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New low tech tank idea, please advise

cozmoz

Member
Joined
20 Sep 2007
Messages
74
Location
Suffolk
Just to let anyone viewing this thread know; I change this post based on recommendations and findings.

Hi there,

This is my plan for my second ever planted tank after going two years without owning an aquarium due to my circumstances, it should just be a simple aquarium with the addition of a Betta Splenden or 5 Neon Tetra once the aquarium has been running for 3 weeks.

The tank size is 45cm x 25cm x 25cm (28 Liters; 7.39 Gallons), I plan on setting it up as follows:

Lighting

Helix Fluorescent Desk Lamp Classic VI7 11W Titanium
Bulb tbc

Substrate

Potting soil (type tbc)
Unipac Fiji Coarse Sand 2.5kg
5mm natural gravel (from previous tank)

Decor

Pagoda Rock (6kg)
Manzanita Wood (4 pieces)

Plants

Sagittaria subulata (5 cm - 30 cm high; fast growing)
Cryptocoryne Becketii (up to 20 cm high; medium, slow growth)
Microsorium Pteropus Windelov (10 cm - 20 cm high; slow growth)
Echinodorus Parviflorus (5 cm - 15 cm high; medium growth)
Cryptocoryne Wendtii (up to 10 cm high; slow growth)
Cryptocoryne Parva (5 - 7cm high; very slow growth)
Vesicularia montagnei - Christmas Moss (slow growth)

Ceratophyllum Demersum Hornwort - (floating on the surface while other plants establish themselves)

Pump

Eheim Ecco 2231 External Filter

I used this article as a basic guide trying to make sure I don't use plants that are to large for a aquarium of this size http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/c ... p?sid=3855

Would this set up be ok? Advice regarding any further nutrition and maintenance that would be needed once the tank is set up would also be appreciated, cheers! :D
 
After doing further reading here http://lowlightlowtechplanted.blogspot.com/ I have changed my mind regarding filters and now plan to purchase a Eheim AquaCompact 40 External Nano Filter. Does anyone know if the tubing on this is replaceable? I would like to keep the canister on the floor :) .

I am also looking into alternative lighting options.
 
I've not used the lighting and filters you suggest but about 11W of light should be fine for this size of tank. I have an Arcadia 11w Arc Pod Lamp with my 35l arc tank.
The PFK article you mention above does not say much about on going maintenance and ferts. You might struggle to grow the Echinodorus Tennellus without some CO2 enrichment. You could perhaps replace it with Cryptocoryne Parva for example. Or if you want to keep it you could add liquid carbon such as Excel and ferts such as TPN+.
 
cozmoz said:
After doing further reading here http://lowlightlowtechplanted.blogspot.com/ I have changed my mind regarding filters and now plan to purchase a Eheim AquaCompact 40 External Nano Filter. Does anyone know if the tubing on this is replaceable? I would like to keep the canister on the floor :) .

I am also looking into alternative lighting options.

Thats quite an unsightly filter :? it looks like it uses standard eheim tubing so yes at a guess. I think the smallest eheim ecco pro (the 130?) would be a better investment as it would have less impact internally in the tank.
Cant offer any advice on the light sorry :oops:

Ollie
 
OllieNZ said:
Thats quite an unsightly filter :? it looks like it uses standard eheim tubing so yes at a guess. I think the smallest eheim ecco pro (the 130?) would be a better investment as it would have less impact internally in the tank.
Cant offer any advice on the light sorry :oops:

Ollie

Thanks for the prompt reply :) I actually quite like the look of it despite many thinking it looks bad and may add a black vinyl to the aquarium, not to mention it's half the price of other external filters and I'm on a budget. It's good to know that I should probably be able to put it on the ground as it would otherwise be a no go for me (I'll contact the seller just in case).

What do you think of the rest of the setup, should it be okay?
 
Brenmuk said:
I've not used the lighting and filters you suggest but about 11W of light should be fine for this size of tank. I have an Arcadia 11w Arc Pod Lamp with my 35l arc tank.
The PFK article you mention above does not say much about on going maintenance and ferts. You might struggle to grow the Echinodorus Tennellus without some CO2 enrichment. You could perhaps replace it with Cryptocoryne Parva for example. Or if you want to keep it you could add liquid carbon such as Excel and ferts such as TPN+.

