# I feel like giving up before I even begin



## Chkinut (Jan 21, 2015)

I have been reading SO much ( I have read Waltads book in its entirety while taking notes, I have read lots of posts here.....which r wonderful and helpful but confusing). I am planning on a low tech tank. From all my reading I think I have decided on a 50/50 mix of dirt that I find outside and sand and the to top it with either regular aquarium gravel, Flourite, or sand......still not sure which is best yet. And I am getting ready to buy a 125 gallon to do all this with. I am not new to aquariums, but I'm pretty new to planted tanks (only slightly dabbled in it before). But it all seems so confusing with various ways u can do things as well as all the stuff that could go wrong.......I am tempted to just do what I've done for years (fake plants.....gravel bottom.....various rocks and driftwood......I could also get cichlids if I did this too). But I love the look of planted tanks and they e truly gorgeous. In short, is a planted tank something to fear? Will it almost always have issues? I have a very "full" feeling to my head and it's beginning to ache now with info overload!!!! 😳😳😳😳


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

The high-tech, high light, CO2 injected and daily dosed with fertilizer tanks that can seem to go to hell in a heart beat. The high energy and nutrient levels leave you walking a tightrope with no safety net.

The lower light levels of a Walstad style naturally planted tank should be plenty easy. The only shortcoming I truly see from these tanks is the amount of time that's required for it to fully fill out. Lower light levels and the slow growing plants take time to grow. These tanks are more like walking a kids balance beam that's only 6" off the ground. It's sold and steady, and even if you fall of, you just hope back on. 

There are plenty of these large soil tanks in the journal and El Natural sections.


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## HDBenson (Sep 24, 2014)

Tugg has a very good point. The complexities of "high-tech" tanks indeed leaves little room for error compared to Walstad set-ups. Before going out and spending money on a big set-up try it out in a 5-20g tank. You can pick these up right now at PetCo for a dollar a gallon. Or, probably get free ones this size off Craigslist. They growth is slow but Walstad set-ups are almost made for tinkering in my experience so far. I've had one high-tech set-up in my five years of knowledgeable fish/plant-keeping that I had for three years. I've had great success with the three Walstad set-ups I have so far I love them. My friends/family/wife think they're still high-tech. After seeing the results in my first Walstad I have set up two more in the past two months. If not for sake of time and space I would have all my tanks going in the Walstad method. The key to Walstad is to use suitable plants, to use suitable substrate, to have patience, to follow her instructions on photoperiod etc, and to be patient. And most imortatnly - don't be afraid to ask questions!


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## mooncon (Oct 12, 2011)

I can only speak from my experience I have a 150 gallon high tech and a 75 gallon low tech.The 75 is a growing machine it is 50% mineralized top soil and 50% safe-t-zorb with a cap of black diamond blasting sand.I say growing machine because this tank has been able to grow just about everything I throw at it.I do a 50% water change every two weeks and knock on wood never had any algae in the tank.I do dose 12cc of glut every day and a small amount of ferts when needed.I guess what im saying don't be intimidated by the tank,when I first started I killed more plants than you can shake a stick at.I just refused to give up,i wanted planted tanks and I will never go back to plastic plants again.Once you get everything set up right and figured out you will be surprised how easy it can be.You can make it as easy or as hard as you want depending on what you want and how much time you want to spend on it.I spend about 2 hours every Sunday on my 150 gallon that trimming wiping down the inside and 50% water change,this is the high tech tank,The 75 gallon takes about an hour every other Sunday that's the trim wipe down and water change.


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## Chkinut (Jan 21, 2015)

Well u guys' helped me feel more confident that's for sure!! I appreciate any input/experiences. where would I find the safety-zorb and blasting sand? Also, I have read to plant heavily!!! Well how can u plant heavily for a 125 gallon without going broke? Lol. I have patience and I don't mind waiting for things to spread. I DO have a 5 gallon tank and a 10 gallon tank that r empty now (used only by the kids to put toads in etc.....so there is no filters, lights etc with these tanks) I thought of setting one up but didn't wanna spend the money on filters and lights. But maybe I should. So, I have some questions.....what is the best filter for a low tech? Do I have to have a slew of test kits for all kinds of issues? The only thing that scares the crap out of me is algae. I can deal with plants dying while I figure out why etc....but I do NOT wanna get overrun by algae. LOVE this forum!!!!!


