# Going low tech



## Kevin2016 (2 Mar 2019)

Hi all,

My wife is pregnant and we are expecting our boy around May/June. I want to go low tech. Less maintenance 

I have an aquatlantis 100 which is 100x40x60cm
240 liter (200 bruto) easy led light at 60% intensity .I don’t have any details of this kind of led except:
3824 Lumens
45W (T5 replacement)
30W (T8 replacement)
44 watt power

Eheim professional 4 350 filter
Pressured co2 system
EI dosing

Plants are Microsorum Tridents, bolbitis heudelotii, Anubias species, bucephalandra’s, Cryptocoryne species, Vallisneria, Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis.

Fishes: 2 pearl gourami, 6 otto’s, around 12 Trigonostigma heteromorpha, amano’s, cherry shrimp and 2 snails.

Some questions or thoughts:

1) is it possible to lower the light intensity without plants get a deficiency.

Or add some floaters to create an Amazon dark look. I just want to make sure plants don’t get a 
Deficiency.

2) what about EI dosing, can dose half of it ?
3) Waterchanging 20% a 30% weekly or 2 weeks ?

Kind Regards

Kevin


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## Zeus. (2 Mar 2019)

Not an expert OFC



Kevin2016 said:


> is it possible to lower the light intensity without plants get a deficiency.



Less light means the plants needs will be lower so less chance of a a deficiency IMO



Kevin2016 said:


> what about EI dosing, can dose half of it ?



I would say slowly slowly until you see a deficiency then increase a little



Kevin2016 said:


> Waterchanging 20% a 30% weekly or 2 weeks ?



As EI dose decreases the WC/frequency can be less



Kevin2016 said:


> add some floaters to create an Amazon dark look



Add some Frogbit and use @dw1305 duckweed index should be a great way to monitor the ferts




Kevin2016 said:


> 240 liter (200 bruto) easy led light at 60% intensity .I don’t have any details of this kind of led except:
> 3824 Lumens
> 45W (T5 replacement)
> 30W (T8 replacement)
> 44 watt power



Also you dont mention your photo period, but you can just have less tubes on 



Kevin2016 said:


> Pressured co2 system



Remember when CO2 goes off it will take about four weeks for the plants to adjust to the new [CO2] so go easy with the light as you might end up with plant damage due to decrease in the nutrient levels of CO2 - Four to six weeks and they should be fully adapted to the levels



Kevin2016 said:


> My wife is pregnant


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## Kevin2016 (2 Mar 2019)

Hi Zeus!

Thank you for your prompt reply.

Photoperiod is 8 hours. CO2 with 6bps turn on 2 hours before lights are on and 1 hour before lights are off to get 1 point of the ph (7)

So tridents and bolbitis can grow in low light environment ?

Kind regards
Kevin


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## Zeus. (3 Mar 2019)

HC can be grown in low tech by some folk so I cant see tridents and bolbitis being an issue, esp since you converting an established tank from high to low. Growth will be much slower OFC but less maintenance which is the goal OFC


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## Tim Harrison (3 Mar 2019)

Firstly congratulations 

And further to Zeus's advice...


Kevin2016 said:


> 1) is it possible to lower the light intensity without plants get a deficiency.


Yes, if you're going low-energy try 50% to start with, and see how you go.


Kevin2016 said:


> Or add some floaters to create an Amazon dark look. I just want to make sure plants don’t get a
> Deficiency.


Yes add floaters too if you like.


Kevin2016 said:


> 2) what about EI dosing, can dose half of it ?


Typically the dose for a low-energy tank is 1/5 - 1/10 EI. Check out Tom Barr's Non CO2 Methods.


Kevin2016 said:


> 3) Waterchanging 20% a 30% weekly or 2 weeks ?


Check out the same link above, but I'd do at least 20% a week.


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## Kevin2016 (7 Mar 2019)

Geest thnx all!

I have a Eheim 4+ 350 rated at 1050 lph, would this be enough. I can buy a second hand jbl e1501 which is rated at 1500 lph. Theoretically ofc.


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## dw1305 (7 Mar 2019)

Hi all,





Kevin2016 said:


> I have a Eheim 4+ 350 rated at 1050 lph, would this be enough


Absolutely fine for low tech, you don't need anything else.

cheers Darrel


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## Kevin2016 (7 Mar 2019)

Thnx guys!


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## Matt @ ScapeEasy (10 Mar 2019)

Snap! We are also expecting our first, also a boy, around the same time. How you do your water changes and maintenance can make a massive difference also. I use a hose pipe with an old filter inlet on the end to drain the tank to the garden and a tap connector by hozelock to refill it with. Makes life a lot lot easier as you can get on with other things whilst the process is happening. I do larger water changes than you are planning, more like 50%, but I only clean the sand and stuff once every 2 weeks.  A baby on the way has also been a big motivator for me to finally fill the gaps between my rock work with filter floss to prevent aquasoil leaking out onto the sand. I've also moved to twice weekly ferts dosing rather than daily with no noticeable side effects (though I wouldn't want to push this any further). Fast growers have also been banned except for 1 in each tank I have to aid stability (I'm resisting reducing the number of tanks I have from 3 to 2 but must admit it seems sensible).


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## Tim Harrison (10 Mar 2019)

Don't worry guys having a baby isn't totally apocalyptical...well maybe the first 6 months to a year 
But you run on adrenaline for some of it so it passes in a flash 
After that it gets progressively easier, so hang in there


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## chris521957 (10 Mar 2019)

They get worse as they get older, and much more expensive.


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## Kevin2016 (22 Mar 2019)

Wow, I need to enable notifications 

Congrats @Matt @ ScapeEasy !!

I’ve added some floaters like Darrel mentioned.
Does the limnobium laevigatum like a spray bar? (For some reason)

Thnx all guys!


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