1 ft tank w/o C02

[kc]

Have anyone try having a 1ft planted tank without Co2? I am thinking of having one.

Will those hang-on filter (like waterfall method) helps to disolve co2 from the air?

[budak]

If you choose plants that can thrive without needing CO2 injection (Anubias, ferns, mosses, sagitarria, E. tenellus, Hygrophilas) you can have a pretty decent looking 1 ft tank... you won't even need a filter if you plant heavily and have a small fish/shrimp load. You won't need to dose much fert either; just have about 1.5 watts per gallon of light and do a partial water change every week or so.

I have repeated it before, but I really think these mini-tanks can do well with minimal equipment.

[loupgarou]

depends on what you plant, I've a moss/anubias/moneyplant tank with no filter (less than 1 litre of water) in the office, supplemented with seachem excel only

[kc]

You guys are fantastic, How you managed to type your reply longer than my qestion in such a short time(esp Mr. Budak)?

[xxdivinityxx]

[quote:652d33cdb6="budak"]If you choose plants that can thrive without needing CO2 injection (Anubias, ferns, mosses, sagitarria, E. tenellus, Hygrophilas) you can have a pretty decent looking 1 ft tank... you won't even need a filter if you plant heavily and have a small fish/shrimp load. You won't need to dose much fert either; just have about 1.5 watts per gallon of light and do a partial water change every week or so.

I have repeated it before, but I really think these mini-tanks can do well with minimal equipment.[/quote:652d33cdb6]

Budak, will e.Ten thrive in a co2-less environment? I'm keen to try a shrimp tank with no co2 but can only think of mosses and ferns which are readily available to me now. Never considered E.Tens.

Appreciate your advice

[budak]

With moderate lighting (2 wpg) ET will spread in non CO2 injected tanks, albeit slower than otherwise. Dwarf sagittaria spreads like wildfire even under abuse.

An alternative to Glossostigma in non CO2 injected tanks is Marsilea sp., which grows fairly slowly but achieves a similar low foreground effect.

Monosolenum tenerum (aka Pellia) also does well in such tanks.

Again, I say: forget about adding filters, pumps and all that..... know your plants and fish (and their limits) and a single light should be all the equipment you need for a mini desktop tank.

[Flare]

I think the surest way to ensure good growth of every plant species is to have CO2. Of course, for a 1ft tank, you can just do well with DIY co2 connected to a diffuser. I used to have an even smaller tank which I used to cultivate glosso. Initially I tried without co2. Just bright lights. They grew but very slowly. When I introduced DIY CO2, they spreaded. Having CO2 also gives you a piece of mind when u r looking for plants for your 1ft tank.

[bclee]

[quote:a2bdadabe3="kc"]Have anyone try having a 1ft planted tank without Co2? I am thinking of having one.

Will those hang-on filter (like waterfall method) helps to disolve co2 from the air?[/quote:a2bdadabe3]

I am growing to love non-CO2 tank. I have a 1-ft tank (5gal) without CO2 too. It does not have a filter too. All it have is a halogen bulb which I estimated to give an equivalent to a 7W FL.

The growth is slow and compact. I have java fern "Windeløv", christmas moss, A. barteri var. nana 'petite', E. tennelus and C. wendtii green in the tank.

It is virtually maintenance free and looks great.

BC

[budak]

[quote:910a560d83="Flare"]I think the surest way to ensure good growth of every plant species is to have CO2. Of course, for a 1ft tank, you can just do well with DIY co2 connected to a diffuser. I used to have an even smaller tank which I used to cultivate glosso. Initially I tried without co2. Just bright lights. They grew but very slowly. When I introduced DIY CO2, they spreaded. Having CO2 also gives you a piece of mind when u r looking for plants for your 1ft tank.[/quote:910a560d83]

I don't think anyone will argue that CO2 injection boosts plant growth tremendously. But in a 1 ft tank or smaller and with a DIY system, you have to manage the gas level or your livestock suffers. And you have only a small margin for error.

What I am suggesting is that with judicious selection of plants, a relatively maintenance-free, yet lush planted mini tank is within anyone's reach.

[Flare]

[quote:792d5a95="budak"]I don't think anyone will argue that CO2 injection boosts plant growth tremendously. But in a 1 ft tank or smaller and with a DIY system, you have to manage the gas level or your livestock suffers. And you have only a small margin for error. [/quote:792d5a95]

I forgot to mention that there was no livestock in my mini glosso tank. That was y I could safely inject co2 without considering the ppm. I agree with you that if there r livestocks, amount of co2 have to be regulated and its difficult for DIY CO2.

[checkerboard]

I have a no CO2 tank as well. if you want good plant growth, can add seachem excel. it is pretty good. otherwise, it can really be a low maintenance tank. I dose my small tank with excel, and flourish only and good growth and colours can be maintained without CO2.

I think DIY CO2 is a bit dangerous for small tanks as stated. might introduce more problems than without.

[Green Baron]

Agree with Budak ! It all boils down to plant and fish selection and what you want out of it. Fast plant growth also means more maintenance.

My wife thinks my small, cheap, no CO2, no fert tank with moss, java fern and Echinodorus looks better than my high tech, expensive CO2 tank which I spent 5x more time on Of course part of it is the fact that smaller no CO2 tank gives you less choices and thus makes it easier to landscape

[Sleepy_lancs]

Hmm.. given that its such a small tank.. how do you siphon the water out from it when you do water change? any vaccumming done?

[budak]

Siphon? You never bathed in the kampong or those Malaysian outhouses i guess.

The setup's so small that 2-3 scoops using a plastic cup or small mug should be enough to empty half the tank.

[Sleepy_lancs]

Hehe.. And how would you get to those stuff near the substrate for the first few days... can't stand the dirt there.. hmm..

[vinz]

These tanks tend to have small feedings (low or zero fish load) and seldom get replanted. Might even have base fert depending on the choice of plants. Quite unlikely to get that layer of mulm. Shrimps will get rid of most uneaten food.

Anyway, why can't you siphon such a tank?

[Sleepy_lancs]

Can't seem to find something to do the job.. any ideas?

[victri]

The normal siphon is too powerful and will mess up the gravel and everything inside during the initial pumping to get it started, like a tornado just went by. It's way overkill and empties the tank too fast for me to go about sucking out debris.

I use airhose to siphon water from the smaller tanks. It's pretty easy to clean out dirt etc since it isn't so powerful that it sucks everything up. Yup, it takes forever, but once I'm done with the vacuuming, I usually just use a suction clip to position the airhose at the height where I want it to stop siphoning, and I can go about doing other stuff.

[Sleepy_lancs]

OOps.. I think I need to rephrase the question.

If the tank is small, how do you get the siphon to work... suck and the other end of airtube??

[victri]

[quote:a40adf9ecd="Sleepy_lancs"]OOps.. I think I need to rephrase the question.

If the tank is small, how do you get the siphon to work... suck and the other end of airtube??[/quote:a40adf9ecd]

You can suck at one end, if you don't mind the taste.

Here's a tip.
Run the airhose under the tap, once water is flowing through, pinch down on both ends so the water's stuck inside and the airhose is filled. You could also drink a mouthful of tapwater and blow that through the airhose. Then, while still pinching on the 2 ends, place one end in the tank and the other end in a bucket. Release, and the water will start flowing. The bucket has got to be at a lower level than the tank though.