# 55g Low Tech Angel Tank



## wkndracer

*55g Low Tech Angel Tank (56K pics)*

I know I need to fill in the blanks and will but need to ask as I feel pressed for an answer. Right now I wish I would have waited for the book to arrive.
*Ammonia*, how high to allow the level to reach prior to a water change?
Filled on 4/29/09, planted 4/30/09, 6dGH, 2dKH 
Ammonia reading 5/4/09 <.25, 5/5 >.50
5/6/09 <.50, Nitrite .25 So in 7 days I've peaked Ammonia and started reading Nitrite.


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## dwalstad

If you have fish in the tank and with those readings, I would definitely do a major (70%) water change.

Anyone with a new NPT should be prepared to do water changes every two weeks for first couple months. Water changes may not be necessary. However, one cannot predict in advance:


how much plants will remove ammonia and nitrite (need good plant growth)
how fast nitrifying bacteria in the soil will process nitrogen
how much nitrogen will the soil release (if its fertilized and/or nitrogen-rich, it will take longer for the nitrogen to clear out)

Once the tank gets established (plants growing and soil stabilized), ammonia and nitrite should not be a problem.


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## wkndracer

Thanx so much for the response but what I'm trying to determine is threshold limits.
Normally I would keep after it one way or another to eliminate readings on NO2 & NH4 all together.
In this case not wanting to fertilize the water column and having organics in the substrate is there an acceptable level before water changes are mandated? I know each species of fish handles water quality issues differently but some readable level must be tolerable.


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## TAB

Well the rule is you want 0 NH3


now when you said .25 and .5 are you testing for PPM or PPT. I'm guessing your testing for ppt. The average test kit ranges from 0-7 ppm. 

its hard to say how much a fish can actually handle. more so when its a fish like angels. They can go from fish captured in the wild, to fish that have been inbread for decades.


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## wkndracer

TAB said:


> Well the rule is you want 0 NH3
> 
> now when you said .25 and .5 are you testing for PPM or PPT. I'm guessing your testing for ppt. The average test kit ranges from 0-7 ppm.
> its hard to say how much a fish can actually handle. more so when its a fish like angels. They can go from fish captured in the wild, to fish that have been inbread for decades.


Thanks once again for opinion. It is difficult to help without all the details which never (or rarely) get posted. The higher quality DD B SV was relocated after readings rose beyond .25ppm. The DD standard is a domestic that was a home spawned last year from a 'fish farm raised' pairing. Currently have this single fish and about 15 shrimp stocking the soil sub tank. While not a cull this angel is not one I intend to abuse in cycling OR breed. It had to be moved due its determination to disrupt a spawning pair in one of the other tanks. She had fought her way through both parents and eaten the eggs twice in the last month.
I'm using tested API drop tests matching color charts referenced to ppm.
Searches have return numerous results with the following the most specific so far. http://freshaquarium.about.com/cs/diseases/a/ammoniapoison_p.htm 
"At a level of level of 1 ppm or 1 mg/l, the fish are stressed and steps should be taken to reduce the ammonia. Levels even lower than that can be fatal if the fish are exposed to them continuously for several days. For that reason it is critical to continue daily testing and treatment until the ammonia falls to zero."
Threshold of say .50ppm being the upper limit for readings before a large water change? I'm reluctant to add salt as it caused plant issues for me in the past. Also use of products like AmmoLoc will not allow me true readings of tank levels. Trying to determine a strategy going forward.


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## wkndracer

The plan is to NOT fill this tank to display standards. Rather a nice place to grow out baby angels.

DIY 'algae' kit for the back round. Using 3 green acrylic enamels and sponge painting the back glass. Installing the tank under a kitchen counter just above floor level. 3 1/2" above to be exact. Just enough the glass won't get hit sweeping the floor.

1st color just peppering the glass for shading. Using natural sponges.









Second color Heavy patting to dominate color.









Third coat completely covers the glass.


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## wkndracer

My master plan el natural, Diana Walstad type tank. Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Soil 32 Qt. (dry) bag was $8.00 and I used nearly ½ the bag for a one inch layer. It's full of organics as the name implies but no chemical ferts. Very little in the way of sticks or bark pieces in the bag I bought. Capped the soil with 2 bags of Flourite original as I like the color.
I dumped the idea of a pool filter sand layer over / under / between the substrates. Reading strings it can limit gas exchange, CO2 out and O2 into the biomass. Lighting changed also as >2wpg is recommended. 
Lowes has hanging dual T8 48" 32watt fixtures, silver w/ black end caps for $29.00. I bought two and went with 2-6500K, 2-5000K bulbs labeled as daylight and sunshine.
GE daylight 32w, 2700 lumens, 6500K, cri 78
GE sunshine 32w, 2800 lumens, 5000K, cri 86
2.3 watts per gallon.
Lights are set 6 ½" above the tank covers as we plan on rooting terrestrial plants through the tank top as well as having floaters. Based on posts on the APC site to help control nutrient levels in the water and algae several folks have done it. (My wife liked that idea) No hardscape at this time and plan on jungle planting for the cycle. Plant list to follow when I've got time and actually get them planted.
A single power head will provide water circulation and a UV sterilizer will be installed.

On with the pictures!

Dirt pile layed out overnight and small amount of sticks.
















You can see the color difference between 5000K and 6500K 









Used egg crate grill material to eliminate gravel creep along the glass.

























Filled to 1" with soil.









Capped with 2 bags of original flourite (approx. 1") as I like the color and texture.









Filler up! :biggrin:

















Decided to flood the tank and quit because at this point it was after midnight and my alarm is set for 5am.


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## JAXON777

Looks like a good start cant wait to see the finished results.


