Princess Penny’s Puddle

[Lauren A]

Hi!

I want to share my newest creation - The Puddle!  It houses an adorable female betta, Penny, Ive had in a 2.5 gallon QT for quite a while - life kept getting in the way of the build.  
 

This is a 7 gallon UNS cube tank.  I have a Dennerle Eck corner filter with the Neo Therm Pro heater.  The glass lid is by ADA.  Light Fluval Nano Spectrum 3.0.  
 

Most of my plants, if not all, were purchased from a few different amazing sellers on Etsy.  And also used some plants from other tanks I have.  
 

I did a 6 week fishless cycle with plenty of plants.  For aquasoil, I’m using my new favorite Aquario Neo (although I do use a small amount in an older tank) but it is phenomenal.  It created a massive ammonia spike initially but cycled the tank rather quickly considered I used no pre-seeded media.  I wanted to start fresh with this one.  I highly recommend this soil if doing a fish-less cycle.  For media, I’m using a course sponge, a finer sponge, filter floss and a filter polishing pad.  I use the Sera Siporax biomedia.  The filter is stuffed.  
 

I won’t need root tabs for about a year or two.  I spoke with the distributor for instructions.  I had been dosing NilocG Thrive C as instructed.  I read the Rotala can pick up more of a reddish tone by restricting nitrates, so I’m going to cut back to half dose as an experiment to see what happens.  We’ll see!  If anyone has advice on whether they think I should continue dosing at a normal dose, please let me know.  Nitrates sit around 15-20.  My water is very soft with a Ph of 6.5.  I don’t want to strip them of nutrients so any comments are appreciated.
 

For plants I have the following:

Crypt Wendtii Green

Crypt Wendtii Bronze

Crypt Jacobsenii (cannot wait to see this fully grown)

Crypt Nurii

Crypt Spiralis Red  

Sagitarria Subulata

Anubias Nanas

Bolbitis “mini”

Rotala Rotundifolia

Anacharis (floating)

Guppy Grass (floating)

Bucphalandra’s -Kedagang, Mini Coin, Brownie Coin and one more  and I have to look up the other name and I may have some  names wrong.  They’re all beautiful whatever species they are!  

Water Sprite (floating)

I think that’s it.  I use Indian almond leaves and liquid tannins in my tanks.  I added 4 horned nerite snails I purchased off EBay about 3 weeks ago.  Penny went in 2 days ago.  She’s very happy exploring her new surroundings.  
 

After major water changes or filter floss replacing, I am using Stability that day to be safe.as far as BB goes.

 

Thanks for checking it out!  I’d love to hear comments!  

 

Edited January 17, 2023 by Lauren A
Added name of Buce

[Sora]

wow! so pretty im sure your little betta loves the upgrade 🙂

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

Great variety of plants! Nice little Betta home for sure!

[Lauren A]

On 1/17/2023 at 1:25 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

Great variety of plants! Nice little Betta home for sure!

 

On 1/17/2023 at 1:19 PM, Sora said:

wow! so pretty im sure your little betta loves the upgrade 🙂

Thank you both very much!  It’s a whole new world for her so it’s really fun watching her explore.  And I’m super happy the tank is doing so well so far.  Fingers crossed🤞 everything keeps growing and doing so well!  I love these smaller cube tanks too.  I’ve got another male betta coming in a few weeks so I’m planning my next tank - and will definitely do another cube.  Sand this time and super low tech.  
 

Thank you again for checking it out!  I was super excited to share pics!  Take care!

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I agree with you on the cube keeping. I recently started one for my Betta rescue. Cubes are pretty, easy to plant/stock and in the case of a Betta tank- heating is a lot easier- it keeps 80 degrees nicely and I think it's a good size for a single Betta. 

Edited January 17, 2023 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[Patrick_G]

Very nice! 

Check out the current sale going on at Petco. Aqueon Rimless cubes are 50% off. I own both Aqueon, UNS and Aquatop rimless tanks and in my opinion the Aqueons very close in quality to the other brands. The only difference that I can see is UNS has those neat mitered corners. 

[Levi_Aquatics]

Looks amazing! The plants look great!!

