Low tech "planted" tank

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atreis

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Nov 24, 2013
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Just thought I would share some photos of my 135. It's an SA community (low pH) tank. Planted, low tech, with a relatively low amount of LED lighting. "Planted" is in quotes because most of the plants aren't actually planted.

full.png rightside.png
 

ZorroNet

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That's a crazy cloud of roots! What is that floating there? I'd love to have a tank this big. Looking good... let's get it more densely planted :) (as if I had a say haha!)
 

ROYWS3

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I love the look of the two "islands" but I agree with Dave, you could certainly add a lot more plants - you don't have to make it a "jungle tank". but just adding some more species to the "island" areas would make a good thing even better. I would suggest some easy rosette plants such as crypts, swords and /or vals.

Good Luck with it, it looks great - keep us posted if you do make any additions.
 

ktrom13

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I agree with what was said already. What im trying to figure out is that awesome mass of floating plants. What are they?

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Those floaters are probably great nutrient exporters. :)
 

atreis

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I'm patient - the plants will fill in in time. I might add a few more on the left side, crypts I think since they're doing well on the right, but not many. I've found that I prefer to have them be relatively sparse starting out, and let them fill in as they will over a number of years. This will naturally result in more of some and less of others, according to how well they do in my setup and how fast they grow.

The floating plants have rapidly spread like crazy. I've already had to thin them. Most of the visible roots are from Salvinia oblongifolia - a beautiful plant with really nice yellowish roots. Most of the rest are Phyllanthus fluitans (reddish roots, pretty leaves but the roots aren't as attractive), and there's a few from duckweed that hitchhiked with those (roll eyes).

Lights: A couple year old (it was also used on the previous tank) 6' BeamsWork fixture using quite a lot of .2W LEDs - a mix of white and blue. Wattage is in the neighborhood of 120 watts - I don't remember exactly. I added a second LED light to help keep all of the floating plants lit (some of it filters down to the crypts). It's a 3' light with similar specs, half the wattage.

There's a piece of plastic screen stretching from front to back that keeps the floating plants confined to the right side of the tank. (The tank uses an overflow, so I had to keep them from getting sucked into it.)

Other info:
Fishless cycled with old media - still took about three weeks
Eheim 2080 filter - so far I've not had to clean it - it has a device that shows the flow rate
Water is RO, and water changes are fully automated - about 2 gallons twice a day
On the left side of the tank is a VorTech MP10 running at its minimum speed to give the tank a little more flow
A Digital Aquatics RKE controller handles the electric solenoids and various sensors (and their backups) for the water change system, turning off the filter when the water level drops in the overflow and back on again after it's come back up, the heater, and the lights.

Rocks are from the creek that runs past my house (Dolomite, but they don't affect the water noticeably). The driftwood was bought online. Most of the substrate is AquaDirt.com which seems to be working so far. The granules are very small though (and sharp, if you're wondering) and would get stirred up when cleaning the acrylic so I put some larger smooth aquarium gravel along the edges. That way I don't have to worry so much about scratches and the Corydoras have a place they can scavenge without sharp edges (I don't care for sand).

Otos keep algae from building up on the leaves of the slower-growing plants. Great little fish. (I still get a little GHA though, which I remove manually.)

Other fish additions to come: Loaches, a few more tetras. I wanted to let the tank mature some before adding the loaches.
 

FreshyFresh

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That's a gorgeous tank and stand.
 

ROYWS3

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I have the exact same lamp on my tank except it's the two foot version. I'm very happy with the color it emits and the way it grows plants.
 

atreis

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Agreed. All in all, they're good lights.

Thank you, re the comment on the tank and stand. I built the stand 6 years back (it was a winter project). I'm not sure I'd do another though - I'm not very good at furniture type woodwork. (I didn't make the doors though - those came from IKEA. :) )
 
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