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## wkndracer

*Tank @ 48hrs.*

I set the R O water using Grumpy's GH booster @ 6dGH and baking soda @ 3dKH. Adding a standard 55g dose of CSM+B, Fe dosed to .6ppm, 20ml excel on 4/30/09
Testing on 5/2/09 10dGH, 3dKH, PO4 2ppm, Ammonia 0.0-.25 minimum color change.
Nitrite and nitrate I expected zero readings and tested just that.

Starting plants are chain swords, Kliener bar sword, crypt wendtii reds, repoens, Bacopa colorata, water sprite and narrow leaf sag.

























Using a power head as the sole filtration / circulation method and wanting to collect debris I thought about sponge filters but the Penguin 1140 has a cone shaped intake for UG tubes. With the soil sub I nixed the UG plates. 
The 1140 pushes enough water for white water rafting too. 
Filter floss and zip straps! Fits the low tech theme right? Cut a 6 1/2" strip long enough for 1 1/2 wraps and ta da!
Curbed the output fire nozzle like flow using extra spray bar and suction tube parts by drilling the suction sections and mounted four pieces on the discharge. The resulting spray bar flow is much more angel fish friendly being spread out. When fry are added young the larger surface area of the intake won't hold any swimming too close either 

















Water is already showing NO2 (nitrite) at 7 days wet.

Here's the track on my first soil sub tank so far. Readings are ppm unless noted.
Filled 4/29/09, 4/30/09 water set at 6dGH with Rex Griggs grumpy mix and KH with baking soda to 3dKH then planted. Decided to bridge the plants from my high light injected tanks with some ferts.= CSM+B, Excel 20mL, Fe .6ppm, Nutrifin Cycle 40mL. Right or wrong made the additions, I'll see how it goes.
5/1/09 more plants. 
5/2/09 Due to breeding activities and egg eating behavior an Angel was moved into this tank so first fish in. 10dGH (hardness climbed 4dGH), 3dKH, pH 7.0, NH4 (ammonia) <.25, NO2 (nitrite) 0.0, NO3 (nitrate) 0.0, PO4 (phosphate) <2ppm. Dose NO3 17.3ppm, Leaf Zone 20mL.
5/3/09 30g WC, 2dKH, 2dGH. Reset water to 6dGH, 3dKH, Fe .6ppm, NO3 16ppm, CSM+B, Nutrifin Cycle 30mL. Add 15 grass shrimp, Medium DD B angel. Add a small air driven sponge filter.
5/4/09 NH4 <.25ppm, NO2 0.0, NO3 15ppm 
5/5/09 NH4 >.50ppm, NO2 0.0 (WC on living room tank and no time for this one as its 11:30pm) Remove Medium DD B angel.
5/6/09 NH4 <.50 (dropped), NO2 <.25 (reading)
40g WC 4dGH, 2.5dKH, NO3 <10ppm, NH4 <.25, NO2 <.25
Reset water to 6dGH, 3dKH eliminated fert. dosing but added Nutrifin Cycle 40mL.

Bacopa stems have grown 1 1/2 - 2" and produced 3-4 leaf sets per stem. The other plants look OK with minor new growth. Added more java moss. Introduced duck weed and terrestrial plants, 2 Ivy stems and a green spider are draping roots into the water by the power head.

































As nitrite and ammonia are now present in the water column I plan on no further chemical fertilizers.


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## wkndracer

*Water changes*

Update today on the settling in water issues. NO2 (nitrites) are here big time today! Tested the tank getting home from work and NO2 was >1.0ppm.
35g WC, 5 minute pump run and NO2 >.25 but not by much.
35g WC and it tested zero. Reset to 6dGH, 3dKH so now wait and see how fast it climbs again.
I've not been able to find any info on threshold limits for readings on NO2 or NH3 / NH+4 that are allowable with fish so my R O unit is on OT.


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## ucdchan

Hey Wkndracer, I'm looking for the similar lighting. Do you have the model of the light? I can't seem to find it on lowes's website.


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## wkndracer

ucdchan said:


> Hey Wkndracer, I'm looking for the similar lighting. Do you have the model of the light? I can't seem to find it on lowes's website.


Light fixtures are; Ultili Tech $29.98, #245549, Model #NXU-6002-B


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## dwalstad

*Re: Water changes*



wkndracer said:


> Update today on the settling in water issues. NO2 (nitrites) are here big time today! Tested the tank getting home from work and NO2 was >1.0ppm.
> 35g WC, 5 minute pump run and NO2 >.25 but not by much.
> 35g WC and it tested zero. Reset to 6dGH, 3dKH so now wait and see how fast it climbs again.
> I've not been able to find any info on threshold limits for readings on NO2 or NH3 / NH+4 that are allowable with fish so my R O unit is on OT.


Recommendations for a safe ammonia level vary. My book, p. 20, discusses ammonia toxicity in detail). In general, hobbyists should keep ammonia levels below 0.02 ppm, especially if pH is alkaline. Sustained levels this high may cause, long-term problems but shouldn't kill fish outright.

Nitrite (disscusion of nitrite toxicity in my book, p. 22) should be kept be below 0.01 ppm for chronic effects. A one-time addition of salt (1 level teaspoon uniodized salt per 10 gal) will take care of your nitrite levels quite handily. This salt concentration (about 0.015%) should not hurt plants. To make sure salt gets quickly disbursed in the tank water, I would dissolve the salt in some water and then add the resulting salt solution to the tank.

I see that you are adding fertilizers (Excel and iron). I believe that they are unnecessary in view of the rich substrate you've provided and the fact you're not using CO2 injection. Excel overdosing can cause problems for fish, and iron at 0.6 ppm can stimulate algae.

