# Conversion from Non-NPT to Semi NPT



## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

This tank is an eye sore for me. I am planning to convert it into an NPT pretty soon after getting some top soil. I will re-use some plants and throw away some. Will add some Anubias and Crypts. It has an Eheim canister filter and CO2. Currently, Seachem root tab (expired now) & Holland sand are used.

More update coming up soon.

Sorry for the dark tank.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Today, my friend and I went around the city looking for top soil in several nurseries. Unfortunately none of them has the stock. I was quite disappointed because I thought it's the most common soil in the market. When I asked for top soil, one of the worker in one of the nurseries pointed at bags of black soil and red soil. 

I am not sure what's the black one. No ingredient is listed. No brand either. Just a transparent bag with black soil. Maybe tomorrow I will go back again to find out whether there's any insecticide, manure or chemical inside.

The red one looks like laterite to me. I am 90% sure that I am correct. Again no ingredient is listed. No brand either. It's also in a transparent bag.

I am thinking of mixing both of the soil to see whether I can create my own top soil instead of waiting for the availability of top soil - only God knows when the stock will be available because the workers cannot tell me when as well. I don't really have the patience to wait because my Crypts have started to melt.

What do you think?


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Failed to find dolomite and potash as all the Indonesians workers at the plant nurseries had no idea what they were. Scientific names do not help either. So I gave up.

I've decided to try loam clay since there's no way for me to find any top soil. Even the plant nurseries admitted that top soil was the best selling soil but the supplier stops supplying them. The loam soil is indicated to be suitable for pond and water lilies with pH6. I read online that it's suitable for my Crypts and Black Phantom Tetras. I believe the ingredient is mainly clay as the water is very murky when I soak it in a pail.


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

well that sucks... hope it works for you!

lol, i was going to suggest the home depot or lowes and realized you are in malaysia


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Thanks, Damain.

Home Depot - I liked this place when I visited U.S. years ago.

We have ACE Hardware but I wonder why I have never thought of going there to check out top soil. I have no idea the branches here sell any soil though.

I will set up this tank in about 2 weeks as I am not free this weekend, unless I can spend some time at night doing it.


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## alang (Jan 28, 2010)

totziens said:


> I will set up this tank in about 2 weeks as I am not free this weekend, unless I can spend some time at night doing it.


Correct me if I am wrong, but you use topsoil if you are going to mineralize it (MTS). That process takes a bit of time. I don't think your going to get it done in a week. If your going to set up a Walstead tank (also called El Natural) using *potting* soil, you could start right away.

If you do want to go the MTS route, if you have access to it, regular dirt you dig up should work fine. Find an area with good plant growth and load up a few buckets. Its not an ideal situation because you are not sure what you getting, but if topsoil is non-existent where you are, why not?

My next big tank I am going to use some extra soil I have in my yard. It was amended several years ago, but has been sitting in a pile in the side yard unused all that time. Just need to mineralize it and I should be good to go.

Just remember this isn't an exact science, so if you can find reasonable equivalents, just give it a try.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Thanks, alang. No, I don't have a yard to dig as I live in an apartment. I don't really dare to dig the soil from anywhere because of the fear of insecticide/petrol/chemical or I may even get arrested - I am a city folk with not much access to unused soil 

I am not aware that mineralise is not Diana Walstad's method. Thanks for pointing that out. Anyway, I am actually trying a bit of both as I don't really stick to any particular method very strictly (I applied the same concept when I set up my previous NPT with top soil). My mineralise steps, I think I am going to repeat only once or twice. I cannot afford to spend too much time doing it. My main reason of doing it is to clean up the soil - I even found a nail and some beads in the soil. I actually intend to set it up immediate if I have free time because I have Crypts floating in my tank. Unfortunately, it's not the privilege I have at this moment. I may do it some time this week at night after I quit my job to run my own company on the 1st of April.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I have finally re-setup the tank. I got rid of almost 80% of the existing plants. I have removed the bad condition Java Ferns but I leave the mini Java Ferns. Besides, Marsilea and Potamogeton gayi, I introduced Anubias Nana (maybe one of them is Anubias Petite) and Cryptocoryne Wendtii into the tank.

