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Low Tech "Dutch Inspired" - Welcome to the Jungle!! pg5

17K views 66 replies 12 participants last post by  Roshan8768 
#1 · (Edited)
Current FTS 12/18/14



I have a thread in the Journal section but it's quite old and I don't update it that regularly. I'm hoping to better document my progress here so I can keep track of what works for me...








 
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#2 · (Edited)
Tank: Standard 20H - 10 years old
Light: Hagen-GLO 2x24 watt T5HO fixture running 2-6700K Fluval LIFEGLO bulbs
Filter: Eheim 2213
Heater: Currently none- water temperature varies from 66-68 in winter months to 76-78 in the summer
Fish:
2 Fancy Goldfish
2 Platies
1 Peppered Corydoras
2 Harlequin Rasboras
5 Black Neon Tetras
6 Neon Tetras
4 Cherry Barbs
1 Female Combtail Bettas
2 Bristlenose catfish (pair)

Plants:
Anubias nana
Microsorum pteropus
Vallisneria
Fontinalis antipyretica (Willow Moss)
Rotala indica
Nymphaea zenkeri (Red Tiger Lotus)
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis (Microsword)

Maintenance:

I change about 15 gallons of water once every two-three months (staggered from filter cleaning), top-off evaporation weekly, trim plants (stems) monthly, and clean the Eheim out every 3-4 months. I also use a magnetic scraper to clean the glass once a month.

Feeding:
I feed my fish 3-5 times a day in the summer months, usually a good goldfish flake. Occasionally they get some frozen brine shrimp, or salmon (whatever's left over from feeding my saltwater tank.) Since my tank is unheated, and since the house temperature is kept at about 68 during the winter, the tank water temperature drops. As a result, the fish don't eat as much as their metabolism slows down. All my fish are accustomed to this change as it happens gradually. I typically feed 1-2 times a day but only 5 days out of the week during these months.

Ferts:
I'm not a big fan of dosing liquid or dry ferts because it's a hassle, and I like to keep my freshwater tanks as low maintenance as possible since I do have a reef aquarium. I have also experimented with DIY CO2, but ultimately came to the conclusion that since I build my tanks around my fish and not my plants, I could do without. Also, CO2 accelerated growth to the point where trimming became a weekly chore which doesn't fit the low maintenance tag. I think that my high levels of stocking, large feedings, combined with the time in between water changes gives the plants a fair amount of food. I also put root tabs (the ones meant for use with pond lillys), in the substrate next to heavy root feeders once a year. I also have some Seachem Chelated Iron and other ferts that I dose if I see nutrient deficiencies (usually shows up in my stems).

I am primarily a fish guy, who likes the look of fish in planted tanks. This is why I got into the planted tank thing, and I think that my current tank reflects that. There are plenty of people on this forum who have better "planted" tanks than me, but I enjoy the activity and energy that fish exhibit especially if given a more natural (driftwood, plants) environment.
 
#4 ·
I was not aware of this. I've had the fish for 2 years and bought them quite small at about 1/2 inch body size. They are now about 2.5 inches each. How do you tell if they are stunted? Looking this up right now
 
#5 ·
Interesting read here:
http://forum.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/showthread.php?t=18433

Water temp & water change schedule are probably the biggest factors. In any case we will have to wait and see, as I usually have my goldfish last a minimum of 5-6 years with the oldest one I've kept reaching just under 10 years old.
 
#10 ·
Stocking update:

4 Platies
1 Peppered Corydoras
11 Harlequin Rasboras
5 Black Neon Tetras
6 Neon Tetras
4 Cherry Barbs
2 Female Combtail Bettas
2 Bristlenose catfish (pair)
2 Angelfish

The goldfish are in the pond for the summer... I may trade in some stuff to make room when I bring them back in
 
#12 · (Edited)
The fantails are in the pond. My regular goldfish in the pond spawned and there are a couple of babies that I am getting ready to rehome. They are hard to catch, so I get them in groups and throw them in my tank. Once I catch all of them I trade them in at the store (this is way more practical than draining my pond to catch a couple of small fish), That guy and a couple of his bros were traded in to the LFS a couple of weeks ago
 
#15 ·
Nice tank! When I saw this tank my first impression was it has similarities to mine (in my sig, below) with some exceptions: the "wild uncontrolled growth", with some plants getting kind of too big for the tank - my aponogetons are doing that currently. My tank has all green plants, not the colored ones like yours. Someday I might try the red lotus.

Me too, I make sure the plants are doing good and then its primarily the fish that are of interest to me :)
 
#16 ·
Nice tank! When I saw this tank my first impression was it has similarities to mine (in my sig, below) with some exceptions: the "wild uncontrolled growth", with some plants getting kind of too big for the tank - my aponogetons are doing that currently. My tank has all green plants, not the colored ones like yours. Someday I might try the red lotus.

