# New 15g Tall Low-Tech Journal (Advice Appreciated!)



## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

Hi All!
Last night I traded in my 4 year old 55g Marineland LED setup for a month old 15g column tank from Aqueon plus $160 in cash. It comes with a heater, QuietFlow 20, T5 (single tube) and added blue LED strip (previous owner had Glofish). I want to do a low-tech planted tank, but I've always half-arsed aquatic plants in my tanks so this time I want to do it right from scratch. Here are the ideas I'm debating between:

Pure Walstad - love the concept, but nervous about finding good soil 
Eco-Complete - that's all, just add and go
Walstad with Eco-complete as "gravel" - This is appealing for sure...best of both worlds?

Stocking Choices:

Asian theme - Female betta (have one already), 5+ kuhlis, and some celestial pearl danios?
South American Apistos - one pair of apistos, a school of dwarf corys, and neons or other small schooling fish

What is your advice for someone who routinely kills aquatic plants and wants a low-tech set-up?
Tank dimensions are about 14x14x22.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC!

If you like Ecocomplete, you can certainly use it as a cap for soil in a Walstad tank, but you don't need it. See the sticky "Suitable Soils" in the El Natural forum or Mineralized Topsoil" in the Library for more information about soil.

Is the T5 fixture a high output or normal output? A single T5 HO over that tank will be enough for a low tech setup. If normal output, your tank is probably too deep for that light to be effective.

This is personal opinion of course, but I think the Walstad method is the easiest introduction to planted tanks.


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## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

Thanks!
I do not know about the light. I didn't get a chance to pry the cover off yet (darn day jobs!). Very little info, naturally, on the setup via Petco. I will investigate further this evening. Would a foil reflector help at all? 
I've wanted to do a Walstad for a couple years, but was nervous to do an entire 55g, so now that I have a smaller tank, now might be the time!. I did look at the soils sticky...seems basic topsoil is the best bet. What kind of gravel do you recommend? I'm reluctant to go to Home Depot because I end up with giant bags of substrate that I end up using only a bit of.


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

For substrate I have found that using some API laterlite is a fantastic time saver and gives fantastic results. You can mix it with the bottom 2 to 3 inches of sand/gravel then cap it off another 1/2 inch of sand and gravel.

Yes the lights are the questionable part. The short T-5 bulbs do not produce a great amount of light and finding bulbs that put out the right spectrum are difficult to find. The All blue LED's may look nice but if there powerfully enough will really encourage algae. 

I'm keeping plants in my 15 Gallon breeder tanks with only 2 Watts of LEd's on them but this is the dead minimium with only the plants that can flourish in minimum lighting. With well balanced LED's you need closer to 15 Watts and with T-5's closer to 30 Watts of lighting.


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## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

TropTrea said:


> For substrate I have found that using some API laterlite is a fantastic time saver and gives fantastic results. You can mix it with the bottom 2 to 3 inches of sand/gravel then cap it off another 1/2 inch of sand and gravel.
> 
> What are your thoughts on this vs. laterite? It's on sale.... ;-P
> http://www.petsmart.com/fish/decor-...-catid-300014?var_id=36-16757&_t=pfm=category


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## TropTrea (Jan 10, 2014)

somkindawonderful said:


> TropTrea said:
> 
> 
> > For substrate I have found that using some API laterlite is a fantastic time saver and gives fantastic results. You can mix it with the bottom 2 to 3 inches of sand/gravel then cap it off another 1/2 inch of sand and gravel.
> ...


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## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

Well, I ended up with a bag of Caribseas plant substrate. I don't get off work until 6, so I was limited to chain stores. Petco had zilch and Petsmart had this and plain laterite. I put all twenty pounds in. Kinda cloudy, but I expect it will clear nicely. I will make a trip to a proper lfs this weekend for some plants and driftwood. Stay tuned!


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## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

Floramax. It is the same color as Eco-complete just no "live bacteria".


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## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

So, for plants, I'm thinking of sticking with this list from Melody McKinnon (http://allnaturalpetcare.com/blog/2011/11/28/5-easy-low-light-aquarium-aquaticplants/)

Bolbitus heudelotii 
Java Fern Species (Microsorium pteropus)(Microsorium pteropus v. 'Windelov'). 
Anubias Species - Anubias barteri, Anubias 'Nana', Anubias lanceolota, Anubias coffeefolia, Anubias hastifolia, Anubias minima, Anubias congensis, Anubias gigantea, Anubias 'nancon', and a few more that I haven't identified. 
Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Green' 
Hornwort (Ceratophyllum demursum & Ceratophyllum submersum)

Do these seem reasonable? How many stems or bunches should I get of each?


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## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

Update! 
After a rather frustrating morning and 5 different stops, I ended up with 5 pygmy corys (wanted more, but that is all they had) and 4 black neons (same story) as well as 3 "italian vals", two bunches of anacharis and a large java fern. Not pictured is a cool piece of driftwood that I'm currently boiling. 
So, I need more plants but haven't had much luck finding good ones.
Also have to decide whether to get a trio of blue rams or a pair of "apricot something" apistos or just let my female betta continue to be queen of the tank.


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## somkindawonderful (Jan 29, 2015)

Decided on a trio of German Rams! Very fun to see this tank develop


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