Planted Tanks or Ripariums!

[ridethespiral]

Here's a two month old picture of my planted tank. This tank is a low tech tank based upon a method which Diana Walstad wrote a book on. It is basically a minimalist approach. The food I feed the fish is the fertilizer, and every now and then I give the tank a few mL's of trace elements.

A bit of background.

Low - medium low light with no additional CO2. This means slow plant growth, but virtually no algae problems. Tank should be heavily planted from the start. The use of potting soil supplies a great foundation of nutrients, and during decomposition, releases CO2.

Minimal water changes! After the soil settles in and the organic matter decomposes, there is minimal leeching of minerals, ammonia, or H2S(g), and water changes can be stretched out to up to 6 months. (Yes, SIX months, with the fish being fed daily! and even slightly overfed. Though I did experience a crash around this point)






Details for those interested!

75g Tank (4ft long)
48" Hagen GLO 2x54W T5HO 6500K: + 12000K, 12" above tank
EBO Jager 150W Heater
Eheim 2075. [Tray #1 EHFIMECH ->#2 EFHIMECH ->#3 Sponge ->#4 Sponge + 250mL Seachem Purigen]
Koralia One

My Wishlist:

ETH 300W Inline heater
A powerhead or something for flow!


Substrate:

Miracle Grow Organic Soil
Play sand (Might switch out with flourite one day)

Fishies:
17 Wild Cardinal tetras
about 20 - corydoras hastatus
6 - F1 synodontis petricola
3 - Golden oto's
2 - Siamese Algae Eaters
2 - Bolivian red rams
1 peppered cory



Flora:
Amazon Swords x2
Anubias caladiifolia
Anubias nana
Crypt pontederiifolia
Green tiger lotus
Hygrophilia
Java fern
Limnophila
Ludwigia Repens
Moneywort
Pygmy chain sword
Vallisneria spiralis

[1joyceh]

Absolutely stunning!! I love it
I have had fish...recently, but lost them during the freak snowstorm...power outage...algae bloom, it was a nightmare...miss sitting and watching...was so relaxing....
Please continue to post pics..fantastic job

[orchids4me]

Wow! This is fantastic!!
I always had a hard time keeping the plant happy in a fish tank or I'd get ones that would over grow it lol. This is wonderful !!
Thanks for sharing it !!!

[teh_Kibbster]

I attempted the walstad method previously, no luck. My ammonia would not go down and I had to just pitch everything.

I had good growth with Flourite, but IMO nothing beats eco-complete and I've got a pretty awesome little planted tank. Guppies, one cory cat (his friends died) and cherry shrimp in it. No filter, only water top-ups and a heater. Yeah, no complete water changes, although I test monthly with my kit (drops not strips) and I'm going on a year of just topping the tank when it evaporates. The most stable tank I've ever had in terms of its cycle, and I've been in the fish hobby for over 10 years now. I'll never go back from that substrate, but it is pricy. Only a 10 gallon though, one bag was more than enough.
My 6 gallon is similar to the above mentioned, but just a betta and two nerite snails in there. It's my "lamp" in my bedroom after dark.

I mixed one bag of eco-complete with one bag of flourite and it was enough for 3" in a ten gallon and a six gallon footprint.

My 90 gallon has 5 fancy goldies in it, so no chance of plants in there.

I LOVE (german blue?) rams! I've had a few, but I switched my community tank to goldfish after they died.

[pikkumyy]

:O that is absolutely incredible, i've been wanting a tank like that for ages, but i didn't know what to do, and now i've found at that there is you, when i get some time and money over the holidays is it ok if i send you some questions?

[katrina]

That looks fabulous!!

I never did planted tanks. I bred and raised Rams (one of my favorite little cichlids) but never thought to plant their tank. I bred and raised a number of other cichlids (S Amer and African) and they all uprooted, dug, moved just about anything in the tanks so planting them would've been a waste of time.

My all-time favorite fish were my Oscars (Baby and Bubba)....beautiful red tigers...and huge. They were a breeding pair and acted more like dogs than fish...they would swim into my hands. I had them for 12yrs and it broke my heart when they died. The male stopped 'performing" for some reason and the female ended up seriously injuring him during what would turn out to be their final pre-spawn jousting. Even after I separated him, he didn't recover. After he was gone she wouldn't accept anyone else in the tank. She died a few months later.

