# Low-tech riverbank



## wijnands (31 Oct 2013)

The PFK visitors are already familiar with this one but I like to show my work just like everyone else. It's a low tech affair and doesn't look nearly as stunning as some of the other tanks here but I like it.

The setup was inspired by some of Heiko Bleher's biotopes. When I set this up I was thinking of the edge of a stream that had flooded but since then it's been slowly turning into a bit of a jungle tank.
Hardware is a Juwel Rio 125 with stock lights and an Eheim 2211 filter

October 2012, days after it was set up:

My new aquarium by j_wijnands, on Flickr

2 weeks later with more plants:

Juwel rio 125 biotope aquarium by j_wijnands, on Flickr

January 2013, just behind the right vallis you can see the javamoss slowly taking over the background

DSC_6952 by j_wijnands, on Flickr

late march:

DSC_8481 by j_wijnands, on Flickr

July. I added cyperus helferi to the back left and moved the nymphea which is just starting to grow.

Full tank shot july by j_wijnands, on Flickr

In august I removed the front windelov because there was almost no light below it. The background is covered in a thick layer of moss almost everywhere now.

DSC_0375 by j_wijnands, on Flickr

and two weeks ago:

DSC_0741 by j_wijnands, on Flickr


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## wijnands (31 Oct 2013)

The tank is inhabited by half a dozen T. Espei, 15 green neons, 6 pygmy cories:


DSC_9547 by j_wijnands, on Flickr

6 marbled hatchets:


Lined up hatchets by j_wijnands, on Flickr

1 male and 2 female ancistrus claro

DSC_8735 by j_wijnands, on Flickr
who have had 2 litters now.

DSC_0670 by j_wijnands, on Flickr

A single gold tetra who's 7 years old now.

gold tetra by j_wijnands, on Flickr

and a large number of shrimp that may or may not be N. Heteropoda

neocaridina heteropoda by j_wijnands, on Flickr


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## Andy D (31 Oct 2013)

I have seen these many times but it is nice to see the transition so easily. Great shots as always!


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## oldbloke (31 Oct 2013)

Lovely job


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## Edvet (31 Oct 2013)

Which Nymphaea is that?


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## Alastair (31 Oct 2013)

Edvet said:


> Which Nymphaea is that?


Looks like zenkeri to me


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## oldbloke (31 Oct 2013)

Any secrets of your success you'd like to share?


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## wijnands (31 Oct 2013)

Here? With all the CO2 and EI experts? Well.. gosh... these things seem important to me.


Make a plan first
Fertilize well but don't go overboard if you have about  1.7 watts gallon like this tank.
Don't care too much about conventions and what other people do.
 
Currently I'm doing water changes with 60% RO water. Dose weekly 5ppm nitrate and 0.4 phosphate and 5ml profito. The root feeders have JBL7+13 and some rabbit droppings. There's a small piece of an old nail in there for extra iron. There's indeed _Nymphaea zenkeri_ in there. Bought it on a whim and it's now doing rather well and growing enthusiastically.


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## TOO (1 Nov 2013)

Lovely, looks like a place you want to live (as a fish).

The picture of the hatchet fish "gang" is brilliant.

Thomas


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## wijnands (1 Nov 2013)

Thanks Thomas! Yes, this was set up as a good place to live for fish first and something nice to look at second. For the first I must be doing something right since the ancistrus and the cories have spawned and the barbs regularely go trough the motions as well.
For the second.. well I leave that up to the viewer.


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## oldbloke (1 Nov 2013)

wijnands said:


> Here? With all the CO2 and EI experts? Well.. gosh... these things seem important to me.
> 
> 
> Make a plan first
> ...


 
Rabbit droppings and nails!!!!
I hadn't thought of either!!!!!


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## Rob P (1 Nov 2013)

As said on PFK Wijnands, always a pleasure to see your tank and pictures (top photography skillz to boot) 

Envy of many an aquarist


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## Bufo Bill (1 Nov 2013)

Is the background home made or an off the shelf bought one?
Lovely tank superb pictures, your fish look so healthy. 
All the best from Bill.


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## dw1305 (1 Nov 2013)

Hi all,


oldbloke said:


> Rabbit droppings and nails


 The rabbit droppings will work to some degree as a "slow release" fertiliser, but the rusty (Fe2O3) nail doesn't add any iron ions (Fe++/Fe+++) in a usable form.

cheers Darrel


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## wijnands (4 Nov 2013)

I'd love to debate that bit Darrel.

From what I understand the iron we love to have forms best in a low oxygen environment and about 2 inches down in the sand it's pretty low oxygen. Add to that the fact that it was common practice in early Dutch style aquariums before iron supplements were common and I'd say there is something to it.

However, I could be wrong in which I'd really appreciate if someone could point out my mistake to me.


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## dw1305 (5 Nov 2013)

Hi all, 





wijnands said:


> From what I understand the iron we love to have forms best in a low oxygen environment and about 2 inches down in the sand it's pretty low oxygen.


