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My 40 l tank

A

alpha 30

Seedling
Joined
12 Feb 2012
Messages
15
Location
Westward Ho!
Hello,
This is my current tank,3 months old.
Tank 45x30x30 cm
Filter hang-on 450 l/h
Heater 50w
Fish 6 Synodontis nigriventris
Plants anubias nana,anubias barteri var nana,java fern,echinodorus(I think)
050cm.th.jpg
049ub.th.jpg





I hope soon enough to start my new project,75x30x37 cm low tech tank where I want more plants.I like to try some emerged plants too so any suggestions are welcome.
 
I come with a first question,which way is better for plants,to change every day 5 l of water or to change every few days to let the fish waste to become food for plants?
I don't use any fertilizer and until now I collect with a vacuum the fish waste and change 5 l of water daily,but I don't know if the tap water contain enough nutrients for them(plants).I add a few days ago some limnobium laevigatum and it seems that it's not doing very well,maybe to much plants for my tank...I hope you can help me with an advice,I don't have much experience with plants.
Thank you.
 
you can start using an all in one fert no problems for a tank that size you'll want to put 5-10ml a day and change at least 50% of the water during the week be that as one large chunk or as lots of littler chunks.

one of our sponsors on here APF does a good all in one will cost you like £8 for your first supply which should last about a month and from then on it'll be about £3 a month for a refill
 
Thank you very much,but,like I said,I don't want to use any of this method(fertilizer or CO2).
I want to know if it's OK for plants to change water every day or no.
 
it should be ok but thats not to say they'll get all the minerals they need to grow that depends on whats in your tap water to start with.

I don't get why your adverse to putting a basic fert in once a day it takes 2 seconds and does no harm (co2 is not needed) almost all low tech setups still use some kind of fert unless they're going for a nutrient rich substrate (which you haven't)
 
I have nothing with fertilize,I only like naturals things,so I try to do a recycle,waste from fish to fertilize the plants,but every day I collect this waste(most of it) so, is still working this process for a small tank?
I have no idea whats in my tap water,I live in Westward Ho,maybe are some other members who know more things about the water in this area and help me.
Substrate I don't need as long I don't have plants to put in it.I only have one echinodorus(need to identify the plant),in rest I choose plants like anubias,java fern and bolbitis(soon).
 
My only experience was growing very basic plants badly in a similar fert free tank to what you describe. This approach was out ignorance of basic plant needs. Since then I have done a whole lot of research, especially on this site. The general consensus seems to be that (apart from a handful partiularly hardy plants) without either some form of ferts or a rich soil substrate your plants will likely die and certainly not thrive. Unfortunatly there are not enough nutrients found in fish waste and tap water alone for healthy plant growth. If the natural approach interests you capped soil substrates may be the way to go. There is a great detailed guide in the tutorial section.

I did manage to get vallisneria to grow well in a setup like yours.

Good luck with it all
 
Yeah, great stuff. It was the only thing that stopped my first tank looking like a barren wasteland!
 
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