[Lauren A]

On 1/17/2023 at 2:21 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I agree with you on the cube keeping. I recently started one for my Betta rescue. Cubes are pretty, easy to plant/stock and in the case of a Betta tank- heating is a lot easier- it keeps 80 degrees nicely and I think it's a good size for a single Betta. 

Absolutely.  This is how I feel too.  Even cleaning/wc’s are a breeze compared to my 10 gallons and really, she’s totally fine and has plenty of space to move around and stay interested.  So true on heating it too.  The water circulates so well and the tank stays consistent all over.  There’s no “dead” areas.  I will probably put her bubbler in but I wanted to get her used to the filter flow since she’s been kept in a simple bare bottom with heater and bubbler for most of her life.  
 

I have limited space and it takes up very little of since it’s a cube.  Plus, I love the look!  
 

 

On 1/17/2023 at 2:27 PM, Patrick_G said:

Very nice! 

Check out the current sale going on at Petco. Aqueon Rimless cubes are 50% off. I own both Aqueon, UNS and Aquatop rimless tanks and in my opinion the Aqueons very close in quality to the other brands. The only difference that I can see is UNS has those neat mitered corners. 

Thank you!!!  I’m going to check it out!!!  I always love a good sale.  The shipping is what killed me on the UNS since I had to order it online.  If I remember correct, it was around $50.  Possibly more. I’d love to find a nice one locally.  Thanks again!  

On 1/17/2023 at 2:50 PM, Levi_Aquatics said:

Looks amazing! The plants look great!!

Thank you so much!! 🙏🙏 Fingers crossed!  🤞 

Edited January 17, 2023 by Lauren A
Shipping not shopping

[Lauren A]

What do you all think about liquid fertilizer in this tank?  Since most plants are planted in the soil, do you think I should do a full dose, half dose, or not use it altogether?  I don’t want to overdo it, but I also don’t want the plants to suffer.  
 

I did check my potassium yesterday and I definitely have enough.  I’m not sure with these active substrates if I need an all-in-one, at least over the first few months.  
 

Thanks for your help!

lauren

[JJenna]

Your plants look amazing! Nice work. 

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

I personally don't use any ferts, but I could be wrong when I say, if you're using a true plant substrate you don't usually need ferts for a while. If you capped it- you might have bought more time even. 

[Patrick_G]

On 1/17/2023 at 3:03 PM, Lauren A said:

What do you all think about liquid fertilizer in this tank?  Since most plants are planted in the soil, do you think I should do a full dose, half dose, or not use it altogether?  I don’t want to overdo it, but I also don’t want the plants to suffer.

I have a couple of little cubes with aquasoil. They seem to do fine with very little or no liquid fertilization. However, it might be worth it to buy the little nano bottle of Easy Green just in case you start to see some deficiencies. 
 

 

 

 

Edited January 18, 2023 by Patrick_G

[Lauren A]

On 1/17/2023 at 6:16 PM, xXInkedPhoenixX said:

I personally don't use any ferts, but I could be wrong when I say, if you're using a true plant substrate you don't usually need ferts for a while. If you capped it- you might have bought more time even. 

Hi, I didn’t cap it but thank you for letting me know this with the soil.  It’s definitely a substrate made for aquatic plants and my plants seem to be doing well so I will hold off and if I notice deficiency, maybe just dose for those.  I have a feeling I won’t need them right away so thank you for confirming this!  
 

On 1/17/2023 at 7:58 PM, Patrick_G said:

I have a couple of little cubes with aquasoil. They seem to do fine with very little or no liquid fertilization. However, it might be worth it to buy the little nano bottle of Easy Green just in case you start to see some deficiencies. 
 

 

 

 

Wow!  Those are gorgeous!  What types of fish or other livestock do you keep in them? They’d both work awesome for bettas.  I love the full lush look with the carpets.  I tried doing them when I first got into planted tanks but never had great success.  I’m sure I made a million mistakes though.  Thank you!  I have both Easy Green and the Thrive C and will hold off until i see deficiencies.  Thank you for sharing those pics - I’m inspired!  

[Patrick_G]

On 1/18/2023 at 6:55 AM, Lauren A said:

Wow!  Those are gorgeous!  What types of fish or other livestock do you keep in them?

Thanks 🙂.  They’re both stocked with just snails because I don’t have heater or filters in them. I like the term @Streetwisecoined, “wet houseplants”.