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High to low

2K views 11 replies 7 participants last post by  Kamon 
#1 ·
Hello, all. 'New to the forums. :smile: I'm in need of guidance.

I've kept a 29gal high-tech planted tank for almost a year now. I don't exactly enjoy the tank as much as I used to. Mainly, this seems due to the fact that I have to constantly prune, manage, clean, perform water changes, etc. Its becoming more of a hassle than initially expected.

I'm not trying to sound lazy or anything, but I would rather be able to enjoy my tank and appreciate it more instead of being aggravated with the constant required maintenance.

Planted aquarium websites have provided a ton of useful information. One thing I cannot find is a topic on the change from high-tech to low-tech.

Is it possible to "switch" an already-established aquarium from high-tech to low-tech?

Tank specs:
29g glass aquarium
2x 24w T5HO
Eco-Complete substrate
Heavily planted
Estimative Index dosing schedule
50% weekly water changes

The plants grow incredibly fast. Sometimes 6+ inches a week. As you can imagine (and probably know from experience), my hands are constantly in the tank. I believe its time for a low-tech experiment.
 
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#2 ·
it is possible to switch from high to low but you have to consider the plants that you have? if you have a plant that needs a lot of lighting like dwarf hairgrass than that wont do very well in low tech. youll need to cut the lightning in half lay off of EI. maybe dose wit excel instead. def keep down on water changes.
 
#3 ·
You dont have co2 listed. if you dont have it, your lighting is to intense.

instead of going backwards like that, try to change the height of your lighting. just raise it off your tanks a few more inches.
 
#5 ·
I was just having the same discussion in the last couple of weeks here:

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/100159-moving-high-tech-low-tech-what.html

I am a long time poster on aquaria central. The site has been a huge help for me over the last 3 years, but most of the plant advice is add light, add CO2 and dose ferts. I had the same issue with you - very busy, new kid coming in 8 weeks. It stopped being enjoyable to have to pull a bucket full of plants out of the tank every week or two. I kept looking at my 30g tanks with low light and no CO2 which grow nicely despite my haphazard dosing schedule and I kept saying to myself, "why am I encouraging a plant on the federal noxious weed list to grow an inch a day?" I pulled out one light from my fixture and shut off the CO2 in my 55g. My new method for all 4 of my tanks is low light, conservative dosing (as indicated in the link above) which I will modify as I observe and probably 1 week off dosing every 1-2 months to get plants to take up excess nutrients.

Also helpful - google "low tech aquarium" and you will get a lot of good info. Most of my dosing info came from Tom Barr's website in the forum under "articles". There is a sticky there on his thoughts on low tech. You can also go super low tech as proposed by Diana Walstad. Her book is super if even if you don't go that route. Google her name or "walstad method" to find lots of discussion.

I am dosing as indicated in my post. So far so good - no major algae problem yet. Ludwigia and H. polysperma are still growing, but at 10-20% of what they used to and with much smaller leaves. New ludwigia leaves are also more green than red now. Got a brand new sword and also put in some root tabs under it. So far, very good results.

Again, it's only been a couple of weeks....
 
#6 ·
Thank you to everyone that has provided help so far. I'm looking to dramatically reduce the amount of water changes per month (or year) and to lighten my dosing routine.

max: Your thread has shed some much needed light on this subject (no pun intended). I've lowered my CO2 to a really small amount and removed one bulb from my light fixture to total 24w over my tank.
 
#7 ·
Here is a pic of the 29gal thats made the change to low-tech:



And this is my new 10gal I set up just two days ago. I realize there aren't many plants, but that will soon change. Currently, I have Anubias Nana and Stargrass(?).



Here's a shot of both tanks along with my two DIY stands:

 
#8 ·
Is that DHG that you have in your tank that is going to low-tech? I was thinking about doing this exact change with my 72 gallon because I am tired of pruning and would rather spend time enjoying it or spending time with my family/friend or working on the house.

Let me know how the DHG holds up because I have heard it does OK in low-tech and I would really like to keep my DHG.
 
#9 ·
I'm interested to see how the 1x24 of T5HO works out for you over the 29gal w/out CO2. I originally planned a 1x24 T5HO over my own 29gal, but have ended up with 2x18 of T5NO (which a mathematical friend of mine calculated should be a little less light than the T5HO)... so I'm curious to see how it works for you.

I'm also curious to see if you have success with Stargrass in low light. I've tried many, many times with this stem and never had any luck... I know it CAN be grown in low light, but my suspicion is that it must still have CO2...?
 
#10 ·
'Long time no see, guys. Here is a "small" update:

Left, newly planted side:


Right side:


A gathering of the Cherries... Most likely discussing espionage.


Full-tank shot:


Size: 10gal
Lighting: 2x 13w spiral cf
Substrate: Potting soil capped with pool filter sand
Filter: HOB Aqueon
Heater: Tetra 50w
Fertilization: 1/32tsp of Potassium Nitrate a month ago

Flora:
Phoenix Moss
Peacock Moss
Java Moss
Narrow/Needle Leaf Java Fern
Blyxa Japonica
E. Micro Tellenus
Stargrass (which is doing great btw)
Anubias Nana

Fauna:
A lot of Red Cherry Shrimp
2x Olive Nerite Snails
.... and a couple pest snails :thumbsdow

The tank has been up-and-running for a little over a month now. The right half was initially planted and 'scaped in the first week. The left side was finished roughly three hours ago. :D

As you can tell, it has a lot of growing in to do. I plan on adding more Anubias and possibly Bolbitus.

If you have any suggestions, feel free to comment. Thanks. :icon_mrgr
 
#11 ·
I like the looks as is. Can you tell me exactly what your lighting is? 2x 13w spiral cf? I am newbie and want to try and plant my ten gallon to learn more before I do damage to my fish in my 50 gallon breeder. Also I dont see the potting soil ( just plain black potting soil?) in the tank? Do you only lay maybe 3/4" and then cover it with the pool filter sand? Sorry for all the questions. I have been trying to do alot of reading but everyone uses abbrevations and seems to skip over basic info which may be common sense but is all new to me. Thank you in advance for any help.
 
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