After the Oscars were gone I started losing interest in the tanks. Gave them up a few years later. I do miss them some days and I wouldn't mind seeing more pics of yours.

[krpot]

So beautiful! I had a planted ten gallon for a bit and then realized it's not worth the effort for such a small tank so I'm holding out to get a 55g or something with all the fixings.

[JudyC]

Very neat! Outside of my realm...I barely kept goldfish alive

[Jlie]

JEALOUS! You're biting me with the aquarium bug. >.<
I love your tough plants. I've killed so many of the fancier CO2 sensitive types, haha.
Hm................

[jpyerry]

That's a beautiful aquarium you have there! I wish my planted aquarium did so well, of course I only have a 10 gallon tank. One of these days I want to upgrade to a larger tank with CO2, but I think I should wait until I have a little more room.

But great job!

[ridethespiral]

Thanks all! I'm glad you appreciate the tank. It has been quite an adventure over the year it has been set up. This was set up on a completely limited budget. Stand + tank + lids = $100. Dirt + sand ~$10, Tank came with a heater in decent condition as well as a koralia water pump. The double T5HO Hagen GLO Fixture was $100. I decided to buy a nice EHEIM canister filter, which ran $250 on a boxing day sale.

Originally Posted by pikkumyy

:O that is absolutely incredible, i've been wanting a tank like that for ages, but i didn't know what to do, and now i've found at that there is you, when i get some time and money over the holidays is it ok if i send you some questions?

All questions welcome!

leave my food alone :icon_twis :angryfire







My favourites next to the Bolivian red rams (German blue was close!), are the synodontis petricolas. These two pictures are rather old, it's almost impossible to get pictures of them! They like to sneak and slither around




Golden Oto... Such cute little guys! I only get to see them like once a month haha >.>



Pygmy Corydoras. I don't know what happened to all of these guys. Either they hide under the rock, or the petricolas had them for snacks when I ran out of food for a few days




This was the tank when I first recieved plants from a local, Taken 11/21/'10 I believe. Just over a year ago.



Substrate! Just some plain old miracle grow organic choice potting soil


Picture taken after a slight rescape 01/12/11


02/08/11 [This was after raising my lights 12" above the tank in order to go low-light, thus the glare] It was so overgrown prior to this picture, and I spent nearly two hours ripping and trimming out plants


Sometime march


06/29/11


Then the most recent picture, I've already posted in the original post, but just for contrast:


I will take a new updated picture probably today or within the next few days

[1joyceh]

What an adventure!! thanks for sharing it with us

[katrina]

It certainly does look like a fun adventure. It looks amazing...I'd say you've done an incredible job w/it!!

If I didn't already know the work involved, your pictures would make me want to start up a tank again.

[hera]

Looks like alot of work, but its so beautiful that its worth it. I would stare for hours if I were you. Nice job!!

[digitalgate]

i manage to found my old photos of my planted tank.

[ridethespiral]

Wow beautiful discus! And tank

What are those rams? Or are they apistogramma's?

[Liberty White]

Wow, so gorgeous, both tanks .

Wish I could do that kind of set up. I'll get to it eventually but for right now my 20 gallon will have to do as I lack funds to really do what I want.

I love my Bolivian Ram, he's been my best fishy bud for quite some time now, I've lost track of the years he's been with me. I don't think I can ever get away from Rams after him.

As for the discus tank, they look like German Blue Rams, or Mikrogeophagus ramirezi (had to look scientific name up ). I love them too, but I've heard they were sensitive when it comes to water quality and hardness (need really soft water like Discus). I can't quite get that advanced so discus and German Blues are out of my reach.

[hera]

Where do you get your aquarium plants? Online?

[ridethespiral]

The two amazon swords and the moneywort came from petsmart. A few others came from Big Al's. A majority came from a local who I met on a forum. He ended up giving me the plants for free to help me get going.

