# one cubic foot



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

yep, 12" x 12" x 12". that's the space I have in the cubby on my desk for a small tank. whatever I put in there will have heating and filtration, but I'm curious as to whether that's big enough to have any live plants. I've had live plants before in a 20 gallon tank I had in the past, so it's not a question of ability, but rather should I. with such a small water volume, I'm not sure if it would impact my Betta negatively or benefit him positively. 

I hope some of you more experienced keepers can provide me with some advise as I want a happy fish.


----------



## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

My 10g tank was fill from top to bottom in hornwort and my betta loved it. Bettas from my experience love lots of plants. I'm setting up new ADA planted tank it's 11.9 x 11.9 x 11.9. Here is a picture of 7 gallon planted tank, it's called a pocket full of sunshine.


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

forgive my ignorance, but what does ADA stand for?  

I can imagine your Betta loved the hornwort, as they like to hover over the bottom when they rest, it would make for quite a comfortable mattress!


----------



## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

Aqua Design Amano


----------



## aselvarial (Feb 21, 2014)

I have live plants that are doing well in a 2.5 gallon. I even have some in a 1.5 gallon cube snail tank.


----------



## kjg1029 (Jun 14, 2014)

the smallest i have is a 5 gal and my plants grow the best in it! I'm guessing because it has a hood light and I dose with ferts weekly. My bettas looove heavily planted tanksc: goodluck!!


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

what is that plant in your 7 gal? I love it! 

I realize now I should have Googled hornwort as that's a stand up and floaty plant, which would not be comfortable to sleep on. that comment, however, was targeted at the 7 gal, as all that soft bottom would make it easy for the Betta to find a resting place.


----------



## LittleBettaFish (Oct 2, 2010)

I have several tanks that are exactly that size and they are crammed full of plants. I use java moss, watersprite, java fern, hornwort and hydrilla (I think that is illegal in some countries). 

Bettas often to prefer heavily planted tanks over tanks with lots of open space, as they are not a fish who would naturally spend a lot of time swimming through open water.


----------



## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

To be honest, CrayCray my betta loved sleeping on the hornwort. That is not my 7g, it's a picture of a tank that won 1st place at a contest last year. But it's a prime example of a very small tank with plants. That 7g used like 7 different types of carpet plants lol.


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

what plants are native to Betta's that could be used in an NPT like this? 

actually, here's a bit more about my scenario. I want to liven things up on my desk at work. I'd like to have a NPT with mild filtration so I can support a Betta along as a couple of shrimp and perhaps a snail. my tank may see some direct sunlight as the day is ending and I want to be able to control any algae. that said, I never had shrimp or snails when I had my 20gal and would like to see them too. 

so all that in mind, my space is actually 13" cubed, not 12"...I just said 12" so I have space to play with. at this point, one of my biggest concerns is having the space necessary for the lighting with the height restrictions I have.

also, there's is a nice ADA tank I'm looking at, but it's paired with an LED lamp that's just shy of $200. I can understand now why people say LED lighting for planted tanks is redonkulously expensive. now, I'm open to more than just ADA tanks. in fact, I see there is company called Do!aqua with nice small tanks that are about half as expensive as the ADA. they say they come with standard clarity glass. perhaps someone can clarify what that means in relation to whatever glass ADA uses?

that leads to the question of light. what other options are there for these smaller tanks that I should consider?

I've learned about a small filter system called a Tom Mini. should I use that for the higher biological load of having shrimp and a snail in the tank? or is there better equipment or another way to handle that? 

I have so many questions. the landscape...erm, aquascape has changed dramatically since I was doing this more than 10 yeas ago!!!


----------



## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

ADA is expensive in general. ADA tanks use low iron/high clarity glass and the silicon work is not even noticeable. Do!aqua is great tank, I never saw one in person, but the glass I think has a little green tint. Which is why it's cheaper. 

Other brand for rimless cube tanks is truaqua. They also have low iron/high clarity glass tanks and it's cheaper then ADA.

I'm using BuildMyLED.com (expensive) on my ADA cube. A good cheap way and effective is a clip on lamp with a CFL 6500k daylight bulb. For substrates I recommend going the soil route. The cheap way is organic soil with a gravel/sand cap. The more expensive route is ADA aquasoil and you don't need a cap, but the down fall is ammonia spikes when you first use it. For aquasoil you definitely have to do a fishless cycle. 

For filters I like using canister filters and again it's pretty expensive. I never used Tom's filters before, so I can't really recommend it. You try HOB filter if budget is a problem.


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

budget isn't really a concern. I'm just not sure I'm ready to sink $500 - $1000 into a 2 gallon tank at the moment is all.  

I know about Fluval's canister filters and I've seen the one's for ADA. what do you use and do you use it for more than one tank? 

another question, how do you find the right balance for an NPT, so everything is equal and in balance? is there any reading I can do to find out what rules of thumbs apply?


