Made a cube....can it be usefull?

[DarkLies]

Okay, so long story short:
I needed to make an info cube about a novel for a project
Could have used cardboard, poster paper, etc
But no, I had to go all complicated and make it out of plexi-glass and silicon the sides together
Family member made the comment: That'd be a pretty cool fish tank
It felt like they hit me with an idea stick
Instead of it sitting uselessly in the back room, is there anything I can put in it as a tank?

It's about 9inX8inX8in. Using the aqadvisor, it's about 2.5 gallons.
So far it's just a cube with no top, but I'm going to hinge the top once this silicon dries (so I can remove the paper that I'm going to stick in there to use it for whatever else, not just a $30 project that should have cost me <$1)
I was thinking of breeding ghost shrimp, but I don't know if that'll work and don't know much about them in general.

Is it even possible to raise ghost shrimp in there? Or does anyone have any other ideas for what I could use it for? I would go with a betta, but, something's telling me not to...

 

[Newman]

yeah you could use it as one of your shrimp tanks. throw a marimo ball in there for them to play with. put around 5 ghost shrimp in it to make sure you get at least a male and female, and gove them lot of cover. weekly water changes and everything. a sponge filter might work too.

give them plenty of live plant cover, but make sure you feed them with sinking fish food once a day or more if they get hungry. if at all possible dont let the temp of the water go below 68F

 

[ValRasbora]

Betta, ADF, Shrimp.
Just some ideas. Might be a bit small for an ADF, tho?

 

[ValRasbora]

and remember to make sure it is watertight!

 

[DarkLies]

and remember to make sure it is watertight!

Yea, definitely!! I'm not even sure if I'm going to be able to use it as a tank after it's done with though =/
Just wanted ideas in case
For the ADF, what would I need to do? (filter, heater, food, plants, etc)

And for the shrimp and plants, Newman, what type of filter would work best in your opinion? =]

Thanks guys, I'm so glad some people know what they're talking about!

 

[ValRasbora]

here's some info on ADF: African Dwarf Frog,Hymenochirus boettgeri Profile, with care, maintenance requirements and breeding information for your tropical fish

and ghost shrimp: Ghost Shrimp, Paleomonetes, with care, maintenance requirements and breeding information for your tropical fish

and if the tank isn't watertight you can always just re-seal it.
Don't forget snails! They can be interesting but I'm not too fond of them as they can easily overrun your tank.

 

[Stillness]

Yeah, AFD's are really cool, but sort of annoying. They're hard to feed. Equipment wise, treat them like a fish. Be careful with their filter, I've heard that they don't like vibrations, so you may wish to rule out air powered filters.

Personally I'd just put so ghost shrimp in there. Easy to care for, yet still fascinating to watch.

Sounds like an interesting build, could we see some pictures?

 

[ValRasbora]

I second pics!
Now that I've started fishkeeping, I can see things in a new way. A big decorative flower pot could be a neat little fish pond. A glass vase could have a betta in it (without flowers) the possibilities are endless

 

[JRB__]

And for the shrimp and plants, Newman, what type of filter would work best in your opinion? =]

A sponge filter is always good.
The shrimp will feed on the things that live and grow on the sponge. Plus they don't churn up the water, for a small tank.

 

[Newman]

yea ditto for sponge filter.

 

[bassbonediva]

You could do a betta in there if you wanted. He wouldn't be *extremely* happy about the living arrangements, but it wouldn't be too bad for him. Better than the little betta bowls they make (I just have to say UGH! to those!). You wouldn't *have* to have a filter, just a bubble stone and a heater and you'd be good. You could decorate really cool with plenty of places for the betta to hide and it'd be cool.

That is, if the ghost shrimp breeding idea doesn't pan out for ya.

 

[DarkLies]

Wow, I love the ideas and help guys =]
Sorry I haven't responded in a while...really busy

But today, I turned in the cube without pictures =/=/
I completely forgot to charge my camera batteries! So, when I get it back, I'll deff have some pics
But, it looks exactly like this except made from plexi-glass
https://images.furniture123.co.uk/F123images/Catalogue/vlrg/MOR001/Glass Cube in Silver.jpg
The top is going to be hinged and there's a very very small gap (about 1/3inch) between the hinged top and side

 

[ValRasbora]

great! that looks cool have you decided exactly what your doing with it yet?

 

[DarkLies]

Not sure yet
I'm leaning more towards the ghost shrimp idea
But, first, I need to keep the cube out of the clutches of my mother
She wants it for some reason


Could I make a sponge filter for the shrimp?
I saw a video on youtube (not sure what it was called) But you take a regular sponge, attach it to an airline which is attached to a pump and voila! Sponge filter!

Would that actually work? -.-'

 

[ValRasbora]

That sound interesting. Tell me how it works out! Have you tested it for water-tightness yet?

Oh and good luck keeping it out of the evil clutches of your mom

 

[DarkLies]

That sound interesting. Tell me how it works out! Have you tested it for water-tightness yet?

Oh and good luck keeping it out of the evil clutches of your mom

Actually, it got stuck in the prof's room over the holidays
I'm soooo worried and upset!! =/

Also, I told her that it's my new shrimp tank and she can't have it =p

 

[ValRasbora]

oh noo!Good luck getting it back
can you get me a link of that vid? I'm very curious!

 

[DarkLies]

Oh, I've got my dad pumped about the shrimp so I don't care if I have to fight someone tooth and nail...it's coming back home to mama XDXD

Anywho, here's the vid How to Make A Sponge Filter

Now, these shrimp will be raised as feeder shrimp (unfortunately) But I'm going to have 4 tanks in my room (1 gallon, 10 gallon (coming soon), 2.5 gallon (shrimp...coming soon), and triop tank (not sure what size yet, but also coming soon))
Soo, will the sponge filter work for them just as a bare minimum?

Also, they will have light. This is another cool part. Does anyone watch Disney/Pixar movies? Well, you know that thing that bounces on the 'i'? The lamp looking thing? Yea, well, I found one really close to that except it's square..not sure what it's call... and I'm going to use that as their light source ^^

AND
I plan to get some kind of Java Moss ball for them
and I've got an entire bag of play sand in the backyard unopened
Could I just wash off the sand really good and use that?

Sorry for all the questions

 

[ValRasbora]

Well the sponge filter would probably be OK in the 1 gal, 2.5 gal, and if the triop tank is small it'd probably be good too, but I think the ten gallon would be best to have a regular filter.

 

[ValRasbora]

oh and yes I know that light thing you mean... cool! Playsand is probably OK... especially as some people collect sand from the beach... just be sure to rinse it REALLY well!