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Leaving hobby or move to Low Tech (260 litre bow fronted tank)

Tank looks great PMM, no doubt.
Well, tell us how you feel about the low tech method in comparison to before 🙂 It actually gets better in a few months in my experience as plants really take off then to the point it gets annoying as it's too much work. That's if you have fast growers. The crinum and aponogeton are some of my favourite plants. They love light so I'd make sure they are not overshadowed eventually if there are some fast growers.
You probably won't need to add anything at all in the first year. I normally supplement with macros afterwards in little amount's weekly, mostly potassium and nitrate but even a bit if phosphate wont' harm, and if your water is like mine, iron too. But that's only a problem if the tank is not very well stocked and because I tend to be doing more water changes than normal for a low tech.
 
Hi guys and girls, 5 weeks in now and all is great.
Stems were actually trimmed by a couple of inches at the weekend, crypts to the right seem happy and have had no melting. No algae what so ever
General growth is slow but im not bothered as long as the plants are healthy i feel I've started to achieve my goal.
I tried to plant well from the start and give some depth and substance from the off knowing growth would be slower than the high tech world and much looks as it was 3 weeks ago tbh but that's fine by me.
I've added some sponges to my inlet pipes to be uber shrimp friendly maybe need to trim them down a tad at some point but i don't really notice them in the tank now and flow hasn't been reduced at all. In fact although the circ pump is still in there its not been on for 3 weeks so may take it out soon.
I can't believe how fast the floaters grow☺ i am removing about a litre jug full each week at water change. Water changes now every week and just doing 65 litres which is roughly 25%. Lights still only on for 6 hours so will maybe increase this to 7 in the new year.
So far I'm well chuffed and am now thinking of a few small changes and additions. I gradually want to replace some of the stems at the front right with lilaeopsis brasiliensis and also add more crypts to both far left and right sides, some smaller varieties to keep the scale.
One surprise for me is the alternanthera reineckii pink, its survived and doing rather well. In the high tech this always grew leggy and was plagued by bba, its loving it's new home now.
Maybe ok now for a couple more corys and I'd like some more snails too. Only have the one red ramshorn so looking to get some mates for him/her.
Really should have done this 3 yrs ago its turning out just peachy
Heres a pic after 5 weeks from my phone
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The tank is looking amazing Clive🙂...It's looking a lot more lushly now then when it was co2 injected,...and all this with much less maintenance too 🙂. Congratulations on a job well done.
 
It's looks great - very lush and green. Not sure if it's just the photo, but have you thought about changing the background to something with a bit more contrast? Black might make the plants/fish pop more and make the equipment blend. Just a thought 🙂
 
Cheers for the comments everyone, tam i do have some black card i bought meaning to try as a background i must get myself in gear and sort it out

So it's been a while now since i started this and i can honestly say it's been great. No algae, my pest snails have vanished, shrimp population exploded and all plants healthy.
I've added a couple of crypts and 4 more corys. The stauro i transplanted from high tech didn't seem to do too well so Its gone and I'm replacing with Lilaeopsis brasiliensis.
I could do with a portion of bolbitus heudelotii for adding some structure to the left piece of redmoor and I'd really like to get in on the act with some Buce soon.
Here's the tank now still no ferts being added at all and lights on for 7 hours per day
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fee4ef6c7daf1b4be827369c225bbaa2.jpg
Cheers for looking
Clive☺
 
Thanks Troi, its such an improvement on my high tech with regards the health of the tank in general.
I was constantly fighting bba and mild green spot algae, running co2 through both spray bars i was using a 2kg FE each month and with the depth of the tank and it having a bowed front getting ideal flow and circulation was a pig of a job.
By removing the obstacles causing hard work and removing large hardscape pieces so not to restrict flow it's all come together rather nicely.
Oh, and not forgetting all the help i had along the way.
I would eventually like to replce some or most of the stems at the front with crypts and buce.
I have my mojo back now and when funds allow would like a smaller tank, optiwhite if poss to run in a similar way for in our hallway, i love my cherry shrimp so may try some more adventurous shrimp keeping in this one, just plans at the moment but i do have permission from she who must be obeyed
 
