50cm cube tank ideas,stocking suggestions &more!

[Lennie]

Hey, 

I hope everyone is doing well.

I am in the 3rd week of quarantining my rabbit snails, and Ive managed to find a good offer for a 50 cm cube tank (125L). Is 50 cm cube tank good? I know longs are better but I enjoy keeping lidless tanks all the time and 50x50 should be plenty of substrate/ swimming space. Cubes look pretty with aquascapes and lidless to me.

I would love to hear if you guys have any opinions of big cube tanks. The seller is a really well know aquarium maker in my town and has a great reputation.

Also always open to the idea of stocking ideas with rabbits. They are my main actors for the new tank. My water parameters are 8.0-8.2 ph, around 7 gh, 20 kh. Though never had issues keeping species that like softer and more acidic water ever. I get my fish local tank bred ones.
 

would love to hear about 50cm cube tank as I gotta be buying it within an hour max. Im excited!!!

Many thanks in advance.

 

 

 

[Lennie]

@Rube_Goldfish @Guppysnail @nabokovfan87 @Remi de Groot Sorry for the tag. Wouldn’t tag you if it was not urgent. Thanks for understanding :,)

hope I dont cause any disturbance 😞

[Flumpweesel]

125l is a great size and not to tall to make it difficult. It's the similar hight as my 260l and I can reach the bottom ok (I do have kinda long arms though).

I think cubes can be great if you have the spot for them most fish would have plenty of room and they can look amazing.

Is the stand with it though they can be tricky to find things to stand them on 

[Guppysnail]

I’m sorry I really can’t help with cube tanks or rabbit snails as I don’t keep them.  

[Remi de Groot]

The hight shouldn't be a problem. 50cm isn't that high, it's more the width of the tank that makes it a bit more tricky. Cube in generally gives you just a little less choice of fish because bigger fish need a bit more swimming space horizontal.

I guess you are from Europe? In that case i would use fish ideas for 60cm tanks (54L). Although the amount of water is a lot higher in your tank it gives a better understanding from the fish that could handle the shorter swimming distance.

What fish to buy is to much of a personal choice. Just look at your local breeder/shop what you love. My experience with picking fish that People suggested but I wasn't to excited about is that you will neglect them.

Never had a cube of my own but I think the shape can make a great canvas for a mountain kind of aqascape. (See picture. Not my tank).

Best advice I can give: don't be to afraid to try and fail. If it doesn't work out you can always change it again. I have tanks I've changed multiple times withing a year before I was happy with them. Same goes with fish.

Don't have any experience with rabbit snails.

Edited January 13, 2023 by Remi de Groot

[jwcarlson]

I've got rabbit snails with MTS and bladder snails, kerri tetras, cardinal tetras, betta, shrimp, sterbai corys... I don't think there's much they wouldn't go with, honestly.  As long as it's not some big fish or snail eater.  

I really really like my kerri tetras, they're very fun to watch and far more active than most other tetras that I've had (other than rummynose, maybe).  But the kerris are aggressive eaters and really fun to watch.

Personally, I'd find like 10-12 tetras you like and some shrimp.

[Lennie]

Thanks everyone for their opinions and suggestions. Appreciated! 

I got the tank. Always wanted to give cubes a try, this is gonna be my first cube. Excited!

@Flumpweesel It also has a stand that has been made specifically for it. So I don’t have to worry about that part! Thanks for the warning 🙂 I do have long arms too!! 😄

@Remi de Groot Thanks for sharing! Btw I’m keeping my rummy noses in my community tank which is 60 cm (29 g/96 L~). I def can see how they could enjoy a longer tank even more. I agree with you on this one. Generally I go to the lfs, I see a fish stressed and being bullied, end up getting them to my tanks if possible. I will try to check for peaceful schooling fish that does not need lots of swimming space in lenght!

