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750l low tech... sloth tech!

Easystreet

Easystreet

Member
Joined
13 Jan 2012
Messages
56
Hey all,

Been lurking on here for ages but short of a few early question haven't been that active.

Anyway would like to document my progress with my large low tech attempt. Been a lot of fun and very happy with end result but it requires a lot of patience!!

I had originally planned to make this a Indonesian biotope type tank but cost and ease meant I decided to use more readily available species. So it's ended up as a fairly standard community aquarium. The tank originally housed an Oscar but after 8 years he passed. So I decided to keep things that wouldn't rip all vegetation to shreds!

It's got a custom background made out of foam epoxy and silver sand with a built in overflow to hide equipment and inlets for the filters:
P9290211.jpg

IMG_0209.jpg

IMG_0208.jpg

Found some wood on a walk. Soaked it, scrubbed it...scrubbed it some more... added it and watched carefully. Short of some early tannins I've had no problem:
IMG_0811-1.jpg

Some trial and error with clearly non-aquatic plants from my LFS and some vallis and some anubias. But eventually I got a pack of cheap assorted crypts (not very many) and things settled in and started growing.... owe so slowly... but they started.

Early planting:
IMG_0831-1.jpg

After some of the non-aquatics died back!!
IMG_0870-1.jpg

With some more crypts:
IMG_0931-1.jpg

It's now been up and running for aroun 10 months. I've done one uproot and replant to sort the scape out a bit and that's it. Apart from weekly 50% water changes it's sooo low maintenance! It looks like this now:

IMG_1310-2.jpg

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Sorry, I can't take a good photo to save my life! It looks much better in real life! It also turns out I may be the only person in the world who can't grow vallis very well!!

Just brought some floaters for it this week. Amazon frogbit. They are already growing quickly. Will be interesting to see what the growth rate is like on a plant that isn't CO2 limited.

Here's a vid (I can't take video's either!! :banghead:). Half way through the main lights go off to leave just the 54w T8.

http://vid272.photobucket.com/albums/jj193/Kerr1586/IMG_1615.mp4

Specs:
Light: 1x 54W old vieweing light on 08:00-22:00, 1x 80watt very bright LED light on 15:00-21:00.
Filtration: Two externals.
CO2: Nothing added.
Ferts: Recently started adding half measures of EI ferts but not sure if this has made any difference at all. I may stop.
Fish: 4 assorted angels, 1 pair of kribs, 1 dutch ram, 5 kuhli loaches, 6 albino corydoras, 4-5 ottos, 5 amano shrimp, 20 harlequin rasboras, 4 SAE. Some baby kribs.

Thanks,

Jim
 
Wow! That's some big SAE and a shoal of them lol. You wont get any algae problems hey! I've been thinking about getting one in a 150lt but I think that they will grow too large. They are the only fish I've heard of to eat BBA. Its a stunning aquarium the size is huge I love it. but I don't envy the 350lt water change a week.
 
Troi: Just sand. Play sand from B and Q. Glad I didn't use soil underneath. I've tried that on a smaller scale and although growth is good I found eventually it mixes and doesn't look good. Too much work on a tank this size! I have noticed that I have small root tendrils (really fine) coming up from the substrate into the water column (up to and inch). I've been wondering if this is an adaptation to a nutrient poor substrate or just normal for crypts. Anybody know?

Bhu: Haha, I've always considered them small still. Heard they can reach 4-5inches. Mine are 3inches. Only 4 of them but they do shoal and I have pretty much no algae (except some green spot that occurs on the older leaves). However I suspect they predominantly eat flake food now!! I also have a suspicion they may nip the angels tails as well. They occasionally get a bit ragged - nothing serious but annoying! Haha, yer the water change is large! syphon out to toilet, then hose back in from tap. It takes 45 minutes to drain but fills back up in 10. got it down to a fine art now! :)

Edvert: Cheers. Yep was a lucky find. Took a bit of sawing and 'gentle encouragement' to get it but well chuffed with it. Especially as it was free!
 
