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Xz's 3ft High tech + low tech nano experiments

203K views 390 replies 122 participants last post by  Greggz 
#1 · (Edited)
Current 2 tanks that I'm maintaining:




First old post from a couple years back:
Hello,

I have been reading the forum for a couple of years, and find the community really supportive and encouraging. Today I would like to share my 47g tank.

The tank has grown out quite a bit since being planted on 25th July, so I can provide a "fast forwarded" view for those impatient to see changes.

Pic in mid sep:






When the tank first started I played with rock arrangements in the tank:
Two large 150w industrial metal halides; a brute force method for sure, but despite the lousy spectrum, I found that they grew plants quite well. Eventually they would be switched out for BML XB leds.


About a week plus after being planted; many of the plant positions are not meant to be final. Some weeds like L. Repens are used as nutrient sponges while other stuff grew. The backbone bushes; Ludwigia arcuata at the back, Hemianthus glomeratus bushes in the mid and left have not been replanted since the start, only trimmed. Often I like to grow out plants, cut and replant the submersed portions, then throw away the entire original(poorly grown) portion from the shop.


on 14th Aug, roughly 3 weeks, still changing out hardscape to find more suitable rocks. Yellowish tinge because of metal halides:



19 Sep: Changed out rocks again. Algae on rocks because of high lighting used, spot dosed some with excel and lowered lighting. Lighting changed to BML Leds now; better colors are shown when only 1 fixture is turned on; 2 washes out colors. Also reds come out more strongly because of BMLs spectrum. Dosing of phosphates and Iron increased as tank stabilized.


Substrate lighting etc:
Lighting was 2 X 150w MH for first month
switched to BML XB dutch + BML XB 10k + CFL warm white 20w (for visual purposes as I find the BMLs still cool; warm white helps to render orange/yellow tinges). The 10k is raised 6 inches off the tank, and is on only 4 hours in mid day.

Substrate is dirt over iron rich clay + peat, capped by ANS planted tank substrate (a brand of aquatic substrate sold here).Dirt is there to save cost, disregarding costs, I would have probably chosen ADA's substrate. I prefer capping with planted tank substrate than gravel as I find it more adjustable.

Fertilization: Modified EI, water change 25% every 5 days.

Some Eheim filter, + generic CO2 system with inline diffuser.

At the same time I'm running this tiny 3 gal non-CO2 dirt tank. Tank has not been cleaned since the first day, I kept it this way to demonstrate that even if it takes higher lighting to grow carpet plants, it does not necessarily mean an automatic algae farm. For those having trouble growing carpets in dirt/non-CO2, sometimes increasing the light (carefully) may help. Having stem plants to provide plant competition against algae is advisable as well.

It has been run for about a month, and the DHG is filling in nicely. I find that dirt + reasonably good lighting in a shallow tank with some nutrient dosing grows DHG quite well.


On running higher lighting on low tech tanks; I find that if tank is kept stable, higher lighting helps growth and doesn't contribute to algae growth
The factors that I find contribute to tank stability (for a low tech tank);

- If not using CO2, then substrate impact is large; soil gives much better growth compared to commercial substrates. This may be due to soil decomposition giving rise to slightly elevated natural CO2 levels. There should be a balance of organic/inorganic composition of soil. Too high levels of organics might give ammonia spikes that trigger algae growth, too little and the dirt substrate is much less effective.

- Plant densely at the start and choose suitable plant species; some stuff really don't do as well in non-CO2 tanks. Some competitive species such as fast growing stem plants help a lot against algae. A portion of the tank should be dedicated to such species. Having 80% of floor space planted for example, is much more effective against algae than say 10% planted with hardscape making up the rest. Volume matters also, larger clumps of stem plants that stretch the height of the tank makes a bigger impact than say just using hairgrass.

- Shallower tanks seem to give better results; better gas exchange?

- Wait for at least 1-2 months for plant growth to settle in before adding any lifestock; plants would have filled in by then and bacteria action stabilized

- Find balance in the frequency of water changes (which are de-stabilizing if tap water has very different chemistry from tank water) and the need to remove organic waste through water changes. Running a very clean tank initially before the plants dig in prevents algae from becoming unmanageable.

