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Low Tech Planted Tropheus Tank

8K views 47 replies 9 participants last post by  Duboisi 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi All,

Started a tropheus tank for a while with hardscape only, after a year and a half or so got inspired by planted aquariums and now I'm taking a stab at adding plants to the tank =) A general rule for keeping tropheus is to keep things simple and stable so I've opted to start with low tech and easy plants so I don't change the water parameters too much or if the fish decide to nip at the plants. Anyway here's a start to my planted journey with Tropheus!

Here's the start of the tank day 1 with fry
Aug 4th 2017


Tropheus graze and eat algae in the wild so I turned up the lights to stimulate algae growth for them
April 2nd 2018


Here's the tank today with plants! Tried to add a mix of different varieties of Java ferns/Anubias to get some layers with different leaf sizes. Everything is just wedged into place for now as I want to see if the plants can grow/survive in my current water parameters before I make too many adjustments.
July 11th 2019


Aug 9th 2019


Sept 15th, 2019


I think I can add a few different species here and there to add some interest. But still doing research for now =) Hope you like it!
 
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#2 ·
That is a beautiful setup! The algae covered wood and rocks don't look half bad actually but it looks amazing with plants as well. I also tend to wedge my plants into every corner that's free without any real plan but I think the current plant placement looks fantastic already.
 
#4 ·
Thank you! Yes, I'm enjoying the scape currently but I think there's room for improvement =) I'm thinking to add to some smaller leaf plants to give a better illusion of a bigger tank and also add some more layers to look at!

Love it!
The wood has lots of character and really like the combination of the dark wood, light tan substrate, and window film background. I actually prefer the second picture where wood and rock has algae growth. In the third picture, however, it looks like you lost this algae. Maybe just temporarily?
Its always good to see aquarists that stretch the "no plants with cichlids" mantra and prove that it can be done. It definitely can be done if put in some time exploring options and pick the right plants for the cichlids kept.
Took a lot of trial and error with my geophagus to do this; but, finally found the plants that worked.
Thanks for sharing. :) Keep us posted on the progress.
I do enjoy the algae look also but it was becoming a little bit of a pain to maintain the glass and especially the sand. Looks great on the wood and rocks but once it's on the sand it looks like the aquarium is unkept and dirty.

The tank is starting to get some diatoms after adding plants. Is this normal? Didn't really notice much prior to adding the plants and the tank has been set up for 1.5 years already. I am dosing 1/2 recommended dosage of Tropica Premium Fertiliser for micro and potassium. (Not sure if I even need it yet since all I have are going to be slow growing plants)
 
#3 ·
Love it!
The wood has lots of character and really like the combination of the dark wood, light tan substrate, and window film background. I actually prefer the second picture where wood and rock has algae growth. In the third picture, however, it looks like you lost this algae. Maybe just temporarily?
Its always good to see aquarists that stretch the "no plants with cichlids" mantra and prove that it can be done. It definitely can be done if put in some time exploring options and pick the right plants for the cichlids kept.
Took a lot of trial and error with my geophagus to do this; but, finally found the plants that worked.
Thanks for sharing. :) Keep us posted on the progress.
 
#5 ·
Seems like one of the Bucephalandra didn't make it to the transition. However it's weird that the 'rot' seems to be rubbing onto the anubias nearby.


The other buce seems like it's just about to start it's melt too.


I do have a third one that seems to be doing okay in the shade. This is making me wonder if it's due to too much lighting.


After some googling it seems like too much light could be a possibility since only the plants directly under the light are suffering. (I don't know exactly what par rating my lights give as I just have some cheap LED lights that says 40watts. Anyway, I have used some electrical tape to block out a row of LEDs which is drastically lowering the light so I'm experimenting to see if this helps since I do only plan to stock easy/slow growing/low light plants.

Also here's a photo from the side just for fun. Also finally cleaned my lily pipes after seeing the eye-sore in the previous FTS :grin2:
 
#6 · (Edited)
Seems like one of the Bucephalandra didn't make it to the transition. However it's weird that the 'rot' seems to be rubbing onto the anubias nearby.
I have experienced something similar not too long ago. A bunch of my bucephalandra, anubias and java fern were very badly affected and I had to get rid of quite a bit of my plants. Not sure what was happening there to be honest.

I think bucephalandra should do ok under high light. You are dosing very lightly so I would wager a guess that there aren't enough nutrients in the water column for them. I'm dosing the Tropica specialised for my tank at a slightly higher dose than Tropica's recommendation, and Tropica's ferts are quite lean if I'm not wrong. My tank is also very similar to yours in terms of plant selection. In any case since you've already reduced the lighting intensity maybe there's no need to increase the fertiliser dosage.

Good luck!
 
#9 ·
The tank is still a work in progress. Today I've switched out most of the larger leaf plants to smaller ones to give a better sense/illusion of scale.

