Low Light Plants?

[Metallic Sardine]

Hey Georgeer,

You low maintenance setup seems more established than mine and very interesting. I currently only have plants like Java Fern, Anubias and some red plant tied on driftwood. Went to Serangoon N recently and saw quite a varied selection of driftwood plants! Shiok! Didnt buy though....must plan mah!![:]

May I know more details about your tank. What is your temp, tank volume and wattage of lights? Do you use a chiller? Any CO2 injection and what ferts are you using?

Sorry for bombarding with some many questions but I really want to explore the concept of a low maintenance tank and get some concrete knowledge on how to balance low maintenance, slow growth and of course, as close to looking like a planted tank as possible!

Thanks,

MetaSard

[budak]

MS,
Speaking from my own experience, there are different types of low maintenance tanks - but realistically you are not likely to get the kind of lush growth you see in high light high CO2 tanks if you stick to low light no CO2.

I maintain a 20x10x10 cm shrimp and boraras maculata tank with a 15W light (11 hours daily), no filer, no CO2, no aeration. With a small bioload and conservative feeding, it requires just a 40% water change every two weeks. Plants are mosses, pelia, anubias and java fern - loose or tied to driftwood as i see no point in a thick gravel layer or base fert. I just add a little Lushgrow liquid fert at each water change. The plants grow (slowly), there is no algae (it also doen't get any sunlight), but the fish/shrimp are healthy and the shrimp breed. This is as low maintenance as you can get, i think. But the effect is certainly not as "wow" as those tanks you see in books and on the web.

If you already have experience with conventional high maintenance setups, moving to a low-maintenace tank (as one with low-to-mid lighting, some CO2 and mostly slow-growing plants) isn't really a big gap. You still need base fert, a good substrate, good filtration, CO2, no overcrowding, and careful selection of plants. I would also advise having at least one plant that is relatively fast-growing (in my 3ft tank with 1.5 wpg and mostly crypts, blyxa, ferns and mosses, i use hornwort and hygrophila stricta as these are fast growing, easy to maintain and thrive in low light) as "buffers" for nutrient control.

You will still need to make sure your plants get adequate macronutrients (NPK) and micros. These will visibly improve growth and help in algae control. I change about 30-40% of the water every two weeks (with fert dosing) and I dose fert about 2-3 times in between water changes. The only major difference in effort is that I don't have to bother pruning and replanting rampant stem plants.

but because every low-maintenance tank is unique, you should have a better idea of exactly what you want (type of plants, mood, effect, maintenance schedule etc) so that the discussion here can provide more useful information.

[Georgeer]

Geee, my tank not so established yet lah. Only planted last week. Hoping all the moss and ferns will flourish....

Well, my tank temp flutuate between 28 - 30 and moss will only grow well at 27 and below, so I am keeping my fingers crossed.

As for lights, 4X18W at 8.5 hours fiesta break in the morning and in the evening.

As for Java fern, if you already have driftwood, don't bother to buy anmore tied driftwood plants as the design may not fit your tank layout, usually these driftwood are just a block and has no contour.

You can buy loose form java and windelov fern at Teo's. Then tie them to your perfect piece of driftwood as accoding to your own liking. That will be better and cooler!!

[budak]

I would recommend at least a couple of fans to bring the temp down to 26-27C. I use the OceanFree 4 unit AC fan which keeps my tank at 26-27C. Mosses and ferns do ok. But you wil need to start dosing fert soon or your plants will start giving way to algae.

I see absolutely no use for the siesta the plants' momentum halfway in the day? Forget about it. If you want to enjoy your tank, set the timer to switch on the lights in the later morning or early afternoon so that lights are still on at night.

I never buy pre-attached Java fern/moss/anubias. I find with ample fert, cool water and CO2, loose plants readily attach themselves to wood within a month.

[Georgeer]

Already have 2 pieces of 12cm DIY AC fan running, took out 1/3 of the surface and shaded the rear FL. Would like to add another 2 fan but that will shade out even more lights.

So must think of something else now, another forumer just recommended me to remove the balast from the FL and put them outside of the encloseure I have here.

Well, sounded like a terrific suggestion. Will do that when I have time.

[letissier07]

will low light plants bubble?
any low lights plants that bubble?

Thanks!
Spencer

[peterkoh]

I presume u r blowing into the water and the fans are facing down. What not erect a row of vertical fans at the rear of the tank and blow across the water from back to front ? Will not block your light and more efficient cooling.

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On 10/1/2003 12:12:22 PM

Already have 2 pieces of 12cm DIY AC fan running, took out 1/3 of the surface and shaded the rear FL. Would like to add another 2 fan but that will shade out even more lights.

So must think of something else now, another forumer just recommended me to remove the balast from the FL and put them outside of the encloseure I have here.

Well, sounded like a terrific suggestion. Will do that when I have time.
----------------

[theodore]

Peter,

Blowing across the water surface is less effective than blowing down onto the water surface because what we want to do is to cool down our tanks (to 26.5-27.5C) by speeding up evaporation. Two disadvantages though: (1) One will need to top up more water on a daily basis as a result of this higher rate of evaporation and (2) more surface turbulence so higher CO2 loss.

One can switch to a chiller to avoid the 2 disadvantages but yet achieve lower temperatures (<26.5C).

[FC]

Spencer,

"will low light plants bubble?
any low lights plants that bubble?quot;

With the right conditions, even under low light of less than 2 watts/gallon, plants bubbles. I hardly come accross plants, slow growers or fast ones, that do not bubbles, again, provided the right conditions are there. For plants that bubble less, just look under the leafs, they are trapped there. I beleive healthy plants should bubble unless there is a too little light exposure.


Regards,
Freddy
www.killies.com

[benny]

Wow! Talk about thread revival man!

May I know how to occasionally top up CO2? I have heard that Mr Amano used Perrier when he first started. Is that the way?

I am using a cannister filtre. Is that a wet/dry filter?

Metal Sad,

You can always use Seachem's Excel to supplement the CO portion of your plant's carbon requirements. Don't use Perrier! It's too expensive anyway.

As for filters, if you are not using pressurized CO2 injection, then it does not matter whether you use Wet/Dry filters like Eheim's Profession 2227/9 series or any other type of trickle filter.

As for plants and setup, I would recommend you go for rosette plants and preferably something like Anubias species and Java ferns. Very low maintainence. Go for a natural style look rather than a manicured presentation.

Cheers,

p.s. you spell a lot better in 2002/03 than you do now. Buck up!