Thanks, I'll change that plant over, good to know the lighting will be okay :D. As far as adding ferts go, I was planning to add 2.5ml of Tropica Plant Nutrition+ once a week.
 
I would definitly check on the filter, thinking about it the pump may not be designed to handle the extra distance. If budget is tight check ebay, I picked up a 2yr old ecco and pipework for £20 in vgc

Ollie
 
They are a good filter just a little difficult to maintain. A couple of tips if you do buy one: buy a set of eheim quick disconnects/shutoff taps(otherwise you have to remove all the pipework to clean the filter), you can also buy basket sets for them otherwise you have to tip everything out to get to the mech sponge which is at the bottom of the canister. They dont usually come with biomedia either so dont bother with expensive ehiem biomedia just use cheap plastic bioballs, better flow and less chance of going anerobic.

Regards

Ollie
 
Thanks, I'll definitely buy the quick disconnect valves!
 
Brenmuk said:
I've not used the lighting and filters you suggest but about 11W of light should be fine for this size of tank. I have an Arcadia 11w Arc Pod Lamp with my 35l arc tank.

The Arc pod is a T5 light so will be a little higher than a standard PL bulb of the same wattage right?

I use a standard 11 watt PL light at 40cm tall and it's great for a low tech. Tank is around 8 gallons.
 
Morgan Freeman said:
Brenmuk said:
I've not used the lighting and filters you suggest but about 11W of light should be fine for this size of tank. I have an Arcadia 11w Arc Pod Lamp with my 35l arc tank.

The Arc pod is a T5 light so will be a little higher than a standard PL bulb of the same wattage right?

I use a standard 11 watt PL light at 40cm tall and it's great for a low tech. Tank is around 8 gallons.

That's great! I've actually ordered the Helix Fluorescent Desk Lamp Classic VI7 11W Titanium with the intention of swapping the bulb over with an aquatic one (probably the Tetratec Al Aquarium Light 11w) so this is very good news for me. Just wanted to get a look at the bulb it comes with first.
 
I'll get some pics up soon to give you an idea, I imagine my tank is probably a similar size. It's mainly crypts, a few stem plants and some dwarf sag.
 
Another question, my water hardness is 374.75 mg/l according to my water company, will this be okay? Also are there any testing kits you guy's prefer to use and things I should test for before making further purchases.
 
Morgan Freeman said:
I'll get some pics up soon to give you an idea, I imagine my tank is probably a similar size. It's mainly crypts, a few stem plants and some dwarf sag.
Cool, thanks! :thumbup:
 
Good to hear, which substrate do you use? I've been reading mixed reviews about TetraPlant Complete Substrate and am considering going for ADA Aqua Soil NEW Amazonia 3L instead.

On the other hand I am wondering if this is due to people not capping it properly, I was going to follow the guidance given from pfk in my original post plus use a 1 inch cap in the hope that this will allow me to remove plants if need be without causing to many issues.
 
Everyone that uses AS Amazonia seems to rate it. Im more of a diy guy and am going to try John Innes No3 compost mixed with sand and then capped. I dont think the depth of the cap matters when moving plants as anything with deep roots is going to drag up some of the underlayer on its way out. I also live in a hard water area and have no problems with plants.
Regards
Ollie
 
Thanks Ollie. I had used potting soil as a substrate in my last aquarium over 2 years ago and had great growth but with some algae problems, although, this was a well lit aquarium supplementing with Flourish Excel and liquid ferts.

To be honest the only problem I really had with this is dirt been lifted and coming up with my fish darting around but the layer of gravel was very thin. I think I'm gonna stick with the TetraPlant Complete Substrate and use a thick cap over the top and vacuum anything that happens to come up and maybe top up.

Any idea how long someone can run an aquarium like this before having to start over or topping up the underlayer? Once again I will be adding 2.5ml of Tropica Plant Nutrition+ to this aquarium on a weekly bases.
 
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