Latest creation - Low-tech = Low maintenance!

[digitallinh]

Just a bit of background. I jumped into this hobby about 9 months ago, balls to the wall, set up 3 tanks, and I found out that maintaining 3 tanks is quite a bit of work. I can't really imagine how some of you guys do it, all those water changes... every week... So this new year started, I decided to downsize everything, into one low tech tank. I'm pretty new, and my artistic ability needs some work (a 29 gallon is pretty hard to work with due to lack of depth), but I like it.

This is 2 months of growth here. DHG isn't spreading too well without injected -- I may try to trim it see if it helps. I suffered from a bit of bba/gsa, but it seems to be mostly gone now. (added nerites, amanos, doubled phosphates, raised light an inch, and biweekly water changes)..

Staurogyne felt a little shock when I planted them in this tank, but they seem to be ok now -- growing. Have a crypt Balansae I'm trying to fill the entire back right with, but its not cooperating... I have some Water Sprite latching onto my wood on the right, hopefully it turns into a huge tree!

Thanks for looking!

[eklikewhoa]

Nice plant growth.

I personally love the dimensions of the tetra brand 15g, perfect depth and height.

[digitallinh]

Nice plant growth.

I personally love the dimensions of the tetra brand 15g, perfect depth and height.

Thanks yeah, I chose a lot of "easy" plants. Bacopas, Ludwigias (ovalis, red, green). crypts, ferns, dwarf sag, anubias, etc.

[eklikewhoa]

What's your plans for fauna?

[madehtsobi]

Man that's pretty good looking for not having "skillz"!! Haha


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[digitallinh]

Man that's pretty good looking for not having "skillz"!! Haha

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

I mean you see some of those show quality tanks... those things are amazing! drool.. Actually Complexity right here on our forum makes some really nice tanks!

As for Fish, I'm pretty stocked.

2 Bolivian Rams
1 Apisto Ag (f)
4 praecox rainbows
7 CPDs
3 eyespot gouramis
5 otos
nerites, amanos, cherry, all types of "pest" snails.

most of those don't count as far as bioload. lol I need more tanks. Probably dump this into a 40b and it'll be perfect.

[eklikewhoa]

)


it looks good for plant growing.

[eklikewhoa]

4 praecox rainbows
7 CPDs

C and R has some tiny praecox that would work nicely in a planted tank.

and your CPDs... increase the amount to about 50.

[fishman1]

dhg is a high tech tank plant but in some cases some people use low lighting and no co2 and it grows fine

[LooksLater]

Looks great! I like the driftwood placement across the front, it'll contrast really nice when the foreground plants come in a bit. I love the water sprite, I bet it'll blow up in no time.

[digitallinh]

4 praecox rainbows
7 CPDs

C and R has some tiny praecox that would work nicely in a planted tank.

and your CPDs... increase the amount to about 50.

Yeah, I may add more fish when I transfer this to a 40b. I am "underfiltered" (2213)here too, but my water stays pretty clean with the water changes.

DHG spreads much better/faster) with co2. I will probably put something else in its place.

Yeah, I'm a fan of water sprite. It's very useful -- great nutrient export, light cover, and fry shelter.

Will probably scrape this and start over in a couple of months... /ADD

I also dislike the fact I mixed substrates (eco,flourite,sand), but all that bacteria!

[Complexity]

Your tank looks really good! You have a natural knack for design. Your tank has a calm and relaxing feel.

Keep in mind that planted tanks are always changing so pictures you see aren't always how the tanks look at that moment. Right now, my 75g is without plants (and with tons of algae on the glass) while I'm setting up my 90g. I'm battling (and winning!) algae in that tank at the moment. The plants in there aren't even placed for design, but are just in there to survive long enough for me to get my 75g cleaned out and restarted. Then I'll split the plants between my 75g and 90g. So what you see in my pics isn't what the tanks look like right now.

Once a planted tank matures, the maintenance becomes much easier. It's most difficult and time consuming period is when it's first set up (or if you break it down and set it up again). Then the tank often goes through a maturation stage in which the plants won't grow as well and algae tends to take over. Once you get passed that, you're usually home free. So you'll see your tank eventually become easier to maintain, and that's when you might want to consider getting more tanks.

My "low tech" 29g tanks are currently stabilized which makes them extremely easy in that I only do water changes about once every 2-4 weeks. Ditto with my little 5g planted. It's not unusual for me to change the water in it after a month or two has passed. The tanks that require the most work are my "high tech" tanks, and that's mainly because they require daily ferts and the brighter lights evaporate the water, requiring more frequent water changes. Otherwise, when they're stable, it's not unusual for me to go 2 weeks between water changes on them, as well.

[digitallinh]

Thank you kindly. I do see what you mean about the "grow-in" phase when many of the plants are still adapting thus not utilizing all of the nutrients (light) which leads to algae growth. This is my first complete rescape so when I started seeing algae I somewhat panicked. Everything has rebounded nicely though.

The main reason I wanted to post this was to show people that you can experience pretty solid growth without co2 injection. You won't experience the dense rapid growth perhaps of a injected tank, but for someone who might want to keep their aquascape intact for longer than 3-4 months, it is a much better option I think. To piggyback on that thought, I can't imagine ever having a tank without plants in it! So many great benefits for your fish (assuming they don't eat them).

I also experience an aversion to trimming plants. I don't mind dumping stuff into the tank everyday though.

On that note, anyone ever use an autofeeder to dose dry ferts?

If I had to do it all over again, the one thing I would change is to listen to all the folks who say to overfilter planted tanks, 2215 for a 40, and 2213 on a 29 is not even close to enough once everything grows in. I would also avoid sand, since for some reason detritus granules accumulate on top of it. But hey, when I first started in the hobby, I kept hearing there is a lot of trial and error, and considering all of the plants I have failed to grow and thrown away, this is definitely true.

Next goal - planted discus.