The tank is looking great!
My soil tank similar to your setup has been totally free of algae for the 3rd year now, there's not a spec anywhere to be seen. I may have said it but once I moved a BBA infested anubias from my other tank to the soil tank the BBA on the leaves died off completely. I didn't even have to clean it. For some reason that sort of tank is not favourable to algae at all, no matter what. I always thought it's because I mineralized the soil where in my other soil tank I didn't and it did have algae on and off for the first 1.5 years at at least, although it didn't last long each time.
So if you don't have algae by now, you won't ever have it in there I think. Easy 🙂
 
Hi all,
Pinkmummy79 said:
I could do with a portion of bolbitus heudelotii for adding some structure
Click to expand...
I've got some you can have. I think it is one of those plants that "creeps up on you", you think you have a little bit growing, and when you actually look it is a clump the size of a football.
sciencefiction said:
My soil tank similar to your setup has been totally free of algae for the 3rd year now
Click to expand...
I think it is often the combination of floaters, a reasonable plant mass and time, basically <"good things come to those who wait"> & <"Problem with EI natural">.

cheers Darrel
 
dw1305 said:
I think it is often the combination of floaters, a reasonable plant mass and time.

cheers Darrel
Click to expand...

I agree. My tank with soil, floaters and reasonable plant mass has never had one spot of algae.

I have ensured I have kept lighting levels in check throughout as well which has helped.
 
Andy D said:
I agree. My tank with soil, floaters and reasonable plant mass has never had one spot of algae.

I have ensured I have kept lighting levels in check throughout as well which has helped.
Click to expand...

Andy do you use fertz?
 
Just read through all of this and it has inspired me not to give up on low tech (guess I'll be readvertising those diffusers lol..) I'm going to redo my substrate with ada africana, get a jbl 1501 gl and I've lots of new plants waiting to go in including stems. I'll do more wc's initially and just keep the fish out for the moment. I have a plan!!!

Do you get any surface film having your spraybars so low?
 
Sorry Lindy, missed your post....
Well I started with the spray bars about an inch under the surface and there was too much water movement for the floating plants so I eventually settled on where they are now.
I have great water movement still, even above the spray bars and never have any scum build up.
The spray bar position is also helpful for me as this is the line where I remove water to on my weekly water changes.
Good luck with the low tech, i'll see if I can post a quick video later tonight to show the water movement, it will only be from my phone but will help.
cheers
Clive
 
Hi all, Sorry I've not been around much lately, just busy family stuff, kids and work.
So, it's 15 months now since I started tinkering with the dark side and so far it's been great.
As expected, I lost a few stems transplanted from high tech but the garden's grown now.
Minimal water changes weekly, well minimal compared to the 140 litre manual weekly changes I was doing.
I'm now doing a 60 litre change weekly which drops the level to the spray bars. if no filters are being cleaned then with a bit of gardening this takes me just 1.5 hours a week including a tidy up.
Still running the 2 big filters which I'm sure are 90% of my success, these get cleaned 3 weeks apart and every 8 weeks I do a 50% water change and clean all hoses and spray bars. So still some work but a lot less and my plants grow healthy.
I've had zero algae of any form whatsoever in the time this has been running.
I've tried to upload a small video from my phone but tapatalk keeps closing on me. I need specialist help doh.
So here are a couple of snaps as of now. Moss has gone as it grew out of the wood each side and I wasn't willing to disturb what was there to try and re attach some and I dont think I miss it too much.
Cheers
Clive



Sent from my LG-D855 using Tapatalk
 
Great to see this tank doing so well 🙂

Are you up for a plant list - it would be helpful to see what's failed since the changeover & what's been thriving.
 
Cheers matey, yep all good not been slacking just need to find more time for myself to join in on here again.
So much more to learn

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