The Planted Tank Forum banner

Low Tech Tank Show-and-Tell (low tech can be lush, too! =)

2M views 2K replies 841 participants last post by  LidijaPN 
#1 · (Edited)
Been a while since we had a thread like this, so I thought I'd start another, since this is the way I like to share and learn from other people. :smile:

The idea in this thread is to post a picture of your low tech tank(s), explain the setup (equipment, lighting, substrate, ferts, etc) and briefly explain a few things you've learned that do or don't work with your setup.
 
#143 ·
Carpet: Elatine gratioloides
Midground: Staurogyne sp, Cryptocoryne parva, Cryptocoryne nevilli
Moss: Vesicularia ferriei (weeping moss)
Background: Sagittaria subulata
Floating: Lemna sp (duckweed)

Just has a single Otocinclus in there aside from the RCS - prefer to stay away from fish in this one to keep it less maintainence.
 
#147 ·
Guess I'll share. This is what my 56 gallon tank looked like 2 days ago. So far just african water fern, I have some tiny bits of java fern. Substrate is from lowes, its called "paver base" like $2.50 for a bag, a mix of sand, dirt, a tiny shards of slate, I mixed in some sand I had in my reef tank mainly because this is going to be a lake Tanganyika (mainly) tank. So far I've got 15 cherry barbs, which I'm slowly but surely acclimating to higher pHs. I've gone up about 0.1 pH daily and they are happy at 7.6, I think i'm going to slow down to 0.05 or so daily when I hit 8.0 as I carry up to 8.8 (Lake Tang has some of the most alkaline water on the planet, more so than the ocean). Shells arrive tomorrow, will be filling in the front area with LOTS of shells (getting shell dwellers and calvus in the long term).

So what do ya think?
 
#152 ·
This post is somewhere else, but I will share it here anyways :)
The tank is a 29gal
Filter is what came with the tank, a quietflow.
I got a 170gph powerhead for additional Co2 injection, besides the Co2 ladder.
Lighting is 2 24" T5 at 48 watts total, life-glo and colormax.
I got 5 cardinal tetras, 5 glowlights and 8 neons, 2 otto's, 3 ghost shrimp.
Plants are
1) Ricca Fluitans on the dw.
2) Rotala SP. Nanjenshan
3) Cyprus Helfer
4) Nesaea pedicellata golden
5) Rotala Rotundifolia
6) Cryptocoryne parva
7) Echinodorus "Red Flame" sword
8) Alternanthera reineckii var 'roseafolia'
9) Wisteria
10) Dwarf Hairgrass
11) Anubias Barteri Var. NANA
12) Java Fern
13) Bacopa monnieri
14) Rotala Magenta
 

Attachments

#153 ·
My low tech shrimp cube:

Substrate: ADA Amazonia
Lighting: 1 x 9w power compact fluoro
Filtration: cheapie HOB
Ferts: None, only additive is daily Excel
Plants: Unidentified moss on mesh for carpet in foreground, subwassertang midground, blyxa japonica background. Anubias nana petite and weeping moss on driftwood.

Please excuse the blob of shrimp food in the front of the photo:icon_redf

 
#158 ·
Yes, please give us more pictures of your cube. Looks very pretty.


Since I rescaped two of my tanks since my last post, here are updated pictures of them:

Mini M:
18w PC lighting @ 9 hours daily
2x dosage of Excel once per day
Ferts when I feel like it (~twice a week)
Fauna: RCS and Red Ramshorns
Flora: Mini micro sword, MM, E. tenellus, HM, Weeping moss, Subwassertang, Fissidens fontanus, Anubias petite


2.5G (added DIY CO2 ~2 days ago):
9w PC lighting
Ferts added when I dose my Mini M
Fauna: RCS and a Betta
Flora: Blyxa japonica, mini micro sword, Fissidens fontanus, Subwassertang, Mini Pellia, Anubias petite, Weeping moss growing emersed
 
#157 ·
Hi all, newbie here, well I use to have a tank of oscars but i got out of that years ago and now just getting back into the hobby. Picked up this 75 gal and stand fairly cheap and just got the 3 d background finished and installed. Its not running and I am monitoring it for leaching. Been running for a couple of days now and seems to be non so far, I think its due to not using concrete as an overlay, I used basically sand and portland, a mix called ultra tex, a friend of mine gave me a bag and I thought I would try it. Anyhow my next step is to build a canopy and try and figure out lighting on a budget. Any ideas? i have some natural sand I am going to use as a substrate.
 
