# how low tech can you go?



## amkbettafan (May 5, 2012)

greetings all,

i have been following this forum a few months now, and recently decided to get my hands dirty, literally! HaHa

so, my objective is really attempting to go as low tech as possible, meaning, no CO2, no bubbler, not even lighting (just depending on room or light from the window), on a small "nano" tank.

so far, i am still cycling this 1 gallon tank, and it's in it's 15th day. once the nitrite level goes down, and the cycle completed, i will turn off everything and move the tank from the kitchen to the living room where i have more lights from the window.

fyi, i have gone thru 3 iterations so far, have change the soil/gravel, change the plants, because some melted away, due to too much fert or too little light.....

the only advantage i really have compare to most of you are my location is in S'pore and i don't have to worry about heater, the tank is usually around 75-78 degree Fahrenheit and sunny most of the time.

lastly, i do need to get hold of Diana Walstad book, once someone return that book in the local libray HaHa! OK, i will buy it once i browse it once and keep it as a reference, of course. and other ideas I got from are from Tom Barr and Takashi Amano.

but, the objective is really is, how to keep a low tech nano tank without all the bell and whistles


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Many years ago I kept aquariums with only heaters (I'm not in Singapore  ). Substrate was soil and light was sunlight through a side window. I must say I tended to keep labyrinth fish mostly and kept a low load. While some things could doubtlessly have been improved (I'm working on that right now) I never had any catastrophes - I'd actually say they did much better than many people manage with their gravel-filter. I had my pearl gouramies breed though I left them unattended and only one of the fry made it through to adulthood.
However none were nanotanks (first one was 50 liters) - though I don't see why it couldn't be done if you're careful.

I thought I had a link to a lovely sunlit aquarium, but I seem to have lost it. But I found this one:
http://www.trebol-a.com/2006/02/04/el-acuario-en-la-calle-articulo/

It's in Spanish so let me know if there's anything about it that you need figured out 
It seems it does use some filtration/water movement. That is the way I'm going now: heaters, more sunlight and gentle water circulation.

I'll be interested in your thoughts and any experiments you make 

Cheers!


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

You can definitely do this. Being nearer the equator than most of us, you have an advantage that the angle and intensity of your sunlight do not change as much through the course of a year.

I usually have from one to five such tanks going at any given time. I don't use heaters or artificial lights on any of them. As long as I keep any fauna at low population, I have little trouble despite infrequent water changes.


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## amkbettafan (May 5, 2012)

Thanks Mariannep & Michael for your input 

There is an English link to that Spanish write up, so no worries and I done a quick reading on it. It's amazing there isn't any algae bloom with a tank with direct hit with sunlight (advantage of heavy plant load).

In tropical climate countries like Singapore or Malaysia, the most common issue I would encounter is algae bloom and turning the water green very quickly once we have a tank exposed to the sun every day. The only good thing about this is, if you are into cultivating daphnia for your fries, the daphnia will have a feast! HaHa

The current water parameter for this nano tank are approx:
ph 7.5 (I don't use a pH pen, yet)
ammonia & nitrate is very little, 0.5 ppm or less
nitrite is at a level of 20 ppm, it's at the peak perhaps now

One plant that I thought would be easy to survive was elodea densa or anacharis but to my surprise, it melted in 2-3 days. Which makes me think, this plant do need a fair amount of light. It is so commonly available in the lfs, I am curious how they cultivate this plant, need to ask more.... 

I have a long long list of so called low light plants but currently am trying out the plants you see in the photo. I am not that confident that hairgrass will multiply and carpeted the tank, but we shall see.

Btw, I did add some mineral ferts (from ADA, very expensive) at the bottom of the tank before I add 1 inch of normal potting soil. And after that, I added some broken coral chips, and 3 Sera's fert tablets before adding another inch of gravel.

Since it's a nano tank, I don't think it's wise to over plant it, so, I am hoping the hairgrass will grow more and the tank will complete it's cycle before I start a new tank, with some other plants. Btw, I have 2 nice bettas that I am keen to transfer to such tank, so that I will reduce the frequency of water change.


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## amkbettafan (May 5, 2012)

recently i stumbled upon the common clover which DW did mentioned she got good results growing it.

the tank in the photo is 9 days old and waiting to be fully cycled.

surprisingly, in just 3-4 days, many young clover shoots start to emerge, many grew rapidly.


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Do you think the clover's not Marsilea drummondi?


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## amkbettafan (May 5, 2012)

mariannep said:


> Do you think the clover's not Marsilea drummondi?


oh that's a good question. i did some further research and conclude it's actually Marsilea crenata. Which is commonly found in this part of South East Asia.

Marsilea drummondi is probably local to Australia.

it's really a beautiful plant, the one i first started is yellowing, but the new ones have smaller leaves, some are above water level and some below. pretty interesting to see how this plant develop further.


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Cool! I definitely would like to see how it develops!
I really like the look of it, enough to just grow it emmersed if needed, but I haven't seen ir for sale locally.


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I grew some marsilea outside one summer. I just put it in a pot of water, maybe a gallon that was about 8 inches deep. I grew it in the shade of a maple tree. Once a week or so I just dumped all the water out and refilled the pot. Except for the birds that drank and bathed in the water no other attention was needed. I had that plant for a few years, brought it in for the winter. The leaves always floated on the top of the water. They never grew out of the water so to speak. 

It’s a fern just for the record.


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Wow! A fern!! Now I want it even more!! Thanks!


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## amkbettafan (May 5, 2012)

Bruce is correct, it's a fern.

new photo after i trimmed the dead/yellowing leaves









from the top view, you can see a leave emerged out of the water. the smaller leaves are salvinias, which belong to the same family as the clover.


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## mariannep (Mar 18, 2012)

Looks great from the top. I'm thinking I might need an open-top nano tank  

Thanks!


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

I think it is a very elegant plant, stately. I noticed the other day that I still have some growing in one of my tanks. It is only about an inch and a half high here is the USA or about 4 centimeters in the rest of the world. One might think it is the small one as it has just the one lobe right now but it is not. 

I assume therefore that it does need more light than I was giving it and maybe a few more nutrients. Still it doesn’t take much, I was growing it outside without any substrate and just water changes and I kept it alive one winter just with the light from the back door, north east. 

I don’t think the leaves will grow back so I would cut the stem at the bottom. (Is that at the Rhizome? I forget.)


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## amkbettafan (May 5, 2012)

am also trying to "revive" a few clovers i have in my aging water tank, which i left just floating with other salvinias.

this is for a second tank i am creating for another betta of mine.

below is a full shot of the tank with my black betta


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## BruceF (Aug 5, 2011)

Anyway my take is that if you want to do this you need really fast growing weeds. The more you plant the tank at first the better off you will be. Just keep bugging Michael he knows a lot about this method. 

I did get the Walstad book out of the library here. It only took about two months after I requested it for it to show up.


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