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 Sudeep,
Little about myself, I come from india, and have a fishkeeping experience of little close to 7 years. Throughout this tenure, my experience is mainly with Cichlids and Arowana.
Planted tanks have always puzzled me with articles concerning high tech gadgets like CO2 equipments, Ozone, UV systems, EI dosing etc etc
Then I came across this article of yours regarding non CO2 based planted setup.. Which probably I had read for atleast 10 times. Decided to venture into my first planted tank with no CO2 injection.
First few details about the setup
1. Tank dimension – 36 in (L) X 15 in (W) X 18 in (H). I do realize that the W is less, as more is needed for aquascaping well.. but realized it much late
2. Lighting – Going by 1.5 – 2 WPG rule, have 2 X 36 Watts PLL, with 80 CRI and 6500 K
3. Substrate Used – Prodac Humus, Prodac Fertil (Plant Base), Prodac Fondovivo, and regular Sand Gravel 2 – 3 mm on top.
4. Cannister Filer – 1000L/H capacity.
The plants I have used (Sorry too bad in scientific names).
1. Lily Bulb (Tiger Lotus)
2. Dwarf Amazon
3. Anubias Nana
4. Ludwigia
5. Cabomba
6. Hydrophilla
8. Cryptocoryne Spiralis
Below is the understanding and questions I have
1. For a non CO2 based tank, from the startup, I have gone for the tank as heavily planted as possible… So as any ammonia released in the system, gets immly absorbed by the plants and I do not have algae growth.
2. The WPG is followed as said earlier with 1.5 – 2 WPG and the initial lighting I have started is with 6 hrs per day. I am planning to increase to 8 (at the max) — But since when?
3. I am afraid, that, If I carry out large water changes, then the amount of dissolved CO2 in the water may vary and I may trigger an algae growth.. So theoritically, I should not be doing any water changes at all, other than topping up for the evaporated amount?? What should be the Water change schedule , the amount and frequency?
4. The temperature in Summer, here touches almost 32 degrees celcius.. I know there may be a concern.. But how much the damage can be?
5. Since my substrate is rich in nutrients, do you forsee unlimited nutrients being present in the water columns, even after the plants absorption? I also understand that low light and unlimited nutrients does not trigger algae but traces of NH3 and NH4 can… Can the substrate be a concern?
I realize it is far from a good aquascaping.. but I realize it is a art and needs years to master.. so till now, may be this looks like a jungle.. But am I on the right track to maintain this jungle?
Thanking you for your reading. Awaiting responses..
Regards
Subhankar
Calcutta, India
Hi Subhankar,
Kaamon aacho? =) Thanks for your post, and I’m glad that my article has been of some help. I think your setup looks good although I am not familiar with the Prodac line of aquatic soil. I think that you have taken the right approach with planting very heavily from the beginning and starting with a photoperiod of 6 hours a day. Regarding your questions, here are my thoughts:
1) Yes, planting heavily from the beginning will help as all the plants will take up any ammonia in the water column. However, this only works if the plants are actually thriving and growing in the tank. Obviously, if the plants are having trouble settling in due to some sort of imbalance in the tank then they will be unable to take up any ammonia.
2) I think you could go ahead and push it to 7 hours for now. Then keep a very close eye on all the plants. If you can definitely see signs of growth in the plants and you can tell that the plant mass in the tank is growing (over a week or so), then I would go ahead and push it up to 8 hours a day. I wouldn’t go any higher than that for a low-tech tank.
3) Water changes is a tricky topic. Before I answer it, I think you need to first examine the substrates you are using. You mentioned that it is rich in nutrients. Does this mean that it also leaches ammonia into the tank (like ADA Aquasoil Amazonia)? If that is the case, then you should definitely be doing very frequent water changes. 50% WCs every day or every other day for a couple of weeks and then you can gradually lower the frequency. Remember, this is only if your soil actively leaches ammonia into the water. Ammonia can very easily lead to algae, and while your plants can deal with small amounts of it, if your substrate is actively leaching ammonia then they will not be able to keep up and you will have a big algae outbreak.
Judging from your post, it seems like your tank has been setup for a while, so if you haven’t had algae issues then I guess your substrate probably doesn’t leach ammonia. In that case you do not really need to do any water changes. However you do need to do some fertilizing. You haven’t mentioned whether you use any fertilizers. Your tank will need small amounts of Nitrates (KNO3), Phosphates (KH2PO4) and Potassium (These are called Macros) as well as a bunch of trace elements like Iron, Magnesium, Calcium, etc (Any good planted tank trace mix should be good). If you do not provide these to your tank (I have listed out suggested doses) then overtime your water in the tank will get depleted of all these compounds and your plants/fish will begin to suffer.
