The amazing multi-coloured 20 litre kiddie nano cube

I have had a store built 6ft, 770l system for a few years now and this has given me much pleasure. My then 4 year old daughter loves the fishes, often naming them individually. Around 18 months ago I decided to buy her a nano for her room. A forumite posted an ad to sell a 20l cube that included a simple hob filter, a heater and diy lighting in the perspex hood for a ridiculously low amount and the journey began



The initial setup comprised of a single Siamese fighter, two plants and a piece of driftwood with some moss attached. We added some commercial gravel and filled up the tank with water from the 6ft tank. A true plug and play, the system was up and running within 15 minutes of getting home.

The first change came in respect of lighting. The diy, run off a cellphone charger effort, was not lighting it up to my satisfaction. A waterproof 1m set of colour changing LED's was purchased for more than the system cost me. These LED's came with their own remote control and have features like automatic colour changing, and this was perfect for my little one.









































The different colours really give the tank a different dimension


























































































Over time we lost two Siamese fighters in relatively quick succession and decided to replace this species to avoid the trauma of having a floater! Two mollies, 5 neons, an albino cory and a panda cory were added over time. These have been in the system for over a year now and thriving. The plants are fed Tetra PlantaMin are left to their own devices. I need to prune on a regular basis! The tank is attended to every week where a 25% water change straight from the main tank is done. We have not lost a fish in over a year so clearly eveything is working fine.









































This simple little setup has given hours and hours of education, discipline ( she feeds and helps maintain ) and joy. I have no doubt she is hooked for life.

Sometimes bigger is not neccessarily better!