@jwcarlson I wanted to keep some mysteries too but I’ve seen some posts about them bullying rabbits by trying to mate nonstop causing injuries to mysteries to get hurt by the trapdoor too. Maybe females should be fine? Tho having no lid can be risky for these escape artists no matter what I believe. I would not like to risk their life by any means. Love their look tho

 

I may add some pics later on:)

thanks again everyone🤍

Edited January 13, 2023 by Lennie

[jwcarlson]

On 1/13/2023 at 7:57 AM, Lennie said:

@jwcarlson I wanted to keep some mysteries too but I’ve seen some posts about them bullying rabbits by trying to mate nonstop causing injuries to mysteries to get hurt by the trapdoor too. Maybe females should be fine? Tho having no lid can be risky for these escape artists no matter what I believe. I would not like to risk their life by any means. Love their look tho

MTS is Mylasian Trumpet Snail, not a mystery snail (just to be clear, they're pretty small, about an inch and some of the bigger ones might be a bit larger). 🙂  The MTS stay in the substrate mostly, occasionally there's a shrimp or snail riding around on the rabbits, but I don't think anyone seems to be battling.  

[Lennie]

@jwcarlson I misread, my bad. I have numerous MTS on my 29 gallon 😄 I tried to introduce two of my rabbits there once, and MTS seem to cover their shell even the inside until their trapdoor, even tho they are not sick or dead by any means. I found it weird. Thats one of the reasons why I decided to make a new tank with rabbits. Have you ever experienced such behavior so far?

[jwcarlson]

@Lennie Nope, not at all.  That's interesting though.  My rabbits aren't fully grown yet, though, I got them pretty small.  Even still, I've never seen any weird snail behavior other than occasionally there will be clusters of young MTS floating around on the surface in groups of like 20 or 30.  But as soon as the surface tension is broken they go scattering like you caught them doing something naughty. 🤣

[Guppysnail]

I’m excited to see your new set up.

A pretty solid rule of thumb:

No Lid=No Mystery snails or nerites. I have lids on all mine and they still sometimes find their way to the floor. Escape artists to the max. Taia Naticoides piano snails, Filopaludina martensi white wizard snails and Asolene Spixii snails I keep with no lid. I have never seen them sit at the water line to breathe or try to go above it. Hope that helps. 

[Rube_Goldfish]

Sorry I'm late for the party! Unfortunately, I have no experience with rabbit snails, so I can't help there.

That size tank should be fine for a lot of species, and even though I don't have any cube tanks myself, I've seen a lot of fantastic looking cubic aquascapes, so it really is nice aesthetically. The depth of perception really helps bring the eye in.

The benefits of long tanks are mostly to do with increasing the surface area-to-volume ratio for improved gas exchange, with bringing plants closer to the light (because light intensity falls dramatically with water depth), and because most fish spend more time swimming horizontally than vertically. But you can work around all that.

As for stocking ideas, I agree with @Remi de Groot that you'll need to really connect with whatever species you select, but because thinking about stocking aquariums is fun, you might go for small schooling/shoaling species like chili rasboras or ember tetras, or small anabantoids like a betta or a small gourami (I have and love honey gouramis!). Otocinclus and bristlenose plecos would fit just fine, and small corydoras should be good, too. I'm still pretty new to Apistogramma but a pair of those should work, or maybe scarlet badis. I'll defer to those with more experience here, but I think as long as you avoid active horizontal swimmers like rummynose, zebra danios, or celestial pearl danios, you should have a lot of options.

[Lennie]

It makes me happy to see y’all commenting. I regret signing up to the forum this late! Better late than never I bet.

 

@Guppysnail I have been keeping nerites on my lidless tank all the time. I’ve heard people saying they can be escape artists, I have once witnessed one climbing to the inside of my HOB, I was luckily at home and directly heard the weird sound coming out of it. And it was my nerite climbed to the intake part of the hob all the way from outside!! I keep a prefilter sponge anyway. It is always good to be cautious. Def not planning to add any mysteries until I ever decide to have a lid, I agree. Better safe than sorry, it makes me anxious to not potentially give my pets the care they require. Thanks!