Me too, I make sure the plants are doing good and then its primarily the fish that are of interest to me :)
Thanks! Its pretty easy to keep but I think it prefers a sand substrate and it needs root tabs every couple of months, but other than that it's super hardy
 
#18 ·
New FTS 6/23



I think I need to pick up some new bulbs as the current ones are about a year old, and are definitely dimmer than when they were brand new
 
#20 ·
Agreed. It's a bit of a tradition/bit of a requirement to have at least 1 goldfish in there at any time in my house. If I had it my way this tank probably wouldn't even be up haha

In other news, hopefully I will have some new plants for this tank to change it up a bit.
 
#22 ·
#24 ·
I think I'm going to trade in the Harlequin rasboras to make some room in the tank. I started with 12 of them a little over a year ago, and the only 1 I lost is due to it jumping before I got a lid for the tank. They are much larger now and even I feel that there is too much traffic going on in this tank. Hopefully I will find a good place for them to go to by the end of fall when I have to bring my goldfish back inside for the winter
 
#25 · (Edited)


As you can see I have added some plants I got in a trade from a user on here called JasterMake. I think I have Cabomba carolina, and some Sunset Hygro, plus some other kind of stem with more narrow olive green leaves (maybe some other kind of hygro?)

I also picked up some stuff:



What do you think the dosing should look like? I'm thinking a capful of Excel every other day, and Iron and Flourish Comprehensive split into half doses twice a week (obviously on different days)
 
#26 ·
The FTS I put up is pretty messy and it was right after planting a couple of days ago. I will add an updated one tomorrow and you can see how much the plants have grown in ~ 48 hours in my tank
 
#28 ·
Yes, the moss hasn't been that happy as of late. I'm guessing it may have something to do with me needing to change the bulbs. If it's a nutrient issue, the ferts will hopefully take care of it
 
#29 ·
So it's a little more than 48 hrs, maybe more like 72. I was looking at the time stamp on my phone and it looks like this was right after planting so it's been in there three days now.



 
#31 ·
I trimmed the rotala and the sunset hygro a little bit. I felt that these two were growing the fastest so I rearranged to avoid any shading issues. I also cleaned off the back glass

 
#33 ·
Grown in pic looks great.

I would have a hard time seeing something grow so fast then chopping it down. Luckily for me, I have slow growing crypts so I will probably never have to do that lol
I don't particularly enjoy it either, but the growth was pretty leggy and kinda nasty looking IMO. Hopefully I can get it how I want it in a couple of weeks.
 
#34 ·
So I decided to update the summary since it has been about a year since this tank was "reset":

Tank:
Standard 20H - 10 years old
Light:
Hagen-GLO 2x24 watt T5HO fixture running :
1-6700K Fluval LIFEGLO 6/30/13
1- ATI Aquabue Special 7/20/14
Photoperiod is from 7AM-12PM and then from 4PM to 9PM.
Filter:
Eheim 2213
Heater:
None- water temperature varies from 68-70 in winter months to 77-79 in the summer

Fish:
4 Platies
1 Peppered Corydoras
11 Harlequin Rasboras
5 Black Neon Tetras
6 Neon Tetras
1 Cherry Barb
2 Bristlenose catfish (pair)
2 Angelfish

Plants:
Anubias nana
Microsorum pteropus
Vallisneria
Fontinalis antipyretica (Willow Moss)
Rotala indica
Nymphaea zenkeri (Red Tiger Lotus)
Lilaeopsis brasiliensis (Microsword)
Cabomba caroliniana
Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig' (Sunset Hygro)
Hygrophila sp. Brown

Maintenance:
I change about 5 gallons of water once every two weeks and siphon out all the junk so my sand looks clean, top-off evaporation weekly, trim plants (stems) evey two weeks, and clean the Eheim out every 3-4 months. I also use a magnetic scraper to clean the glass every two weeks.

Feeding:
I feed my fish 3-5 times a day in the summer months, NLS Freshwater Flake. Occasionally they get some frozen brine shrimp, or salmon (whatever's left over from feeding my saltwater tank.) I also toss in some frogbit every once in a while and some of the fish eat it. Since my tank is unheated, and since the house temperature is kept at about 68 during the winter, the tank water temperature drops. As a result, the fish don't eat as much as their metabolism slows down. All my fish are accustomed to this change as it happens gradually. I typically feed 1-2 times a day but only 5 days out of the week during these months.

Ferts:
I have noticed some deficiencies in my stem plants as the year has gone on, so I have started dosing Excel as recommended 5 days out of the week. I also dose Flourish Complete and Flourish Iron twice a week. This seems to be helping the plants achieve healthier growth
 
#36 ·
I'm amazed and encouraged that you are able to keep so many fish in that size tank. It looks great. I recently restarted my own 20G and I'm letting the new plants get a firm hold while I decide on inhabitants.
Did the Cherry Barbs not fair well?
 
#37 ·
They did. I actually ended up re-homing them because they looked out of place. Thought I had 4, apparently I had 5. Returned back home and noticed that there was still one in the tank :tongue: Guess she wanted to stay

Good luck!! I think appropriate filtration and good lighting are the most important things in this hobby. What are you thinking about stocking in your new tank?
 
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