Ruud

Just got this plant, store clerk gave me a Spanish name (Im in Spain) that I didn't understand... can anyone ID this plant? Got it for my Cube. Edit: Sheesh I need to clean the glas on this tank!

Setup my new Fluval 207 filter in my new 100 L aquarium and started to cycle with a bit of Seachem stability. I allready had the tank and most of the parts needed, just added the Fluval. Peeve: why do heater suction cups always fail somehow (and thermometers for that matter)... I have Eheim heaters in all three tanks and all fall from the walls constantly...arrrrgh

Thanks for the warning... I suspect I have phosphate as my nitrate levels are always good, but have no test for it so thought I'd give the filter pad a try. I should order a test kit for it, I know..

You really have a cool fish room going on there with a bit of (for me) eclectic collection of fish. Pretty cool!!

I have the 107 in my Cube and just got the 207 for a new to be installed tank. the 207 is taller than the 107 so indeed weird they have the same height spec? For the fluval owners... I never put the phosphate filter pad in before, but having lots of brown algae lately .... would I put it on top of the bio stack or lower? Thanks Ruud

Thanks Pepere will take a look at the video, and order a long cleaning brush

I use JBL Sansibar which is very fine sand on top of a more course base layer. Available in several colors including black .

Yeah I was deducting I had to do that to.... It must be the ribbed texture of the tubing that keeps crusty bits stuck? God knows why Fluval opted for the ribbed texture instead of old school plain tubing like Eheim does.

Hello all, I have a Fluval 107 cannister filter hooked up into my Blau Cube aquarium and its doing pretty well. I like the simplicity of the design and how easy it is to clean and get pumping again. However... When I clean it I lock the tubes, disconnect them, open up the cannister, clean the filters in aquarium water, clean the cannister itself, rinse the biomax in aquarium water and put it all together again. Hookup everything, pump it up and then.... It spews out a load of dirty water initially before going to clean water.... Where does that come from, and how do I get rid of that? Only thing I can think of is the tubes... Thoughts? I am hooking up a 207 to my 25 gallon tank I have in progress and want to avoid thesame situation Thanks Ruud

Yup I have been eyeing those L183, pretty cool pleco that!

Ok now I am watching fancy goldfish.... though I know deep inside this tank is too small for 3 of them. Am I the only hobbyist here who is indecisive? I want it all... goldfish, angels, Apisto's, L numbers but I can't have much more than 2 or maybe 3 tanks / Facepalm

Also I think this Cube aquarium would be great to host a few shrimps! Never had shrimps before.

Cheers both, those are helpful suggestions. I am going to look up the plants (and see what i can find nearby here in Spain). A single honey gourami is actually a nice one to consider. I also like Lemon Tetra's but I think they are a bit more difficult to keep and might not like the small size of the Cube. Anybody any experience here?

I have never kept shell dwellers, I believe they are african cichlids right? Not really my field of interest to be honest but thanks for the suggestion!

Got this new Blau Cube of 45x45x45cm (about 18x18x18 inch), technically 90L but in reality more like 75 as it has holes drilled for a sump I don't have. It has a bottom of fine sand and I started cycling today a Fluval 107 cannister. For sure I want 1 or 2 of the smaller L numbers so I need some peaceful fish to match. Maybe some Pygmy Cory's as well but am also thinking Green Tetra's or Raspbora's like the one in my profile pic. Never had them and not sure if they would come to their right in a square tank? Other options are off course some Apisto's. Would love to hear suggestions on how to stock. Also plant-wise ... something low tech as all my tanks struggle with algae usually (especially bba) I have another tank with dwarf gourami's, cardinal tetras and Sterbai Cory, a lonely swordfish and a lonely balloon molly so definitely want something else for the Cube. Thanks so much! Ruud

Thanks @Guppysnail that is super super helpful! I need to get hydro peroxide anyway to soak a piece of wood in my other tank that is full with black beard algae. Just need to figure out where to get it here in Spain, maybe pharmacies sell it.

A friend that stepped out of the hobby gifted me a quite new SunSun 1200L external filter, bit big for my 90L Cube aquarium but hey ... can't complain about a gift plus I want to mainly stock with L numbers and Cory's who don't mind a bit of flow. Anyway I picked up the filter yesterday and it's quite dirty. I have cleaned it all with fresh water, just cleaned out the gunk etc and rinsed all the filter material. There are sponges in there plus a few mesh bags of ceramic filtration material. Can I safely re-use the filter materials after rinsing it with clean water? Or is it better to renew the sponges and ceramic material? The filter hasn't been used for over a year. Thank you Ruud

I just got "JBL Sansibar" sand for my 90L cube tank. It's very fine sand and I got it to house Cory's and L numbers but in the LFS they used it for a shrimp tank and said it went very well with shrimp. It comes in several different colors, I got the grey version. https://www.jbl.de/es/productos/detail/6112/jbl-sansibar-grey?country=es

Went to the LFS in Barcelona to pick up a 10kg bag of fine grey/black sand by JBL for the second hand 91L cube I got a few weeks back very very cheap. I am shocked what stuff costs these days... 10kg of JBL sand for 27 euro, even more expensive than the tank itself and its .... well... just fine sand really, though it is ready for aquarium use. Gonna rinse it and put it in tonight, should be looking good. Pics to follow once I have the sand and water in.

Thanks for all the input so just to be sure to not confuse gallons and liters. I am talking about 60 liters or approx 16 gallons which is perhaps not ideal but still quite a bit bigger than a 10 gallon. It would be bare bottom indeed for ease of cleaning and well filtrated to house a small colony of small L numbers. Maybe a group of 5 to 6 species depending on what I can find. Thanks for all the input, some great suggestions here! Ruud

20 years ago I had L134 and L260 - both prob my favorite L numbers but back then they were about 25 to 30 euro each. Now L134 are very pricey if you can find them. Your friend, does he ship to spain?? 😄

I would love a Dutch style tank but still far from that. Yes I have the RO up and running but am low on water pressure which affects the PPM and production of the Osmosis water. Waiting on a pump to fix that. So should I watch the PPM in my aquarium water or just focus on getting the PH, KH and GH to a nice soft level? Like I said I am adding carbon and fertilizer that I guess would increase the PPM again after I have tossed in the RO water. Here is a pic of the tank as is, I have recently added a few fast growing plants to help beat black beard algae on the wood, still need to plant them in the soil.

Thanks Gardenman, may I ask how many adult super reds you have in your 10 gallon?

I am having some 60x30x33cm (60 Liter or almost 16 gallon) tanks empty and I am wondering if that would be too small to breed some of the smaller L number place's like L260, 333, 046 etc. Most people seem to breed them in 40 gallons and up but I don't have those tanks available nor the space. Is this do-able or am I better off using them to spawn Corys or Apisto's for instance. I'd really like to try to spawn L numbers though. Thanks for the wisdom all! Ruud

So being Dutch and living 20 mins outside of Barcelona, and the history Dutch football players have with Barca (think Cruijf among others) off course I route for FC Barcelona 🙂 My concern is not too soft water. My water is hard and I want to soften it. My current parameters are PH7.5 , KH10 and GH around 5. Its a 100L planted tank with substrate, double hang on filters. I guess I was a bit shocked to see whats for me a high ppm level in my aquarium water (higher than my tap - I guess due to evaporation) and wondering if I should focus on that or not by doing a massive water change with RO. My RO unit is not working super well as I lack pressure (need to get a pressure bomb) to get my RO water closer to 0ppm. Unfortunately my tap water is extremely hard so working with the water I have will not work if I want a south american tank. Your tanks look spectacular btw