@Rube_GoldfishI already have pygmy cories, sterbais, and a honey gourami! I love them!! I like small schooling fish but it feels pain to feed even rummy noses sometimes to me. I’m not sure how can I handle even smaller mouths😭 also always thought celestials can be kept in a much smaller tanks. Thanks for letting me know! 
dwarf cichlids look fun to keep and seems to have lots of character. I used to have some african cichlids when I was a kid. My only concern regarding community planted tank cichlids would be them potentially bullying the rabbits as they are generally spending time in the bottom as rabbits do. I will check for more about the snail compatibility! 🙂

 

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 1/13/2023 at 11:10 AM, Lennie said:

It makes me happy to see y’all commenting. I regret signing up to the forum this late! Better late than never I bet.

 

@Guppysnail I have been keeping nerites on my lidless tank all the time. I’ve heard people saying they can be escape artists, I have once witnessed one climbing to the inside of my HOB, I was luckily at home and directly heard the weird sound coming out of it. And it was my nerite climbed to the intake part of the hob all the way from outside!! I keep a prefilter sponge anyway. It is always good to be cautious. Def not planning to add any mysteries until I ever decide to have a lid, I agree. Better safe than sorry, it makes me anxious to not potentially give my pets the care they require. Thanks!

@Rube_GoldfishI already have pygmy cories, sterbais, and a honey gourami! I love them!! I like small schooling fish but it feels pain to feed even rummy noses sometimes to me. I’m not sure how can I handle even smaller mouths😭 also always thought celestials can be kept in a much smaller tanks. Thanks for letting me know! 
dwarf cichlids look fun to keep and seems to have lots of character. I used to have some african cichlids when I was a kid. My only concern regarding community planted tank cichlids would be them potentially bullying the rabbits as they are generally spending time in the bottom as rabbits do. I will check for more about the snail compatibility! 🙂

 

Full disclosure: I've never had celestial pearl danios, but I've read that they're very active swimmers. So that's (at best) third hand advice.

Shell dwellers would work, as another option. I've never kept African cichlids, but the ACO blog recommends them for smaller tanks. You could still do a beautiful aquascape, you'd just have yo adapt it to them. https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/shell-dwellers

Can't wait to see what you end up doing!

[Lennie]

@Rube_Goldfish thanks for sharing the excitement! I am super excited as well!!!.

Still great to share your knowledge about danios! I personally did not know much about danios, except them being hardy, fast eaters and super active. Never kept danios 🙂

Shell dwellers look cute but from what I've seen from Irene's videos, they seem to be cichlid version of guppies. Holy moly, babies everywhere in all sizes!!!After I saw Irene's shell dwellers going crazy about breeding, I'm scared to keep them forever

This may sound weird, but keeping easily breeding fish makes me anxious as I've kept guppies ages ago. I'm vegan, so buying animals with money is not ideal for me meanwhile adoption is the good choice. I have all my chickens, dogs, cats and tortoises adopted. When it comes to fish, it is somehow seriously impossible to adopt fish in where I live, as everyone is more willing to sell them instead(not judging people who do that, it just isn't my thing). After having lots of self conversations, considering I have years of experience and okay amount of fish keeping knowledge, I decided  to start a 29 gallon after a huge break of fish keeping. As much as I am not willing to pay for a livestock, I decided to at least provide a good care and home for species that seem to show any stress sign and being harassed by other fish in the store and very likely to die, if not saved. It always make me happy to observe the changes all the fish I've had after I got them. 