If you are providing both Macro and Trace nutrients, then you can get away with no water changes for 4-6 months without any trouble. If you do any major pruning, or uproot a lot of plants (which can put a lot of organic waste back into the water column) then you should do a 50% water change. So no water changes except topping off evaporated water, and maybe a 50% water change every 4-6 months (provided the fish and plants are doing well).
4) I’m not entirely sure about the temperatures and how the plants will do. I never had a planted tank when I was back in India. I guess if you are able to purchase these plants locally, they probably do fine in the summers. In anycase the tank wont get as hot as 32 degrees due to the constant water circulation and the cooling due to evaporation. Make sure to keep the tank in a shaded and preferably cooler area in your house.
5) I think I answered this already. You need to figure out if your soil actually contains ammonia and releases it into the tank. If it does then you need to definitely do a lot of water changes. This link should help you in that case: http://www.theshrimpfarm.com/blog/archives/28
If your substrate is only rich in nutrients and not ammonia then it should be ok. However if it leaches a very high amount of nutrients like nitrates (over 60-70 ppm) then that too can be toxic to the fish. If you aren’t sure, then I would personally recommend doing 50% Water changes once a week for the first 1-2 months and then backing off with the water changes. Even if you induce a small amount of algae, it usually progresses very slowly in low-tech tanks so you can easily catch them and rectify the situation.
Good luck! If it helps motivate you, I knew nothing about planted tanks till less than a year ago. I then read a ton and educated myself on various aspects and that is how I managed to write this article and create my current planted tank. So there isn’t any reason why you shouldn’t be successful at it, and definitely read up on aquascaping concepts. A good aquascape can be very rewarding (but only after you are capable of keeping plants alive in your tank =) )
Cheers,
Sudeep
wow, this information was just what i was looking for. my only question is what type of fast-growing, low-light plants would you suggest using for the 85% dense planting? i ultimately plan on having java fern, nana anubias, and crypts (any other suggestions?)but i don’t think these are fast enough growers to outcompete algae and to speed up the cycling of the tank. maybe wisteria or water sprite would be a better choice but i’m not sure if they are too much of a nutrient sponge. i’m using a 6 gallon eclipse with 8 watts of 5500K. i also taped mirrors on two sides of the tank to get the wpg to about 1.5 wpg. i don’t plan on using co2 or excel.
thanks for your insight,
tania
Hey Tania,
Glad you found the article useful. For nutrient sponges I would recommend cabomba as well as rotala rotundifolia (I think the same plant might be called rotala indica). Even if they aren’t super fast growing, just get lots of cheap stem plants that you know for sure will be healthy in a low tech tank. Check out your local fish store to see what cheap stem plants they have and then maybe just google to make sure that they don’t have any hi-tech requirements.
Good luck!
thanks for that answer Sudeep!
i have some other complicated questions. i’m using a 6 gallon tank (with about 5 gallons of water). i’d like to use the seachem phosphate and nitrogen to dose the tank. i’ve been working on the conversion of teaspoons of dry ferts to mL of liquid ferts. using the calculators you recommended in your article, i can only convert the nitrate dosage. i can’t even calculate the phosphate dosage because 5 gallons is too small! i was hoping you could help me with the calculations. here are my questions:
1. for the nitrate, i’ve calculate adding 1.3 mL of seachem nitrogen (is that correct??)
2.what would be the dosage of seachem phosphate??
3. i plan on using ro water since my tap water measures gH=10, kH=6, pH=7.8 (using driftwood in the tank). i’m using a chart of kH vs pH which, in my case, gives a [CO2] of 3ppm.
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_co2chart.htm
i’ve read that plants need a range of 5ppm – 15ppm to be healthy. if i use ro water, i can have a pH=7, kH=2 which gives a [CO2] of 6ppm. are my assumptions to use ro water vs my tap water accurate?
4. if i do use ro water, should i dose more seachem equilibrium to make up for the abscence of the elements present in tap water? i’m thinking i should double dose the first time i set up the tank and then add the suggested weekly amount after that.
5a. when can i start to replace the “fast” growing stem plants with other “slower” growing plants?
b. if i were to make this change, do i need to alter (lower) my ferts dosage to compensate for the slower growing plants or should i dose less often (from once a week to once every two weeks)? does it not matter because of the estimative index of dosing?
i’m sorry for the inconvience but i’m frustrated and can’t figure it out!! i plan on purchasing a graduate pipette to dose such small amounts of the liquid ferts. once i have this information, i can finally start to set up my tank! believe me, this won’t be the last time you’ll hear from me!!
thank you so much for your time,
tania
Hi Tania,
Let me take a crack at answering your questions.