Perhaps your method (where natural processes have been mostly ignored and overridden) will work. However, the El Natural method will also work, and it doesn't involve all these manipulations.


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## wkndracer

*Response to Ms. D and 5/11/09 update*

Thank you very much for your insights. I jumped the gun in more ways than just starting without your book in hand.
With multiple spawns and other activities happening just as I set up this tank. 
I stated earlier that most all the plants came from high light (3.4+wpg), CO2 injected, EI dosed tanks and I chose to 'bridge' they're transition. 
My water is unsuitable for use out of the well and it's striped by 7 stages of R O to .01 TDS for tank use. 
So all my water gets 'cooked' to go in the tanks. 
The water was baseline set when the tank was filled and planted 4/30/09. The last chemical addition was made on 5/3/09.
The subsequent posted tested results showed the water column to have tapering levels. 5/6/09 I stated that there would be no further supplements added. Excel was only dosed 20mL in 40+ gallons of tank water so it was no where even approaching over dose or toxic levels. Excel is marketed as a chemical carbon substitute for Co2 which is exactly how I used it for a tapering effect. The Bacopa Colorata is an iron chewing plant to develop it's pink hue in EI dosed tanks again used for tapering effect. All of which I believe helped the plants as they did not shock and lose foliage in mass. Which I've had some do adjusting UP to EI dosed tank levels.
All are showing new growth although all the leaves are smaller and less colorful at the moment.

*Natural processes had been ignored and overridden in growing nearly all the plants introduced to this tank. *El Natural method is how they are now adjusting to live. The manipulations are over. Have been since 5/3/09.

The reason for my post tonight was to update whats happened since the big water change on 5/6/09.
Testing again tonight showed NH3/NH4 0.0, NO2 0.25 (thanx for the salt tip), and NO3 >5.0,<10ppm (guessing color graduation). As no NO3 was added with the WC on 5/6 and prior testing showed dropping levels I believe this reading to be tank generated. 
I believe its jumped through its cycle.
Further testing in the coming days will tell.


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## wkndracer

Needed to post this Sunday and just ran out of time. Same thing last night no room for web surfing in the schedule.
Went to Wallie World Sunday as they had received an ammo shipment and had 30-06, 38 specials and 12ga. high brass loads. Bought my limit of 6 boxes per customer and as I was heading out the door passed the pet department.
In a tank staving to death and surrounded by ugly guppies was an abused blushing veil angel. Same fish that was there the last time. I pointed it out to the wife at that time showing her the squared tail and short ventral fins damaged in shipping. I said to her if it lives a week it will be a lucky fish. Well it lived a week so I bought it.









If it can live a week at Walmart it will live in my soil sub tank though the start up cycle At least I test the water daily and feed bread to my prisoners once a week.


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## wkndracer

*Water parameters*

Water tests tonight
NH3/NH4 - 0.0
NO3 - 0.0 to <.5
NO2 - 0.0 NITRITE IS ZERO!!!!!!!!!!! 
\\/\\/\\/

My little Walmart rescue is eating and happy:biggrin:


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## chunkylover817

nice, lol i wish i got those water test results


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## dwalstad

*Re: Water parameters*



wkndracer said:


> My little Walmart rescue is eating and happy:biggrin:


That's nice that you rescued this pretty little fish. It seems he/she got very lucky.


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## BenBOMB

Looks like a good starting tank, i'll enjoy watching it grow in.

Just a tip, try to plant your plants in circles and it seems like the plants are more seperated and are not intangled in each other and has a cleaner look.


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## wkndracer

*Tank burped today*

With diatoms now present on older leaves out of direct flow from the spray bar and 9 days without NH3/NH4 readings I added two otto's today. Water clarity is good. Plant growth is slowing down but plants look healthy. A couple of stems went soft and I pulled them. While touching up plant placement I noticed the substrate bulging or humping up. Around the water sprite in particular was almost a mound. Spongy to the touch, I pressed down and gas erupted bringing soil sub with it. Rather exciting! Using my large tweezers I poked around and patted the gravel for several minutes. The odor was a combination of egg and sulfur to describe it. 
Well I grabbed my test kits and started testing! Concerned that the fish may need to be removed. Surprised me again did this tank because the NH3/NH4, NO2, NO3 was all still 0.0 or very close to it.
One hour later and the water is clear again. There is some soil now laying on top of the Flourite though.
This tank is quite an adventure compared to others I've kept.


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## wkndracer

*Re: 55g Low Tech Angel Tank Stocking*

Received my order of MTS arriving today from a member on the planted tank. Added 35+ to the tank and hoping they will help with the substrate gas build up issue.
NH3/NH4 0.0
NO2 0.0
NO3 5ppm rising
PO4 >2.0ppm rising
7dGH dropped 1dGH
3.5dKH dropped 1.5dKH (I think)
pH 6.6 Which I find hard to believe as I'm not injecting CO2 or adding buffers to the water column. Based on pH/KH/CO2 tables this would be 26ppm. With an air driven filter sponge again I don't believe it to be accurate but am at a loss as to how to explain it.


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## wkndracer

*Needed update*

This weekend better be a calm one at my house. Its been a hard week. Before and now pics.
5/7/09








5/19/09 Ceratopteris thalictroides / water sprite is the best preforming plant so far.








5/7/09








5/19/09 gaining size and growth old wilt disappearing.








Bacopa going emerged growth through the grid.








My Wallie baby now swims right along side *BB* and holds it's own at feeding time. Some of the lower Bacopa leaves are browning, not sure if it's shading under higher growth or another issue.








I'll call grass shrimp GHOST shrimp in this tank because they can disappear. 

















Full Tank shot after 21 days set up.









