# "2 Year Anniversary" of my 50G El Natural



## Mr Fishies (Apr 9, 2006)

It's hard for me to believe it's been about 2 years since I started my El Natural tank after finding Diana and her "disciples" back on the Wet Thumb forums a months before that.

Happily, at the 2 year mark, my tank is in reasonably good form photographically speaking (IMHO) and thought I'd take a few minutes to share a pic instead of lurking about and checking out others' tanks.

Thanks to Diana for sharing your methods and knowledge, and thanks to all the El Natural gang and members of APC as a whole. I've spent less time maintaining this tank over the last 2 years, and more time enjoying it than I did the previous 10 years or so the tank has been under my "care". (Many of those years it was dry and in the corner of a storage room)

I'm convinced now that plants are the key to happy fish and happy hobbyists. 

Ian


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

Can't wait to see the pics! Congrats on making it two years! I'm going on 5 months, and blissfully happy so far.


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## Mr Fishies (Apr 9, 2006)

rohape said:


> Can't wait to see the pics! Congrats on making it two years! I'm going on 5 months, and blissfully happy so far.


Yeah...ummm...about the pic...I guess I blew it linking to it in my Picassa Albums. So I uploaded it to my APC gallery and linked there and voila!


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## rohape (Feb 7, 2005)

Wow that's awesome! I can't wait for my dwarf sagittaria to look like that, it's getting there. I didn't notice your wisteria in the pot at first, but it looks like a tree. 
Very nice tank!


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## Mr Fishies (Apr 9, 2006)

rohape said:


> Wow that's awesome! I can't wait for my dwarf sagittaria to look like that, it's getting there. I didn't notice your wisteria in the pot at first, but it looks like a tree.
> Very nice tank!


Thanks! But I must warn you that the dwarf sag will look like that and quickly surpass that and require a lot of removal otherwise (I suppose) it starts to compete with itself and get quite tall trying to get to the light. I really like the way it looks, but it can be bit of work keeping it "foreground height".

I used bagged "garden soil" from the southern Quebec region and in the last 4-5 months, it must have really come into it's own as all the rooted plants (Sag, Crypt even the Anubias I have with roots under gravel - rhizome above - have all taken off) The C. Wendtii on the right has become a bit of a monster sending runners all over the place. In the last week, I saw a C.Balansae sprout up in the middle of the C.Wendtii...I guess there's a war for the right side of the tank brewing.

Ian


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Ian, did you have any particular challenges or lessons learned over the last two years following the Walstad method? Was there any issue that you faced that was difficult? Any algae problems?


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## stepheus (Jun 13, 2006)

Reminds me of the joys i use to have when i had my npt running. mine dint last that long tho. age certainly gives it more time to establish that really happy plant look. lol. and your anubias is flowering?? wow... how about more pictures?


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## treesmcdonald (Mar 14, 2006)

Very nice  Happy anniversary.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Mr. Fishies,

Thank you so much for your kind words and posting a picture of your tank. It does, indeed, look like a happy tank!

Good plant growth is much more than decoration.


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

Ian: Kudos! Fantastic looking tank!

-ricardo


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## Mr Fishies (Apr 9, 2006)

Robert Hudson said:


> Ian, did you have any particular challenges or lessons learned over the last two years following the Walstad method? Was there any issue that you faced that was difficult? Any algae problems?


A bit late on the reply, vacation "interfered".

Lessons I learned&#8230;hmmm. This will be a long post. 2 years ago, I knew almost nothing about planted tanks (not tanks with plants). My El Natural tank was my first ever effort at a planted tank. Sure, in the past I tortured plants to death in a 30G, with plain gravel, no food, under a 30w fluorescent bulb, but I won't count that.  I've learned a lot (IMHO) about El Natural and plants in general. The following are my experiences and opinions - your mileage may vary.

*Read Diana's book - and read it again*
No explanation necessary. Some parts are a bit esoteric, but with a big tank in your house and the potential hassle of mistakes, make sure, as much as possible that you know what you are doing and what you want out of this *before you start*.

*Bottle test - Seriously!*
I tried 3 soils and it saved me an experience with some seriously stinky soil (that was my original choice).

*Less soil is more - sort of*
Definitely don't go over an inch of soil. I did, maybe 1.25-1.5 in some areas along the back of my tank and I wish I had more gravel and less soil. It might have done a better job of keeping soil down during topping and plant maintenance and prevented or diminished the green water I had a few months in. Soil is powerful stuff when contained in an aquarium!