1-2. You were close with your guess. I’ll edit my article to give the actual ppm values to make life easier. Also, I should have added this amazing calculator (the Fertilator: http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/fertilator.php) over at Aquatic Plant Central. You will need to register but it is invaluable for figuring out correct concentrations.
20 Gallons
KNO3 – 1/8 tsp – 5.27 ppm NO3 and 3.32 ppm K
KH2PO4 – 1/32 tsp – 1.61 ppm PO4 and 0.66 ppm K
Seachem Equilibrium – 1/4 tsp – 1.42 ppm Ca, 0.42 ppm Mg, 3.43 ppm K and 0.02 ppm Fe
5 gallon
NO3 from Seachem Fluorish Nitrogen – 1.5 ml gives 5.27 ppm NO3
PO4 from Seachem Flourish Phosphorous – 6.77 ml gives 1.61 ppm PO4
I hope that helps you. If you’re still confused, just try to hit the target ppms above and use the Fertilator to figure out your doses. Btw, if you haven’t already purchased your ferts, it is a lot easier/cheaper to by dry ferts. Then all you need are measuring spoons…no need for pipettes, etc.
3. Honestly I would stay away from playing water chemist and trying to get the perfect combination of gH,kH and pH. Your water stats seem fine and your fish and plant will do quite well in it as is. Don’t be misled by the the CO2 chart. It is more relevant for people who use pressurized CO2 than it is for low-tech tanks. 3ppm of dissolved CO2 is probably what you will achieve in any case with a low-tech tank, irrespective of whether you use RO water and tweak parameters manually. If you read Chuck’s comments towards the end of the page you linked, he mentions that you can’t really manually tweak each parameter independently to get high ppm of CO2 since they are all interrelated, ie, raising the kH will also raise pH and keep CO2 levels approximately the same.
So just stick with your tap water, the higher gH means that it already has more of Calcium and Magnesium, so you could go a little light on the dosing of that (for example if you use Seachem Equilibrium). This will save you a ton of money and hassles. The only time I’d really recommend RO water is if you plan on keeping delicate fish that specifically require softer water.
4. As mentioned above, if I were you I’d stick with your tap water.
5a. Basically there isn’t any set rule. I think I would give the tank around a month to really establish itself. It gives you time to get used to the weekly dosing, etc and also to keep an eye on plant growth. If everything looks healthy and the plants have been growing over the month, then you can slowly phase out some plants and introduce others. Just make sure you don’t take out a large amount of healthy planted biomass in one go only to replace it with a newer bunch of plants since they will take some time to re-establish and grow…which means that in the mean time you have created an imbalance in the tank.
Don’t worry too much about it though. Just go by your instincts. Truth is, if your planted tank is healthy and plants are growing over the initial month, then phasing out plants for newer ones shouldn’t be any trouble. Just don’t make any large changes in one go.
5.b. You could if you wanted to. The way the dosing is setup, you dose a fixed amount every week, and then occasionally you skip dosing for a week or two. Again, as long as you are dosing the right amounts, a little extra here and there won’t really matter. If you do end up over time going from a lot of stem plants to more slower growing plants, you could probably just skip dosing a little more frequently. In any case, you can always keep an eye on the tank. If you ever see any signs of nutrient deficiency then you can dose more frequently. Don’t worry too much, low-tech planted tanks can be very forgiving ;). If something is going wrong you’ll have enough time to see it and rectify the situation.
hi sudeep, i was just wondering what you think a proper does of csm+ would be, i have moderately hard water so i do not need to add extra calcium and magnesium found in seachem equilibrium.
i also have a high ph around 8.2, do you have any plant suggestions for a high ph or does it matter. i am just starting out currently failing at growing java moss. my only defense is that they looked a little brown when i bought them.
thanks much.
jon
i have another question, i am using a 10 gallon tank and the filter i am using is a small corner filter. you talk about water movement in the tank so i was wondering if you use a power head or either a hob or cannister filter.
Hi Jon,
Sorry for being late getting back to you. Life has been really hectic =). Anyways, regarding the water circulation, you should definitely add more circulation to your setup. In my 10 gallon tank, I actually use an Aquaclear HOB filter that is rated for a 50 gallon tank! More circulation never hurts the plants, just try to prevent stressing your fish out with excessive currents. You could just as easily use a powerhead to improve circulation. Many folk use powerheads for enhanced circulation in their planted tanks.