If I keep fish that easily breeds, it will be a hell for me to find experienced good fish keepers for all the babies I wanna rehome!! And it will cause me more stress than joy, happened before. Selling them or giving them to a lfs to be put on sale is not an option to me. When I'm there watching tanks for a long time, I see so many people entering the store to buy fish and have literally 0 knowledge about fish keeping.  It would even be harder to home species like shell dwellers considering they are mostly kept as species only tank. And under no circumstances I wanna rehome my babies to people who cant be arsed to even search for fish keeping 101.

It is just I don't believe most people spend enough time to give proper care or conditions for their tanks. People not caring about their animals really upset me.

I love it here. You can feel how much everyone cares for their fish.

I would love to hear more about Apistogrammas in the future! I love them and I see them commonly available here. 🙂

 

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Lennie

[Lennie]

I've just come home and unpacked the tank. Didn't have time to clean it so it is dirty for now.

Just wanted to share  some pictures! 

The LED belongs to my 29 gallon which is 60 cm in length, just put it for a better lighting for the pic! I am still unsure about the placement. Subject to change!

 It costed me around 115 Euros, both the stand/furniture and the tank together. I thought it is a good price, but I don't have much knowledge about the market prices.

here is a pic:

The tank looks much clearer and bright white irl. Somehow camera make it look a lil bit weird.

 

Edited January 13, 2023 by Lennie

[nabokovfan87]

Looks great, stand is nice and it fits well in the space.

I can't foresee any issues. Worse case you'll get a lid cut and add that to the tank. Not a big deal.

[Lennie]

Thank you for your kind comment! 

I cannot like lids somehow. Even it is a chore to top up water twice every week and limits the fish I can keep! 😄 There were versions with a lid on, I preferred this one intentionally. If I decide to give a try to jumpers/escape artists, I will def get one.

Cheers,

 

[Rube_Goldfish]

On 1/13/2023 at 1:40 PM, Lennie said:

Thank you for your kind comment! 

I cannot like lids somehow. Even it is a chore to top up water twice every week and limits the fish I can keep! 😄 There were versions with a lid on, I preferred this one intentionally. If I decide to give a try to jumpers/escape artists, I will def get one.

Cheers,

 

If I may be so presumptuous: if you're not going to put a lid on it, you should have a scape with wood sticking out above the water's surface. Because I have lids but I think that looks cool and I want to live vicariously through your tank!

[Lennie]

On 1/14/2023 at 12:53 AM, Rube_Goldfish said:

If I may be so presumptuous: if you're not going to put a lid on it, you should have a scape with wood sticking out above the water's surface. Because I have lids but I think that looks cool and I want to live vicariously through your tank!

You made me laugh 😄 I definitely agree on the fact that they look great. I'm gonna have to use a LED that I will attach to the top of the tank as in the picture but with a proper size. I had a good growth with it on my easy to take care plants in my 29 gallons, and it is budget friendly. I sadly cannot afford the higher quality ones that you hang to the ceiling and such rn. I bet those would go best with such wood out of the tank type design.

I usually like how MD Fish Tanks scape his tanks. I will try to get some ideas from his videos. Feel free to share any pics you think that would look great. Your suggestions are always welcomed! Planning to keep rabbits in the quarantine tank for some more time anyway.

The problem is, I am very likely not to nail the aquascaping. I have zero experience for aquascaping. I usually let my tanks to turn into a jungle as my fish and shrimps seem to enjoy it much better in this way. Let's see how everything will go with this new tank 😄

I have to consider good amount of substrate left for rabbits to burry and move around. That's a self note there 🙂

 

 

[Flumpweesel]

On 1/13/2023 at 6:25 PM, Lennie said:

It costed me around 115 Euros, both the stand/furniture and the tank together

That seems fair I was looking at something similar earlier in the year second hand for about £100 so about the same and I considered that to be a good deal. Went with something smaller in the end because my house is smaller in reality than in my mind when I'm shopping.

[Lennie]

On 1/15/2023 at 4:27 AM, Flumpweesel said:

Went with something smaller in the end because my house is smaller in reality than in my mind when I'm shopping.