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

*My Plan!*

hello everyone, here are three pictures of tanks I would love to emulate in some fashion.

http://www.plantedta...57&n=inspireram
http://www.plantedta...2493&n=SuperWen
http://www.plantedta...13857&n=Lovejoy

I'm realizing my Ikea desk may not handle the weight of the tank that well. I'm probably going to have to reinforce it. no matter, nothing some black painted 1/4" plywood won't fix!









it looks like I will be going with a mixture of ADA and DO!aqua tech and supplies:
http://shop.aquarium...uctCode=140-869
http://shop.aquarium...uctCode=102-698
http://shop.aquarium...uctCode=108-401
http://shop.aquarium...uctCode=104-032 (just not sure what I should use as surface in the Betta tank. Colorado sand?)
http://shop.aquarium...ductCode=105-45

for the light, I'm thinking a Wave Point 12" 6500K LED lamp, though I may have the space for a CCFL being the tank is only 10" tall, giving me 3" of space to play with in the cubby hole.
http://www.wave-poin...ClampLight.html

the only things I need to find are the heater and filter to use and the plants I should put in. obviously I'll do some 'low' light, but I want low lying plants grass/moss for the foreground and some longer grasses for the back (probably where the heater/filter will be hidden from site).

one day I will do that bonzai tree. I fell in love with the idea as soon as I saw it!

any thoughts/recommendations? I'm all ears! :lol:


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

The forgound plants in the first 3 links all need CO2 to grow as a compact carpet. The grassy foreground in the first (utricularia graminifolia) is very picky and I've not seen a setup yet that it lives in without CO2, the other two (glosso and dwarf baby tears) can live without CO2 but they will grow tall and stringy instead of low and compact. Also all those will need some form of ferts, either liquid ferts, root tabs, soil (with cap), or an enriched substrate like amazonia or eco complete (i see you have aqau soil so that part is covered).

added
An alternative grass like foreground to the one in the 1st photo that's more manageable is dwarf hair grass, which can grow without co2, and in low light (but slower than high light and co2). It can also be cut without killing the grass, letting your manage how tall it gets.


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

well, there goes that idea, LOL! thanks for that update Aurora. 

do you have any plants you would recommend that do well in low light situations and can provide a similar aquascape?


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Sorry to pop you're bubble, but didn't want you to spend $$ and have the plants all die/look like crap then wonder why.
Look up moss carpet aquascape (or somethign simular), mini xmas moss, mini pellia, and fissidens are all compact (but slow) growers, there's also a lot of other mosses like rose, xmas (regular), weeping, flame, singapore, taiwanese, java.
Tieing these to stainless steel mesh (or to save $, simple (dark) plastic mesh from your local arts and crafts store). 
You can even get marimo balls, rip/split them and glue or wedge them in between hardscape (look up marimo spaces). Note: marimo is actually a specialized hair algae not a moss, anything you use to kill algae in a tank with it (this includes bleach, peroxide, any algae-be-gone type products, and Seachem Excel) can kill the marimo.

Dwarf hair grass or micro sword, there's in mini micro sword (expensive but stays short) for easy grasses (flame moss also kinda looks like grass once it grows in).. you can try the dwarf baby tears, but they're going to grow up not out, and be a long battle of trimming and replanting (but its not quite going to look like the last photo).


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

thank you for the plant recommendations. are there any books on aquatic plants I should consider purchasing? that way I know I can do, moving forward. or perhaps there is an online resource that catalogs/lists plants from beginner to intermediate to expert in growing/handling?

I realize these tanks are probably more indicative of what I will end up with:
http://i60.tinypic.com/2vxhff4.jpg
http://i57.tinypic.com/1192bmf.jpg
http://i59.tinypic.com/9hjl8o.jpg


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

I don't know any plant books sorry, I get most of my knowledge from Google and http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/index.php great informative and active community, lot of knowledge on planted tanks there just gotta search for it or ask.
Love that first photo (been real tempted to try something like that.. need to grab some mesh from the craft store)


----------



## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

You can also try some dwarf sag carpet. But the only down fall it grows a little tall for nano tanks.


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

thank you for that suggestion Tony. I was actually thinking of using that for my backdrop plants, since it grows taller than everything else, let my fish weave their way through that.


----------



## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

I do suggest CO2 for all planted tanks. But I all ways tell people to start off slow with low tech tanks, before they jump in to high light/CO2 tech tanks. 

Like myself, I jumped right into high tech tanks without knowing anything about planted tanks. All I ended up with is a tank with loads of algae, biggest mistake ever. Start slow with easy plants, good substrate, and mid lighting range. Then build yourself up, research, and patience is key.


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

yup. slow n steady wins the race! 

my goal is something like this, but with different/better/hidden filtration:
http://oi60.tinypic.com/2vxhff4.jpg


----------



## Aqua Aurora (Oct 4, 2013)

Friendly said:


> yup. slow n steady wins the race!
> 
> my goal is something like this, but with different/better/hidden filtration:
> http://oi60.tinypic.com/2vxhff4.jpg


the plants along the back of the glass (not the grass like plant or moss in front) are anubias nana var. petite (often just called anubias petite), they are tiny awesome low tech/light/demand plants, grow slow but stay small.


----------



## Friendly (Aug 29, 2014)

well, I went to one of the local shops here in Vancouver, Aquariums West and am all excited. bought Amano's new book, and the shop has a 1.5 hour seminar on these new nano tanks and their setup/sculpting. I'm going next week with one of my workmates. he's got a Betta in a 2.5 unheated/unfiltered tank. I've convinced him to upgrade the poor guy to a 10 gallon with all the amenities.


----------



## Tony2632 (Aug 30, 2013)

I want Amano aquascape book. I'll admit I'm a ADA fanboy, but they have a lot of haters on the brand. That is super cool your LFS has a seminar on aquascapes, I assume. All tell your friend he needs a heater for that betta. You can do a unfiltered 2.5, but with frequent water changes.


----------

