Natural Filterless Nano (Updated Pics + baby shrimps)

[Choco]

Started this in back in January (5 months old?)
So far it has worked pretty well without any filtration or water movement, and I just added a few shrimps in there.
The HC seems to be taking over everything...
Plant Lists:
HC, Hairgrass, val nana, dwarf sag, microsword, Pogostemon helferi (disappeared in the mist of HC), blyax (melted away)


The beginni[IMG]file:///I:/DCIM/102PENTX/IMGP3003.JPG[/IMG]ng[IMG]file:///I:/DCIM/102PENTX/IMGP3003.JPG[/IMG]
[IMG]file:///I:/DCIM/102PENTX/IMGP3003.JPG[/IMG]

Day 25:


Day 40:



Neglected Overgrown HC (4 months):


with Flash:


After some trimming:

[IMG]file:///I:/DCIM/102PENTX/IMGP3003.JPG[/IMG][IMG]file:///I:/DCIM/102PENTX/IMGP3003.JPG[/IMG]

[PinoyBoy]

I remember you had a thread on this tank. Where is it? I want to see the specs ^^

[niptek]

do you do any water changes?

[hydrophyte]

wow, that's amazing! this really challenges the conventional wisdom that an aquarium has to have water movement to maintain favorable conditions.

i know a guy who does a program for school kids where they all build tiny little planted systems in mayonnaise jars and similar small containers. he doesn't use CO2 injection for these, but they do include a layer of topsoil with a cap of fine gravel. some of these have been going very well for several years on windowsills with no special care aside form occasional water changes. it is remarkable how the fish and plants and other elements of these mini-ecosystems eventually can achieve a "balance" and live well for a long time.

i should see if i can get a picture to post of one of his little tanks.

[Choco]

Originally Posted by niptek

do you do any water changes?

Not regularly, so far I have done 2 water change in 5 months
I have to dose seachem nitrogen & flourish once in a while tho otherwise, the HC starts turning yellow and the hairgrass start falling apart.
The tank has been running without Co2 for 2 months or so now..and I am now using the 12" coralife 2x18w (running only 1x18w 6000K daylight) fixture which fits perfectly over the tank.

My old thread kinda got lost out to nowhere? but here is the spec:
- 3 Gallons Rimless (12 x 8 x 8)
- Eco-Complete Substrate (2-4+")
- 8 hours light per day (I've changed the light fixture a few times, from 2x13w fixture, to a clamp on with 18 sprial CF, to the 12" coralife I am using now)
- DIY co2 in the first 3 months (never changed the solution for 3 months tho...lol)
- Dose flourish & nitrogen regularly. I dosed excel once but it melted my val, so I stopped.
- Added a few cherry shrimp last week, and they seem to be doing great. I will be adding a few more later this week.

Few Observation I found with this tank:
- During the lighting times, there are a lot of micro water movement from the tiny bubbles coming out of the plants.
- There are probably thousands of copepod in this tiny tank, I think they might be what's keeping the tank algae free. There is literally not a single spot of algae in this tank. (while my other 3g tank with less lighting has much more algae)
- The hairgrass wither very quickly when there are not enough nutrients, while the HC keeps on growing but you get a bunch of yellow leaves.
- Dwarf Sag is NOT dwarf.
- My plant seems to do better in eco-complete than flourite black.

[CAM6467]

Very interesting. I like the idea, and I might give this a shot.

[Choco]

old thread update

- Tank looks like a mess, most of the hairgrass at the back withered away...
- I added 3 shrimps originally (2 months ago), 1 died a week later (now left with 2, 1 male, 1 female)
- Just found 1 got pregnant yesterday...kinda amazing since most of my other shrimps in the filtered, regular water change tank never seem to get pregnant...I am starting to think either my tap water or my water conditioner is causing the shrimp not to breed. (since this tank never gets any water change)




I started a thread here looking for some help with nutrient dosage -> http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/fe...ate-level.html

[paulrw]

realy cool tank! you give a whole new meaning to low tech! whats your photoperiod?

[Choco]

Originally Posted by paulrw

realy cool tank! you give a whole new meaning to low tech! whats your photoperiod?

typically 8-9 hours per day now using a 1x18W CF bulb on the 12" coralife fixture.

used to be 10-12 hours per days using a spiral 27W CF bulb, or a 2x13watts CF bulb fixture during the grow out period with DIY co2.

> another pic showing the light fixture

[paulrw]

sorry to repeat my self but REALLY cool! i got a 2.5 i want to start steering that way keep up on the updates i want more!!

[Choco]

Finally some baby shrimp!!
2 days old...not much bigger than the copepods/seed shrimp.

[Choco]

Btw....weird the shrimps hatched in only 2-3 weeks..

[Lnd]

Sounds natural for a cherry shrimp

[Choco]

Probably the last update before I take the tank down.

it's been close to a year since i first set it up
Everything actually went pretty good for a filterless tank. (no water change for a year! a few dozen baby shrimps born)
But like my other tanks, the HC eventually started uprooting and the tank now look like a mess. (partly my own fault for neglecting it and not trimming down the plant regularly.)

Probably gonna rescape the tank entirely going filterless again. (maybe driftwood scape?)
But first i need to figure out a way to get all the few dozens of baby shrimps out