Thanks for letting me know! A bigger but longer tank was also around the same pricing where I was shopping, but it had a lid system and a topping furniture (how they are called exactly) which are not something I usually like going for. So I decided to buy this one! My current tank is one I've been keeping in the basement for ages, it has in built filter system and  t8 fluorescence light lid normally(yea it is old). I removed everything and got a HOB and LED lights, using it lidless 😄 Thankfully the tank itself was in good condition and no leaking whatsoever at the end of a year.

I can't seem to be deciding on my stocking plans yet. If I got something bigger, I would get tiger barbs tank and introduce rabbits to 29g community maybe. But 33g cube doesn't seem tiger barb friendly. Those guys are really active and energetic!! I will see more on stocking options. Any opinion is welcomed again.

cheers!

[Flumpweesel]

I think tigers barbs would work there is a lot of space in that cube. I know you hear the phrase long is better than tall but you have width and depth with cube that allows for a long diagonal I think it will surprise you how much it can take without being over  crowded. This care guide has them for a 29G 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/tiger-barb

Take your time and enjoy it, you'll get a good idea of the space when you start cleaning and setting it up.

[Lennie]

On 1/15/2023 at 12:49 PM, Flumpweesel said:

I think tigers barbs would work there is a lot of space in that cube. I know you hear the phrase long is better than tall but you have width and depth with cube that allows for a long diagonal I think it will surprise you how much it can take without being over  crowded. This care guide has them for a 29G 

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/tiger-barb

Take your time and enjoy it, you'll get a good idea of the space when you start cleaning and setting it up.

Sorry for the late reply!

thanks for sharing the blog post. I've also watched the care guides of Cory and Prime Time Aquatics and searched more on barbs. The key seems to be keeping them in a bigger group as much as possible, 12 being the bare minimum. But I've learnt them being jumpers!!

No lid guy here. 😶Sounds like a goodbye to tiger barbs. Also Prime time Aquatics was suggesting at least 4ft tank, 55g if not 3 ft bare minimum as they are crazy energetic and tend to be aggressive.

Angels have always been one of my favs, and also I know that they are one of the few fish that enjoys height in a tank and they are considerably calm and not super active swimmers. Maybe I can keep one or two in a 33g? I will search more on that one. I read controversial opinions about angels. Some say directly no less than 55g meanwhile others say 29g and above. Idk how 2 would do together if I get them as juviniles and raise them together. I wouldn't like to keep a breeding pair. They breed easily and in very high numbers. Scary 😄

My lfs has kept his 3 angels over a 10 yr in his display tank which is around 29g but high I bet. They literally aged with me during my childhood. They were looking pretty happy and healthy actually.

Angels, just like barbs, will be very likely to bully the snails tho. So that is still pretty questionable for me.

https://www.aquariumcoop.com/blogs/aquarium/angelfish-care-guide this blog post suggests 4 angels in 29g. I’ve also watched Dean’s video and he recommends 4 adult angelfish in a 29g community tank.

I’m not sure how suitable they are for a 33g after reading so much about them. If they are, how many sounds like a good idea? Would love to hear more about opinions/experiences with angels! 

Edited January 16, 2023 by Lennie

[Patrick_G]

@Lennie that tank looks beautiful and what a great price. I paid $120 for my 35cm cube with no stand. 

I like MD Fishtank’s  aquascsping style too. He makes it seem so easy, but a big budget and lots of sponsorship helps I’m sure!
 

If I were doing a new tank I’d probably do a dry start to establish a nice carpet, but If I wanted a a nice looking scape as soon as possible I’d pack in as many plants as space allows, with liberal use of epiphytes, fast growing stem plants and a good pile of hardscape. 

This is my 35cm cube. It’s the opposite of what I described above. It’s slowly grown in over time and gets rearranged periodically when the plant mass gets overwhelming, 

 

Edited January 15, 2023 by Patrick_G