# Experienced Fish Keeper. Planted Tank Newby



## bill38112 (Jan 20, 2008)

I am no newby when it comes to keeping freshwater tropical fish. I have spawned and kept a variety of freshwater fish for nearly 50 years. However, I have lately become intrigued with the "Walstad" concept of keeping a balanced ecosystem. I decided to try a "natural" aquarium on a relatively large scale.

The platform is a 60 gal (227 Liter) tank that measures 48" wide X 24" high X 13" deep (122cm X 61cm X 33cm)

Lighting is provided by a 4 X 54W, T5HO, 6700K fixture

Substrate is 1.5" of Miracle Gro organic Potting Soil. Covered by 1" of play sand.

Flora incudes:

Mayaca Fluviatilis 
Lilaeopsis novae-zealandiae 
Echinodorus Quadricostatus 
Echinodorus Tenellus 
Heteranthera Zosterfolia 
Hydocotyle Leucocephyala 
Echinodorus Osiris 
Myriophyllum Mattogrossense 
Alternanthera Reineckii Var. Roseafolia

Fauna:

Currently I have 13 pre-dime Koi type Angelfish (Pterophyllum Scalare) which I will scale back to two or four as they mature. I plan to add 30+ Neon Tetras (Paracheirodon Innesi) and an Albino Bristlenose Pleco (Ancistrus Cirrhosus) or two as well.

At this time I am running a Marineland Penguin 350 Power Filter to clear up the water. On day one PH is 7.4. Ammonia, nitrite, & nitrate are all 0.0 ppm.

Here's the tank with just the potting soil.










The tank with a border of play sand.










The tank fully planted on day one.










The tank after the introduction of the Angelfish.










A word about the construction of the aquascape...I planted the tank dry with just the potting soil and the perimeter of play sand in place. As I planted I laid down sand around each plant and when I had fully planted the tankl, I filled in the bare spots with sand. I then put a plastic dinner plate in the tank, set a tall flower vase on top of it, put my garden hose in the vase, and SLOWLY filled the tank. I had next to no cloudiness from the potting soil and a small amount of cloudiness from the sand. 24 hours after filling the tank is mostly clear. (fingers crossed).

I do have some gum tree branches soaking in the guest bath which I will add next week. I will update with photos/comments each week.


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## NeonFlux (May 15, 2008)

Looks great, I'm looking forward to upcoming pic updates.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Your list of fauna caught my attention. I just wish to warn you that in the nature, neon tetras and cardinal tetras are the natural food for angels. Before the angels mature, they may get along but as your angels grow older, you will start losing your neon tetras. A friend has encountered it, so I am warning you from repeating the same mistake.


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

Looks like a good start. Your lighting might be a tad high for El Natural (might need to have a little 
"siesta" in the afternoons or have fewer hours of light overall). You can counter-act that though with more dense plantings. As your stems continue to grow, replant the tops that you trim off. You want as much surface area of the substrate covered in plants as possible.

It's nice to see a "full size" El Natural. Keep us posted wiht progress (and any problems as well). 

-Dave


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## Alex123 (Jul 3, 2008)

The light is good. This is a tall tank, so I think lighting is ok. Since you have such a tall tank, I fear that you have too much empty water space and will be a trigger for algae, in the beginning. So you might want some fast growers in there ceratophyllum demersum (hornwort) or other nutrient absorbers. You also should have floaters since your setup allows that such as duckweed, frogbits, water lettuce etc. As Diana Walstad says, floaters have an aerial advantage and thus clean water better. I don't like sand too much. I think 1 inch is too much, half that or less would be good. It prevents fish waste from going into the soil as it is dense for waste to go through. Good start!


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

I see way too much empty space. With those few, mostly slow-growing submerged plants and all that light, I predict plenty of algae. This will result in poor plant growth. Then plants won't be able to purify the water and help the fish. 

If you can, I would add floating plants. Also, Amazon Swordplants are perfect for large tanks like this. Over the years I've noticed that tanks with a healthy Amazon Swordplant tend to do better than those without. If you're worried about this magnificent grower taking over, you can always keep it in a large pot and/or rigorously prune it. Controlling an Amazon Swordplant (or duckweed) is "small potatoes" compared to fighting algae.

You need good total plant growth to combat algae and keep your fish happy.


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## Gordonrichards (Apr 28, 2009)

After having your angels for another 10 months or so, and depending on how much you feed them, your tetras might end up getting eaten. Mine are pretty fat, but I'm afraid of losing any spotted rasboras.


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## bill38112 (Jan 20, 2008)

Thanks to all for the input. 

I will definitely add some floaters to combat the algae. My photos may not be clear enough, but I do have three varieties of sword plant (echinodorus) in the tank.

Regarding the tetras and angelfish, I have successfully kept tetras and angelfish off and on for forty plus years and have only encountered problems when the angelfish spawn. I just start with mature tetras and juvenile angelfish and feed adequately. Hopefully it will work this time. If not, I will enjoy the neons while they are there. :wink:


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Not all Echinodorus are alike. _E. tenellus _is tiny. _E. quadricostatus _is a little bigger but not a vigorous grower. I also haven't had much luck with _E. osiris_ (it seems to like growing emergent). If you can get _E. osiris_ to do well, then you should be okay.

The Amazon Swordplant _E. bleheri _is in a class by itself.


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## bill38112 (Jan 20, 2008)

dwalstad said:


> The Amazon Swordplant _E. bleheri _is in a class by itself.


Point taken. I'll get one.


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## bill38112 (Jan 20, 2008)

As predicted, I did battle with green water for a couple of weeks, but after a week of 20 percent water changes and two weeks after introducing E. bleheri (Thank you, Diane) and some duckweed, I have a mostly clear tank. I've replace the original planting of E. quadricstatus (right midground), but it is still struggling. The original planting of E. tenellus (left foreground) has been trimmed back and has vigorous new growth). The replacement for the original A. Reineckii (left background) is doing nicely. Angels, Neons, & Bristlenose are all thriving and peacefully co-existing. I am still using the filter for now, but hope that I can give it up in a two or three months.


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