# A tanganyika low tech tank ?



## benigne 76 (Jan 18, 2008)

Hi !

I'm new here and I've got a project I want to submit to you. I think it's the right place here because it would be a kind of low tech tank.
To resume a little, I already had low tech and high tech planted tanks, I only had once a tank without algae (a low tech one with only osmosed water, I don't know if that's the way you call it here).

I plan to make a tanganyika tank, so you know it's not really a very planted biotope. I still want to put plants in it, to have a good balance in the tank. I already tried to make a tank with only a few plants, and it resulted in algae proliferation... This time I don't want to do the same mistake.

It's for a 500L tank, which will have 125W of light, and maybe only sand. I searched on the internet and found some plants that could match with low lighting, cichlid fishes, and no rich soil (informations found on dennerle and other sites) : Crinum calamistratum, Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia, some anubias, and miscrosorum pteropus. I already had this crinum, I know it's not very demanding and a good nitrate eater. I precise I'll put a big sand layer, because this way the nitrates stay low, also. Some marine tanks use this method to keep nitrates low.

I can give you my parameters, from the tap (german degrees) : KH 14, GH 19, pH 7,5, NO3 10 - 20 mg/l, PO4 0 mg/l. I've got 2 external filters, one of 1700L per hour and one of 1200 L per hour. 
(With the same tank, very very planted, and just the little 1200L filter, I had nitrites around 0,05, and this stopped only when I added the big one. That's why I prefer big filtration).

Do you think such a tank could work ? (I mean have a good plant grow and no algae) ?

If you think it's really necessary, I still have the rich soil I used when this tank was planted, so I can always make it this way. But I don't want to have too much nutrients either, as the tank won't be very planted.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

I've had two tanks for Tanganikans that were great fun. Pictures are in my book. I loaded them up with plants and had little algae problems. I placed lava rocks covered with java fern on top of the necessary caves.

I predict plentiful algae if you combine a pure sand substrate layer and/or a rich soil with just a few plants.

Since this is a big tank with hardwater, why not use the rich soil and plant Vallisneria and 5-6 Amazon Swordplants? Floating plants are also most useful. Is the lighting adequate? You've only got one watt per gallon, and its a deep tank. Hopefully, you've got High-output lights and/or some supplemental window light.

I'd consider reading my book before you set this up.


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## Larsen (Dec 17, 2007)

Sounds to me that you'd be better off just planting some valliseneria and sticking some fertilizing pils underneath theire roots ones in a while! If I'm hearing you right you want to do this in a traditional eouropean way! Like Diana says... the soil concept will defenatly only work with lots of plants... The way we usually set up our tanganyika tanks isn't really suitet for the soil pricip!

Have you considdered builing a big biofilter for this tank... that would def help you allot in regards to maintanance... it would in a sence turn it into low maintanace, since a good biofilter would more or less run the tank for you!

Brian


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## benigne 76 (Jan 18, 2008)

Thank you very much for your answers !

I'm not very sure I understand well what you are recommanding to me, in the end (I'm french, and I don't speak english really fluently, sorry). For example, I don't know the english names of plants.. by reading on the forum, I think swordplants probably mean Echinodorus, is it right ? It's not in my dictionnary !!

For what I think I have understood, you think a rich soil won't be right if I don't put a lot of plants, isn't it ? If so, that's what I thought. So I should either put lots of plants with a rich soil, or few plants without rich soil, is it right or no ? 

What is the traditional european way ? I didn't know we had a particular way to set up tanks, what's your traditional way to do it here ?  
If that's what you mean, we usually put a rich soil layer and a gravel or sand layer above, for planted tanks. For tanganyika we don't usually use rich soil either.

For the light, I know it's not much, but I experienced a correct growth of few demanding plants in the firsts months of running of this tank. I think I'd better explain it to you : the tank formerly ran for 8 months with lots of plants, a rich soil, and a lot of light : 320W with 4 high-output T5 tubes, CO2, fertilizers (I had to add KNO3 because plants used 5 mg/l NO3 a week). Before, in the beginning of the tank, I only had the rich soil, and 4 x 36W with T8 tubes, for 1 or 2 months; plants like anubias and other few demanding plants were OK, but for more demanding plants it was evidently not enough, and that's why I upgraded the light, and then all the rest to feed the plants that asked more and more. (By the way, echinodorus didn't grow well in that tank, old leaves were brown at their ends. I don't understand why, since the same were beautiful just before in a 200L tank with the same kind of soil and 100W of light, no ferts, no CO2. )

So I'd prefer not put too much light; I can always add only one 80W T5 tube for example, if necessary, but I'd prefer wait and see how plants manage before, if you think it can be OK. In my opinion, T5 tubes warm the tank too much, I had to add ventilation to my tank or the temperature went up to 30°C during the day !

