new tank planning - extreme low tech chinese bamboo style

[LunchBox]

sounds like you have thought this out quite a bit

not sure about the moss, but most ground covers like that tend to like 3+ wpg from what I've seen. still not sure if you were going to have it near a window, but if so, your 2 wpg might be ok. the thing you have to watch out for then is algae development. even java moss, which can handle low light situations, won't carpet in darker than 2.5 I think.... in fact, the darker the light the stringier and more gross it looks!~ :

you may want to figure out how much CO2 your moss will need since fish food alone may not give off enough as it decomposes. remember in the book she says that even between the soil carbon and the fish food it was a very small amount and was still the limiting factor in the tank. the bonus you have is you only have moss so you may be able to get away with it, but it's hard to say without knowing more about your particular type of moss. basically you may need more carbon to get your carpet than the fish food will produce.

anyway, I hope that helps. I've read her book about 3 times in the last month and it's really interesting even if I don't agree with everything she says in there

 

[misopeenut]

There will be no decors, maybe a wooden bamboo house (saw it once in a shop in china, was really cool). Not sure what rio negro means? the lily pipes are just ADA's version of canister intake/output tubes, except they are hand made glass and cost $100 each This tank is definitly low tech, otherwise wouldnt use bamboo/moss.

i meant decorative sand. rio negro is the white sand that ADA uses..
in your first post you said youre going to be using glass intakes and outtakes, so i thought yorue using lily pipes? if you want low maintenance, get a metal jet pipes, they are stainless pipes so you cant see the inside and they look very sleek.

 

[Avenolpey]

Not sure moss will be a sufficient substrate. You need the substrate decay to generate Co2 as well as provide for aerobic and anaerobic activity. Moss may not fit the bill. Why not just go with basic cheap potting soil as Diana recommends. I have two tanks set up that way and they are effectively no maintenance tanks. Never vacuum, rarely change water, never loose fish, plants thrive.

 

[loaches r cool]

- method to secure the bamboos to the aquarium without using a very thick layer of gravel. hmm...

The bamboo might depend on how tall it is. My larger bamboo, at around 2'-2.5' needs the better part of a foot to support it, we had to increase the vase size since it kept falling over. I think it would have to be pretty small bamboo for 2" of gravel or less? Another though I had was to cut a piece of plexiglass (I used lexan peronally, much easier to cut & drill) and drill some holes in it that you can take a brass or stainless steel screw up and into the base of the bamboo? Think the plants would tolerate that?

Sounds like a neat project. I hope it turns out well.

Although I am reluctant to mention here for fear of harassment, my 20G plant, snail, and guppy tank has been up for most of a year and have not changed the water yet . I have topped of a few inches of water maybe 3 times. It has no equipment other than a hood and light (no heater, no filter, no airpump). Its only got a single flora-glo bulb (like 15W if I remember). It also is almost completely covered with duckweed (I remove all I can about every 2 months but it comes back arghhh!). It has lots of java moss that has spread out quite a bit, java ferns, an amazon (?) sword, a couple anubias, and a few misc plants from my 75g. It is not a show tank, more like overflow for my larger plant tank plus feeders for my brackish fish (snails for puffers, guppies for mono) so I am not concerned of the look of it but most all plants I have put in there have survived and even grow somewhat slowly. I do not add anything to the tank. I have also never seen one spec of algea in it. I probably should actuall change the water in it so often, I havent intentially not changed it, just that my other tanks come first and I have barely been able to keep up with them.

 

[Ms.Bubbles]

...my 20G plant, snail, and guppy tank has been up for most of a year and have not changed the water yet . I have topped of a few inches of water maybe 3 times. It has no equipment other than a hood and light (no heater, no filter, no airpump). Its only got a single flora-glo bulb (like 15W if I remember)

I know this is not a show tank, but out of curiosity, how is the water clarity (without a filter I mean). Slightly foggy? Slightly cloudy? Crystal clear? The reason I ask is that I'm also doing a no-tech tank, and I've had varying degrees of water clarity depending on the plants in the tank...

 

[loaches r cool]

The water clarity isnt too bad, but not perfectly clear either. Not 100% sure though since I havent cleaned the glass eithier since there are usually snails all over it. Could be a bit of snail slime on the glass? That would be the best way I could describe it, not realy cloudy or foggy very much.

I could have done this in a platic tote and not cared about being able to see the inside, but I had the 20g tank and I used fancy guppies and lots of plants so it looks halfway decent for feeder tank.

 

[Jentry]

on my lucky bamboo the tops are cut off and have been covered with wax, i presume to stop it growing up teh way. healthy shoots still come out the sides though