How to setup Low-tech Planted Aquariums
Click Here if you are looking for my guide on Low Tech Planted Tanks. If you are looking for my article on Low Tech+Excel tanks, click here. I hope you found my article on setting up a low-tech planted tank to be helpful. If you have any questions/comments/thoughts or suggestions, please leave me a comment on this page and I can get back to you. Don’t feel intimidated by the massive wall of text in the article. Planted tanks really aren’t all that complicated. The hardest part is putting all the information together, reading it and understanding the basics and science of planted tanks. That hard works been done by me 
so read the article and go setup your Planted masterpiece!
Lastly, it might give you more confidence to know that the tank pictured above is my very first planted tank (and only my second attempt at keeping an aquarium ever)! Good luck!
Hi I just bought lime-free gravel which does not contain any nutrients. I am wondering if I can still use for the low tech sceme since there are weekly doses of fertilisers given. I also read about how laterine can be added, along with fert tabs but question is can I combine this procedure with what you introduced? Would it be better to layer with another nutrient rich substrate? Please advice me on what’s best right now. I’m a complete beginner and I don’t wanna mess my first tank up. Thanks!
Zanita, if you read the section on Substrate selection, you’ll notice that apart from Aquasoil Amazonia, all the other substrates do not have any nutrients within them. That is absolutely fine and perhaps better for a low tech tank. Just make sure that you stick to the fertilizing recommendations and your tank will do just fine. If you’re wondering, my tank (the pics on this site) used a substrate that had no nutrients, so you should do just fine.
Oh that’s a relief thanks!
Hey I’m doing all your suggestions im on about week 3 however I am getting brown hairy alage on my driftwood so I just got a few Ottos and Siamese fish and shrimp to help control it
also as far as fish will the dosing have any effect on them @ all
I have a Marineland 27 gallon cube. It comes with a 18″ Marineland Doublebright LED. Will this produce enough light for this method?
Hi
Ive just bought a 260 litre fluval vicenza it came with a Power Glo T5 39Watt and a Life Glo T5 39Watt, is this suitable lighting? If not any suggestion what I could swap it with. I’m aiming for a carpet of dwarf hairgrass and good moss growth but everything is turning brown?
Thanks
Hi, can I translate your article in Russian? Many russian-speaking aquaristas have problems reading in English.
I just wanted to tell you how great your article was on setting up a low tech planted aquarium with equilibrium. I am a month into my low tech planted aquarium and couldn’t have done it without your advice. Thanks for doing this.
Thanks very much for you note Joette. I’m glad that this article is helping you and many others. Unfortunately I had to tear down my tank due to multiple moves, so this article will be helpful to me as well when I get around to setting it back up!
I’m wondering if you would recommend a larger tank or a smaller tank for a first low-tech venture? Also, I know that in any planted tank the fish aren’t the focus and I wonder if there is a rule of thumb about inches of fish/gallon of water. Well-written article. Thanks for blazing the path for the rest of us.
Hello Sudeep… This was a very informative article & it will surely help me in deciding what’s best for setting up my planted tank. I’m currently saving up for substrate & other equipment. I do have some queries regarding the substrate. Which one do you suggest I use… ADA Amazonia or JBL ProFlora Start Set 200? What’s your suggestion for a medium budget setup?
Also, I hope it’s a good idea to use RO water (Bisleri)in the tank since the tap water in my area contains high amounts of calcium.
First,
Thank you Sudeep for putting together this great information.
You’ve given me hope that I can finally have a planted tank.
Your tank pictures are beautiful.
Would you please ID the plants in them so that I’ll know what plants to look for when planting mine?
Margaret…the foreground plant is Dwarf Hairgrass..although I wouldn’t recommend it for a purely low-tech tank as it does seem to prefer some carbon supplementation (at the very least – Excel).
The other plants are:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myPlants.php?do=view&p=137&n=Phillipine_Java_Fern_Microsorum_pteropus_Phillipine
http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_anubias.php
And some regular Anubias.
I forget the name of the fast growing stem plants in the background.
Hi Sudeep
I am intending to build a 2ft low-tech planted tank. However, i wish to see your advice on the following matter.
Below is my intended set up
1) 2ft Tank
2) Hamburger Mattenfilter
3) Black Dennerle Sand (Inert)
4) 6.72watt LED Clip-On Light
5) 20 Red Cherry Shrimps
Plant Choice
1) Mini Nana Petite
2) Mini water lettuce(Floating)
3) Duck Weed(Floating)
Queries
1) Will the above set up be viable in the long run without adding Co2 and Fertilizers ?(I.e. will the plants die ? )
2) What other plants do you suggest ? Can i still get rooted plants if i use black dennerle sand as substrate ?
Sir your guide has been so enlightening. I am planning to make a planted aquarium but am illadvised by the local LFS. My tank size is 46x18x22 and I cannot afford the laterite to fill it in total. So can I mix my substrates with part sand, part laterite, part gravel. I am told, a lot of people do good with sand alone + fertiliser. You said that your tank substrate is nutrient free. So can I hope to get some success? I shall be highly obliged if you can share your experience. Thank u
I wouldn’t worry too much about the laterite. Sand alone can work but many people say that it can hurt in the long term as the sand can get compacted and affect root growth for the plants. A mix of small gravel + sand might be better in your situation.
Thank you sir for ur advice. U just saved Rs 5k for me. I was very hesitant to spend that much right now. Whatever results I will keep u posted. Thanks again.
Hi
My tank is a 46g bowfront tank with 2.35 watts per gallon. I have two 36in T-5 and one 36in T-8 bulb. The substrate will be api first layer mixed with gravel on the bottom and eco complete over the top. I will be using excel and EI dose. The plants that i will be trying to grow are rotala indica, glosso, sag, sword, ludwigia, cabomba and wisteria. Am I doing everything right? Will all of my plants grow well? I don’t want to waste money, so I need your help.
Thank you
Nazdar prosim ta aky filter a svetlo si použil v tvojej nadrži z bojovnicami?
Hi Sundeep I hope you can answer my questions. I’m setting up my low tech 10gal tank with the guidance of your article. It’s really helped me alot!! I have a few questions. For the water in my tank I choose to use half tap and half distilled water because my KH was 12. By doing this my KH is now 7KH.
My problem is that I bought Flourish comprehensive fertilizer. The article said if I used this fert I will need to add calcium and magnisium, but I’m not sure how much. In additon, I purchased calcium (CAS04) and magnesium (MGS04). I read that the CAS04 will not increase the water hardness, but now I”m wondering if I should have gotten the other Calcium that would increase hardness. I’m wondering this because I’m thinking if I don’t do water changes my plants will continue to us the Calcium and Magnisium and make the water go soft. Is this correct? If this will fix the situation I could just buy equlibrium instead. Also, if I buy Equilibrium instead won’t the plants miss out on all the other nutrients correct? I appreciate your help!! Donetta