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144 liter low tech

Henrik J.

Henrik J.

Member
Joined
11 Apr 2015
Messages
34
Hi everyone

I am starting up a low tech planted tank and would like to share the process with you all at this fantastic site. I have been preparing this setup for a month or two, but if you see any faults with my setup, please don't hesitate to let me know.

Tank: 144 liters (80x40x45, custom build)
Filter: Eheim experience 350
Lighting: let's keep that a secret for now... but it's low :p
Co2: no
Heater: no
Substrate: gravel and sand, aquarium soil and nutrient clay balls underneath gravel.
Hardscape: spider wood, stones (mini-landscape/seiryu).
Stand: beech cabinet I picked up for 20 pound (reinforced inside with construction wood).
Ferts: weekly

Plants:
Microsorum pteropus 'Trident'
Helanthium tenellum
Valisneria Nana
Spiky and Christmas moss
Anubias barteri var. nana
Hygrophila Siamensis 53B
Perhaps a few crypts

Everything is set to go, I am planting and filling the tank tomorrow. Don't mind the sticks in the pictures, they're just part of my plan for planting.

I look forward to getting some feedback.

FullSizeRender 2.jpg


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I like it, for me the style fits very well the low tech part of the hobby.
Are those all separate twigs or just one piece of wood?

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imak said:
I like it, for me the style fits very well the low tech part of the hobby.
Are those all separate twigs or just one piece of wood?
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Hi Imak

Thank you for your response. I have tried to keep the layout simple and easy to maintain, I think this is very important when going low tech since a high tech setup requires more light spread, more circulations pumps and so on... and I want this to be really low tech.

The wood is from three different pieces that I cut up and reassembled. It might be a bit to evenly spread out, but again, maintenance will be easier because of this and circulation will be improved
 
Robbie X said:
I like the layout :) Will look great with lots of moss on the wood.
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Hi Robbie

Thank you for your response. I am planning to cover a lot of the wood in moss, and I might also place some moss covered stones at substrate level, for instance among the big stones. I am going to start up with easy mosses, and if all goes well, I have been thinking about trying some more difficult mosses in the scape. Would be interesting to see how fissidens fontanus does in a low tech setup with low light, no heater and no co2...
 
I like the layout also.
Maybe some bucephalandra also?
 
roadmaster said:
I like the layout also.
Maybe some bucephalandra also?
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Hi Roadmaster

I'm glad you like the layout, I take that as my work with making a hardscape that gives the eye something interesting to look at, is paying off.

Bucephalandra is really great idea, only thing with buce is that they are pretty hard to come by in aquarium stores where I live, and you often have to order them online to get anything else than a pretty common looking buce. And for now I would rather get as much plant mass for my money and then buy more spectacular plants, once the tank is running well (when, not if, being the keyword here! :p).
 
Joe Turner said:
Cracking hardscape, look forward to seeing it grown in!! Any hints towards the light? Looks great :D
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Hi Joe

Thanks for the response on the hardscape! A hint towards the light: lumen wise it is roughly the same as a 24w T5... :p The light is really quite an experiment, and if it doesn't work out, I have a T5 fixture that I will put above the tank.
 
Fiske said:
Low energy bulb? Compact fluorescent? Nefa lygte?

nefa.jpg
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Haha, you're spot on, it's nefa lights, but the square bike light ones - I could fit two of them inside my pendant... :lol: But seriously, you got one thing right, it's a bulb of some sort...
 
Day 4.

I have changed 25% of the water with water that have degassed and acclimatized to room temperature. I read that water directly from the tap could be high in co2, and that it would be a good idea to let it degas before putting it in the aquarium, so it doesn't cause co2 fluctuations. Makes sense to me, so that's how I'll do my wc's from now on with this tank.

I am having cloudy water and was wondering if it was due to me not washing gravel or sand properly or maybe tannins. So far my conclusion is tannins. If you compare the picture I took immediately after planting and filling with water with the picture I just took five minutes ago, it's quite clear (no pun intended), that it must be tannins, since the water was crystal clear after filling and I'm thinking that cloudy water from gravel or sand would have clouded the water immediately upon filling... anyway, I think the water will clear up eventually, I'm just hoping it won't be months before it does so...

Apart from yellow water, not much has happened, except that I also have that mandatory white goo on my spider wood. I'll remove it manually when doing wc's, and then the shrimps that eventually will go into the tank will do away with the rest of it...

Some of the leaves on Microsorum are having black tips, other seems fine, but I'm guessing I'll have to trim the plant a bit while it transitions to it's new home.

Picture taken immediately after planting:
IMG_9042.JPG


Picture taken on day 4 (just now):
FullSizeRender.jpg
 
Nice scape, I'd agree with your summation that it is tannins, you could run some carbon to remove it or as you are planning to do regular water changes it will dissipate eventually.


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Day 9.
Everything is pretty much still in transition. New growth is showing on moss, tenellum and H. Siamensis 53B. My valisneria Nana are melting bad, dunno why. I hope it bounces back soon. I have added some more fast growing stem plants.

I have also decided to use CO2. I know it'll cost me more time with pruning, wc's and so on, but I just couldn't help it... My tank is definitely low light and regarding low light and CO2, I was inspired by thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/100-low-tech-forum/1072202-low-light-c02.html

Have a great weekend!
 
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Hi,

first of all: I really like your tank. The hardscape is well done and I guess the plants will grow nicely.

If this is still a question: Yeah, that has to be taninns. This is pretty normal for that kind of woods. Some water changes should get rid of it.
In my experience, any Valisneria tends to melt in the beginning. They always bounced back in my tanks. Can't say how long it takes, had the last ones about six to seven years ago ;).

As for CO2: I would never ever run a planted tank without CO2, regardless the light setup. In my experience, it helps preventing algae and assists plant growth to a large extend. I don't think it will speed up growth in a way, that pruning will get a major issue. Most likely it will enhance the quality of growth.
 
Dominik_K said:
If this is still a question: Yeah, that has to be taninns. This is pretty normal for that kind of woods. Some water changes should get rid of it.
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Hi Dominik. Thank you for your reply. It was just tannins. It has cleared up nicely now. :)

Dominik_K said:
In my experience, any Valisneria tends to melt in the beginning. They always bounced back in my tanks. Can't say how long it takes, had the last ones about six to seven years ago
Click to expand...

I've had vals before and they also melted, it has just been much more pronounced this time, but some of them are bouncing back now.
 
Henrik J. said:
Day 9.
Everything is pretty much still in transition. New growth is showing on moss, tenellum and H. Siamensis 53B. My valisneria Nana are melting bad, dunno why. I hope it bounces back soon. I have added some more fast growing stem plants.

I have also decided to use CO2. I know it'll cost me more time with pruning, wc's and so on, but I just couldn't help it... My tank is definitely low light and regarding low light and CO2, I was inspired by thread: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/100-low-tech-forum/1072202-low-light-c02.html

Have a great weekend!
Click to expand...

1bde3c1dff609512285c2adad930b6b0.jpg




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