Regarding appropriate doses of CSM+B, here is my advice (I’ll also edit the article):
Make a stock solution of 1 tbsp or 3 tsp in 250ml. 2mls of CSM+B trace solution, 1x a week for a 10 gallon tank should be fine (low-tech). Basically the above solution is roughly equivalent to regular Seachem Flourish.
I hope that helps. Again, sorry for the delay.
Hello Suddep,
Looks like you are the right person to ask about my low light tanks.
I have 2 FW tanks 65/55 GL same set up.
2 HOB AC 50 and 110 filters on each with 2 t8 25W lighting on each.
Water changes with grave vac every 8-9 days 30-40%.
NY tap water, PH at 6.4, soft water.
Some plants java ferns, moss, dwarf anubias all plants are in drift wood set up.
I am not adding anything, just prime at this time.
I do have photos of the plants no way to attach them here.
Anubias leaves are turning yellowish and Rhizome are turning brownish on the bottom.
The java plants leaves are turning darker brown in areas, like crusting in places.
All the palnts are growing and turning new leaves.
Tank set up over 3 years plants in the tank about 8 months.
I tried using Flourish for 3 months, but my fish didn’t like it.
Fish colors went down and activity.
Fully stocked tanks!
Am I removing too much when using grave vac with the water changes?
What should I do?
Hi Suddep,
I was wondering if this setup is able to grow tiger lotus and HC using only KNO3, KH2PO4 and Seachem Equilibrium without using excel?
Hi Andy,
From what I have read, HC is a bit hard to grow without any CO2 supplementation. You might want to atleast use Excel. Marsilea minuta might be a better carpet plant option for a low-tech tank (without Excel or CO2 supplementation).
Cheers
Hello Sandeep, I was hoping for some answers on the questions regarding plants in my tank that I presented a little over a week a go?
Hi David,
I’m sorry for not replying earlier. I was away last week and things have been very busy for me. Regarding your questions, a little more information might help. What is the fish bioload in your tanks? Also, when you say you tried Flourish, do you mean Flourish Excel or just the Flourish that contains traces?
In any case, here are my thoughts regarding your setup and the problems you are facing:
Gravel Vacuuming is a strict no-no when it comes to planted tanks. Of-course, it still depends though. In your case, you don’t seem to have any fast growing plants in your tank to soak up excess ammonia/nitrates. Since you do not have a dense biomass of plants, it is a tricky situation. If you do not gravel vac and keep up with the water changes, the ammonia in the tank could affect the fish. On the other hand, constant gravel vacs will affect the plants rooting and also suck up any fishwaste and excess food that could act to fertilize and provide nutrients for the fish.
From the sound of things, it just seems like your plants aren’t getting enough nutrients. Since you are not actively fertilizing the tank, and you are doing regular waterchanges and gravelvacs, you are depriving them of nutrients. Unfortunately, unless you introduce a large plant biomass and a bunch of fast growing stem plants like Rotala rotundifolia, you will need to keep up with the gravel vacs and water changes in your tank.
So you have two options really:
a) If you wish to keep your current plant choice and don’t plan to plant more plants, especially fast growing ones, then you will need to actively provide fertilizers for your plants. Just Flourish won’t help either as it is only meant to supply trace elements. You will need to provide Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Potassium as well as traces as outlined in my article above. Keep up with water changes in accordance with the recipe provided in the article and make sure your plants are getting consistent lighting for 6-7 hours a day (I would strongly recommend a light timer). This should help a lot. Java Fern and Anubias are quite sturdy plants but they do need some nutrients, especially traces to survive and do well.
b) If you are willing to add more plants and have a densely planted tank with a bunch of fast growing stem plants then I would suggest planting your tank densely. After that, stop doing gravel vacs and maybe do 50% water changes every other week. Also avoid overfeeding the fish. See how the plants are doing. If they are growing and doing well, I would stop doing waterchanges all together (WARNING: Do this only if you have a densely planted tank and all the plants are doing well. You are relying at this point on the dense plant biomass to cycle the tank and to use up any nutrients and ammonia from fish waste/excess fish food thus preventing the ammonia from affecting your fish). Again, follow the instructions in the article and I think you should have a healthier tank.
Lastly, while I mention that you can get away with no fertilizing in Low-tech tanks, I would still strongly recommend spending around $15 for a supply of dry ferts that will last for many many years. Using ferts just removes another variable and ensures that you have control on the nutrient level in the tank and that the plants are definitely being exposed to the important nutrients they need for growing.
