Planted 12g Nanocube

[rahimsach]

I recently converted my SW Nanocube to Freshwater. I added eco-complete substrate in it yesterday. I would like to put plants in there and then some neon tetras.
I have never done a plnated tank before therefore I need some advice. What kind of filtration media is recommended? I was thinking about using sponge, filter floss and ceramic rings. Also, should I start dosing it with Seachem’s Flourish Excel once I add the plants?

 

[phanmc]

sponge, floss, and ceramic rings are fine or you can just go with more sponges and floss for extra mechanical filtration. The plants will handle the biological filtration.

I assume you have the deluxe version with 48w of lighting? If you do then you will need additional fertilizers. Flourish Excel is a carbon additive, you will still need to account for the other nutrients. If you are going with the Seachem line you will likely need Flourish (comprehensive), Potassium, Nitrogen, and Phosphorus. These should be added when you add the plants. You may also want to look into CO2 injection in place of Excel dosing.

If you have the regular nano with 24w of light, then a bottle of Excel and a bottle of Flourish (comprehensive) may be all you need.

 

[JAY973]

I recently converted my SW Nanocube to Freshwater. I added eco-complete substrate in it yesterday. I would like to put plants in there and then some neon tetras.

Cool I'd like to see what kind of results you get. I'm trying something similar but even smaller. I need to do more research.

Good luck!

 

[rahimsach]

I will post some picture this weekend. Just bought couple of plants today. Dwarf Sagittaria and anacharis.

 

[rahimsach]

I was wondering if the current light will work. I have two 50/50 (10k/Actinic). Should I change both of them to two 24w 6500k bulbs?

 

[rahimsach]

I got some additional plants and finally the tank looks a bit fuller. Attached are the latest pics. Please ignore the cup, it has java moss, I am waiting for the driftwood to be ready so that I can put it on. The only issue that I am having right now is to keep the anacharis and cabomba straight. They keep leaning forward, is there a trick to fix this?

 

[phanmc]

They are possibly leaning towards the light, only thing you can do is move them forward a little bit. Or they may straighten out on their own if they were just introduced.

To answer your earlier question about switching out the light, you'll see slightly faster growth if you switch with the daylights. If you prefer the bluish tint then by all means keep it, you have enough lighting for those plants.

 

[rahimsach]

Updated pics

I got the 6500k lights this evening. I replaced the lights in the tanks and also put in the driftwood and tied some java moss to it. Man, the light make a big difference. The tank looks much brighter. Check it out.