# New low tech



## Fabiano (Oct 26, 2011)

Hello everyone

I'm not a beginner in aquarism but I've been away from the hobby for some time. I decided to return with a lowtech planted aquarium.

It is not an "el natural " since I did not use soil. I made that choice because in my country it is not possible to find the products recommended by Diane Walstad and the last time I used a local product it was a complete disaster.

In this set up I used a substrate for planted tanks Ocean Tech (I don't know if it is known in the USA). It was the cheapest option and that was the main reason for my choice.

The tank's approximately 30 liters, is not fertilized with CO2, is illuminated by fluorescent lights and receives a little over an hour of sunlight per day. I used the "dry start" method with several species of plants and see which ones would fit. Today 22 days have passed since the aquarium was flooded. It has a hang on filter without charcoal. I haven't done yet any water change or any cleaning.

The water parameters are:

pH 7.2
Ammonia 0
Nitrite 0
Nitrate 0
dKH 2
dGH 5-6

Apparently most plants seem to be adapting well to the new environment. I have not added fish yet but I will do so soon. Green algae appeared on the glass, but in small numbers and it didn't represent a serious problem until now. I think it's usual at this stage.

One of the curious things I noticed was the presence of a series of invertebrate animals. Some snails, triclads (which I tried to exterminate with fenbendazole, I don't know if it was something good and if I was successful) and small creatures that I'm not sure what they are. At first I thought they were debris floating around in the water, but then I realized that they were small animals that lean on the glass and plants and seem to "fly" in the water. Unfortunately I can not take good pictures of them. This would require professional equipment. But I still tried to take some pictures. They appear as small green dots on the aquarium glass. It seems like they are multiplying.









































I have some doubts

Does anyone have a guess what are these small invertebrates? Could them be harmful to plants or fish?

If I see again triclads should I use a drug to kill them?

Can I prune the plants right now or should I wait?


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Welcome to APC!

Your tank looks very healthy and the plant growth is great. You can prune plants any time you like.

I can't tell what the little invertebrates are, but they certainly are not harming your plants. My guess is that when you add fish they will quickly become fish food.

Triclads are usually known as planaria in the USA. They are harmless and there is no need to treat for them.


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## zolteeC (Dec 26, 2017)

Nice plant growth you have there currently, tank looks really good. It seems DSM worked fine and to me many leaves under water already shows the submersed form. 

Can you elaborate on the substrate you used? You mention you did not use "regular" soil, but I cannot determine what it is exactly from the pictures. It does not look gravel to me.

In case you don't have organic matter in the tank, which normally is in the soil, the CO2 level may become somewhat low to support robust submersed plant growth in the future. Therefore, I'd not completely prune off the emersed plant growth because that has access to air CO2.
If the low CO2 in the water column becomes an issue, maybe some workaround could help: lots of weekly water changes with CO2 rich water, liquid carbo dosing, and other non NPT practices.


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## Fabiano (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks for the answers

I read somewhere that planarias produce a toxic mucus and are predators of other invertebrates. So I used drugs to eradicate them. It is good to know that this will not be necessary in the future.

The substrate is a commercial product suitable for planted aquariums (Ocean Tech). It can stay in direct contact with the water column. Actually it has no organic matter and this is a concern. I put fish food twice a day to add some organic matter and did not remove dead leaves and other plant remains.

I do not intend to do great pruning. I really like the look of the plants going beyond the water column. But I probably have to do some pruning to allow the light to reach the bottom of the tank.

As for the small invertebrates, I suspect they are daphnias but as I only saw photos on books and websites on the so I'm not sure.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Tricladida is huge order and some species may be toxic or predatory. But the common ones in aquaria are detrivores and essentially harmless. If you were breeding delicate fish you would not want them in that tank on the chance they might eat eggs. And they will eat any dead animals in the tank.

I agree with ZolteeC, leave some of that emersed growth. It is especially good for absorbing ammonia and other nitrogen compounds from the water.


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## Sasanid (Nov 15, 2018)

Hi, you have really nice tank!
I will just add my observation - as Michael said, all visible small animals, which were in my tank at the beginning, became a food for my small fish - Dario Dario. 
It was great fun to watch Dario catching all that animals on the glass, plants leafs and gravel.


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## Fabiano (Oct 26, 2011)

Thanks for the replies.

I hope to put fish into the tank as soon as possible. I'm thinking of cardinals and dwarf corydoras and maybe shrimps. I will post updated pic of the tank.


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## Dude (Nov 14, 2018)

Corydoras are always a good idea. Although with how densely planted the bottom of your tank is I'm not sure you'll ever see them.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

Very nice tank! Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!


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## Fabiano (Oct 26, 2011)

dwalstad said:


> Very nice tank! Whatever you're doing, keep doing it!


Thank you Mrs Walstad for your comment.

I must say that the success the tank has achieved so far was largely due to the book and articles you wrote. I made a point of starting the tank with a large number of plants and stimulated emergent growth and also added floating plants. It is possible to observe through the glass the entanglement of roots in the substrate, which means that the substrate is being properly oxygenated. So far no plant has detached itself from the substrate. I believe this shows that the roots are healthy. I see that Marsilea quadrifolia often launches new emersed leaves, the emersed Higrophila polysperma grows like a weed and the papyrus launches a new branch every 1-2 weeks. This is a plant that I was not sure if it would survive in the tank since it is an ideal plant for pools. But it seems like an hour of direct sunlight is enough for them. Surface plants are apparently not developing well. I think it is due to the intense competition of plants for the nutrients dissolved in the water. So far I have not had any serious problem with algae.

Yesterday I added fishes to the tank. There were 12 cardinal tetras and 2 blue rams. They seem to feel quite comfortable in the new environment and ate almost all the daphnias (unfortunately I liked them).

I will continue posting updates so everyone can track their progress and thanks again to all who are following and giving advices.


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## Fabiano (Oct 26, 2011)

Hello everyone

I have news. The fauna is 12 cardinals, two M. ramirezi and 3 guppies. Today I saw that I have guppy fries and ramireze eggs. What should I do to feed the new inhabitants?

In the pics we can see the male protecting the eggs.


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## dwalstad (Apr 14, 2006)

You'll probably get better advice from others on feeding. Boiled egg yolk, fry food.... Live-food culturing (e.g., vinegar eels, etc) requires real dedication.

If the tank isn't too crowded, the young can actually feed on the natural protozoa in a soil-based substrate. I raised 25 Betta in a 5 gal with no added food for first couple weeks.

Good luck. That's a beautiful Ram!


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## Fabiano (Oct 26, 2011)

dwalstad said:


> You'll probably get better advice from others on feeding. Boiled egg yolk, fry food.... Live-food culturing (e.g., vinegar eels, etc) requires real dedication.
> 
> If the tank isn't too crowded, the young can actually feed on the natural protozoa in a soil-based substrate. I raised 25 Betta in a 5 gal with no added food for first couple weeks.
> 
> Good luck. That's a beautiful Ram!


Thank you for your repply.

I1ll try to keep them but I think it won't be easy in a communitary tank.


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