I hope that helps. Good luck!
hi!!!
nice post..it is very practical…!!!
i’ve planed to set up a sump filter for my 50 gal planted aquarium..
please let me know if i shuld use a powerhead or water pump…i need water head of about a metre..please give me options to choose from.thank you…!!!
hi ! I get everything you mention here, but what about airation and uv only when lights out ? will this be ok ? also can this be done with discus ?
Hey Moe,
Airation is really not necessary in planted tanks if you have good water circulation and plants in the tank. The two together will give you enough dissolved oxygen within the water. Airation can also bother fish and stress them out due to the water currents it causes. The only time it might be useful is IF you are using CO2 augmentation in your planted tank, in which case sometimes people recommend aeration when lights go out so as to remove any excess CO2 and also enhance the O2 within the water (since the plants don’t contribute any O2 after the lights go off).
As for the UV sterilizer, it is an expensive piece of equipment that isn’t really necessary if you are careful with your tank. However, if you choose to use one, it is recommended to keep it on all the time for it to be most effective. Remember to swap out the bulb every 6 months or so.
Good luck!
Hi Sudeep
Thank you for this amazing article. There is one thing I would like to know. I am planning on starting a nonco2 non excel tank with AS Amazonia. I read your link about how to cycle the AS. What if I put in the freshly purchased AS into my new tank and saturate the soil with 7/8th with water (from my existing aquarium) and let it soak with the tank top open under shade for about 2 months,….will this cycle the soil? I will not be flooding the tank as suggested by Shrimpfarm but I will make sure that the soil is completely saturated with water but the level of the water will be below the soil surface. I will mist it on and off to make sure it remains moist for about 2 months,…then flood the tank, do several large water changes and a single day and start planting. Will this work. This is definetely not my own idea but as you would have already know was suggested by Tom in his Dry Start article. I am basically just soaking the soil without the dry start planting. PLease help as this is going to be my first planted tank.
Hi Faizal,
I am indeed aware of the dry start method and I used it to grow out the dwarf hairgrass foreground in my tank (I didn’t use AS). I would probably advise against it for AS unless you are trying to use it to grow a foreground carpet plant using the dry method. In that case, you can do as you wrote above, but you will probably still have to do many water changes after you submerge your tank because the soil will still leech lots of ammonia into the water column.
The dry start method will help build bacteria in the soil and also grow out your carpet plants, but it will not consume all the ammonia that can leech into the water column. You will still need to do the same kind of water changes as suggested in the article. Also make sure to have a good test kit for ammonia to keep track of things.
If you don’t plant anything, I don’t think the dry start will help too much, and when you submerge the tank you won’t have any established plants helping with ammonia consumption in any case. I’d advise you to go with the regular cycling method unless you plan to grow out a foreground carpet plant using the dry start method. In any case, once you submerge the soil, you have to do many water changes to help remove out the ammonia that leeches into the water and to stabilize the water parameters over the first month.
Good luck!
hey,ive read your article on low light tanks and it was amazing…so glad that you wrote it,it helped me alot…and i have a question, i have a 5.5g tank with a 1.5litre bottle of DIY co2…and i was wondering if i can grow any carpet plants…like dwarf hairgrass…thx
Hi Adrian,
I’m glad you found the article helpful :). With your setup, you can most definitely grow dwarf hairgrass. I would advise you to use the Dry Start method: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/3361-New%28-%29-methoid-to-make-a-nice-rug-of-HC-before-you-add-water
to grow out the dwarf hairgrass. I used it successfully on my tank. If not, you can just do it the regular way. With CO2, the hairgrass should do wonderfully. It grew very well even with Excel for a carbon source in my tank. All the best!
I will be upgrading to the Juwel Vision 180 aquarium. This tank comes with 2 x 35W T5 Fluorescent High Light bulbs. One is 6800 K & one is 9000 K. I was going to fit reflectors and I was going to start with the lights on for 6 hours every day.
I will be removing the internal filter and fitting a Fluval 305 external filter. I have gone for a higher lph so that my tank does not have dead spots and helps to circulate the nutrients around the tank. This gives me just under 6 times the curculation on my tank per hour.
I will be removing the carbon (as I have read it takes nutrients out the water) from the external filter and replacing with polishing pads.
I will be using 3 inch depth of Eco Complete or Seachem Flourite (not decided) with sand on top.
I will be also adding CO2, I was planning to buy the JBL Proflora u402.
