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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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#359 ·


Growing out mini-butterfly I got from Thailand. Seems similar to the ones I've seen in SG before so kinda disappointed.
Another interesting note, that I unfortunately do not have a picture for.... is that I've seen an attractive growth form of mini-butterfly when grown with low CO2, low water column nutrients, rich substrate, high light - it becomes very compact, almost no internodes, with leaves about half the size of the ones above. Interesting approach for slow growth/soil tanks.
 
#360 · (Edited)
Older update...
Went to AGA and did a scape demo. Their time allocation was rather tight so had to rush. Took around 3hrs for the hardscape and another hour or so to plant.
Luckily they gave a set of rocks that are quite aesthetic.
Somewhat happy with the result I think - a lot of glue work to get the rocks angled right.
I prepared even my own cosmetic sand - thinking that they would have lacked that... and I was right.



BV carpet the new in-thing eh.... it occupies the weird slot of being high requirement, low maintenance plants



Osmocote ... lol
 
#369 ·
Some new plants and side projects:
Eriocaulon cuspidatum


Mini parva, stable after many months



Low tech tank; mostly anubias, java fern


Simple scape



In the last scape pogostemon erectus is growing well at KH 7. So much for rumours that it requires softwater. It simply doesn't do well with heavy water column fertilization in hardwater - root feeding it in high KH water works perfectly fine.
 
#373 ·
Yep. only APT complete, and osmocote in soil.

The farm tank looks better than the main tank! :D
haha only for plant centric folks... the asians like aquascaping and many don't really care for plant variety all that much (surprisingly). But it has to do with how the hobby has been introduced in one region vs another. Think about the Japanese garden approach - with the top consideration being naturalistic and plants blending with environment. Many folks here don't bother much with exotic or colored plants, there are plant enthusiasts but they make up smaller portion of the market. See how the average Japanese salary man dress vs a marketing executive from France... different archetypes.
 
#378 ·
Style Influences
Heavily influenced by chinese landscape paintings, penjing (landscape in a pot), bonsai, etc






Amano's own backyard garden:
Subtlety and naturalness chosen over "showy plants/bright colors". Truely inline with japanese philosophy and approach towards appreciating nature - where it is allowed to freely express itself rather than be manipulated and controlled by man. This is quite opposite to the western approach of artificially arranged gardens.


To give a quick example of some of the influences in Chinese/japanese approach to aquascaping specifically. Super abridged version;
In mandarin we use different terms for cultivating aquatic plants (种水草-meaning grow water plants) vs aquascaping (造景-creating of landscapes/scenery).
Super simplistic interpretation; Just growing stuff is banal, peasant work, while creating landscapes carries artistry as it requires understanding of artistic & cultural elements, organizing elements as part of a whole. Historical connotations of old social structures where farmers were kinda bottom of the pyramid followed by workers, then "scholars" who governed were the ones that have free time to indulge in art and other aristocratic pursuits. To understand art itself requires study, a deeper understanding of compositional and design principles. Sense of natural placing of plants and hardscape - which comes from understanding nature's organization. Ties back to eastern philosophy of knowing's one's place in the universe, working with nature, seeing the big picture & environment. Seeing/appreciating the passage of time. Having plants grown in and merge with the hardscape is one such effect.

In short, what would they think of farm, dutch tanks ? Unsophisticated child's play that is focused on cheap gimmicks of color and novelty, rather than focusing on higher values of overall design/organization/composition, understanding of natural order, subtle composition etc. (exaggerated to show the point in a short passage)

There are of course plant focused folks in asia and folks that straddle both sides. Generally, most folks look to do aquascaping rather than just grow plants well though.
 
