# my one year old tank



## mauve (Apr 20, 2010)

This a "no tech" 40 gal set up, fueled by is the sun, although I do give it a little light in the evenings.
Once in awhile I clean the algae from the glass, for aesthetics. No filter, no heater.....
Soil capped with pool filter sand for about 16 species of plants. A few endlers and neons...
Very little involvement on my part, and very cheap.


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## johnny313 (May 19, 2011)

power head? water changes? ferts?


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## mauve (Apr 20, 2010)

johnny313 said:


> power head? water changes? ferts?


As indicated, "this is a "no tech" 40 gal set up."
I change, maybe, like, 1/4 of the water once in 1-2 months. 
Ferts? I thought the soil under the sand is enough, no?
And what is "power head", and why would I want it?


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## vicky (Feb 18, 2010)

Beautiful tank, Mauve. No reason to add those things if you don't need them, and clearly you don't. But some people have never heard of such a thing, or have tried it and not been successful. You have done well.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Just goes to show you how amazing the plants are!


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## Alserra (May 20, 2011)

Beautiful tank =D>


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## mauve (Apr 20, 2010)

thank you, kind fellow enthusiasts 
This tank did not have any troubles from the very first day.
The best advice here is to be patient, not panic and have an open mind. I tolerate all kinds of thing in the tank people normally abhor: snails, hydras etc. After all, it is designed to be as natural as possible, right? 
The Sun is the main driver of this system. The fun is to see what the "organism" is going to develop into without me trying to control it.
I also have a 5 gal tank which sits right on the sunny windowsill. I did it on purpose just to see what it would do. After a whole month of blooming algae it completely cleared; and I made an effort not to interfere. Now I don't even have algae on the glass: I guess the snails take care of that. 
I don't know, I like it lo-fi, and I wish people would just leave Nature do what it does best.
this is the same tank a few months ago, before I got rid of 2 huge amazon swords


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## ramis (Feb 19, 2008)

Wow! Your tank looks great, plants are so lush and healthy, you must have a lot of sun too. I have tried to do this method before, let the tank go for a month without any water changes, but eventually it deteriorated, algae started growing. Now I used Tom Barr's Excell method, and do water changes every week.


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## Extrame (Jun 8, 2011)

very nice tank! 
may i know what kind of plant you put in there?
and what kind of substrate you used?
thanks


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## mauve (Apr 20, 2010)

Here are some of the plants:
Saggitaria Subulata, 3 species of Chypts (Parva, Wendtii, Lutea),	Echinodorus (Tenellus, Amazonicus), Hemianthus Callitrichoides, Rotala, Lilaeopsis, Fissidens fontanus, Anubias Sp., Bolbitis heudelotii, TAXIPHYLLUM ALTERNANS, Java Fern....

a couple of updated pics:


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## activesize (Jun 26, 2011)

mauve said:


> thank you, kind fellow enthusiasts
> This tank did not have any troubles from the very first day.
> The best advice here is to be patient, not panic and have an open mind. I tolerate all kinds of thing in the tank people normally abhor: snails, hydras etc. After all, it is designed to be as natural as possible, right?
> The Sun is the main driver of this system. The fun is to see what the "organism" is going to develop into without me trying to control it.


Solar power? Don't panic? Have patience, toleration, and an open mind? But we're Americans and we want to control everything. So, we're coming to invade your tank. Hydras beware!

It's got that natural look like out in the woods somewhere. That's just not fair. Not only that but it's being currently dominated by invasive, fast growing grass-like species while your crypts and bolbitus appear to be stunted and generally treated like second or third class citizens. Then, unilaterally withdrawing your Amazon sword is another red flag. No current flow, filtration, or heater? Show us your low-tech papers please.


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## aquabillpers (Apr 13, 2006)

Hi, Mauve,

What a great tank you have! It demonstrates, again, that a handsome aquarium can be created and maintained without excessive technology. You can be proud - you're allowed. 

One problem that many of us have is that our plants grow too fast. I have one in which Hygrophila polysperma has taken over and out-competed every other species (as far as i can tell). In another a crypt took over. We have a choice to either let "nature" take its course or to exert some control over what is going on. I hate to toss healthy plants, but I like to see my fish too.

Best wishes, 

Bill


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## hornedtoad1 (Jun 24, 2011)

hi mauve, that tank is absolutely wonderful! i've been trying to do something like that, haven't succeeded yet. the closest i've come is a 5 gallon that was a dry start; everything else is fighting algae.
which direction does the window face? do you live in the tropics? it looks like your fish load is pretty light--how many are in there now? did you use natural soil?


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## mauve (Apr 20, 2010)

Thanks guys.
Since I was a kid I found that the less I mess with an aquarium the better it gets. 
My involvement with this tank is just adding water, thinning some plants once in a while and scraping some algae from the glass; my fish consume that sliced algae right away.

but this 5 gallon tank is completely neglected on my sunny windowsill.


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## Reef2plants (Jan 24, 2011)

Looks great, love the non manicured look.


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## Kalan850 (Feb 10, 2012)

nice man! thats good stuff


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Looks lovely! Great plants!
I'm happy to see yet another great sunlit aquarium!


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## Sophie and Mom (Feb 28, 2012)

I have a 55 gallon that has filled in nicely at this point, and have been considering shutting off the filter. This just might give me the push I needed to give it a try!


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## chagovatoloco (Nov 17, 2007)

I have'nt been on here in years, after i shut down my hight tech tank.......to much work! I had good sucess but it was a pia!!! to maintain and with a new babby there was just no time. My wife got rid of her african chiclids and now she wants plants. The tank is right by a window so now all I have t do is add some soil and take all of the crap out... sounds great. This is a great thread and some very insparational tanks.


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