# My 2 liter tank



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Feedback is welcome!, I am open to new ideas.



















Plants are Cladophora aegagrophila, Rotala wallichii, Micranthemum umbrosum, Ludwigia brevipes (very small, but its there) and Crassula helmsii.


----------



## mm12463 (Mar 5, 2004)

Looks nice for a such a small tank. Be nice to have in the office.


----------



## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

That is cool, how did you get your Cladophora to grow in that manner?


----------



## freshreef (May 14, 2004)

beautiful, could u tell what filter, light and co2 u using?


----------



## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

It needs shrimp!


----------



## amber2461 (Jun 15, 2004)

Sir_BlackhOle said:


> It needs shrimp!


I second that !


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Thanks for the comments :wink: 

Piscesgirl, the cladophora lawn is just a stretched marimo ball, it grows slowly, but in the afternoon it produces a lot of bubbles and looks very beautiful, it makes such a different carpet.

Mor b, This is a filterless tank. Light is a 11w 2700K desk compact fluorescent. I add CO2 which I dissolve with a ceramic diffuser. 100% water change once a week. Fertilize as needed with KNO3, Casen enema (Spanish version of fleet enema) and a chelated trace element mix.

Sir Blackhole and Amber, I have been considering adding critters to this tank other than snails, but it is only two liters (1/2 gallon), I think it is too small for anything I can think of, and btw, I´ve learnt to enjoy fishless/shrimpless planted tanks  

Please, excuse my poor english.


----------



## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

Your english sound fine to me  I tried to keep a fishless 29 gallon for a while, but just couldnt resist when I had the opportunity to put some endlers in there!


----------



## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Very well done, Mortadelo. That is a beautiful little tank. If you have any access to bee or cherry red shrimp, I think they would look wonderful in that little tank. 

You might want to try adding some hardscaping material like very thin twigs to give the layout some more character.

Carlos


----------



## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I was thinking that's what it was Mortadelo! Good job with it! I have a split algae ball myself that I might do something use somewhat like that since you've shown such a great example!


----------



## aquatic-store.com (Jun 23, 2004)

I just posted a question a week or so ago on my forum if anyone had done this with the marimo balls.

How do you keep this down ?

Thanks for sharing this


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

I tied the Chladophora to a small and flat piece of slate with very fine nylon thread. I do this or else it floats in the afternoon, it produces a lot of oxygen bubbles under high light.

As Tsunami said, I am going to put some very fine branches in there, and I am also thinking of putting the crassula behind the wallichii and let it grow emmersed. I will also change the shape of the lawn, it is too L-shaped now.

In case you are interested these are my first trials at "infinite backgrounds"





































Very basic, I know, I´ll use better equipment next time. 8)


----------



## dennis (Mar 1, 2004)

I like your tank very much and the infite background is very cool. I am even more interestd in the jar behind your setup. Can you tell me more about that? Maybe in a new thread


----------



## Piscesgirl (Feb 25, 2004)

I'm with Dennis - what's the jar?


----------



## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

I like it! Cant wait to see it with wood!


----------



## leleupy (Mar 22, 2004)

Hi Mortadelo!!
Is nice look in this forum  .
The mini-scape is very "chulo" ... and my inglish is very poor  
jejeje
When the plants grow a little it see more beautiful.
The idea of the Chladophora is very original to nano-cubes :wink: .
Congratulations for the mini-scape  
Salu2


----------



## Xema (Mar 24, 2004)

How says Leleupy, it´s very "chulo" (chulo=cool).

But, I am puzzled with the way you attach the marimo to the bottom... 

does marimo be kept close to the floor?

In spanish: Como leches se pega la cladophora al suelo, valdria para un palo?!!!

Enga pisha, nos vemos.

Greetings from Spain named too, the skin of the bull.


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Whoops!, I am sorry, I totally forgot this thread!. Thanks for the comments guys

Xema, the chladophora is tied with nylon thread to a flat piece of slate. This algae grows very slow, but it does grow since I can no longer see the nylon.

Right now I am turning the cube into an ultralow-tech tank. besides it not having neither filtration nor heating I have now unplugged the CO2, and replaced the 11w CFL with a 60w incandescent bulb (which nicely heats the tank). You can say it is just a jar with water and plants, not an aquarium, but I am sure I can make it look good. Things are not easy though, I am getting some algae and stunning until I get used to the low nutrient uptake.

I have added Microsorum pteropus "narrow" to the lot, its amazing how fine the leaves of this plants can be, for a Microsorum. I´ve also abandoned that manicured looks. I´ll post pictures soon.


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Plants aren´t very healthy, in addition to stopping CO2 injection I have been rearranging my bedroom´s furniture and the tank has been jumping from my desk to the floor, to the kitchen, to the living-room and back to my bedroom lit with natural light only. The branch looks good to me though .










You can´t see it in the first pic but a few weeks ago some crassula grew emmersed.


----------



## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

A very cool tank! I think you just inspired me to start up my uber uber tiny 1/2L tank


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

1/2 liter!, don´t put it in your kitchen or you may drink it one day without noticing :wink: now I have to start a 1/4 liter tank, hehe :lol: 

BTW, thanks for the info on reflectors.


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)




----------



## turtlehead (Nov 27, 2004)

where did you get that tank?


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

At a local flower shop, it is not an aquarium but a flower jar, they come in several sizes and glass is much clearer (no green tint) than conventional glass. Mine cost 12 euros.


----------



## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

It's turning out to be very beautiful, Mortadelo. The combination of branchy driftwood, round leaved Lysimachia (?) and dark green cladophora is just perfect. If only you could strengthen the appearance of the background stems. 

