Nano low tech tank

[alas]

Hi everyone would like to share my first attempt at planted tanks.

Setup:
Tank: 18x14x15cm
Temp: 26-28 C
Boyu 2.5W airpump (i used a metal splitter to tone down the amount of air)
Only using normal room fluorescent lighting

Flora:
Japanese hairgrass
HC
Need help ID tall background plants please

Fauna:
1 x blue shrimp
3 x golden white cloud

I did a poor job planting, the HC keeps floating
Pardon the reflection and poor quality of pics.

Do give your comments please

alas

[Jervis]

Cute looking tank but HC requires bright light

[TS168]

Hello Alas, This is not a way to do a planted tank. Infact doing up a planted tank is not cheap. And also your tank is rather small insize for a proper planted setup.

If your purpose is to have a planted tank, then you must not add too many fishes. And the fishes must be small and few. I do recomend Boraras brigittae/merah.

Airpump
It is not adviseable to use airpump for planted tank. Plant need CO2 instead of O2.

Filter
You can get a Hang-On-Filter if you can but for your tank size, i think a small one will do.

CO2
If you do not intend to have any CO2 then you might want to get anubia/fern/moss instead. Stem plant is not suitable in your case.

You can keep your current setup and see if it will survive. Else you need to replan later.

Hope you will enjoy this hobby. Have fun.

[Cloud-Strife]

Here is my suggestion,

Get a piece of branchy driftwood.
Plants: Java moss/java fern.
Filter: Hang on filter
Fan: modify a pc hard disk fan to connect to a 12v power adapter
Light: 11w PL light (looks very similar to table lamp)

You will have a very simple planted tank

[alas]

Actually I'm interested in the idea of a self sustaining aquarium, where it requires minimum maintenance through the balance of fish, plant and substrate. Thus I try to eliminate the need for filter/light/fan. Still too new for it i guess.

I have a 10W FL, is it enough?
Will the hairgrass and HC survive in this setup? If they cant then I will follow the moss/fern/anubia route.

Please advise.
Many thanks!

[Verminator]

Those stem plants look somewhat like Bacopa, i have no experience with this plant, so i can't say thats an accurate assumption. Certainly not an advisable plant to have in such as small tank. They can grow quite tall, 30cm + in alot of cases.

Definately too small to try a planted tank in. Perhaps read up more on the concept you want to achieve and what is required. In the way of planting, light, CO2, fish and everything involved.

[Stormy]

Hi Alas...

nice attempt but i'm not sure that's the way to do it !

the smaller the tank, the more chanllenging it is for a beginner! many people would think that a newbie should start with a nano tank, which is a totally wrong concept.
2ft tank is the right size for a beginer...not too big and not too small...
your kind of tank size is for those very advance expert!

but if you insist on keeping this nano tank for a trial...here's some of my comment:

1) you definitely need a filter! there is no way you can get away with it!
2) you need some light.....intensity of your light will depends on the plants you choose.
3) as others has mentioned, the needs of CO2 will depends on your plant choice as well, but at the end, actually all plants need CO2, without it, they may be able to merely survive but don;t expect them to grow healthily.

if you just want to have a simple planted tank with very minimum/simple equipment, please change your plants to those mentioned by others (moss, anubias, ferns).....i highly doubt your current plants can survive in the environment you provided, but if you like the challenge, there is no harm trying!

"self sustaining aquarium" is possible (although not easy), but that is normally refering to ferts, O2 and CO2 only, other elements such as lighting and filtration is still something you need to provide, how else can an aquarium sustaining these 2 critical elements itself?

your background plant seems like the emerse version of rotala rotunlifolia green, but i could be wrong as the photo is not clear.

good luck!
and enjoy this hobby!

[Cloud-Strife]

Hairgrass and HC needs CO2 , cold water and intense light to make sure they grown well.

I once have the small tank with only java moss. 1 month no need to change water ... just keep on refilling the water every week.

[fireblade]

think you can try subwassertang...
my friend had 1 in the office with a few guppies and the plants are actually doing very well with ceiling light a a small air filter though..

[soclimbn]

i hv a similiar setup with dw/moss and boraras/shrimp with no light/CO2

best part shrimps are breeding

[nickLee]

Hairgrass and HC needs CO2 , cold water and intense light to make sure they grown well.

I once have the small tank with only java moss. 1 month no need to change water ... just keep on refilling the water every week.

I think hairgrass might survive with low lights and no co2, but im not sure

[alas]

Thanks for all the kind advices.

I've made the following adjustments:

Setup:
Temp: 26C consistently
Lighting: 10W FL (6 hrs /day)
Removed air pump

Flora:
Japanese hairgrass
HC
Removed some of the background plant

Fauna:
1 x golden white cloud (to remove any larvas)
Moved all other fauna to allow the plants to root better

Still not giving the plants up, I'm giving them a try on the improved environment.
Probably get a OHF this weekend.

See how they goes.

[TS168]

Try topup the water more.

[Verminator]

Just remove the Bacopa, it honestly looks utterly ridiculous in a tank this small. Its like seeing a whale in a goldfish bowl to me - just not right. An idea for Jervis next perhaps that aye?

Good luck with this 'scape', can't fault your determination to see it through. Hope you yeild some decent results.

[fireblade]

please get HOF aka Hang-on-filter and not OHF over-head- filter...

[Cloud-Strife]

If you would like to make good use of your air pump, a sponge filter will do a good job also.

[TS168]

This is my simple Boraras merah tank.
Sorry for the poor photo quality...

It is a none filter setup just for the Boraras merah.
Feed them everyday with micro pellet.

[alas]

Yes HOF, my bad.
So far the plants are still green, except Bacopa which i will remove as advised.
Hope they'll survive, if they fail I will move on to moss/ferns/anubias.

TS, whats your tank dimension and flora?

Boraras are popular, but i cant seem to find them in LFS.

[TS168]

Boraras merah and brigittae, you can try y619, colorful, wuhu and C318. I have seen it at these place.

My tank dimension is 6x6x9 inch. plant wise i dump all my extra plant in. Got crypt and Anusbias. moss also

[alas]

Hi guys,
I've got a piece of DW and replanted the tank.
Still not giving up on the HG and HC, although the HC looks brown.
Replanted them on the front.
Got some loose java moss and tied it to the top of the DW, hope to create a tree look.
At the same time, the black thing on the left is java moss in plastic mesh, i'm thinking of a huge moss spawn or i might replace it with java fern.

I like how this piece of DW looks like a rocking chair;

Please comment

The light I'm using is reddish, can someone please tell me if it is suitable?
Also, how do i choose a suitable HOF? My tanks holds about 2 litres of water.

PS: pardon the poor picture quality, will get a better shot soon.

Thanks!