1st low tech tank

[adi99]

Hi bros,

Had this thread over at newbies corner, but not much response, think better post here hopefully some good advice on the setup. Thanks!

Got assigned to Germany for a long assignment but the aquaplanting bug still never failed to get me over here. Been holding my urge for 1 year liao and finally buay tahan. Today finally got my set assembled from the poorly stocked yet EXTREMELY EX pet shop I found in my small little town....

Wanted to set up a 3-4ft low tech tank when I get back so thought why not make a trial tank here first! Here's my setup process and hearing your comments:

Tank size: 30X20X20cm.
Lighting: 9W PL (will plan to on for 8hrs per day)
Base fert: Sera
Substrate: Neutral sand (small size) No brand
Temp: Ard 25 degC
Plants: only 2 types: Microsorium Pteropus , Eleocharis Acicularis (some sort of long hairgrass type) Wanted to only have Java moss, unfortunately cannot find over here. All the plants almost half dead in the shops. Think I will have problems with the Hair grass with the low lighting. For the crypt, first time trying this, I heard that you cannot bury it into the substrate, is that true? I leave it half buried cos no drift wood small enought to tie it to.

Livestock: Only 5 cloud cardinals (ard 2cm max in size), no prawns cos cannot find also. Will add an oto or two later tomorrow. Funny thing here, cardinal tetra are actually cheaper than neon tetras! 1.25 Euros vs 1.99 Euros per piece. But shit is both are costing much more than Singapore.

Filter: None.
pH/Kh: Dunno, no have kit here
Fertilizer: Bought sera Florena liquid fertilizer, added 10 drops to start off dosing planned once per week.
Water conditioner: TetraAqua Blackwater (min dos required for tank)

Total setup cost (without light): Euro 50.00 (ard SG100 bucks! )

I basically setup everything within a couple of hours, added the base then substrate, plant and add water. Once settled in an hour, add 2 fish. See two fish settling in fine, add 3 more remaining fish. Now pray and hope for the best.

Is the procedure above correct for low-tech tank? Do I need to add filter to help growth? How can I further ensure success?

Here's day 1 of the setup. I am hoping to trim the long hair grass in the foreground after it settle in so that the rockscape can be seen later.

Please advise....Kamsia

Day 1 - 26072005

[Fei Miao]

With 9 watts(I would go for 11 or 13 watts at least) I doubt the Hairgrass would do well, you can try sugar and yeast DIY CO2, the temp. at 25ºC is great, for the crypts, the roots should be just below substrate. Some small tanks do great without filter, as long as you keeps up with water change.
Go easy on the liquid fertilizer, also try to plant as thickly as possibleincase you get a algae outbreak.

As for the scaping, search around in forum for layout inspirations, the rocks, plants right now looks just to orderly to be natural. I would suggest a triangular/island layout since it's such a small tank. Lastly, look for small leaves plants for such a small tank, it would helps tremendously.

[juggler]

I see the predicament. Very few choices in the shop and expensive compared to Singapore. Or maybe you need to find a better-stocked shop.

Why not keep a lookout in the ponds and streams there to see if any water plants can be used in the tank. I won't be surprised they have some kind of moss there too.

For your current setup, I think 9w should be good enough. The tank volume is only 3.2g. So you are having 3W/g already. I am worried it may be too much if you are thinking of low tech set up (i.e. no CO2, limited fertilisation) but not impossible. 8 hrs photo period can be a good start. See how it goes.

For inspiration, want to check out this German aquascaper, Oliver Knott? See http://www.plantella.com/

[adi99]

Thanks for the tips.

I did some rescaping and increasing the bioload a bit over the weekend.

Added: 2 bronze Corys - about 3cm in size, 1 Oto

Added Anubias nanas Mini with new piece of driftwood.

All still look fine so far. Comments on the new layout?


After 1 week

[adi99]

With 9 watts(I would go for 11 or 13 watts at least) I doubt the Hairgrass would do well, you can try sugar and yeast DIY CO2, the temp. at 25ºC is great, for the crypts, the roots should be just below substrate. Some small tanks do great without filter, as long as you keeps up with water change.
Go easy on the liquid fertilizer, also try to plant as thickly as possibleincase you get a algae outbreak.

As for the scaping, search around in forum for layout inspirations, the rocks, plants right now looks just to orderly to be natural. I would suggest a triangular/island layout since it's such a small tank. Lastly, look for small leaves plants for such a small tank, it would helps tremendously.

Thanks for the advice. But really want to stick to the low tech setup. Going with the CO2 will not be on the cards for now though. Crossing fingers in hope that hair grass can take off even if slowly.

No algae spotted after one week....phew. but too early to tell.

Increase photo period to 9 hrs liao. Actually hoping for a bit of algae so that new Oto can get some food. :P

Did some rescaping, pushed the rocks back to the other corner. So the effect is like standing within the forest (foreground) looking out at mountains afar.

[Phillipians]

i find the left side of your tank rather nice, but i think that 'hairgrass' looks quite out of place unless u are planning to shift it back as a back ground plant. . Personally i think the DW on the left shift it a little more to the centre, so that it can be a centrepc, then plant more background plants on the left. As for foreground plants i think u should go for something shorter just my 2 cents worth, have fun in europe man

[adi99]

Thanks for the suggestions.

Just made some shifting of the hairgrass to the back and the stones to the left.

Did extreme trimming of the long hair grass after finally seeing some of them beginning to take root.

A question though to the experts: if we trimming the hairgrass very short, say ard 2cm. Will they be able to survive well still???

I am hoping to be able to trim them down when it spreads so that it will really look proportionate to the small tank. short and nice.