 That is true, the lower sediments often have negative REDOX values (-200mv), and the Fe ions can be in the reduced ferrous state (Fe++) for uptake (although converted to Fe+++ in the plant cell), and because of this plants can enhance both reduction and acidification of the substrate and this increases both root ferric-reducing capacity and uptake of ferrous iron. A fuller description is here at the ever reliable "Skeptical Aquarist" <Iron transformations | The Skeptical Aquarist>.

In alkaline or oxygenated substrates this is all irrelevant, as any ferrous or ferric iron ions will be re-precipitated as insoluble phosphates or hydroxides as soon as they are formed, unless they are chelated by the DOC. Plant roots are leaky structure and because of the requirement for oxygen for cell respiration the immediate rhizosphere is usually oxygenated. An interesting point is that plants that naturally grow in acid, anoxic sediments go to great lengths to oxidise and precipitate the iron in the rhizosphere, as iron toxicity is much more of a problem than iron uptake.

The real problem with the rusty nail is really "_how is the reduced iron going to reach the plant?", _as soon as any Fe ions come into contact with a non-reducing environment they will be precipitated as insoluble compounds. If you substituted "a rusty nail" for some very widely spread iron source in the substrate such as iron filings, (or staples?) then root uptake becomes a more viable option.

cheers Darrel


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## wijnands (5 Nov 2013)

Hmmm..

So to get the best benefits I'd need pieces of iron near the iron hungry plants? Oh, and what's DOC in this context?


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## LancsRick (5 Nov 2013)

Lovely looking biotope. Do the ancistrus behave themselves with all those plants? Always loved plecs, but avoid them like the plague in my planted tanks!


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## Piotr Kaleta (5 Nov 2013)

Lovely marbled hatchets. i need to buy some


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## dw1305 (5 Nov 2013)

Hi all, 





wijnands said:


> So to get the best benefits I'd need pieces of iron near the iron hungry plants?


 Yes, Tom (Plantbrain) may be able to give you more information about how mobile the iron is within the sediment, but something like a thin layer of iron fillings in the de-oxygenated zone of the substrate should provide some available iron to the plant roots.

Adding chelated iron to the water column is much easier (all plants will take nutrients in through their leaves), in the case of FeEDTA (or  FeEDPA,  FeDTPA etc.) the Fe is very tightly bound, but the bond is unstable in light and photo-degradation provides Fe+++ ions. The calculations for preparing a 0.5ppm Fe solution from FeEDTA are here: <Adding Additional Iron - Advice Please. | UK Aquatic Plant Society>

Personally I'm not convinced that "iron hungry plants" really exist, and in any soft water aquarium I would be very surprised if iron deficiency is a problem. Nearly all iron related chlorosis in plants is caused by problems with the availability and uptake of iron, rather than a deficiency in the actual amount. Have a look at this thread for some more details <Is this iron deficiency? if not, what? | UK Aquatic Plant Society>.

There are figures in Diana Walstad's "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" for soil based substrates, where she finds that soils contain huge reserves of iron, but most of this is unavailable. 





wijnands said:


> and what's DOC in this context?


 DOC is Dissolved Organic Carbon which acts as a chelantor, and again I'll refer you to the "Skeptical Aquarist" for more details:  <Dissolved organic substances | The Skeptical Aquarist> & <Humic substances | The Skeptical Aquarist>.

cheers Darrel


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## wijnands (6 Nov 2013)

Thanks Darrel, that should be good for some more reading!



LancsRick said:


> Lovely looking biotope. Do the ancistrus behave themselves with all those plants? Always loved plecs, but avoid them like the plague in my planted tanks!


 
They generall do. Only exception is that narrow leaf echinodorus (why can't I remember the name!). They sometimes scrape that for algae it seems but they will damage it in the process.


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## wijnands (31 Jan 2014)

Been too long since any updates.

I've eventually removed the nymphaea since it was rapidly outcompeting anything else in there. Managed to give it away to someone setting up a 140cm community tank. 


The full tankshot by j_wijnands, on Flickr

and after:

DSC_1340 by j_wijnands, on Flickr

Still not quite where I want it to be but it's an improvement. I've also changed the filter's spraybar to the other end of the tank which has greatly reduced the BBA, some Easycarbo helped with that but I have to be careful with that as not to lose too much of the algae on the wood. I've started to replaced a few of the most shabby looking echinodorus latifolius by fresh ones from the runners they send out.

Fishy pic:


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## Tim Harrison (31 Jan 2014)

dw1305 said:


> Hi all, That is true, the lower sediments often have negative REDOX values (-200mv), and the Fe ions can be in the reduced ferrous state (Fe++) for uptake (although converted to Fe+++ in the plant cell), and because of this plants can enhance both reduction and acidification of the substrate and this increases both root ferric-reducing capacity and uptake of ferrous iron. A fuller description is here at the ever reliable "Skeptical Aquarist" <Iron transformations | The Skeptical Aquarist>.
> 
> In alkaline or oxygenated substrates this is all irrelevant, as any ferrous or ferric iron ions will be re-precipitated as insoluble phosphates or hydroxides as soon as they are formed, unless they are chelated by the DOC. Plant roots are leaky structure and because of the requirement for oxygen for cell respiration the immediate rhizosphere is usually oxygenated. An interesting point is that plants that naturally grow in acid, anoxic sediments go to great lengths to oxidise and precipitate the iron in the rhizosphere, as iron toxicity is much more of a problem than iron uptake.
> 
> ...