Easystreet said:
Troi: Just sand. Play sand from B and Q. Glad I didn't use soil underneath. I've tried that on a smaller scale and although growth is good I found eventually it mixes and doesn't look good. Too much work on a tank this size! I have noticed that I have small root tendrils (really fine) coming up from the substrate into the water column (up to and inch). I've been wondering if this is an adaptation to a nutrient poor substrate or just normal for crypts. Anybody know?
Click to expand...

In that case definitely keep up with the fertz. Crypts, swords, and Vallis are among what are known as big root feeders and generally benefit greatly from a fertile substrate, such as soil, the lack thereof perhaps explaining the slow growth and the root tendrils.
I nearly always use this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardman-Gre...03&sr=8-1&keywords=gardman+greenhouse+shading between soil and sand to prevent mixing, and it works a treat.

61vY8ALWfZL.jpg
 
Troi said:
In that case definitely keep up with the fertz. Crypts, swords, and Vallis are among what are known as big root feeders and generally benefit greatly from a fertile substrate, such as soil, the lack thereof perhaps explaining the slow growth and the root tendrils.
I nearly always use this http://www.amazon.co.uk/Gardman-Greenhouse-Shading-Material-1-2m/dp/B00AV6UQW0/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1413368503&sr=8-1&keywords=gardman greenhouse shading between soil and sand to prevent mixing, and it works a treat.

61vY8ALWfZL.jpg
Click to expand...
So you don't have to plant through the mesh?
The roots find their own way?

Tank looks excellent.
Loving the clean space on the left against the wood and plants on the right.
Asymmetry works.
 
No you don't. The roots find their own way through the mesh often in a matter of days/weeks in response to gravity, it's a phenomenon known as geotropism. Obviously plant so the roots are touching the mesh to give them the best start.
In fact I've just uprooted a load of C. willissii, from my low-energy to plant in my fuel injected tank and they were firmly rooted with some roots over 10cm in length.
 
Troi: Good idea. That would've prolonged the life of my previous little experiment!! No Chance I'll be doing in on this beast any time soon though. For your interest this was my attempt at the dirt tank:

P4061020.jpg

Darren: Cheers :). One of my mates queried why I hadn't planted it all... I mentioned something about 'dead space' and 'tank composition' - He thought I was mental! The idea that anyone would 'aquascape' a fish tank is so alien to some people!! Lol!!
 
Yep. 50%. Had an oscar for 8 years. You get used to it.

Like Edvert said. Syphon out then fill up directly from the tap. Takes an hour but only 10 mins of work. Rest of the time it's just draining or filling.

Ohh yer and only 5 amano's. They're thriving. Probably because there's plenty of food. To be fair there must be close to 500 Malaysian trumpet snails as well cleaning up.
 
So found these yesterday:

A7DDF751-0164-4DB6-9E1F-E296A798DE1E.jpg

AA26813C-6228-4D98-BC3D-670EDC2C5D92.jpg

I don't think they are angel fish eggs. They look to big and they appear to be quite tough (this angel fish couldn't pick them off the leaves). The known breeders in the tank are angels, kribs and rams. But they are out of place and look different than any of those eggs I've seen!

Also I' don't have any breeding activity from the known pairs at the moment!

Any thoughts?
 
Darrel: You sound certain. Have you seen these before? Would be awesome if they are!! Bizarrely these are located near the surface on an anubias leaf roughly 18" off the substrate and 2-3" below the surface. Is this normal for Corys?
 
Brilliant cheers,

Hopefully they are still there later and I will transfer them to a hatching container.
 
Definitely not the kribs they are really good parent mouth brooders so no way theyd leave the eggs. My corys spawned the other month. Scattered all over the tank looked very similar. None made it though.

Does your Japanese algae eater fight the sae?
 
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