I had a 14g Biocube set up at my house. I just took it down. It was a planted tank and I'm kinda tired of all that's involved with planted tanks. So I was thinking about taking it to work to put on my desk. Originally I was going to make it saltwater. But since I'm going to have it at work, I don't think it'll make too much sense to have a saltwater tank there(mixing salt would be a pain). So I'm looking for different ideas for a freshwater tank. So any suggestions as to what I could put in a biocube? Again, I want some types of fish that would require minimal plants in the tank(if any) since I don't want to have to deal with co2 and ferts again. I'm open for any suggestions that might not be cichlids either if you guys don't think I should go the cichlid route. If I do go the cichlid route, what else could I put in there with them?
Ideas for a 14g Biocube
- Thread starter Milhouse
- Start date
Hi Milhouse. I'm new and I imagine you've seen it already, but the "el natural" thread is quite good for learning about Diana L. Walstad's method for setting up a hands-off planted tank. Your lighting situation at work may make this tricky though.
Can I ask you more about your experience with the 14g Biocube in the past? I just got one and planned on setting up a planted tank with it. Sounds like you didn't have a co2 injector - were you on a daily Seachem Excel/Flourish routine or how did you cope? I imagine it was a lot of daily work but did you find some success? What plants did you grow in it?
Thanks and apologies for answering with a question. Best of luck with your new setup!
Can I ask you more about your experience with the 14g Biocube in the past? I just got one and planned on setting up a planted tank with it. Sounds like you didn't have a co2 injector - were you on a daily Seachem Excel/Flourish routine or how did you cope? I imagine it was a lot of daily work but did you find some success? What plants did you grow in it?
Thanks and apologies for answering with a question. Best of luck with your new setup!
OK, so I haven't read the "el natural" thread. I'm assuming since you mentioned "my lighting situation at work" you're meaning flourescent lights on until night time. I have a small tank set up there now(3g picotope with a betta) and it gets some nasty algae. I've always wondered if it was from the constant flourescent lights(they are on from about 7am to about 9pm. Anywho, when I had it set up before as a planted tank I was dosing it with all of the seachem additives. I was also running a yeast co2 setup(through a powerhead). I was getting great plant growth. The tank looked very good. Then I just got tired of the "routine". With my life I need a tank that if I pretty much ignore it(outside of topping it off and feeding the fish) for a week or two it won't start heading south. With plants, once you start getting some algae if you don't get on top of it quick and stay on top it can be bad. Oddly enough I have another planted tank in my house that is growing like crazy without even a hint of algae. It's odd how it changes from one tank to the next. Oh, and the biocube had anubia, chain swords, various ludwigias, and rotala's.
OK, back to the subject. So I've seen some threads suggest Julie's(I think that's the cichlid) for tanks about my size. So if I went that route, what would I be able to keep with them? How many julies should I get? Just 2 or try more? How would you sex them? Also I wouldn't mind going with rams. I would want something more "exotic" than german blues or golds. So that I'd probably have to order. If I went with the rams, again, what would I put with them? Also, what would you guys suggest for the tank as far as substrate and hardscape? Thanks.
Apistogramma agassizii are very beautiful fish, not to hard to care for from what I've heard. If you had a pair you wouldn't be able to keep much else with them.
Julies might work in this size tank but only a pair of a smaller species such as julidochromis transcriptus or julidochromis ornatus. Both max out around 3". Make sure to have PLENTY of rockwork. You can never have too much with julies.
Males are ususally longer and larger, though there isn't a large difference between the two. I got lucky that there was a true pair already at my LFS.
Also, have a plan on what you will be doing with fry, because chances are they will spawn in good aquarium conditions.
Otherwise I would recommed shell dwellers...look for n. multifaciatus, brevis, ocellatus. All 3 are very easy to keep.
Well, the reason why I was looking at the julie's was because I can find them locally. I don't think I'll be able to find any shell dwellers. I did have a good LFS that carried a decent amount of cichlids near me, but they are under new ownership now. Is there anything that I could keep with the pair if I put them in my tank? If I'm only looking at two fish I might actually go back to my saltwater idea, lol. Atleast I could put some coral in there
Well, the reason why I was looking at the julie's was because I can find them locally. I don't think I'll be able to find any shell dwellers. I did have a good LFS that carried a decent amount of cichlids near me, but they are under new ownership now. Is there anything that I could keep with the pair if I put them in my tank? If I'm only looking at two fish I might actually go back to my saltwater idea, lol. Atleast I could put some coral in there
Not in a tank that size. But it would be perfect for a breeding setup, perhaps making some money off of fry?