and comes with an 11W compact fluorescent light that clips to the side of the tank. It is also supplied with a small internal filter and a cover glass. With displacement (allowing for gravel and decor) it containes about 24 litres (about 5 UK gallons).
The tank is on a table top desk which is strong enough to support nearly 30kg - the weight of the tank when full. I have placed the tank on a cork mat.
My central stone ornament was gently placed on the glass bottom. Tetra Complete plant substrate was placed on the bottom of the tank in a thin layer approximately 1 cm deep. On top of that was placed very fine dark river gravel from Hagen. The grains are very small (1-2mm in size) and are perfect for burrowing fish like gobies.
Next
I placed the heater and internal filter in the tank. I did not use the
supplied filter as it has a very powerful output which is not
adjustable. Although the gobies would enjoy the current the shrimps
would not and too much agitation of the water would drive off the CO2
needed by the plants. I am temporarily using my Eheim Aquaball. This
filter is rather too large for the tank but it has a large surface area
for biological filtration and as the water is taken in all over the
filter's surface it should not create too strong a pull for the young
shrimps I am going to get. The plan is to replace this filter with a
large external cannister filter. This will rovide a huge capacity for
filtration but more importantly will increase the total water volume of
the system significantly. As it is such a small tank, the greater the
total water volume, the more stable it will be.
Warm
water (~23 degrees) treated with dechlorinator was added till
the
tank was half full. The plants for this set up from
java-plants.com (see Links
section).The plants selected were chosen as they hwere suitable for
medium lighting and a range of pH. I included a fast grower - Hornwort
to take care of nitrate and keep nuisance algae to a minimum. Also
added was Anubias nana from one of my other tanks where it had done
badly. Foreground (L to R): Cryptocoryne beckettii, Anubia nana (on
slate), Crassula helmsii. Background (L to R) Didiplis diandra,
Ceratophyllum demersum (hornwort). When the external filter
is
added, the Didiplis
diandra will be thinned and moved to the position of the internal
filter. Java fern will be added in front of it. Rotala indica
will be added at the back too.
The water was then topped up and liquid plant food was added. The lighting is 11 watts so that will provide the plants with just over 2 watts per gallon. The tank looks a little cloudy but this will clear as the suspended particles settle.
Water parameters: NH3 = 0 NO2 = 0, pH = 7.5 (tapwater pH), Temp set to 24 degrees.
2 December 2007
What
a difference in 4 days! The plants are already showing lots of growth.
This has probably been helped by 24 hour lighting. When the livestock
is added, the lighting duration will be reduced. Prior to the livestock
arriving the lighting will be gradually reduced from 24 hours to 10
hours using a timer. The reason for the 24 hour lighting is to provided
the plants with optimal growth before the fish and shrimp are added.
Hopefully with ample light and nutrients they should establish quickly
and keep the algae at bay. As you can see from the picture I also have
added a small homemade CO2 reactor. I have now added the Rotala indica (middle back).The CO2 reactor is made from a water bottle. A hole was pieced in the lid and silicon tubing pushed through. Silicon tubing is porous to CO2 but over such a short length (30 cm) the effects are negligiable. No sealant has been used to attach the tube to the lid as it is a tight fit. 1/4 of a teaspoon was added to a lukewarm mix of sugar (1.5 tablespoons) and water.
Adding bicarbonate is recomended to keep the pH of the yeast mix low but I have omitted this. The yeast is bread yeast as I had it handy but I will be experimeting with champagne yeast as this has a much higher alcohol tolerance. The pH of the water had gone up to 8.4 in 4 days - this is probably because the substrate contains lime/chalk. I may need to change the substrate for something more inert at a later date.
The CO2 reactor is now producing a couple of bubbles every 15 seconds (4 hours from setup). I have attached the output to the air intake of the filter to break up the bubbles. pH now 8.3.
3 December 2007
The CO2 reactor is now producing bubbles approximately every 15 seconds. Six hours after the reactor was set up the pH had dropped to 7.4. Now almost 24 hours later the pH is 7. I plan to continue with the CO2 until the reactor stops working. In theory at some point the acidity of the CO2 and the alkalinity of the gravel should reach a balance.
Comparing today with yesterday it is clear that the plants have put lots of groth on. The living bell was acting as a receptical for CO2 but it floated when full. In just 24 hours half the gas volume inside it has been absorbed by the water. The CO2 outlet is now bed into the air intake nozzle of the filter.
Aargh, a few weeks later and the tank is awash with algae. As the DIY CO2 reactor reduced output the fluctuating CO2 levels together with the plant debris caused a massive algae outbreak severly affecting the plants.
Time to start over and use sand in place of gravel which is inert and stop the yeast based CO2 reactor as it is too inconsistent.
Watch this space.
Last updated 11/1/08