There haven't been any more gas eruptions out of the substrate.
The Repens are 70/30 on lower stem rot issues. The Narrow Leaf Sag is slow to put out new leaves but no dead plants.


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## wkndracer

*Water Parameters*

Pre light period water tests today.
pH 7.2, 6.5 dKH, 7 dGH, NO2 0.0, NH3/NH4 0.0, NO3 >5ppm - <10ppm, PO4 (slightly)>2ppm.

Last water change 5/8/09 

Diatoms are nearly gone with just two otto's in the tank. Lower Bacopa leaves are sill dropping. Phosphate is high but not not crazy high, just over 2ppm. The desire to dose ferts is hard to resist but water looks good by test results and not dosing is the whole point.

Bumping GH with Ca and Mg. (target 8-9 dGH)

Shut down the air to the added filter sponge today and watching the tank.


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## wkndracer

Pre light testing results.
7.1pH, 5.5dKH (1dKH drop), 10dGH, NO3 >5ppm - <10ppm (no change), PO4 >2ppm - <5ppm (rising), NO2 0.0, NH3/NH4 0.0
Last water change still 5/8/09. Added 2 gallons of Edwards Discus Mix @ 10dGH, 3.5dKH replacing evaporation.
The 5.5dKH is too high for a reading of 7.1pH so the soil sub and the bacteria in it must be giving off CO2. The air driven filter sponge has not been restarted.

Lower Bacopa leaves are still dropping as the other stem issues are continuing. I'm not sure if the light is sufficient at the raised level I have them installed at or its related to the substrate gassing. Time will tell. I'm not unhappy with the tank.

Angels, otto's, shrimp and MTS are all doing well.


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## chunkylover817

are you fighiting any algae problems???


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## wkndracer

Hello chunkylover817, sorry for the delay in response but life has been very busy.
The only algae other than diatoms starting out were dealt with yesterday. I had pinned some Java Moss on the spray bar. (wrapped it around the end directly in the flow) The top of that and the spray bar itself developed Blue Green Slime in a thick coating. The PO4 level was over 2ppm so when performing a water change the spray bar was cleaned and the moss discarded.
Two water changes have been done since the large one on 5/8/09 and both were due to rising PO4 and water tannin. Bacopa Colorata seems not to like the lower levels of the tanks but growth is good. The substrate is still gassing a good bit of CO2 and other less pleasant gases.
Hygrophila polysperma has been added and is growing nicely, actually doing better in here than my other 5 tanks.
The terrestrials and duck weed I think are keeping algae in check.


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## dwalstad

Nice tank. 

I'm wondering if you couldn't put the lights directly on the glass? You can lower the water level a little to accomodate emergent plants.

You are losing a fair amount of light by having the lights raised so far above. Also, I hope that lights are on for at least 12 hr.

You're getting okay plant growth, but I think you would get much better growth with more light. Better growth means the plants can protect themselves better in that rich substrate. That means better growth and a healthier, less anaerobic substrate.


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## wkndracer

Hi Ms. D,
Finally received my copy of your book last week!:biggrin:
While I'm sure your correct about growth improvement the lights aren't as high off the tank as they appear in the photos I think. Tank top to bulb is 6 1/2". My current T5 assemblies have 3" legs so this is just over double. 2.3wpg total 2-6500k cri 78, 2-5000k cri 86 bulbs. I’m believing there to be easily 1.5wpg at the substrate with clear water. The crypts in this tank are growing very well and better by far than my traditional mixed sub in the 55/10 office arrangement. I need to update the pictures showing the new growth as I'm more than satisfied. My wife objected to the higher light levels in this area of the kitchen and mounting the lights under the counter was a compromise. I really like the terrestrials establishing in the egg crate along the back as well. 
The MTS introduced have established themselves also as new tiny ones were visible on the glass last night. They will help a great deal with the substrate also I'm sure.

It''s all been set up for only about 7 weeks (47 days I think) at this point.


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## dwalstad

wkndracer said:


> Hi Ms. D,
> I need to update the pictures showing the new growth as I'm more than satisfied.


Well now, this is what counts.


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## wkndracer

*Flowering Bacopa*

This is cool to me. The emerged stem opened a blossom today.


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## dwalstad

Very nice. Look's like we've got a winner!


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## Oonagh

Hi, I'm getting ready to set up my first El Natural tank, and I just want to say, this is one of the most enjoyable threads on a new set-up that I've read. Thanks for sharing all the detailed information, it's great to see the progress of your lovely tank.


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## wkndracer

Hello Oonagh,
Thanks for the comment on the tank  It's been fun and at times exciting as it develops. 
The very best of luck to you starting yours. :welcome:
I've added two more mid sized domestic (born here in my home) angels bringing the angel count to four. Five otto cats, ??? MTS although as I add or trim plants I can find some easily they are yet to be over running the tank. The shrimp numbers are dropping due to the angels catching them from time to time in the open. I tried last weekend to add fresh water clams and mussles but they all died in 24hrs. The soil is still too green I'm guessing. 

I still have substrate gases but no mounding or eruptions anymore. I missed another flower yesterday as they only last about a day then wilt under the lights. I've been busy for two nights after work tending to my high tech/high maintenance tanks  

The last water change was 10 days ago and tonights readings are as follows;
TDS 432ppm, pH 7.1, NO3 5ppm, PO4 1ppm, 9dGH, 5dKH, CO2 11.91ppm based on the math between pH and KH values. I have a low tech 55/10 set up in another room with plain old gravel and CO2 was 9.46ppm (again based on the math) With the readings it appears that after 1 1/2 months the soil is still giving me free CO2 \\/

I'll post pics in the next couple of days as activities allow.