#379 ·
In short, what would they think of farm, dutch tanks ? Unsophisticated child's play that is focused on cheap gimmicks of color and novelty, rather than focusing on higher values of overall design/organization/composition, understanding of natural order, subtle composition etc. (exaggerated to show the point in a short passage)
.
tell us how you "really" feel! :) ok ok, at risk of being labelled as a troll for taking things out of context, i will have you and anyone else who may misunderstand my post that i did read yours a few times over and actually sat on it for a while to figure out what bothered me on my first reading.

i first thought, oh you dismissed lowly plant growers and i was going to write a post about the importance of farming, who knows nature better than the farmer, but thats not right. industrial farming has taken nature out of the equation.

then, i thought, was it the aristocracy vs the commoners? the elitist i have time for artistry take? no, clearly, we all have some time for this hobby.

perhaps its the glaring spotlight on my own lack of observance for the finer points of art. i think thats it. if I'm to grow, I should not get defensive over the obvious note on my deficit.

but no, i think i figured it out. i think its the eastern view that the west is uncultured swine ;) readers, please note the emoji.

a dutch scape, or western gardening should probably not be dismissed as mere man controlling nature, err, well perhaps you do have that one right.


but to lump dutch scapes and western gardens into not understanding composition, childs play, to not be sophisticated, and by extension, dare i say, to lack artistry may be a little broad of the brush?

im no fan of the "rules" of dutch scaping contests and i have no intention of making such a tank either, but i do think there is a painstaking attention to design and composition. there is definitely an art to, and many a cultured scholar have spent hours of their life down, such an impractical time sink.

likewise, i would argue that you have spent a bit of time in the composition and much nuances can be observed in your farm tank. which is why it evokes such joy from me when i view it. it is pleasing to the eyes of many, and by simple human nature, that is usually not possible if composition was not considered.

i see the labor, time, and effort that went into it. it is so much more than just a farm tank, evolved into "scape" even if not termed a such, and definitely not childs play. let any regular hobbyist even try to replicate it or its "style" and they will find it quite a challenge. you have imparted your artistry into it whether you intended it or not.

and, i entirely understand you were just expressing the views of others when you said that quote above, and you do a very fair job of highlighting certain "tunnel visions" to borrow from your writings, but i felt that i had to point out that particular bit of tunnel vision too just in case you were getting swayed that way.

perhaps at the end of it all, i'm just railing against traditional, structured concepts vs free, expressive ones that are not definable by terms. (said the guy who spews silly haikus in his journal, what irony) merely one pebble of opinion against a river of movement.

like modern fusion eateries, if the food tastes good, it is great food
then,
if the view is pleasing, it is a great scape.
 
#381 ·
If I could add just a little to Greggs comment about "beauty is in the eye of the beholder". Dennis's first picture shows an amazing piece of Chinese landscape. If one spent their entire life around such beauty, then I could certainly understand wanting to re-create that beauty...

For thouse of us whe grew up in the midwestern states of the United States, our scenery is not exactly what I would call "stunning".

I really do like what Dennis has created in his living room. Would I like to give it a try someday? Absolutely. But for now I think I will continue learning to be a good farmer :nerd:



Welcome to Iowa
 
#383 · (Edited)
I think @Xiaozhuang is describing the hobby dynamics in SE Asia, and not projecting his own values.

He is nice enough to document and share many aquarium strategies.

I do think people might have different attitudes about nature based on living in the woods, the mountains, the plains, the desert, the river, the coast, the suburbs, the village, the city, etc.

Cheers
 
#388 ·
Probably the last update for this thread - all other updates will be on my personal site/instagram/FB all of which are easy enough to find. This site requires me (or people from my region?) to do a captcha every single time I log in and I'm not up for that.

Some stuff I've been growing for the past months/year

Hygrophila sp Chai patch has propagated - patch grown from a single stalk couple years back
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Ghost has grown in well in new farm tank:
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Buceps in high PAR; under water correction factor for this meter model is 1.31; so around 290 PAR for these
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Overview of new farm tank
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#389 ·
Top view of farm tank:
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Low tech project
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Another simple Iwagumi, Rotala blood red at background


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Some new species: Rotala blood red - doesn't require nitrate limitation to be very red
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Bacopa salzmannii - this variant is particularly purple:
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Attachments

#390 ·
Close ups of Rotala macrandra mini type 4 'green' under higher light:
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Cabomba furcata:
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Didiplis diandra compound pic:
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Rotala macrandra variegated:
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Proserpinaca palustris:
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Good day folks. A lot of the growing information for these species can be found on my main website 2hr aquarist
 
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