- Consistent pruning to ensure plants are in constant growth space. Good pruning methods allow density without compromising that much on growth space

- Lower bio-load helps.

- Even though higher lighting is used, light should still (always) be adjustable. Adjusting lighting is one of the largest factors that influence growth/tank balance.

- Overall stability is important; should not changing growth variables rapidly which causes plants to re-program between fast and slow growth states

This pic is taken after freshly planted:


After few months of settling in


This pic is of an older tank with glosso carpet, with similar methods


Detail shots of large tank:



16/7/2015 - Collated most of the past pics in this post

47 gal rescaped in 2015


47 gal Hi-tech under Metal halides



15 gal Hi-tech with CFLs lamps



5 gal Hi-tech with Metal Halides


1 gal Low tech Nano rectangle Ikea vase under Metal Halides



2 gal Low tech Nano rectangle Ikea vase under CFL desklamp


1 gal Low tech round Ikea vase under CFL desklamp


3.5 gal Low tech under CFL desklamp


3.5 gal Low tech under CFL desklamp


5 gal sold at exhibition/grown under MH


Another tank (sep 2015) - still making changes to this one


15 gallon stone arc


with different lights


6 gallon seiryu stone scape


46 gallon lava rock scape


65gallon with seiryu stone

 
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#233 · (Edited)
Hey great tanks man!!! @Xiaozhuang I have a few questions about the forest scape.

1) Do your lava stones touch the glass? At the sides and the back? Isn't this risky with cracking the glass?
2) How much kg lava stone did you use in the 46 gallon? (an estimate is fine).
3) Did you glue all lava stones and spiderwood together? How did all the spiderwood stayed in place when you flooded the tank?
4) How much substrate in litres did you add on the stones?
5) How much epoxy did you use? For example would 500 gram be sufficient?
6) Which lava stone is better for this scapes the normal or the black version?
7) Is polyethylene safe to use to build height in the scapes?
 
#234 ·
1) yes they touch the glass, but they rest on plastic at the bottom panel where the weight is. It's not a large risk with lava cos lava is light, but with seiryu one should be careful
2) Hmm lava is light, it fills nearly a third of the tank, but doesn't weight all that much, around 10kg ?
3) yes they are mostly glued together. The wood stayed in place because they were heavier pieces, and were glued down
4) the mid level substrate isn't particularly deep, around 2 to 3 inches, it rests on a base of clay chips, which rrest on plastic/lava rock
5) you need more because of adjustments over time... if things were only done once, its not all that much
6) both are usable, I have some browns mixed in with black, less noticeable in shadowed areas
7) ??
 
#239 ·
Thanks man~ I source it from local fish shops and occasionally bring back stuff from my overseas trips as well. (Taiwan, Japan). I'm situated at Singapore actually

How did you attach the Riccardia to the branches?
Using super glue; can be worked even underwater

Skills and more skills. Outstanding hardscape work. I am too envious.
Thanks man ~ Practice and more practice
 
#246 ·
I'm not sure actually, I know I have mini black carpet somewhere, and Brownie blue, some Theia species... lost track of which is which - I'm not yet so much an expert on Buceps

Why is your wood not green


Verzonden vanaf mijn iPad met Tapatalk
Skill.

See those fish deep in the background..look like they are ten feet away?

Were those photoshopped in to help with the illusion of depth? This doesnt look possible.
lol. Different kind of fish; those are Boraras brigittae that prefer the area with less flow at the back. Rummy nose tetras that prefer like the fast flow areas in the front, this is where understanding fish behavior can complement aquascaping objectives.
 
#259 · (Edited)
Thanks man...

The brownie ghost don't color as well as in other tanks, so I'm moving them elsewhere and replacing them with other buceps.

They look much better in my 3ft tank


Got back to growing proserpinaca palustris... haven't had this for awhile




Propagated the red Erios ( Eriocaulon quinquangular)


some close-ups of Mini macrandra Type 4 (IV)
 
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