# Low Tech Tank Questions



## Jaap (5 Sep 2015)

Hi,

so a friend of mine decided he would like a planted aquarium. He said he would take care of it and that he want's an amazing looking tank. I have decided to go low tech for 2 reasons...1 if I knew how to make an amazing looking tank I would have done it myself  and 2 I have no faith in him that he will take care of the tank!

So I have decided to go with the low tech and I can't decided what plants to get or what lighting to use or what substrate to use.

My thoughts were to have sand as substrate, a nice piece of wood with rocks around it and then plants like anubias and ferns on and around the rock. Now there will be no CO2. Will it be better if I use ADA Amazonia around the wood to plant a few pants there like Eleocharis and Stayrogen Repens? Will they survive without any CO2 of any form?

Also 1 T5 will suffice? 

He will dose Tropica Specialised fertiliser if needed.

Alot of questions that are not yet coherent but we will get there 

Thanks


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## EnderUK (5 Sep 2015)

Jaap said:


> I believe that it is possible to have low maintenance plants without any form of CO2, correct me if I am wrong...


you mean no additional CO2 other then generated by the fish 
You can do reduced EI water column dosing for low tech tanks and use any substrate even plain old sand of pebbles. You're probably better with dirt though 
Plants I would good with crypts and anubais simply because they're pretty much un-killable and can make really good tanks unless you batter them with photons 
1 T5 lamp is all you'll need for a low tech tank, 2 T5 and you're going to run into problems.


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## Jaap (5 Sep 2015)

Do I need to do water changes or just a water top up?

Because I think that a low tech tank with 50% weekly water changes causes BBA rather than if I just topped up with water the evaporated one.

What do you think?


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## EnderUK (5 Sep 2015)

Just do a 10%-25% water change a week or every two weeks, water changes are always good.


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## Jaap (5 Sep 2015)

EnderUK said:


> Just do a 10%-25% water change a week or every two weeks, water changes are always good.


Do you have a journal for a low tech tank I can follow? 

Sent from my GT-I9505 using Tapatalk


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## EnderUK (5 Sep 2015)

not really, troi and big toms journals good low tech ones. I do have two low tech tanks in my links but they're extremely out of date.


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## Jose (7 Sep 2015)

Main thing here is plant selcetion. Crypts, ferns and mosses, anubias, certain stems, water wisteria, vallis, hydrocotyle, etc etc. Use tropicas easy category.
then fertilizers (add them and dont relly on fish food).
Do water changes after photoperiod. Not when lights are on.
Keep some surface movement at all times.
You can use a rich substrate or not, up to you. If you dont I've found that adding more nutrients at the beginning (overdosing) helps.
Keep only one T5. Maybe two could work but it depends.
If you follow these there is very little chance for failure.


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## leap (8 Sep 2015)

Can I butt in for a sec please and ask why one should not do water changes when the lights are on?  

Hope your tank works out really well Jaap.


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## Edvet (8 Sep 2015)

Jaap said:


> Do you have a journal for a low tech tank I can follow?


Not up to date by photo's and certainly no showstopper, but my white cube ( see link below) is still running good, no algae, fish healthy, slowish growth. I only do top-ups, anf give a bit of ferts every 2-3 weeks. Only problem with this tank is a bit of surface scum, but it looks to be food related. If i feed sparingly it gets less and eventually disappears. Looks a lot like the last pics did.


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## Bacms (8 Sep 2015)

leap said:


> Can I butt in for a sec please and ask why one should not do water changes when the lights are on?
> 
> Hope your tank works out really well Jaap.


When lights are on the plants are actively doing photosynthesis, by removing water you are removing the nutrients(fertilisers and CO2) so your plants won't be happy

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## Jose (8 Sep 2015)

leap said:


> Can I butt in for a sec please and ask why one should not do water changes when the lights are on?
> 
> Hope your tank works out really well Jaap.



Its because of the co2 present in your tap water. As you change the water youre introducing high levels of co2 into your tank. This is not good for your plants (even if it sounds counterintuitive). wHY? Because the machinery in your plants have adapted (in a low tech) to low levels of co2. If you add high co2 this machinery will break down causing algae and will then need more time to build back up as your co2 goes low again. I'm sure someone can explain this more technically, with words like Rubisco etc.
If you add high co2 outside the photoperiod this wont affect the plants as the machinery is not working in the dark.
Many people will say they dont get algae by changing water etc etc. Well, its a safety measure. Some people's tap water doesnt contain much co2, others leave the water to rest etc etc.
All these only applys to low tech non co2 tanks.


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## leap (8 Sep 2015)

Thank you so much for excellent explanations. I did not mean to piggyback this thread (sorry Jaap!)and have a few more related questions...so will open another thread.
This may be the solution I'm looking for as my tanks are struggling!


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## Jaap (9 Sep 2015)

For a low tech 160L tank, will a 1200 L/h filter be ok or do I need to go one step further to 2000 L/h?


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## Edvet (9 Sep 2015)

If you have the 1200 i would start with that, low tech doesn't need the 10 times turnover. You don't need to keep it squeeky clean, you'll find some mulm/debris will collect in some places. It will add to the nutrients in the tank, and it can be good for fry/critters in the tank. I would make sure there is some surface ripple through the filter output to help with the gasses in the tank and to help against surfacescum.


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## Jaap (14 Jan 2016)

OK so the plan is to build a 90x40x40 cm tank.

I am thinking of getting this 60cm light fixture from my local pet shop: http://www.amazon.com/Glo-Output-Lighting-System-24-Inch/dp/B000VK1A94

Question: Will one 60cm T5HO be enough above a 90cm low tech aquarium?

Thanks


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## EnderUK (14 Jan 2016)

Jaap said:


> Question: Will one 60cm T5HO be enough above a 90cm low tech aquarium?
> 
> Thanks



Yes, remember growth in a low tech is slow. I have to cut some of my stems every 1-2 months


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## Jaap (14 Jan 2016)

EnderUK said:


> Yes, remember growth in a low tech is slow. I have to cut some of my stems every 1-2 months


Do you have co2? What plants do you have?


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## EnderUK (14 Jan 2016)

Low tech means no CO2 
Plants are Buca (various), anubias nana, tiger lotus plants, monte carlo, Limnophila sessiliflora, crupts - pygmy, wendtii, becketii, crispatula, Lilaeopsis brasiliensis,phyllanthus fluitans and Pistia stratiotes.

I also have a peace lilly and weeping fig growing emersed from baskets.


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