Carlos


----------



## Black oranda (Dec 28, 2004)

Very lovely tank, I don''t think the tank is big enough for any fish or shrimp.
But it does look lovely Just the way it is. 

Great job!


----------



## Black oranda (Dec 28, 2004)

Very lovely tank, I don''t think the tank is big enough for any fish or shrimp.
But it does look lovely Just the way it is. 

Great job!


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Thank you, Carlos and Oranda.   

What looks like Lyssimachia is in fact Micranthemum umbrosum under low light  

The tank looks a bit different now. I am the always-unhappy-with-the-current-layout type of aquarist so I am always moving things around (thats why I take a lot of pictures).

See you next time I post new pics.


----------



## MiamiAG (Jan 13, 2004)

Mortadelo,

How is the tank doing?


----------



## jppurchase (Dec 15, 2004)

Is that tank one piece? (i.e. made from one piece of glass)

It looks like several glass cubes I bought last week, except that yours is bigger than the ones I was able to find. Hand made in Poland?

James Purchase
Toronto


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Its been a long time since my last post about this cube. Although previous pictures are gone from the thread you can see them in my website.

The following shot was taken yesterday.










James, the tank is one piece of glass, it is a flower jar, not sure if hand made or not, but the walls are not perfectly flat, so it could well be.


----------



## Rub (Jul 14, 2005)

Very nice Mortadelo. A beautiful minicube.
A couple of questions: what type of branches have you used???? Where is Crassula????? (down-right corner maybe?)

Greetings


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Hola Ruben. 

Crassula are the two thin stems braking the surface. No idea about the twigs, they are probably "tomillo", the surrounding mountains are crowded with bone dry "tomillo" plants, which have perfect tiny very old looking branches. If you have seen dead "tomillo" in the countryside they look like a very old dry bonsai. Perfect for tiny tanks.

Good luck with your cube.


----------



## Xema (Mar 24, 2004)

OHhh!!!! I cann´t believe it... is a "Tomillo" wood mini-cube...

Mortadelo, you know that I think of your nano-cube... awesome!!

Rub, look for lanvadula genus in the countryside, it´s a very twisted wood too.

Greets from Spain


----------



## tsunami (Jan 24, 2004)

Beautiful layout, Mortadelo! It has an incredible atmosphere to it.

Carlos


----------



## Rub (Jul 14, 2005)

Ok Mortadelo. I asked you about Crassula Helmsii because the stems are more small in my "viverillo" (emersed)......My cube is coming soon!!!!thanks. You will see the photos.....thanks for all your advices (including Xema ).

Are tomillo´s branches valid for aquariums ???????? 
*Xema said:*


> Rub, look for lanvadula genus in the countryside


hey Xema!!!!!!!!!! Lavanda????????? ya si que es verdad que me habeis dejao con la boca abierta (sorry for no spanish).......My cube will smell very very well

Greetings


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

Having some kind of "atmosphere" is one of the goals for my scapes, thank you Tsunami.



> Are tomillo´s branches valid for aquariums ????????


Yeah, man. Totally!. Join the "tomillo" club at once. BTW, emersed and submersed Crassula are very similar, its just that the tank is so small that it looks bigger.

Hey Xema, [smilie=u:


----------



## nagesh (Jul 21, 2005)

*2 lts cube tank.*

hi, first of all i like to congrtualte for this butiful cube tank and surarly looking for the one for me in india.do let me know the parts and how to go about it.
thanks again.
nagesh. s 



Mortadelo said:


> Its been a long time since my last post about this cube. Although previous pictures are gone from the thread you can see them in my website.
> 
> The following shot was taken yesterday.
> 
> ...


----------



## Mortadelo (Mar 14, 2004)

As per Nagesh request:

Tank started: 7/9/2005.

Picture taken: 10/30/2005.

Dimensions: 13 x 13 x 13 cm.

Volume: 2 litres.

Lighting: PLS-11w 2700K at a distance of 5 to 10 cm. from the surface. Upgraded to a 23w 860 compact fluorescent a week ago.

No heating or filtration.

Photoperiod: 9 hours a day.

Substrate: silica sand.

Plants: Micranthemum umbrosum, Crassula Helmsii, Ludwigia brevipes, Marsilea sp., Hemianthus callitricoides, Vesicularia dubyana, Microsorum pteropus narrow leave, and an unknown plant.

Inhabitants: rotifers, cyclops...

Unknown water values, I don´t test.

100% water change every five days or so. Hard tap water.

Fertilization: 1 rice grain worth of K2SO4 after water change. 1 rice grain worth of KNO3 after water change and every two days afterwards. 1/2 rice grain worth of KH2PO4 after water change and every two days afterwards. A tiny amount of trace elements every once in a while.

CO2: Bottled CO2. Wood Diffuser. Changed to excel a week ago.

My schedule breaks down like this. I take the cube to the kitchen, put it on the sink tray, scrape the glass walls, brush the stones, trim the plants, add/remove sand, rearrange things (I´m always moving things around), put it under the tap and let the water run for a few minutes, dry it and clean it and here we go back to my room, add all the fertilizers and I´m more or less done. It takes me one hour or more. The thing is so small that you have to be very careful as one stem out of place ruins the composition.


----------



## gsg (Feb 17, 2005)

Very nice minicube, Mortadelo.
And it's also nice to see hobbymates around from Spain . We must be only a few out of the Dr.pez forum. More people should be coming here to learn, as generally, the planted tank hobby is not very well developed at our country.
Regards,


----------