 

Very interesting...it's only anecdotal but way back in my early days, the Amazon swords in my 100% moss peat substrate were suffering the symptoms of iron deficiency, so being the logical thinker I am I placed a rusty old 4inch nail in the peat amongst the roots. Within a couple of weeks new leaves showed no sign of iron deficiency whatsoever...


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## wijnands (31 Jan 2014)

So I'm not the only person that has had success with the simple old methods.


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## Phil Edwards (31 Jan 2014)

Lovely aquarium wijnands! As competitive aquascaping becomes more and more sophisticated the more I appreciate a good old fashioned setup like yours. It may sound strange, but setups like yours give me a more peaceful feeling than do the "high level" aquariums I see these days. I find that quite appealing.

If you're still having issues with Iron, Granular Ferric Oxide used for PO4 control in reef tanks is a good option. It has to be fairly pure for use in those systems so you don't need to worry about funky stuff getting in and causing issues. Put some of it in a gel capsule used for pharmaceuticals and push it down as far as you can get it into the substrate near, but not right next to your plants. If it's in an area of low or no oxygen then it'll solubilize and diffuse through the substrate. Adding a little gelatin to the cap will supply some carbon for the substrate bacteria to consume and use up the oxygen, enhancing solubilization.


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## dw1305 (31 Jan 2014)

Hi all,





Troi said:


> it's only anecdotal but way back in my early days, the Amazon swords in my 100% moss peat substrate were suffering the symptoms of iron deficiency, so being the logical thinker I am I placed a rusty old 4inch nail in the peat amongst the roots. Within a couple of weeks new leaves showed no sign of iron deficiency whatsoever.


 I think you are right and that it was the reduced iron from the rusty nail. I also think that the 100% moss peat substrate is as relevant as the nail. In anaerobic, acidic, reducing conditions some of the ferric oxide would be reduced to ferrous ions and become available. The peat substrate is a carbon source and is very unlikely to be fully aerobic all the way down the substrate profile, so will have a a range of REDOX potentials. This is from: <Flooded soils - MicrobeWiki>


> Although ferric iron exists as an insoluble form in flooded soils, more ferrous iron can accumulate by the reduction of ferric iron over time. .........In general Fe(III)-reducing fermentative bacteria can be readily isolated from gleyed soils.


 Well worth a read.

cheers Darrel


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## Phil Edwards (31 Jan 2014)

K. R. Reddy at the University of Florida and R. Michael Smart (my grad advisor) have a number of publicly available papers on substrates.  A Google Scholar search can net some really interesting papers if you're so inclined.  I think Dr. Reddy's personal page at the uni has a list of his publications with downloadable or readable links.  Many of Dr. Smart's papers are accessible via the US Army Corps of Engineers technical paper website as well.  Here's Dr. Smart's page.  All the technical reports are available down near the bottom.  Environmental Laboratory: Search


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## wijnands (31 Jan 2014)

I'll have a look, tnx!


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## wijnands (31 Jan 2014)

@Phil: thanks for the compliment! Old fashioned setups like these also allow a lot more room for error, you don't have to be on top of everything every single day.

Nutrient wise I think I have things under control now. I had some problems with stunted growth and even some chlorosis. After some intense measuring I got it figured out for now. 5ppm nitrate, 0.5ppm phosphate after the water change and another 0.2ppm phosphate mid-week. Also twice a week some profito for other elements. Got stable growth now again on most plants, a flowering anubias and steady and predicable growth on the floaters.

2 weeks ago the snails had managed to dig up a jbl pellet. Not knowing exactly what it was at first I picked it up with my tweezers. Big mistake! That clouds like you wouldn't believe.


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## Andy D (31 Jan 2014)

Looking good Wijnands and some great shots as always, especially the fish one.


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## Matt Warner (31 Jan 2014)

Very nice tank I really like it. What floating plants are you using? Also what are the big red leaved plants in the background?


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## Matt Warner (31 Jan 2014)

Also what lighting are you using on this tank? Are they T5s? Just wondered as I am trying a low tech Rio 125 with the standard lighting too.


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## Tim Harrison (1 Feb 2014)

Looking V good...it's a lovely interpretation of nature...


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## wijnands (2 Feb 2014)

@matt: This is the Rio 125 with the stock T5 tubes that came with the tank. The floater is amazon frogbit. I keep it mainly to keep the hatchets happy. The red plant was a nymphaea zenkeri which is often sold as a red lotus.


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## Vazkez (25 Sep 2014)

Hello Wijnands,

just found your journal. Superb low tech  Nice pictures too.
I saw on one of them that your moss sowly covering the 3D backround. I have the same on my juwel 125 and was wondering if you could share how did you achive that 

Thank you very much.


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## wijnands (25 Sep 2014)

Thanks.

err.. 

1. get an in tank background
2. get some moss. 
3. place moss against background.
4. hold in place with a fork for example
5. wait!


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