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

I am doing the same thing for 30 year now. Washed out sand on the bottom (maybe 1 cm in fromt, up to 3 or 4 cm in the back). Factory lights, some TL of one kind or another. Factory made aquarium. Filtering over something inert, can be those blue spunges or just plain perlon filter wool. And a lot of plants. Granted, not every species grows like this, but this is what has been done for decades and the high-tech approach is only from the last couple of years. 

If I see deficiencies I add some fertilizer pellets in the gravel. In the past I used clay pellets (from JBL - simply because they are easy to work with and locally available), for the last year or so I am down to pelleted cowdung from the vegetable garden. 

I am not overrun by algae, but there are some, mainly on the glass. This should be familiar to anyone who kept aquaria without plants - nothing more, nothing less. 

No CO2, not even a heater. I occasionally test the water but even if not. Start with fast growing plants which are labelled as "easy" and try several species, depending on the conditions some will likely do better than others. When the aquarium matures (after some weeks or months) try other species and even more. Many will grow, but not all. 

And don't overstock fish, especially in the beginning.

I had some plastic plants for a while when I had convict cichlids, but the fish damaged themselves on tough artificial elodea leaves. I found those plastic plants boring and they did not have any additional value to the water or the fish. If I would set up an aquarium with herbivorous fish I would now use natural wood and no plants at all, definately not artificial ones. After all, many fish live in habitats without plants.


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## mooncon (Oct 12, 2011)

You can get safe-t-zorb and the black diamond blasting san at tractor supply,i like the 20-40 blasting sand its a medium fine grit.As far as algae its a crap shoot I do have some in my 150 high tech tank but It is a discus tank and I feed beef heart twice a day so I have a lot of organics in there=algae.I don't have much but there is some on the slower growing plants.


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## illustrator (Jul 18, 2010)

Good starting plants are _Vallisneria_ (take the cheapest one), _Cryptocoryne wendtii_ (anything marketed as "green" of "brown") and _Hygrophyla_ (various species and varieties are on offer, start with a green one - not with one whith light veins).

I find that java fern and _Anubias_ are very hardy but too slow growing for new aquaria: these can really easily be overrun by algae. What you need is a plant which grows fast enough that it takes up significant amounts of nutriends from the water.

Hornworth is another great plant to start aquaria, but it tends to decline after some months of explosive growing. I think that this may be because it it often originates from temperate areas and after a while it starts to prepare for winter - which never comes in an indoor aquarium. However, those first couple of months it grows well enough to outcompete most algae and keep you busy with trimming


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## Chkinut (Jan 21, 2015)

Ok so just filter over sponges etc? I was thinking of getting a Cascase 1500. I'm guessing any filter will do as long as I don't put charcoal in there? Nice to know I can get stuff at TSC! So I don't need a heater? thanks SO much for the plant ideas!!! I took note of them!!!!


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## Chkinut (Jan 21, 2015)

Oh, and another question.....so is it ok if I don't plant heavily at first? I'll try to plant as finances will allow tho.


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## AEWHistory (Jul 6, 2008)

I don't think there is any problem planting slowly, but why not plan this way:

Buy some easy, cheap, fast growing plants. Anacharis did it for me in my early days. As it grows it will act as a sponge for your aquarium, it will give you more plant, and then you can cut it and use the cutting to fill holes until you have the money desire, confidence, of whatever you'd like to move from there. This way you can have your cake and eat it too IMO.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Chkinut said:


> Oh, and another question.....so is it ok if I don't plant heavily at first? I'll try to plant as finances will allow tho.


Don't skip this recommendation, it is important! You don't have to buy/plant all the permanent or expensive species at first, you can use inexpensive fast growing species in the beginning and change them out later. Having enough bio-mass of healthy plants is what gives a planted tank its stability. This is especially important for a beginner.


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

The concern in a soil tank and not planting heavily is that the soil will produce copious amounts of nitrogen and you need a plant mass to consume this, otherwise algae will go bonkers.

The second concern is that plants leach their elevated oxygen into the soil. This is important to keep the aerobic bacteria running healthy. Without the plants the soil's O2 can easily get used up and it will go anaerobic, and eventually toxically anoxic.