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## wkndracer

*Modified flow*

Modified my water circulation this week. 
The Marineland Penguin 1140 states a measured flow of 300gph. Huge when localized in a 55g tank and I just couldn't eliminate the flattening of some plants somewhere in the tank. The plus is that it has the juice to push the water through an Aqua UV and still circulate the tank. Using ½" PVC and Krylon Fusion spray paint I've made a tank length spray bar. Still showing surface ripples in some areas but it distributes the flow tank wide nicely. The power head connected to the DIY spray bar equipped with a Marineland reverse flow sponge kit is still the only "filteration" in the tank. This removes any large partials while leaving everything for the plants. It's very easily serviced and is working quit well so far. Other than when I used the air driven sponge to help the tank over the hump as the soil cycled converting to a submerged state its still the only thing in the tank other than fish, weeds and a heater.


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## Barnsten

Have you had any spawns in this tank or is it still to new?
My angel's eat their eggs with any higher lighting, and I have lower lighting with just fluorescent lights that come with the 55 gallon walmart kits. 
I have had them successfully raise their eggs to fry, but they eat them shortly after, I have been told to get more covering to lower the lighting in the tank as the swimming fry are just too delicious to resist, LOL.


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## Barnsten

I am going to plant either a red tiger lotus bulb or a dwarf lily bulb into the tank and allow it to grow floating leaves, that will help dim the lighting and decrease baby eating 
My goal is not to raise Angel's but I would love to see the process at least once, LOL.
I also want to see my Angel's raise their own babies.

Amber


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## wkndracer

Hi and thanx for the posts and interest in spawning angels. Sorry to take so long responding but we were out of town. This will be is a grow out / overflow tank. My current spawning pair are in another tank. It's posted in a journal on TPT site. The light DOES NOT need to be kept low for angels to breed and raise fry something else is happening. After lights out and the tank going dark is when I've lost fry to predation. Proper food is critical BBS is best for free swimmers. I'm over loaded at present and allowing nature to take its course wanting only a few survivors. As your pair mature they will stop eating they're spawns.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/87012-55g-low-tech-angel-tank-56k.html


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## Barnsten

Good to know on the lighting situation, my goal is not to breed my 2 Angel's but to allow them to live happily in their own tank, and if that includes babies then so be it. I will be moving any surviving babies into my 125 gallon NPT after they are at the fin nipping age (I think that is about 4 weeks right?), when they want to eat their parents  Little cannibals hehe.


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## Barnsten

Will young Angel's (4 weeks or so) try to eat the mucus off of other fish too, if they are moved into a different tank from their parents?


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## wkndracer

The eating / nipping of fins I’ve not see as an issue to date. The eating of the slime coat is only for a brief period after the egg sack is first exhausted. I have 8 Briggs snails in the refugium and first stage free swimmers will feed off these as well. A good size java moss pile or similar plant helps a great deal as the babies naturally eat soft algae’s and diatoms. Duck weed roots also are a happy find for baby angels. Regarding the fry behavior away from the parents they tend to be very shy and reclusive, hiding when any other fish approaches darting into the java mats.


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## wkndracer

Plants are growing and water parameters are getting more stable arty:

That said something will crash LOL.
Last water change due to PO4 was 6/14/09. I did a small WC to vacuum dirt from the early on soil eruptions on 7/1/09 but that was just enough to pull the dirt from around a few plants clearing the fluorite cap. Tested Sunday.
TDS 510ppm, pH7.3, NO3 5ppm, PO4 1ppm (finally), 9dGH, 7.5dKH, Ca2 40ppm, Mg2 11.28ppm, CO2 11.28ppm.

Full tank









Terrestrial and Emerged growth.








New spider plant.









More emerged stem = more flowers 


















Roots from above :biggrin:

















In tank growth

















I'm really warming to this easy to keep tank.


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## Veloth

It's tank like yours that make me want to start another one, maybe if I can convince my mother-in-law to move out I'll have room for a few more tanks


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## Barnsten

What is the emerged stem that is flowering? Looks similar to bacopa, but I'm still new to my plants  LOL
I love how you have the top set up so that emergent plants can keep growing up and have some support without getting in the way.


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## wkndracer

Barnsten, Veloth thanx for the comments and knowing your plants better than you think 
I just don't know if it's B. Colorata or Caroliniana as I put both in my tanks and they're hopelessly mixed and I can't tell the difference. (don't really care long as it grows)
Water Sprite and Hygrophila polysperma rosanervig have to be the stars so far on this set up growing very well as are the crypts.
Ludwigia repens have stem melted and been difficult so far with few surviving so far.  Maybe as the tank settles more.


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## Barnsten

I guess I'm getting better with my plants than I thought, LOL.
I have some bacopa growing in my 55 NPT community tank, it seems to be doing VERY well too, I think I have caroliniana myself, but not sure anymore, I planted so many things in that tank. I have the top of my tank open, perhaps my bacopa might grow a few flowers when it grows emersed. It's nearly tall enough now  The purple flowers caught my eye, my favorite color.


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## wkndracer

*Re: 55g Low Tech Angel Tank weekly update*

Well its here,  I'm over a month now with stable water parameters. :clap2:
Posting pictures would be more flowers and slightly larger plants. In another week maybe two I'll be trimming this tank. 
Sunday I removed nearly all the duck weed floaters allowing all the light into the tank. Also added another fish from one of my other tanks, an adult Flying Fox. This brings the total to 4 Angels, 5 Otto cats, 1 Flying Fox. (not counting grass shrimp) and a building population of MTS. I'll probably add 3-4 Panda Cory's or another cleaner type as time goes on. Along with some Briggs snails when I'm brave enough to try them, right now the substrate is still pretty gassy.