*Choose plants carefully - and go for the "jungle look"*
When possible, and when personal taste allows, take rosette plants like C. wendtii and C. balansae, S. subulata, E. tenellus, and rhizome plants like A. nana and M. pteropus over stem plants to avoid having to pull up, top and replant a lot. No matter what I do, it makes a mess and leaves some soil floating about that seems to settle on leaves and either needs to be vacuumed away or agitated off the leaves a few times to either settle or be caught by the filter otherwise it to leads to spot algae.

I also found that B. caroliniana grow slow enough to not require a lot of topping and have less significant root structures. B. monnieri, I just alternate trimming some of them back low and wait for them to split off new growth.

That said, I do however, "tolerate" the fast growth of some L. repens for the red to contrast the greens in my tank.

Maybe a question for you Robert, or to post in one of the plant forums: "What stem plants, if any, *don't* develop significant root structures?"

As suggested by Diana in her book and others in the forum, consider keeping plants potted when taste allows or roots demand it. I have a particularly "rooty" H. difformis that made a mess of my tank when I tried to move it after it had gone undisturbed for 4-5 months. Now it's in a pot and between the H. difformis itself and the S. subulata in front of it, the pot is almost invisible.

When I say "Jungle Look", from the top of my tank, I can't see much gravel except after a major trim. Use every square inch of tank for plants, then leave it alone as much as possible. At the beginning of the year, I plan a garden for outside, there are perennials and some annuals but once it's planted, I leave it be. To me, El Natural is the same deal, potted plants and rocks with ferns and anubias are the El Natural annuals you move around from time to time. Crypts, Sag or Swords are the El Natural perennials.

*Aquascaping*
Definitely not an exclusive El Natural thing by any means, but learn some basic aquascaping and *pay attention* to the height your plants can reach. I have C. wendtii and I wish they were farther back now that they are about 10-12in tall. They were such cute little 3-4 inch tall plants 2 years ago. El Natural and low light makes some plants that stay short under 2-3 WPG get tall as they reach for the light. Spend some time in the Aquascaping forum, look at lots of pictures, but go to the Plant Finder and *know* the plants you are buying. It's not a hassle; it's half the enjoyment of this hobby - not paying attention to the plants you select and putting them in the wrong place is the hassle.

*Algae*
I did have a few different kinds and for a few different reasons (in my estimation). Except for a bout with green water, all of them seemed to come with newly added plants or after a major re-work of stem plants though.

I learned to disinfect/dip plants before adding them to the tank - and to really examine the plants in the store before taking them home. Rather than bleach dipping, I feel a bit better about using pharmacy type, off the shelf hydrogen peroxide (H2O2). I've never killed a plant with H2O2. I even resorted to using H2O2 at about 1.5ml/gallon (sorry for the unit mismatch) to bring a hair algae outbreak under control with no fish or plant deaths. I switched after I melted, nuked, killed and otherwise ruined a few with bleach dips.

Green spot algae seems to be something that just happens no matter what I do. For the most part, it has not been a major issue - I go at the glass with a magnetic scraper and throw away really infected fern and anubias leaves.

Keep an algae crew. I have several Caridina japonica and Otocinclus affinis. They help keep algae under control and I really like them both as small peaceful inhabitants as well. I have algae tabs I break up throw in once a week or so at night after the lights are out to be help ensure they get fed when algae is scarce.

Also, I have a cheapo all in one, internal UV filter I keep around from the green water outbreak. Haven't used it in a year or so.

*To be continued&#8230;*
I'm a firm believer that a lesson is not a lesson until you can apply it again and verify it. I expect to get that chance late this year, early next year as I retire the existing 50G that is more than 12 years old (the tank, not the set-up) in favour of a 72/75G (depending on who makes it). The municipality is going to be different, I know water conditions will be different and I have none of the soil I originally used in this tank. So, I'm considering starting the tank with only an inch of gravel on the bottom for aesthetics and using potted plants and trays of plants as other El Natural forum participants have discussed in other posts. If all my plants survive the move and continue to do well, it may not be a big deal to go fully soil, but a 75G with soil gone wrong is a bit more than a chore to start over.

OK. I'll shut up now.
Ian


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## flagg (Nov 29, 2004)

Wow, Ian! Thorough and, dare I say, exhaustive(?) post! I think that's all great advice. I'm glad to hear that your tank is doing well after 2 years. I've had mine going almost 2 years and it's also doing well. I even moved it to my new house. I too, however am going to take that one down once I set up the 125 gal. All the fish and plants will be added to the new tank. I was debating having an area with brick or something on which to place the potted plants, but you say you just use them in the aquascape? I was going to set up a specific area w/ pots in case I have to net fish out. That I've found is always the biggest pain in a planted tank but with pots in one area it's all a matter of cornering the fish.

Can't wait to see the 75 gal!

-ricardo


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