Instalment

Today I installed the cube, and it is up and running/cycling.

First I rinsed out the tank as recommended in the manual that came with it. Than I put in a 2-3 cm layer of nutrient soil, and washed the gravel in a strainer.




Unfortunately the gravel I purchased was smaller than the holes in my strainer. So I had to be careful there, and couldn't wash it as thoroughly as I wished.

After I washed the gravel I put a thick layer of it on top of the soil.

Now I could install the hardware. At first I thought it would be best to put the heater in horizontally at the bottom, so it would be easier to hide. But I then opted to just put in vertically behind a plant so I would have easier access in case of maintenance. And with the tank looking like it does today, it is less noticeable this way.

The filter was a bit trickier, but I hid it behind the large piece of wood, didn’t really think of maintenance though, It might be a bit tricky to get it out and back in this way. But the circulation it provides was better than I expected, I thought it to be way too small for this tank, but now I’m feeling optimistic.



I had two small pieces of wood, and I bought a large one new today. I tried to boil it, but it was way too big, so I put it in the sink, it wouldn’t really fit in there either.

I soaked it in hot water and throw boiling water over it a couple of times. It gave of a lot of colour. I wonder why those people who collect and sell the wood don’t do that for us. They charge us enough for it I think.

When it didn’t give of as much colour anymore I put in the tank. It was larger than I anticipated, so there wasn’t too many option on how to put it in. I must say laying in the tank, it looked a lot better than I thought it would. I wasn’t too satisfied when I bought it.

Unfortunately when I got home this evening, it had already coloured the water. I’ll leave it like it is for a week and do a large water change. Hope it doesn’t give of colour for ages.

After that the stones and at last the plants.
Plants are always a bit tricky. First getting the fibre-block they grow in off, without damaging the roots too, much is always a hassle. Then the actual planting itself: Luckily this time I was able to plant them before the water was put in. So I could really dig them in.


Then I carefully poured the water in, and of course the small plants came out. They still aren’t really solid, but until now they’re still in their place. I hope they root soon.

I’m not sure how much water I put in, but I think it was closer to 30 litres than 40.

Impatient as I am, I forgot to install the light fixture. And with the screws on the back end of it, I couldn’t reach in with my screwdriver. Thank god it’s just a small tank, and I was able to move it so I could fix it. Than it was moment for the moment supreme. I could plug it in!



Big turn of immediately. The extension sockets I bought don’t really make good contact with the plugs, it stuttered so to say. At first I thought the equipment of the tank was broken. Moving the plugs to the earthed sockets fixed that problem.

The filter blew a lot of air out first, and
then, small pieces of carbon. I should've rinsed that of first! Anyway, I think it looks quite nice, now its just time to wait a while and start putting the fish in. Can’t wait.