90G Low tech dirt tank

[lensworx]

After moving house about 3 years ago I finally got my hands on the space and purchased the large tank that I had always wanted (60x18x24).
Soon afterwards a combination of ill health and redundancy meant that I was not able to do things with the tank the way I wanted, Until now.

After nearly 3 years I am finally in a place where I feel well enough, dedicate enough time and money into getting the tank how it was supposed to be in the beginning. I have taken this week off as annual leave and part of it was to set aside to get the tank back in order.

The idea is to set it up again as low tech, dirted tank.
So far I have managed to completely strip the tank down, add the dirt layer, get the hard scape 90% sorted and fill the tank again to test water parameters. I have plants on order which will be arriving later today and then will re-introduce the existing fish back into the tank.

The substrate is made of westland aquatic compost, capped with gravel. I have also added a fine sprinkling of osmocote underneath the compost. I had originally been looking for miracle grow organic potting mix but my local garden centre does not sell it.
Hard-scape I always try and source naturally where possible. In this case the rocks are sourced from the beach just over the road and the wood is a nice peace of beech sourced from a fallen tree.

I will update this again once the plants have been added later today
Here is a photo of the tank just after the water was added last night (excuse the plate).

 

[Greenfinger2]

Hi Lenworx, Nice set up. One thing be careful of the magnetic cleaner if a small bit of gravel grit gets under the pad it will scrach the plastic /glass. To clean around and down the sides of the gravel use a credit card flat to the plastic/glass and just be gentle . Works a treat

 

[lensworx]

Hi Lenworx, Nice set up. One thing be careful of the magnetic cleaner if a small bit of gravel grit gets under the pad it will scrach the plastic /glass. To clean around and down the sides of the gravel use a credit card flat to the plastic/glass and just be gentle . Works a treat

Thanks for the tip, The cleaning in the photo is about as far down as it goes. I am currently using a "Blade on a stick" that I had from my old marine tank, this works well and is makes life a lot easier to reach the bottom without getting wet pits.

I got the plants through today and set about getting everything planted up. some of these I have never used before and was interesting trying to separate them and get them planted. I am really looking forward to seeing this starting to fill out and will be taking photos at various times to try and document the growth.
The only thing I am still trying to figure out is the lighting, I currently have a single 5ft T5 HO over it but with the option of adding more if needed.

 

[rebel]

Looking nice.

You should consider some spiky plants to complement the rounded stones. H tennellus broadleaf is a good one for low light.

 

[lensworx]

Looking nice.

You should consider some spiky plants to complement the rounded stones. H tennellus broadleaf is a good one for low light.

Thanks I will take a look into that.

Thought I would post a quick update as to how things have settled down.
To be honest I have been surprised just how well everything is doing already, I can see a fair amount of growth even in this short amount of time.
The fish have all been put back into the tank and I have also added a few extras to try and help with any algae.

I have had a bit of an issue with my angels taking a liking to my Nymhpoides sp taiwan but apart from that everything is doing great.

The Hygrophila polysperma has grown at least 1/2 inch already as well as the cardamine lyrata and hydrocotyle leucocephala showing some growth.
I also purchased a Aponogeton madagascariensis bulb which had two tiny shoots on. This has already settled in well and produced three nice little leaves.

There has been a small amount of tannins released from the wood, which I actually like and gives the tank a nice feel to it.

I am currently lighting it for 2x 4 hour periods with a siesta in the middle using a single 5ft T5HO, I may well up the lighting period in a few weeks once the plants start growing a little more. I would be interested in getting some advice on how I can get the Hydrocotyle Tripartita Japan to carpet a little better, Its growing but upwards not sideways.

Will do another update in a week or so once I have some more marked growth.

 

[darrensp]

How is this coming along?