I was planning to use the EI method by making up stock fertilizers, could you please tell me how much of each dry fertiliser I would have to mix with 500 ml of distilled water and how often I would need to dose it and how much.
Looking at my setup would you recommended anything eg adding more lights etc? I dont really know if you would call my setup low light high tech or what really.
Thanks
Hi Tommy,
If I calculated correctly, you have around 47 gallons in your tank so your lighting should be good for that size tank. Keep in mind that plants do not use the 9000K lights as much due to their differing spectral properties, but it will probably make some of your fish look nicer. All the same, you should have a good amount of light for your tank.
You definitely will have a Hi-tech setup since you are using pressurized CO2 for your tanks. Unfortunately I can’t tell you how much ferts to use as I’ve never worked with Hi-tech tanks. However, it should be fairly simple since you are following the EI method. Just use the standard EI recommendations and calculate how much fertilizer you need for a 47 gallon tank.
The rest of the stuff looks good. All the best with your new tank! 🙂
Thank you for such a speedy reply Sudeep.I have another doubt though,… What do you mean by the Effective wattage of a flourescent bulb? The regular linear T8 bulb that I saw says 10w on the bulb. Is this the effective wattage of the bulb? If this is so, then how do i actually figure its wattage for the calculation of the WPG ratio for my tank? Sorry if this sounds extremely silly.
Hi Faizal,
Sorry about the confusion. I think the 10 Watt rating on the bulb is correct for your calculations. I was referring to the current trend in the labeling of CFL bulbs with something like 10W, equivalent to a regular 45W bulb. In that case, you should not use the 45W rating, but the actual rating of the fluorescent bulb/tube. Good luck!
Thanks for clearing the doubt about the WPG calculation Sudeep. I’ve just started the Dry Start stage in my tank. I am using lileopsis brasiliensis instead of the hairgrass for the foreground carpet since you mentioned that the hairgrass was a bit tricky to grow out. I realised that the tank was getting a few hours of direct sunlight in the afternoon and the clear plastic sheet that I used to cover the tank top to create a terrarium like environment for the dry start method was actually creating a very humid environment and some of the plants actually turned yellow and died within 3rd day of planting!!! So I let the top open for an hour, removed the few dead plants & shifted my tank to a north west facing window where there is no chance of getting direct sunlight. The tank was less hot when I checked it today. How long do you think before I can see new shoots?!! And are there any advises that you could give during this crucial Dry Start Phase?
Hi Faizal,
Sorry for the delay in replying. I think the main thing is to make sure that the tank isn’t totally airtight. Keep the lid closed, but there should still be some air exchange through the gaps so that the CO2 can get out and fresh oxygen can get in. The humidity in general is a great thing, so the more humid it is, the better. Just make sure the water in the substrate is not peeking out in puddles. As for new shoots, you will have to be patient. It took almost 3 weeks before I saw new shoots on my Dwarf Hairgrass…but once they started coming up, they really took off!
Good luck.
Hi,…my tanks temperature at night is about 25’C but during the afternoon it is about 30-31’C!!! I am still in the dry start phase. I even punched about a dozen pin sized holes into the clear plastic sheet covering the top of the tank to let excess heat out. My soil is moist, the condensation on the glass,…not in excess but I am afraid the hot humidity of the Malaysian climate is going to melt the plants(Lileopsis brasiliensis). Right now most of the plants appear ok,…about 3-4 new shoots. But I am worried if they can hold up. Currently Day 9 post planting. Substrate is AS Amazonia mixed with 2-3mm diameter ADA gravel sand(the inanimate one)at an aproximate ratio of 50:50. Any suggestions please? Can I just open the plastic covering so that the temperature is able to come down. I can keep misting the soil more often as compared to when the tank top was covered. It would be like simple gardening except the soil is in the aquarium and I make sure the soil is moist always?? I am really out of ideas here. Pls help
Oh!! Hey!! Sudeep!! Your reply dated Jan 15th just popped up after I put in my last request for help!! Thank you ! I hope the temp of my tank is okay though. I will wait it out then. I won’t open up the tank top since the greater the humidity the better it is then. Thank you,..Sudeep.
Great article! I found it very helpful. I am currently working on my low-tech planted tank (its been set up about 6 weeks).
The pictures of your tank are absolutely beautiful. Is that anubias in the front? How do you keep it free of algae?
Hey Roxann,
Thanks for the compliments. Yep it is anubias…Anubias Coffeefolia to be specific. I’d highly recommend Coffeefolia as it is a darker green and I love the ridged texture on the leaves.