Tested again yesterday; TDS 518ppm, pH 7.2, NO3 8ppm - guessing color slightly over 5ppm on the chart, 
PO4 1ppm :hail:week #5 :mrgreen:, 10dGH, 7.5dKH, Ca2 60ppm, Mg 6.98ppm (based on Edwards calculator),
CO2 14.2(based on Edwards calculator) I topped off with probably about three gallons this week.

As posted last time I'm likely to jinx something by posting it but I started on 4/30/09 for my first soil sub tank and in less than 3 months it looks to be totally stable. Other than the blue green slime that started on the spray bar (removed and non recurring) never the algae issue to date. Clearing the floaters yesterday I'll be watching for changes on that.

Thanks to everybody posting here for the help via information shared.
Especially Dianna Walstad when NO2 levels threatened my fish. Ms D I'm still trying to gnaw my way through several topics of your book as their pretty tough for a power plant mechanic (knuckle dragger) to understand.

Planning to keep up with the weekly updates


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## Barnsten

What kind of soil did you use for this setup? Just curious as to why you're having so much out gasing and I've had hardly any in my tanks.
I have had hardly any out gasing in my NPT, especially my upstairs community tank which is heavier planted than all the rest of my NPT's. I've also had it well stocked with fish from the beginning.
I have about 15 brigs with babies growing up, a growing population of MTS, 8 purple passion danio's, 5 guppy's plus fry, 4 platy's, 6 albino aenus cory's, 3 baby brown BN pleco's, and a 6 month old albino BN pleco (just under 2 inches for that one), and a growing population of cherry shrimp. 
Now that I just implemented the recommended Siesta to allow the carbon to build back up during the day my plants are really starting to take off, and my brigs are helping keep the hair algae in check.


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## dwalstad

You have a nice healthy tank that I predict will do well for many years. I like the fact that you have encouraged aerial growth. I like that you have devoted your tank's entire substrate to plants rather than rocks or driftwood. This is a definite advantage, as the more total plant growth in a tank, the better (in terms of algae control and fish health). You may not understand everything in my book, but it is clear to me that you got have gotten "the message". Bravo!

Water parameters look good.

I wouldn't worry about substrate gassing; that means your bacteria are active and happy. The bubbles are aerating the substrate and producing CO2 for your plants. This is a good thing.

_Ludwigia repens_ never grew well for me, either, as a submerged plant. _Rotalia rotundifolia_ seems to grow much better as a submerged stem plant than _L. repens_.

Thanks for the pics!


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## wkndracer

Barnsten, 
Thanx for the comments, With very few omissions (none intentional) this journal contains all details including timeline regarding this tank and its set up. Using soil with organics present I have no idea why you wouldn't experience substrate gassing on any of your tanks. It's quite normal by all accounts I've read. Used here was Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Soil and the tank was filled to a level of about 1" with it after removing wood chips or any leaves, twigs etc. As the soil converts to a submerged state of decay out gassing is again stated to be quite common. Stocking fish has been left off for several months by some posting their tanks progress here on this site for that reason. Stocking lightly and testing is also recommended.
I tried introducing several fresh water clams and mussels (also posted) which resulted in the death of the animals after 24hrs. Removed to another tank they were fed to my clown loaches. 
I think its great that your tanks are doing so well. I hope when you get a chance that you will post them and share your methods. *The recommended Siesta to allow the carbon to build back up during the day. * This is something I've missed can you provide your details? Is this just an interuption of the photo period midday?

Ms. D, as always thanx for the comments. I hope your right on many years of easy care on the set up. The book helps.


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## Barnsten

My thread is here:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/63736-too-much-light.html
It was Diana that recommended the Siesta period, and yes it's exactly what you think it is, a time midday to let the carbon build back up a little so that the plants aren't wasting the light you're giving them (if you have higher lighting).
I did have a little outgassing at first, but nothing major, and every now and then I see a bubble or 2 go up from the soil. But it's not like all the time, I thought yours was more often or something, LOL.


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## wkndracer

Barnsten said:


> It was Diana that recommended the Siesta period, I did have a little outgassing at first, but nothing major, and every now and then I see a bubble or 2 go up from the soil. But it's not like all the time, I thought yours was more often or something, LOL.


Thanks for the thread link. :yo: It was good reading. Outgassing was HUGE the third week :faint:.
It actually burpted up dirt through the substrate three times and smelled awful but that was it. The mounding occurred around rooting fast growers like the water sprite. Once I knew what was happening I poked the mounds with a meat fork when I saw them relieving the pressure. Everything is settling down well now. Although if disturbed theres gas throughout my substrate. Great for the plants but an issue for inverts or mussles that can't leave the area.
The afternoon 'gas nap' is a neat idea.


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## Barnsten

I seem to have slower growers or perhaps the duckweed on top is not allowing them to grow as fast  LOL Darn duckweed is going to take over the world I swear it! 
So far I haven't had any losses in snails, and I can't tell if anything is affecting my inverts (cherry shrimp), but I still have small outgasses (one or two small bubbles) now and then, probably from the Cory's stirring stuff up looking for food.
I do have wisteria in my tank, but it's not doing anywhere near as well as yours, but it's nice and green, just short  LOL. My aponogeton's are the biggest, they're probably taking up most of the dirt space


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## wkndracer

Barnsten said:


> I seem to have slower growers *or perhaps the duckweed on top is not allowing them to grow* as fast  LOL Darn duckweed is going to take over the world I swear it!
> So far I haven't had any losses in snails, and I can't tell if anything is affecting my inverts (cherry *shrimp*), but I still have small outgasses (one or two small bubbles) now and then, probably from the Cory's stirring stuff up looking for food.
> I do have wisteria in my tank, but it's not doing anywhere near as well as yours, but it's nice and green, just short  LOL. My aponogeton's are the biggest, they're probably taking up most of the dirt space