I could eventually put the tank close to a window. I'd better choose this very soon to be able to know were I put all the electrical elements for the tank ! (I'm moving in a house with a very old electric system and we have to do it all again).

If you think it's better, I'm totally OK with setting up the tank with only sand and fertilizing pills under the plants. I would even find it great to have a tank like this if I can avoid algae this way !

What is what you call a big biofilter ?
I've got for now mainly a big Eheim 2080 filter, with 25L of filtration volume. Since I have been using it, the balance of my tank went much better, I had never again NO2. 
Do you mean what you call a biofilter is for NO3 ?

And for Diana, thank you a lot for your interest; I already read a big part of your book, but it's relatively hard for me because it's in english.. what I understood was very interesting but it's not easy because I couldn't discuss it or get helped to understand by other fish keepers. That's because of your book that I want to turn back to low tech tanks, I'm tired of putting fertilizers in the tank every week !! I'll try again, of course, and to go to the end this time !! I'll look for your tanganyikan tank.

Anyway I'll do everything to set up this tank the right way. I'll try as much as possible to follow your advice.


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## DataGuru (Mar 11, 2005)

that's around 1 watt per gallon.

If any of those low light plants you found are heavy root feeders, you could pot them in soil. I'd cap the pots with gravel and a layer of rocks to keep the fish from digging them up.
http://thegab.org/Articles/PottedPlants.html
That way you don't need to add fertilizers to the water.


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## benigne 76 (Jan 18, 2008)

dwalstad said:


> I've had two tanks for Tanganikans that were great fun. Pictures are in my book. I loaded them up with plants and had little algae problems. I placed lava rocks covered with java fern on top of the necessary caves.


I searched through your book, but I can't find he pictures you're talking about..  Sorry ! And I'd like to see them to get an idea of what it can give.



> I'd consider reading my book before you set this up.


As I said, I already did it, but obviously one reading isn't enough, so I've considered making a french resume of it to help me to integrate all that is said. To difficult subject, serious methods (back to the methods I used during my studies !!) :-D
That's already giving better results than my first reading !!


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## benigne 76 (Jan 18, 2008)

I'm still thinking about the kind of substrate I should use. I've been reading a lot on this forum, in Diana's book, etc during the last days.

In the end it seems that I have 3 options :
1) I put a layer of rich soil on all the bottom of the tank, and plant a lot
2) I put rich soil in garden pots where I put some plants, and I mask the pots between stones
3) I put only sand and add fertilizing pills at the roots of the plants

The problem with the first is that I plan to have sand fishes (don't know how you call them, those who dig and chew sand all the day), so they need a lot of surface of sand; that means I can't plant as much as would be ideal to avoid algae, I think. But I could put a crinum calamistratum without fearing that it's not fed enough with only sand or little fertilizing pills.

The second looks very good, for all little-rooted plants, but for the crinum.. I don't know how to do. Maybe I could find a pot with holes to let its roots go in all the soil. I don't think it will grow well if the roots can't spread (I already had one, the roots run on all the surface, 50 cm x 100 cm, in every directions). 

The third looks good too, theoretically, and I know some succeed in plants without rich soil, but I'm very used to it and the last time I tried this method, the results weren't very good.I don't want to have to start the tank all over after 6 months when I see nothing grows... but algae, of course.

Another thing is I don't usually used the same kind of rich soil as you, I think. I didn't notice that on my first reading of Diana's book. Here we often use what we call a "house recipe" : 40% "heather soil", which is an acidic soil used for soem garden plants, 40% sand, and 20% or less clay. I understand it's maybe too rich; you just use ordinary garden soil and it's perfect, did I understand well ? So that house recipe was what I had in the bottom of my last tank. I'm afraid it's much too rich to use even with some vallisnerias, echinodorus, and crinum. 

So the question is, in the end : rich soil or no, and which one ? mine or just garden soil ? Knowing I'm very keen on the crinum, even if it makes things more complex this time. 
The essential seems to get a good plant growth, and not too much nutrients in water. Tell me if I go the wrong or the right direction, please !

For the light, I forgot to tell you I've got reflectors on my T8 tubes, so in fact the real lighting must be rather around 250W for 500L (near 2W per gallon).

What would you think of a mix of the 2nd and 3rd solutions ? Pots for the plants for which it's possible, pills for the others ? And only garden soil in the pots, or my rich recipe ?

Choices are my headaches these times, with the future tank, my future work, the future house where we'll have a new bathroom, a new kitchen, etc... :doh::ranger: I will be happy when its done, but for now it's tiring !!


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