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## HDBenson (Sep 24, 2014)

Basically what we are saying is the plants in a dirted set-up keep the entire system healthy! Not just the fish but the plant's themselves, plants are amazing aren't they! Another thing regarding my comment about using a smaller tank first. With this you can do a dirty tank super cheap and easy:

5-10g tank-you already have($0)
no filter($0)
Clip-on desk lamp ($6 Walmart)
13w 6700k spiral CFL bulb $8 for a two pack Lowes
Some cheap sword/crytocoryne/plant species from PetCo/Smart $6-7 a planta species of Floating plant from online $6(duckweed is very cheap, easy to grow, and is usually floating around in the plant display at PetCo, they'll probably give it to you bc they don't sell it... be careful when you are thinning it out, dry it and put it in ziplocks then put in garbage DO NOT FLUSH it!!!)
Do not be intimidated as others have said... before I got my groove I killed a lot of plants. Once I figured it out though, I've had some of my hardier swords, Anubias, java ferns, and stem plants for years and re-used them in many tanks. Just keep asking questions! Good luck and I hope you enjoy it as much as the rest of us!


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## mooncon (Oct 12, 2011)

If you have a plant club you can get all the plants you need by joining.I know in the Dallas area if you want to set up a tank and host a meeting if you supply the substrate the club will bring most any plant you need and help you plant your tank.Around here if you want a specific plant you can post what you want and if someone in the club has some they will bring it to the meeting.Also if you watch craigslist sometimes you can get free or cheap plants I post them on fishbox ,apc and craigslist for free once or twice a month.I quess what im saying is what others have said plant heavy from the start and never look back.You don't have to plant all high dollar plants just something to fill the space then as time goes change out for what you want.One piece of advice if you go with a dirted tank when it comes time to remove plants pull them up a little bit slowly then cut the roots.If your not careful you will make a mess out of your tank.


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## Grizzle Fish (May 29, 2014)

Hello Chkinut,
I have been researching and taking steps for my first planted tank for going on a year now. Same general plans as you, Walstad method, mineralized soil, chose the same sand too. I was planning on using my 55 gallon tank for the project and have bought a bunch of equipment for it. Part of the reason it has taken me that long is that I was having a lot of anxiety about failing and having all of my plants die while I helplessly watched.

I now have a 10 gallon tank available and I'm going to purchase plants for it this coming week. I'm looking at this as a stepping stone to my 55. Having it be so small is really taking a lot of the pressure off me. I feel really good about it!!! You may want to consider first going with a small tank for the experience. To iron out the bugs.

Lastly, a little about this forum:
I have been a member of other forums on a variety of subject matter, but I wish to say that the folks here never fail to offer educated sound advise. On other forums I would see a lot of replies to a question, but conflicting answers and battles ensuing would muddy the waters. That made it difficult to come to a decision on how to proceed and even respond. Not to say that everyone here always agrees with each other. The difference is that disagreements here are very civil, respectful, and lead to great discussions. So in short, you came to the right place!

Best of luck on your project!
~Grizz


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## THE V (Jul 3, 2009)

The easiest tank I have ever done is the low tech planted 125. 
I did mine on a tight budget as well. 

How do you "plant heavy" for a 125? Order online, join several forums where they do ROAK (just pay for shipping), and spread out the small plants as far as you can. Those little pots of crypts can have 20 or 30 of them.

The other thing is to just accept you will get algae. Plan for it and how you will deal with it. The first stocking you get should be focused on algae control. I had waves of of different algae when I set up my tank. Snails came free but, BN pleco's, and SAE's where my first stocking.


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## THE V (Jul 3, 2009)

The 125 today fulk of crypts, vals, swords, and one anubis plant


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## HDBenson (Sep 24, 2014)

+1 on the Cryptocoryne division. Even the small Cryptocoryne pots from PetCo still have about eight plantable crowns for about $5 a pot. And, with Echinodorus(sword plants) you can get good sized plants and divide them as well. I haven't done this in some years but it can be done. 

Sidebar - Nice tank THE V.


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## Chkinut (Jan 21, 2015)

Thanks SO much!!! I will go for the cheaper plants and get quite a few in there! 😃


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## HDBenson (Sep 24, 2014)

Well good! Glad to see that you aren't discouraged! Just remember to ask questions - most of us are here to help and share our experiences!


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