Low-Tech mini garden journal.

[Ovidiu]

Day 3

Hello everyone,

It's been a while since i wanted to start this little project but 3 days ago i had the pleasure to restart my old passion. Because my budget is limited i am going for a low tech set up and here are the specs:

Aquarium: Tetra 30 Liters
Light: 11W Osram 6500k
Filter: Internal with eheim bio balls + synthetic filter floss for mechanical that is replaced every week.
Substrateennerle DeponitMix + 3 cm black gravel

Plants: Cabomba Caroliniana, Egeria Densa, Hygrophila Polysperma, Amazon Sword, Pogostemon Erectus, Limnophila Sessiliflora, Anubias nana petite and 2 types of microsorum (front left and middle right) that i dont know the exact name.
Ferts: Just a universal Plant Fert from Dennerle and soon to come EasyCarbo.


Right now there is nothing special going on because its only 3 days old but i have seen little growth from sessilfora, hygrophilla and pogostemon. I'm doing water changes every 3 days for the next week and monday i will order some red cherry and 2 snails.
The lights are on 5 hours each day from 17:00 till 22:00 so i can enjoy it when i get back from work.

I hope you guys enjoy the photos and any advices are greatly appreciated in case i missed something.

Cheers!

P.S. Sorry for the dirty glass, it won't happen again

 

[Eduard18]

Forget about fertilizers at this point, it's too soon; put some EasyCarbo instead
Noroc si La multi ani !

 

[nayr88]

Ovidiu - lovely start! Nice and simple. Yourll enjoy this one, getting back into the hobby. How did your previous tanks go?

Forget about fertilizers at this point, it's too soon; put some EasyCarbo instead
Noroc si La multi ani !

What makes you say this Eduard?
I've been keeping planted tanks for many years and always fertilised from get go, I believe most do.

 

[Ovidiu]

@Eduard18
I believe that adding small amount of ferts wont do any harm but if u really think this it's too soon please elaborate a little more.
Noroc si la multi ani de asemenea!

@nayr88
Thank you for the comment. To be honest, i had problems with my previous planted tanks because of poor manangement of lights and co2. After i started reading here and Tom Barr's forum i have a much better understanding and i am doing my little project based on this. I know every tank is different but i hope the information i got will help me have a better start.

I have some questions that i would like to discuss: easycarbo, livestock and lights.

I couldnt find EasyCarbo in my LFS and i will order it online. Is it a problem if the plants dont get liquid carbon for the next week or so?

With the livestock i am planning to have some cherry shrimp, snails and some endlers but here they are expensive and i also have to order them online. Is this going to be a problem if there is no livestock in my aquarium for the moment? Will the ferts and the soil manage to deliver what the plant needs untill i get some shrimps? Edit: Maybe i could add a pinch of fish food weekly.

For the lights program i am using the Tropica app so they are on 5 hours each day. I am planning to let it 5 hours a day for one week and then add one more hour each week untill i get 8 hours a day. Is this a good ideea? I dont really know how much light time do the plants need in a low tech but i am asking for advice just to be sure.

Thanks for the replies. Cheers!

 

[Ovidiu]

Day 10

Hello everyone, im back with some photos and updates on my first low tech aquarium.

Since no one answered my questions i decided to experiment myself and gather more info.

I thought that without a source of carbon my plants would not survive for long so i ordered EasyCarbo to compensate in a way. After the package arrived i started dosing about 1 ml per day for about 3 days and then i realised i should stop. If i start dosing EasyCarbo the plants uptake would be much higher, grow faster and any mistakes will develop algae much faster especially in a smaller tank where the water parameters are not stable.

The main problem now is that i really dont know how many fish or shrimps i need to provide the macro nutrients for the plants. For the moment i have 3 snails and some rcs.

Any advices or thoughts would be really appreciated. Thank you!

 

[tim]

Hi ovidiu, nice little setup you have there, you can dose fertilisers in a low tech I use 1/4-1/2 dose of my ei mixtures in mine because I have them to hand for my high tech, maybe dose half the recommended dose of your dennerle fert, you seem to have an anubias planted at the front right of the tank, the rhizome mustn't be buried or the plant will rot, I find it easier to tie them to small lava stones. Shrimp you should be able to add a fair few neocardinia or cardinia shrimp depending on your water parameters.

 

[Ovidiu]

@tim
Hello and thanks for the quick reply. I am dosing my fert once a week but it says that it has no Nitrates or Phosphates so the only source with macro nutrients is from the little waste the snails and the shrimps produce... If you think its not enough i can add some shrimp food in the tank and let it decompose for the plants.

I moved the anubias a liitle so the rhizome isn't burried anymore

Nice work on your aquariums tho!

 

[Ovidiu]

Day 26

Hello everyone, i'm posting a quick update.
The tank is doing great and the plants are growing slow and steady. I am now dosing Ei for low tech - low light weekly + EasyCarbo each day and the lights are on 8 hours a day. I will try to reach 10 hours a day and see what happens.
I've had some problems with the livestock and i have 1 rcs left out of 6 and 2 amano shrimps are not doing so well. I will wait a couple of weeks more untill i find out what is causing the problems for my shrimps.
Yesterday i bought a pretty big carpet of dwarf hairgrass and i managed to plant it in just under 2 hours. I believe it was grown emersed by the the little "flowers" on top so i will give it some time before i give it a trim. The moss is starting to move around and i will try to make a moss wall later on.
I will post some photos and any advices are greatly appreciated

 

[Joe Turner]

Lush! What a healthy green jungle you have, very nice!

 

[Ovidiu]

@Joe Turner
Hello and thank you a lot! Although the plants are growing much slower in a "low tech-low light" you can really relax and forget of any algae explosions and in my opinion its a great way to experiment with planted tanks.

 

[Boxerbrad]

Beautiful little garden! Planning on adding any livestock in?

 

[Ovidiu]

@Boxerbrad
Hello and thank you! At the moment i have the clean up crew inside the tank and i am planning on getting 3 guppies just for the contrast. I dont have any big plans for the live stock because the tank is small and i am focusing on plants mostly.

 

[jag51186]

It amazes me that this is low tech! Well done!

 

[parotet]

I love this one! Congrats!

Jordi

 

[Nelson]

Stunning.....