When I set up this tank I started right off with floaters at the end of the first week. The DW would expand coverage from its 20% surface area to nearly 100% coverage in short order. Using a small fish net harvesting it back to circulating clumps is easy. Being in Florida I have access to clams and mussels of a tropical nature here in the lakes which since I was a kid would be placed in my tanks. The mussels are filter feeders and emerge from the substrate at night extending soft tissue in flaps above the gravel feeding in the water flow. I've always thought that to be pretty cool. In the shallow foreground of my tanks sometimes can be seen trail mounds similar to what moles do in a yard or field from their travels below grade. Reading your string I believe your providing more light than I do with my 2.3 watts per gallon 6 1/2" above the tank. My foreground is planted with Cryptocoryne wendtii DeWitt (Wendtii Red) (slow growers)
My guess would be something else limiting other than floater caused light diffusion causing slower growth. Shrimp do fine and have been in the tank since week two also. It's only the attempt to add clams and mussels that has failed.


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## wkndracer

Pics taken today.
left side









right side









Full tank









Emergent and terrestrials


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## Barnsten

Do you plan on leaving your spider plant, etc living on top of your tank? I thought about doing that somehow with my bamboo plant, but couldn't figure out a way to keep it suspended at the top of the aquarium.


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## wkndracer

Yes I'm leaving them as long as they look healthy. Some of the spiders will root through the egg crate into the water and the rest will live off the mother plant. The Bacopa stays until it's growth causes a shading issue. The Ivy I cant see being a problem as it goes over the side not interfering with the tank lighting.

I'll be extending the egg crate to the second lid when I buy another sheet.


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## wkndracer

Test series today.
TDS 507ppm, pH 7.1, NO3 10ppm, PO4 2ppm, 10dGH, 7dKH, calculated CO2 16.68ppm pre light.
I focused heavily the last two weeks to make myself overfeed the tank. Results showing an increase in NO3/PO4 show it worked. 

Going forward I'm dropping back to feeding every other day at a reasonable amount to see what the tested values do. 
Algae is still not present after a week with the majority of the floaters removed. So today again removing all new growth leaving only a token amount.


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## Barnsten

If it makes you feel better my lower lighted 55 gallon Angel tank isn't growing any algae at all either, but I have some duckweed and hornwort covering the top. I want to add another filter to the tank as the HOB on one side (came with the tank as a kit at walmart) only puts current on that side of the tank, the right side of the tank is pretty still. The Angel's don't seem to mind at all, and the plants (mostly crypts) and one large sword are all doing very well. Crypts didn't melt too much when first added to the tank, so they are regrowing nicely now. I also have a lot of java fern windelov in the tank as well, which is doing nicely, but as you can see the fastest growing plant is probably the large sword, everything else is fairly slow growing. I have some small swords that I was using as ground cover but they aren't spreading yet, they're growing in a nice cluster though so they look healthy at least. I think they are narrow leaf swords or something like that, small, growing close to the substrate so they must be getting enough light.
Are you trying to grow algae? LOL. I understand if you are because you have pleco's or something of that nature, but it sounds almost like you want algae to grow  hehe


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## wkndracer

*Re: 55g reply on why*

Hi Barnsten,
No I'm not trying to grow algae LOL  I can do that easily,,, you should see my hi tech tanks when I ignore them for two weeks. :icon_hang
What I am trying to do is give back to the forum with a detailed journal of how this tank develops.

Specifics on what was used, time line, issues yada, yada. :typing: The kind of information I spent hours looking for reading back through this forum when I was planning this tank. The weekly updates I hope will help others with an idea of how it stabilized and changed once flooded.

I chose the soil based on posts here and what was available locally for purchase. Using an off the shelf bag gives at least some reference to whats under the gravel. 
The details on lights, water parameters (the fact I'm using R O), all are here so why it works or what goes wrong should be either a good example or a horrible warning. 

Besides I'm not spending more money when I'm updating tank journals. [smilie=b:


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## wkndracer

*Three days growth*

I just can't believe the ammount of growth in just three days! INCHES OF STEM! 
A single stalk that was less than 4" long three days ago is now over 8"

Man I like this tank!



















New nodes growing also that weren't there three days ago.


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## wkndracer

Trimmed for the first time this weekend. The water sprite was taking over the whole left side. Other than harvesting duckweed this is my first true trim removing plants. 

New flower bloom this week also. Off the spider plant. :clap2:









Water column is staying clean so I'm dropping testing to biweekly. :mrgreen:
TDS 513ppm, NO3 10ppm, PO4 1.5ppm, slight rise in hardness to 12dGH, 8dKH,
Ca2 60ppm, Mg2 15.69ppm, CO2 15.14ppm (3.5 over my low tech gravel sub tank)


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## Barnsten

Looking good, now how about pics of the tank instead of the plants above it  LOL.
My water wysteria is finally taking off but is still no where as big as yours, but my aponogeton ulvaceus takes up most of the room on the right side of the tank


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## wkndracer

Just updating on nothing to update. LOL
Water testing after two weeks is still stable. 
TDS 408, pH 7.2, NO3 5ppm, PO4 1ppm, 10dGH, 6dKH, Ca2 40ppm, Mg2 19.17ppm, CO2 11.36ppm.
Plants and fish look happy and I need to add more fish 
I'm going to increase stocking in a few weeks as I have two angel spawns at free swimming stage. The veiled pairing produced a good hatch that I pulled to a 10g grow out tank. My wild/standard pair are parent raising the second spawn in the 55g office low tech tank. I set up brine shrimp bottles according to Diana's method of adding eggs and yeast to the bottles and using the same brine water continuously.
Once the little ones are eating flake food I'll pick a group to keep and add them to this tank.

