# low tech 12 gal



## SJL (16 Jan 2012)

hi , i am new here but have been lurking for ages !!  i have started a low tech EL NATURAL tank after looking at this site and reading Diana Walstad's book although i dont under stand it fully i think its pointed me in the right direction im using:

12 gal tank
15w cool white bulb 6700k on 5hrs off 4hrs on 5hrs (per her book)
rena external filter connected to rena 100w htr and have removed biological media
john innes no3 soil  1-1/5 inch deep  gravel 1 inch deep 

i have half stocked the tank at the min i am awaiting some more plants and decorations so i can get it heavily planted .

how do i cycle the tank or do i just add fish straight away like in the book if water tests are fine and how many fish/size is safe? :?  sorry for the long post i have so many question where to start   i will included a pic if it helps?


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## SJL (16 Jan 2012)

hi quick pic .


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## Brenmuk (17 Jan 2012)

See this thread ..theres some info about the best time to stock new el natural tanks

http://www.ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=27&t=19400&start=10


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## SJL (17 Jan 2012)

hi Brenmuk i have just read that link it way very helpful cheers .

I have received some small water lettuce today so i have added them to the tank. will they be helpful or hinder by shading the other plants ???   and    I have noticed some tine pest snails in the tank now there white with some small red marks on them - any ides what they are and what i should do with them??   cheers stuart


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## Brenmuk (19 Jan 2012)

I don't see any problems with the water lettuce in your set up.   

The snails sound intriguing with the red marks. I have no idea what they are perhaps you could post a picture of them in the invert section of the forum.


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## SJL (24 Jan 2012)

Hi , I seem to be struggling at the moment i was'nt happy with the set up so i re arranged the tank and added more plants but most are dying does anyone know what i can do as this is my second attempt  at live plants ????

cheers stuart


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## OllieNZ (24 Jan 2012)

Which species of plants are dying? They may be making the switch from emersed to submerged.
What type of bulb are you using? t5,t8 etc..
On a side track why have you removed the biomedia from your filter?


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## SJL (24 Jan 2012)

Hi Ollie im sorry i have bo idea what thier names apart from the amazon swords which are ok at the min and some dwarf grass plant which is fairing second best the other was a very ligh red plant that is now in the bin due to melting in to nothing . its a 60 ltr tank with a 15w t8 bulb think that gives me 1.25 w/gal and i still have the foam media in it but i removed the carbon bit cos i thought that was what i was meant to for this set up , not really sure if i should have?


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## hinch (24 Jan 2012)

red plants in general (someone correct me if i'm wrong) are harder to keep require higher light and usually co2.

some photos of the specific plants your struggling with would be good (large ones) so we can Id them and perhaps help where you're going wrong


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## Tim Harrison (24 Jan 2012)

Hi I agree with hinch, if you're working in imperial gallons the actual figure is nearer 1.1 watts per gallon, which in my experience is a little low, but it also depends on other factors such as the type of reflector you're using or not. 

I had a 55 litre set up not that dissimilar to yours with 2 x 15 watt T8s over it which I left on for a similar amount of time http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f= ... 7&start=90, but it was densely planted from the outset with plants I knew I could grow, bar the odd experiment, and it had a lot of floating vegetation. 

If you follow the link below to Zen and an Introduction to the Art of Underwater Gardening with Soil Substrate there is a list of suitable plants at the end of the tutorial. 

The charcoal in the filter is for chemical filtration and not biological, and its removal is supposed ensure that plant nutrients are not removed from the tank, so it is not recommend that you keep it. I replaced mine with a similar amount of moss peat placed in a fine mesh filter media bag, it has various benefits to fish, plant, and tank health in general, but you can read more in the tutorial if it helps.

I have since just set up another soil substrate tank and I also intend to experiment with water column ferts dosing to see if it has any marked affect on plant growth.


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## SJL (24 Jan 2012)

Cheers all for the responses i will do some research on the plants i may have more success with , i thought my lighting situation was low cos its a 65ltr tank so i guessed about 60ltrs allowing for displacement etc and cos of this i have access to a high grade aluminium reflective tape so i have lined the whole lid how much that helps im not sure. i will try and add some good photos . since some earlier posts i have added loads more plants so it doesnt look as bare as that picture these were added last week , would there be some advantage to adding some aquatic plant food??


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## hinch (24 Jan 2012)

yup see our sponsors I use the http://www.aquariumplantfood.co.uk/fert ... s-dry.html

as far as i'm aware it covers both trace and macro minerals needed I massively overdose it and liquid carbon in a low light tank and so far fingers crossed no algae


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## SJL (24 Jan 2012)

cheers hitch looks like a good product i have just been reading the label on a bottle of nutrafin plant gro i had in a cupbourd and it has hardly any of the stuff in it as the one in your link?? im guessing its useless ?


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## OllieNZ (24 Jan 2012)

I agree with Troi and Hinch regarding the red plants,
Some commonly available species I would try would be:
Hygrophila Difformis
Cryptocoryne Wendtii green
Ludwiga Repens
Vallisneria 
Any Anubis species
Java Fern.
I highly reccomend reading Troi's tutorial aswell.
I wouldnt worry too much about leaving the carbon in the filter it will become inert after 4-6 weeks anyway and at that point makes good bio media if you leave it in there, or replace it with an inert biomedia (i use bio balls for minimal effect on filter flow) or the peat as suggested.

White paint also makes a good reflector


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## Tim Harrison (25 Jan 2012)

When calculating the watts per gallon I think it is usual not to allow for displacement so your calculation for imp gallons would be  15/14.3 ~ 1 watt per gallon, give or take and less if you're American, so that is very low light especially using one T8 bulb without a proper reflector. You might get away with 1 w/g using a full spectrum high output T5, but I would add another T8, and then if needs be shorten the lighting duration, but it should be OK.

I am sure water column dosing with ferts will help once you've got your lighting sorted, but it's probably a good idea to follow Tom Barr's tried and tested guidelines in the tutorial, and make adjustments from there.

Good luck, I hope your new plants do well.


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## SJL (5 Feb 2012)

Update - not really much of a low tech any more adding liquid co (excel) and seachem flourish ferts

lighting upgraded to arcadia dual controller 1 15w sunlight lamp & 1 x 6500k glo light lamp .

Possibly going to re name Valley of death    not too successful at the moment

plants killed to date:
Ceratophyllum demersum
Vallisneria spp
Egeria densa

plants living to date:
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis
Hygrophilia difforms
Echinodorus amazonicus

there are a couple more species to add to the lists but cannot find out what there name is !
My new plan is to leave well alone apart from water changes and dosing just to let the tank mature !


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## Tim Harrison (5 Feb 2012)

Cool, sounds like a plan, I am sure your plants will do fine.


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## SJL (13 Feb 2012)

cheers Troi for the advice . Update , plants are growing much better now , just starting to get a small amount of hail algae in tank not sure weather to cut back on ferts or carry on and let the plants out do the algae either way looking alot better now .


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## milla (13 Feb 2012)

If your getting hair algae whilst dosing liquid carbon up the dose a little or spot dose in the affected area.


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