I removed the female Krib and Ember tetras and placed them in another 2 separate tanks. I only leave the Black phantom tetras and the sole otto in the tank.

The following are the stuff utilised in the tank:

Soil: Clay loam

Sand: Holland sand

Filter: Eheim 2213

Lighting: 55 watt Dymax PL

Plants: Marsilea, Potamogeton gayi, Cryptocoryne Wendtii, Anubias Nana (maybe one of them is Anubias Petite) & mini Java Fern

Fauna: Black phantom tetras & otto

CO2

Driftwood


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

This is the final result.


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

Do you still have plants? Cause you need to add a ton more.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Yes, I still have plants from the original tank but I intend to give them away. I am tired of having too many Marsilea creeping all over the tank. I also have a lot of Elodea, Sagitaria Subulata, Salvinia, Java Ferns, duckweed and Hornwort from other tanks but I am not keen in having them inside this tank. Some of these plants are actually weeds. All of the tanks will look similar if I have the same plants in every tank 

I am looking for something with tiny leaves as well as something that can provide some shades to the Anubias. Any suggestion?


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

Well not sure what to suggest other then some rotala the leaves on mine got really tiny cause of low light.
You do really need more plants though. I would put some of those you have back in till you have others to replace them with.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I am actually thinking about Hemianthus micranthemoides aka baby tears if I can find any. Planning to look for the plants this weekend. 

I am reluctant to put the original plants back inside the tank because they're ready to be given away any time now. Furthermore, I don't want them to be well rooted and having to pull them out will cause a big mess to the tank. I will throw some water lettuce for the time being - it's easier for me to remove them since they will be floating. Maybe water lettuce can be the shades to Anubias too. I just hope they won't block the light from other plants.


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

That sounds like a plan. The water lettuce well help keep the algae at bay. 
I for one never had luck with baby tears in my low light tanks. Maybe you can get it to work for you. 
Good luck


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Thanks, Angie. The water lettuce have been added a few minutes ago. I got to make sure they don't block too much of the light though. I expect throwing them away every week 

Let's see whether I can find baby tears first at the LFS.


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

Hehe I have been thinning out my water lettuce twice a week. I feed it to my goldfish. They love it.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I can only dump mine in the bin. I have nothing to feed them to


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## ddavila06 (Jan 31, 2009)

totziens said:


> This is the final result.
> 
> View attachment 11549


awesome! really like the center piece of wood! are you adding more plants? keep us posted!


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

Yeah, the driftwood was a special reserved one  

Here's the story:
Last year, I spent 30 minutes - 1 hour at a LFS searching for driftwoods. I went to the counter empty handed complaining that there's no nice driftwood for my 15 gallon tank. One of the salespersons told me, "Follow Me!". He went to the store room and took out the perfect driftwoods (actually the wood you see consists of 2 pieces that I combine to make it looks like 1 driftwood). Then he said, "How about these?". Instantly, I replied, "I will take them!" 

Yes, I am about to leave my house to "hunt" for plants at LFS now. Hope I will be able to find something.


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

I got some green Rotala from the LFS and added them at the background. Failed to find baby tears - I saw some at their display tank which the entire tank was for sales. The salesperson did not offer to remove from the tank for me. So, I kept quiet.


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## Angie (Dec 4, 2005)

Hope you got tons of it cause it looks realy bare. 
New pictures?


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## totziens (Jun 28, 2008)

The Rotala I purchased was pricey. So, there's only a limited amount. I prefer to keep this tank barer that the rest of my tanks which are all jungles. I opt for something different this time. Actually it's not really bare as there are plenty of Crypts with their roots growing underneath. I don't want to over plant this tank to accidentally unearth the Crypts roots in the process messing up the whole tank. I won't repeat the same mistake I did on my first NPT which I did too many planting and re-planting, the soil actually went to the water creating a big mess. I will let the plants grow by themselves from now onwards. The fishes are behaving better than what they used to in the past - no more hiding among the plants. Maybe previously the Krib freaked them out.

I have trimmed the yellowish Anubias' leaves impacted by Seachem Excel which I used to shot onto the Anubias to get rid of algae before introducing into the tank.

This is how the tank looks like now.


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