Algae is still not a problem and this tank is just so easy to maintain. (thanks to somebody's book )


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## wkndracer

This tank is still just too easy to maintain. Trim the plants, harvest the duckweed and feed the fish how easy is that? With three tanks holding spawns of Angel fry I'm happy this one is just for looking at. LOL

Starting on top and working down with the pictures. Growth is just great just add fish food hoto:































































My little wally world rescue has grown into a pretty blushing veil.


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## wkndracer

*WAY overdue update*

When things were starting and new it was so easy to post. The tank has settled in and it's being enjoyed.
Keepers from three spawns are in here totaling 49 angels currently. A dozen given away and the clean up crew has been changed. Pair of albino corries, four otto's, and the fox remain.
The upside down cats got huge and went to my son's scout master for his tank along with four angels.
Water changes are out to three months or more and just trimming plants and feeding fish. Nobody wanted to sit still but here's the pics.









Rotten lighting but shows the out of tank growth.









My absolute favorite out of the group. Turquoise green in his back and fins that I hope remains as he grows. 









This smoky behind him here is running second.


















Diana if you read this please know the stocking level is temporary and water is tested weekly. As they grow I'm placing them in new tanks and or homes. Also thank you for all your help. Without it (and your book) the road to where I'm at on this system would have had a lot more bumps in it.

Hopefully with practice I'll remember how to take a better tank shot again LOL.


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## wkndracer

*Overdue update*

Well,,, yeah it's been awhile but the excuse is that life gets busy.
Tanks still up and basically unchanged except for the growth rate. The terrestrial plants and floaters were removed about six months ago. Crypt growth has thinned and slowed down a bit. Algae is still nearly non existent. The last WC beyond top offs or a volume over 10g was 6/6/10 when I did a 30gWC and huge plant trim opening up some swimming room in the tank.

Please ignore the plywood blocking the lights above the tank.










The water sprite has become a real tower of tiered layers the way it grows against the back glass. I've cut it back when the canopy shades too much twice. This is the third time it's reached the surface growing like this.










The sponge equipped power head (the only filter other than the plants) is now completely obscured by the java fern growing attached to the sponge. When flow is noticed to be low the tough little plant holds on tight while I rinse the sponge with a spray nozzle and hose. (I'm on well water)










The green mat of algae topping the spraybar is the only 'algae issue' to date. Not real happy with how the Krylon fusion stuck to the pvc though.

Thanx for the guide on how all this is done Ms D the tank is a joy to enjoy:kiss:


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## mudboots

The tanks looks nice and very mature. I'm glad to see the stems trimmed up to allow more swimming space for your angels. That is an impressive watersprite specimen.


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## wkndracer

mudboots said:


> The tanks looks nice and very mature. I'm glad to see the stems trimmed up to allow more swimming space for your angels. That is an impressive watersprite specimen.


Thanks for the reply. Seems the more the tank ages the better it gets. :clap2:
The stems were hard to maintain when the tanks substrate was 'green' and still gassing but that ended months ago. Diana's method of natural balance truly does work in the long run. Unlike my other tanks there never seems to be 'old tank syndrome'. Med. and high light systems seem to require changing things up about twice a year. Early on starting this tank I used plants from my other tanks and she nicely scolded me regarding chemical additions. Starting 2 more tanks as time allows and soil will the base for both of them.


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## fishyjoe24

looks good nice commons, and common veils.. they plants have no problem with the heat being up that high? I've had hard problem with stem plants and angels because my angels liked warm water plants. now i went to low light, and have low light plants and my angels like there swords and my 55g is a lot more stable.


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## wkndracer

All my tanks range in temperature from 75-82°F depending on the season and lighting system I'm using. The suspended T8 lighting doesn't lend much heat to this tank so it stay's cooler at around 76-78°F most of the time. No problem for the plants at all. While on the low side for angels they breed often so they're not distressed either. Crossed grow outs in the tank at this time included smoky, zebra, standards.


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## wkndracer

*opinions vary*

Saw this posted reply in a thread and just could not resist.eep:
*If you go back about 80 years and before, you will see that people did set up aquariums without filtration. So, yes, it could be done. If you read any books from that period the goal was to set up a "balanced aquarium" where the CO2 and other wastes produced by the fish was consumed by the plants. This theory is rather discredited today. *

LMAO grow baby grow. (soil, light, fish and water circulation from a sponge equipped power head)


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## dcderf

love the low tech!where can i finde the plastic grates you've used for the top and gravle controll?


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## penfold

The plastic grate is light diffuser, commonly referred to as eggcrate. It's the same stuff you see under fluorescent lights in office buildings and whatnot. You can find it at most hardware stores.


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## wkndracer

Thanks for answering the question penfold. I got mine at Lowes.
I'm going to try and get some pictures posted this weekend and update the thread. This tank is still doing great and additive free Yippie!


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## wkndracer

still here, flooded 4/30/2009 still growing plants.
No changes made, no daily or even weekly ferts ticktock ticktock


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## wkndracer

Three years plus now on the same dirt, no ferts, no changes (except the fish).
Thought I'd drop in just to say it's still here.


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## Michael

Thanks for updating! This shows the longevity of the Walstad method.


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## draftzero

Wow this is great! I'm thinking about redoing my 140g to the Walstad method. 

Do you have any recommendations on plants?


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## Angie

Wow this gives me confidence that my 55 may work this time. Thank you so much for sharing and the updates.


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