A pic of "before" just for quick comparison


Experimenting with some Hygrophilia Pinnatifida, although searching online seems liek this one can be a bit finicky especially coming from emersed growth. Also added a pot of Trident Fern to see the difference compared to the current narrow leaf java fern (Trident fern on bottom)


Finally sprinkled a few more Bucephalandras around replacing the larger Anubias leaves. - I trimmed the flower after this pic so the plant spends more energy adapting to my water instead.


Overall pretty happy with the progress! I think I can still add something in the backgrounds. Maybe some bolbitis heudelotii or something.
 
#10 ·
Hmm, for some reason your pictures aren't showing up for me. Sounds like a pretty good plant selection but I think hygro pinnatifida prefers higher light, I didn't have much success with it myself but I hope they do well for you.

Based on your first picture it looks like you have a lot of anubias golds in there, perhaps you could try some other varieties? I really love coffeefolia because of the dark colour and crazy texture. Angustifolia has an nice, long foliage. Pangolino is expensive but is a gorgeous little plant. I would really like to have more varieties of anubias myself but some varieties are just so expensive.
 
#14 ·
Yep, lost two from jumping (over the last 2 years). ever since lowering my water level I haven't any problems yet [knock on wood]

I believe plants in general will do better in slightly cooler temperatures. It gets really hot in Singapore as well but doesn't seem to affect room temperature much. How warm is your water?
This tank is in the office and when I leave it can creep up to 30c+ 86f+ on the hot days.

Just for record and sake of a journal, I started dosing Potassium yesterday to around 7 or 8ppm. Will monitor the next few weeks to see how the buce is doing. Anubias and Ferns seems to be doing fine with new growth. I do intend to add more plants as it seems like most plants are doing ok for now. That and the more plant biomass the better? heh heh >:)
 
#15 ·
I have similar plants as yours: buce, java fern and anubia. I use superglue to attach to rock. I don't think you have too much light, just out of balance nutrients. Fish food is rich in nitrogen and phosphate, but lack potassium, bio available iron, and some micro nutrients. So you need to supplement with potassium, chelated iron and micro nutrients or else your plants will not do well.

Diatom is normal in newly planted tank and will go away on its own after settling down. A school of bristlenose plecos will help.
 
#16 ·
Thanks for the reply! Yes, hopefully I have addressed the nutrients with Potassium and micros (with iron) from Tropica Premium Fert. Relying on fish for Nitrates and Phosphates. Will continue to monitor the next few weeks/months to make sure plant growth is okay.

I'm going to avoid adding any more fish to the tank as I've pretty much maxed out with 25 Tropheus that are still growing. Also, tropheus are a bit picky with tank mates, I rather avoid any changes/stress with them. Not too worried about the Diatoms. Thanks for the suggestion!
 
#21 · (Edited)
There are so many generalizations here that it is of little value to those you are attempting to address. Might clarify if your goal is to provide others the information they need to be successful with a lid-less tank.

"Most fish" -- What does this mean? You will lose some fish but most will survive? Its confusing because you say
"most fish" - but you dont tell us what the exceptions are to the "1-1.5 rule." [* Interestingly, two years ago when I joined this forum was the first time I was made aware that there was a rule to when lids were and were not needed to keep fish. I have yet to hear this rule in any context outside a forum devoted to plants and aquascaping.]



"Smaller fish"- What does this mean? 1/2 inch, 1 inch, 2-3 inch?



"Usually larger schools"- What does this mean to you? Could you then communicate to us what this means? Does this mean this rule applies to schooling species, but not other types such as shoalers and fish that prefer to be on there own? Its confusing, vague---

"Larger more social fish I might think twice as well." - Such as? What does this mean to you?



Please be more specific:
What fish have you personally kept that you can verify this statement is valid in your anecdotal experience?

What methods of data collection/observation did you use to determine "most fish" will fall cleanly into the 1-1.5 inch rule?
 
#28 ·
Ended up picking up another pot of trident fern and some crypt parvas as an detail scattered around. Kind of that wild, overgrown feeling. Since these are all 'slow growers' without CO2 I'm hoping to have it looked well established from the beginning so there's no ugly grow-in phase.

Also moved some bolbitis near the back in the middle to add some depth.

Pretty happy with where it's heading! Perhaps even a bit too crowded? May have too much going on now, there's a lot to look at...

Anyway now I can focus on maintenance and see how things grow in!

Here's a FTS
 
#29 · (Edited)
Buce starting to look questionable again (2nd attempt)

This one is in the shade - yellow leaves on the side


This one out in the light - not as yellow around the leaves but it seems like the middle of the leaf are starting to get a hint of yellow? The middle stem started red when I bought it now it's faded into a muted color.


Currently dosing (per week):
Your addition of 24 ml Tropica Plant Growth Premium to your 250L aquarium adds:
Your addition of 30 ml Seachem Flourish Potassium to your 250L aquarium adds:
(Pretty sure my tank has less water after hardscape substrate etc, so values should be slightly higher)

Element ppm/degree
K 6.528
Mg 0.374
S 0.874
Fe 0.066
Mn 0.037
B 0.004
Cu 0.006
Mo 0.002
Zn 0.002
Cl 0.42

I feed my fish quite aggressively which I'm assuming is enough nitrogen + phosphates (API test shows ~40ppm nitrate before weekly waterchange of around 40/50%)

All of my plants are slow growing plants (Java ferns, anubias, bucephalandra, bolbitis) Other plants showing new growth except the bucephalandra which looks like its struggling again.

