[aaronbot3000]

Just spitballing, here, is it possible to have a low maintenance tank with only floating plants? I'd imagine a shallower tank, like a breeder, with the surface mostly covered (90%+) with some of the larger floating plants like water lettuce and frogbit, leaving the substrate level of the tank free for whatever silly hardscaping (sandfall even?) you want.

Is this possible? Has anyone tried it before, maybe as a low maintenance blackwater tank?

 

[Remmy]

I don't see any reason why it would be a problem. Consider that most aquariums don't have any plants at all, the addition of floaters isn't going to cause any issues, it will be beneficial.

The floaters will do a great job of biological filtration and considering the fact that they'll be blocking most of the light they will definitely help with prevent ting algae growth on the hard scape and substrate

 

[MtAnimals]

sounds like an old school tank....undergravel filter,HOB,hornwort,guppy grass,maybe frogbit.you can even weigh down strands of hornwort with rocks.Most you'll need to do is remove excess plants every week or two.Stock with white clouds,or platys.

very low maintenance that way,as long as you don't overfeed.

 

[Diana]

Plants with contact with the air will get all the CO2 they need, so will be better than fully submerged plants at removing nitrogen and other things.

 

[Judeamarco]

A pond. That's basically a pond haha! Other than a few bog plants here and there and the rare fully submerged plant that looks good from above, floating plants are the majority of the flora of a pond anyway. I would imagine it would be like looking at a pond from a different angle.

 

[tapwater]

Like the idea very much

 

[aaronbot3000]

The concept has legs! I'll try it out in a little 10 gallon in a few weeks (maybe as a crawfish tank?) and report back here how it looks. Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[sfshrimp]

aquaponics

You should do aquaponics. You could also try to reverse plant your acquarium so the plants are growing upside down from the top and the root balls are suspended into the substrate via gravity.

The concept has legs! I'll try it out in a little 10 gallon in a few weeks (maybe as a crawfish tank?) and report back here how it looks. Thanks everyone for the advice!

 

[Diana]

I would not put cray/craw fish in a 10, or, really, in any tank. They are very destructive.
If you had a large enough pond so there was plenty of room, lots of places to go, things to destroy, then they MIGHT leave the plants alone. Maybe.

Shrimp would be better in a 10 gallon, if you want something like that.

 

[NotCousteau]

Yes, it's possible! I did this with a small killifish tank. The top was covered in frogbit. It looked really cool!