As for keeping it algae free, to be honest it is very hard to keep anubias completely algae free :). I’d recommend having it shaded by other plants/driftwood so it doesn’t get any direct light on it. In addition make sure you don’t have high lighting for your tank. Lastly, make sure you are dosing nutrients properly and have some fast growing plants in your tank to soak them up to help keep the algae at bay.
Everything said and done, you will probably still get a little algae on the older leaves, but that is just how it is. Some algae is practically unavoidable in a planted tank 🙂
Great article – thanks.
Question though regarding lighting. I have a 110g and do not plan on injecting CO2. I’m planning on running 2×54 T5HO for approximately six to eight hours and 1×54 T5HO 18000k bulb for four hours (6-10 pm prime viewing hours). The purpose of the latter bulb is to bring out the color of the fish. And given the tank will be behind a wall, i have the option to raise the lights up if need be.
My concern is the lighting – is this too much? am i better off with T5NO lights, T8 or something else and/or different length of photo period? And does the use of glass covers factor into any of this?
Any suggestions greatly appreciated!
Hi Jim,
I’m glad you liked the article. While I don’t have a lot of experience with T5HO lights myself, I do think that 2×54 T5HO should be fine for your tank. Also, for the larger tanks due to the added depth of the tanks, the slightly higher intensity might help. Also, given that you have a glass cover that will reduce about 4% of the incoming light. In addition, it will probably get hazy from condensation, etc, so a little more light is probably best. As for the 18000K bulbs, I think that will be too blue for the plants to absorb so hopefully it shouldn’t affect things. In any case, since it is a low tech tank, any imbalances will be slow to manifest and if you see algae issues, then you can back off with the light intensity by raising the lights and/or reducing the period with the 18000K lights.
Hi Sudeep,
Read your article regarding low tech planted tank.Informations are really helpful.I want to setup a 75g(48″-18″-20″) planted tank.I have already got the tank.Can u please help me out regarding the amount of substrate to be used and what to use.I don’t plan using ADA soil as they are much costlier.I have an Idea of using a layer of Late-rite soil below followed by a layer of river sand.Is this a good combination?If yes then please give me some ideas from where to get it in kolkata.Any better suggestions are always welcome.Also give me some suggestions regarding the lighting.I find the 40w/50 6500k Phillips tube-light quiet useful.But not sure how many to use.Looking forward for your valuable suggestions.
Hi Sudeep,
Thanks for creating such a worthy thread.Its really helpful for beginners like me.I am planning to setup a 75G(48-18-20) planted tank.If you could help me choosing the substrate and the amount needed.I am not planning in using ADA soil as it is too much costly.Have an idea of using a layer of laterite followed by a layer of river sand.If it seems alright to you then plz give me some ideas of its sources in kolkata.Any better suggesstions are always welcome.Another thing,for the lighting I think of using Phillips 50w 6500k fluorescent lights.Is two of them enough for my setup?Looking forward for some your valuable comments.Thanks
Fantastic post – thanks so much! Your tank looks great and I’d love to set up something similar. Is it possible to let me know which plants and wood you are using in your set up? I’ve also got a 10 gallon tank so it’s interesting to see what you’ve done.
I have tried to set up a high-tech, high-light set up which isn’t going very well (I’ve got algae problems, plants aren’t growing well etc and have given up on it after a year of trying) and would like to modify my tank to be low-tech and lower maintenance. I currently have AS which I was going to leave and then redecorate the tank, change all the plants to lower-maintenance and plant a lot more densely, and add in a more powerful external filter. Do you have any advice on how I’m best to modify the set up rather than starting from scratch? I’ve got fish in there at the moment, is it possible to leave them and redecorate around them? Any thoughts would be most appreciated.
Thanks so much!
Hi Cara,
I’m glad you found this useful. Regarding the plants and wood…I am using Manzanita drift wood which I bought from a member on the plantedtank.net forums (he sells Manzanita quite regularly). The plants are Anubias Coffeefolia (the ridged, dark green Anubias) and Anubias Nana Petite. I also have Philippine Java Ferns and some Rotala Rotundifolia in the background. The carpet plant is Dwarf Hairgrass, but I wouldn’t recommend it for a low-tech tank.
With regards to transitioning to the low tech tank, just make sure you do some large water changes when you replant the new plants to remove any extra nutrients/ammonia in the system. After that, make sure to follow the dosing procedure and you should be fine for the most part. Since you have AS as your substrate, you could even get away with just dosing traces since AS is full of nutrients and should provide a decent bit for the plants.