#159 ·
Hi all, newbie here, well I use to have a tank of oscars but i got out of that years ago and now just getting back into the hobby. Picked up this 75 gal and stand fairly cheap and just got the 3 d background finished and installed. Its not running and I am monitoring it for leaching. Been running for a couple of days now and seems to be non so far, I think its due to not using concrete as an overlay, I used basically sand and portland, a mix called ultra tex, a friend of mine gave me a bag and I thought I would try it. Anyhow my next step is to build a canopy and try and figure out lighting on a budget. Any ideas? i have some natural sand I am going to use as a substrate.
Welcome to TPT!

This isn't quite the thread to discuss your tank setup options, but if you'll start your own thread for that I'm sure you'll get all kinds of feedback. :)
 
#165 ·
Here's mine.

Size: 1.5 Gallon
Substrate: Black Sand
Filter: Red Sea Nano
Light: 13W Compact Florescent - on from 9:30 - 5 each day

I don't use any CO2 or Excel. I don't do water changes I just top it off. I've got a water bottle that I fill and dechlorinate once a week. I put about 1mL of plant food in the bottle when I fill it up, then I use that bottle of water to top of the tank throughout the week.

 
#166 ·
Great tank to start a new page. What plant is that at the very right? The one that is very skinny and has a red tip to it?

The one that is in front of Alternanthera reineckii v. 'roseafolia'
 
#170 · (Edited)
My 29, set up yesterday, wrong color lights, needs a tall piece of decoration yet, and I want to add some moss to the driftwood. I have a new filter coming for it in the mail and i need to flip the wallpaper around to the black side when i swap out filters.

I also need to move things around once the plants get use to my water/substrate.

20 pounds of eco complete, 15 pounds of flora max, another 20ish pounds of deep river rock medium grain.

6 black neon tetras, 6 glowlight tetras, 2 neon blue dwarf gourami.
I have 3 cardinals and a baby koi angelfish in a 10 gallon tank I'll add as well once this tank stabilizes (yea, thats a lot of fish to add at once, but i am using two established filters on it for now, a pf150 with two used filter pads and some used biomax, and a powerhead spongefilter.

I have some red wendth (cryptocoryne wendtii), some cryptocoryne crispatula, and two other types of plants i didn't get little name cards for. lol

I was in a hurry to get the plants in because i had to get the tetras in there so i could put the new fish into the quarantine tank they were in. I didn't have time to be creative. I'll fix it in a month or so if my plants look like they are going to live.

I added my t8 hood to the tank along with the t5's after this pic, it seems to keep the t5's from washing out the colors as much. (they were out of freshwater hoods, so this one has a 10000k bulb and a actinic bulb)

edit: My hood is a Aqualight t-5 by coralife 36 watt (2x18) sitting on my glass lid. (should look better once i correct the types of bulbs I have)
 
#171 ·
6 gal eclipse
8W light:icon_eek:
Florite substrate
Crowntail betta
2 zebra nerite snails
Spiralis crypt
Lutea crypt
Anubias Short & Sharp
Petite Anubias

I dose excel & seachem comprehensive after my weekly water change


Wish I could get a good picture of this guy!!


 
#172 · (Edited)
Hi all,

I'm new to the forum and I'm inspired by all the beautiful tanks that everyone has :) Here's my 50 which has been set up for about 6 months now. I'm planning on reworking it soon though.

Lighting: 17 W T8 and indirect sunlight. planning to upgrade the light soon.
Substrate: Flourite
Flora:Honwort, Stargrass, Wisteria, Hygrophila corymbosa "stricta", Ruffled Amazon Sword, Amazon Sword, Anubias Nana, Myrio, Cabomba, Aponogetons Ulvaceus
Fauna: congo tetras, threadfin rainbows, balloon red eye tetras, rosy tetras, apistogramma, dwarf chain loaches, abn, SAEs
weekly water changes
 
#173 ·
Hello everyone....new to the forums here so this is a first post as well. Just wanted to show my 10 gallon tank started a month ago. The plants were added 3 weeks ago.



Lighting : 2 flourescent bulbs from Walmart's fish section
Substrate : Can't remember the name but it's plant substrate from PetSmart
Flora : Anachris, Anaubias, Wisteria, Baby's Tear..( That I think is dying, it came attached to a lava rock), also a plant I can't identify. It's the one in front of the Anachris and behind the HC.
Fauna : Betta, 2 Otocinclus, 2 Black Mystery Snails ( which are anhiliating the anachris.) and ghost shrimp.

I don't dose Ferts or Co2, weekly water changes of about 10%

While I have the attention of the low tech guys wanted to find a good carpet plant, if my HC dies I'd like to start a decent carpet.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top