Any ideas? Thanks!
 
#30 ·
It could be a macro deficiency, but it's always hard to identify these things. One thing I would do is to not rely on fish waste / food. I would dose NPK and reduce the Nitrate that is naturally occurring in the tank. This will accomplish two things. One you will know that you are supplying NO3 and not relying on a test kit that can be way off and two it will mean your tank is cleaner of waste and will create cleaner leaf surfaces and less algae to deal with.
 
#31 ·
Thanks for the suggestion! Is there a difference between chemically supplied NO3 vs getting it naturally? I was thinking I wouldn't have issues with nitrates/phosphates as consumption should be very low with slow growers in low tech? Nitrates in cichlid tanks tend to be higher than a school of tetras (although phosphates I'm not so sure).

I do agree that lowering nitrates is ideal (more wc/better maintenance).

Would lights be an issue? I dont know official PAR levels (off brand light) but I've reduced the lights to only one row of LED in the fixture. on for 5 hours a day
 
#32 · (Edited)
Details details details, now I feel the scape is closer to what I imagined. Also trying to listen to advice of plant heavily at the start for success! The buce dont look the best, but everything else is looking fine so maybe over time I may just rotate the buce out for more anubias or something to take it's space.

To my suprise after the initial 'melt' or die off of the hygrophila pinnatifida it's starting to grow some new green leaves! Curious if it can grow low tech as it looks beautiful!

Sorry about the glare, I'll 'block' that out when I feel it's time for a more proper photo.

 
#36 ·
Hi all, just a little full tank friday shot =)

I'm tempted to add a little bit more on the outer pieces of wood (far left and far right) perhaps a few more trident fern to really fill in the negative space and have a heavily planted feel. Still waiting to see if the hygrophila pinnatifida can stay alive for a little longer then i'll add a few more stems as an accent scattered around. Lovely little plant. Finally finish it off with some moss on the wood? Not sure since being low tech the moss might look ugly and stringy and not as lush (assuming the trophs dont eat them first :grin2:)

Happy Friday everyone!

 
#38 ·
Went for a little plant run again, maybe got carried away with the bolbitis on the top left. Is it too distracting?
Bolbitis is definitely one of my favs. I think it looks good, is it attached to anything? Sometimes with hardscape dominated setups like yours (and mine) I personally don't like something taller than the hardscape. If you can position it somewhat below the tips of the wood that would be my first instinct, but you might have a different look in mind.
 
#40 ·
I would not go changing up your whole dosing plan. You can lower NATURAL nitrates many ways not only by water changes. It goes without saying that you don't want just high no3 and nothing else. In my 13 years of doing this I never had a tank that was better off with natural no3 vs dosed no3 in terms of algae control, etc. The high natural no3 means the tank has a lot of organics decomposing and releasing ammonia into the water.

The yellowing plant is not a heavy co2 demanding plant, so very unlikely that's the case.
 
#44 ·
Good point! Yes I wasn't so sure about it myself, especially being a non co2 tank the moss will grow more 'stringy' than nicely covering the wood. I'll keep it clean for now =)

A little update! Finally getting some new growth on the trident ferns. Read online that trident fern doesn't do as well without co2, but it's still just a fern right should be an easy plant. Going to take a while to replace some of the older leaves, but happy to watch it grow =)

The rhizomes on the left are a little experiment, removed some/all of the ugly leaves and wanted to see if it can grow back with new leaves adjusted to my parameters.

 
#46 ·
Progress pic time! Added some more anubias around the left side to add some rounder leaf shapes. Felt almost like a fern-only the tank for a little bit. Getting into the groove of the maintenance now, older leaves getting replaced with new growth. Will take a while for things to 'grow in', but I guess that's part of the point of a low-tech tank - slow and steady =)

 
#48 ·
Deficiencies? Or normal for low tech? My plants don't look 100% healthy to me. Getting some die off from older leaves, which seems normal due to emersed grown plants transitioning. However even some of the new growth is dying after they grow to about mid leaf size? Plants been added for about 2 months, so I do understand they may still be in transition just sharing my experiences and perhaps you guys have some thoughts too =)

Dosing Macros and micros, 40/50% WC weekly, lights on for 6hrs (LED lights rated at 45watts with 1/2 or the LEDs blocked off to lower light)


Here's a pic of Anubias with a hole and Crypt parva on the left with maybe pinholes? (they look like white little specks)


Whats left of a bunch of trident fern after a big prune (leaves started turning to mush from the middle of the plant, spreading onto other leaves)


Some more trident fern and you can see even some new growth is turning brown (Also tropheus posing in the background :nerd:)


Another trident fern, but you can see the leaves are starting to get twisted and crumpled?


The 'healthier' group of Java ferns after pruning away the ugly leaves. Old leaves getting brown spots (can see more on top left)
 
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