When planting the anubias/java ferns, make sure not to bury the rhizome as that can cause rotting and kill the plant. You might need to weight the plants down initially by tying them to rocks/driftwood so as to prevent them floating away.
All the best!
Cheers,
Sudeep
Hi Sudeep, im planning to overstock my 50gal tank with discus, corys & many small fishes. Since they will definitely produce lots of nitrate, can i skip the dosing of KN03 and use K2SO4 instead? Will it affect the growth of plants?
Hi Andy,
Sorry for the late reply. You could, but if you are planning on overstocking you should definitely invest in a very good water test kit so you can monitor Nitrate levels amongst other things. It’s hard to say how the tank will behave when it is overstocked, and even if you have excess nitrates, it’s hard to know if it will be enough for the plants, or too much so that even the plants can’t get rid of them fast enough.
Thanks for the reply Sudeep 🙂
You are right, the nitrate level build up to 50ppm every month. I have no choice but to change 10% water every week. Will it affect too much to the plants?
I have another question which concern of a red stem plant that I recently bought. I dont know the name of the plant, it has long red leaves. The problem is the leaves at the bottom part start to turn green. New leaves are grown at the tip of the plant but I noticed some are stunted. Is the plant still acclimatizing to the tank or is it dying? Do I have to trim the tip of the plants so that they will have new shoots from the stem?
Hi Sundeep,
I am planting my 150 gal tank that used to be a reef tank…it is pre-drilled and with a large wet/dry filter. I know if i used a co2 unit it would gas it out, after reading your article I will try to follow your article and go without co2. My question is can I use my wet/dry with 4 returns?
thanks!
Hi Matt,
It shouldn’t be any problem for a low-tech tank. All the best! Low tech tanks are nice and much less hassle to maintain than hi-tech tanks. You won’t regret it 🙂
hi sudeep,
been planning to setup my existing 200 litre cichlid tank to a planted tank, low tech. i have been reading a lot lately and doing a lot of research. i find your approach interesting and easy to maintain.
my plan is simple, move the pair of cichlids to my big tank, siphon out the water in the 200 litre tank and keep 75% of it to be put back later after laying the substrate and planting. i plan to use eco-complete with leonardite at the base and fine sand on top. then plant heavily with sagittaria subulata, hygrophilia polysperma, various echinedorus and crypts and vallisneria. then pour the old water back in there. Now the question is, do i still have to wait for a week to put fish in or, since i already have a mature filter and the sand that’s on top of the nutrient rich substrate is the one that i’m using now, theoretically, i could put fish in there straight away couldn’t I? Just clarify this for me, will you. Thanks.
Oh btw, what dyah think of the plant choices?
tank is 200 litre (39″x19″x15.5″), 2x 30 watt bulbs with grolux and a 10000k bulb.
2 filters one ext and one internal. choice of fish would be 10 neons, 10 glowright, 5 otos and 5 amano shrimps. what dyah think.
Hi Rommel,
Everything looks good to me. About putting the fish in right away, the only concern is that when you are moving things around, planting, and putting in new substrate, you might end up releasing a lot of organics/ammonia that can sometimes be trapped in the old substrate. If this is a mature tank, you should already have enough bacteria to cycle any additional nitrates/ammonia. What I would do is to plant everything, fill the tank up and perhaps do a water test with a good kit before putting the fish in. If you want to be very careful, I would do an additional 75% WC after filling the tank up before putting the fish in.
Your plant choice, fish choice and equipment all sound great. All the best!
thanks sudeep,
i do plan on changing the 50% of the water. about trapped ammonia and other organics in the distrbed substrate, i’m not really worried too much about that coz, remember i have a couple of cichlids in there at the moment and they are breeding, so they dig up pits here and there, depends on where they want to lay eggs. so in that respect, the substrate is pretty much 75% always disturbed. but i guess to be safe is better than to be sorry. i’ll probably have to wait for a couple of days, then test the water before i add new fish in. can’t wait.
oh one more thing, i have just a normal white reflector not the aluminum one. if i change it to the alminum, would that be considered as low light, with the 60 watts that i mentioned?
Great article.
Good caveats on the no WC approach.
I have found that by using RO water not tap water that algae is not induced with water changes (I suspect it is because it has dissolved co2 in it at equilibrium with the atmosphere but don’t really know) however large they may be.
(In contrast when performing WC with tap water I always saw some growth in BBA algae within 2 weeks of the WC.)
Thought you might find that interesting.
I hope you do not mind some (very minor!) constructive criticism. You mention that it is necessary to have a filter with at least 10-15x flow in a low tech aquarium. I agree that this is a good thing to do, but just not essential.