I need to look into getting some more fish for my tank. I would love to get many more petricolas but they're a bit costly @ $14 each. Not as bad as rare plecos and discus lol.

Thanks again for the comments

[Neil]

Thanks for showing your tanks. Some nice growth in plants ! :

Ive had mine for over 4 years and the past year I have had problems with brush algae. The fish eat some of it but it well established.
I like to have a "Wild" tank so it looks more real, I also found that my fish have lasted longer then other peoples fish that I know. I think its real important to have lots of plants to add life for the fish.

[Neil]

One part of my tank

[ridethespiral]

Very nice

I lke how very natural it looks with the moss and algae. It's very 'dark' and 'wild' looking as you say compared to mine, which is more bright and green. It sort of just all blends. Where as I could look at yours for a long time. I'm getting bored of my tank. If I ever rescape, I'm going to buy some nice driftwood and pieces of rock. The lava rock I have in there is just covered in java fern and Anubias nana

The only place I have problems with black brush algae is on the large amazon sword in the right of my tank as well as the Anubias Barteri var. caladiifolia. The leaves that have been there for many many months (even from when the tank was first set up!) have been well established with some bba. It isn't so bad on the Anubias since it has gotten some cover, but I think it looks badass on the amazon sword as well as in your tank

PS:

What is that fish on the front pane?! It looks so cool

[1joyceh]

Great picture Neil!
what is that fish? I agree with ridethespiral, it is really different!!!

[Neil]

Thanks!

The one on the bottom is a Farlowella. the other are Rosy barbs that are over 4 years old (closer to 5).
Twig Catfish (Farlowella vittata) - Seriously Fish
The Mini Anubis attract the Brush algae as well as the drift wood. The rest is fine

[Anisa]

I love all your planted tanks. Good job everyone!
I love the natural look but I am not successful with water plants. My two goldfish usually uproot or eat them.

[Neil]

You have to read up as to what the fish eat. Sometimes their diet is not being satisfied so they go for the natural stuff.

[bumpman]

Fantastic tank! Thanks for sharing it with us. I really like your low maintenance approach. last school year some students in my ecology class wanted to create an ecosystem in a 55 gallon tank. They did it as a soil-based paludarium and over planted it with aquatic and emergent plants, and included snails, some guppies, shrimp, and micro invertebrates. Then they completely sealed it. All the tank gets is sunlight. A year later it's still going strong sans guppies (I guess not enough invert growth). Your tank reminds me of theirs ( yours is much prettier).

[ridethespiral]

Originally Posted by bumpman

Fantastic tank! Thanks for sharing it with us. I really like your low maintenance approach. last school year some students in my ecology class wanted to create an ecosystem in a 55 gallon tank. They did it as a soil-based paludarium and over planted it with aquatic and emergent plants, and included snails, some guppies, shrimp, and micro invertebrates. Then they completely sealed it. All the tank gets is sunlight. A year later it's still going strong sans guppies (I guess not enough invert growth). Your tank reminds me of theirs ( yours is much prettier).

That's quite the experiment! I wish I was into planted tanks when I was back in Jr. High as I could have entered it into a science fair

Anisa: with goldfish, you really need large plants such as amazon swords, jungle vals, and java ferns. The first two root very very well. The amazon sword's roots reach across about a quarter of my tank. The java ferns are very bitter and fish will avoid them, and you can superglue them to rocks by the rhizome, which is what I did until they took hold of the rock. The jungle vals, well, lets just say I started with like 4 of them and they cover at least 50% of my tank now. They're impossible to uproot easily, and I resort to actually cutting the roots with scissors before I pull them out. Little plants such as the pygmy chain sword would be a no-go. Stem plants could work as well once well established. One could even use Pb weights to help prevent uprooting.

[Neil]

The java Moss is nice in that it covers objects and makes a bush.
A bit of a creeping vine.


(5sec. exposure)

[ridethespiral]

Nice! I absolutely love your tank. It makes me want to switch to black flourite. I've considered trying to mix up the sand an mgoc potting soil since it's rather sludgy now and bits and pieces won't get all thrown about and mixed with the water. Once, I even saw member of The Planted Tank forums who didn't even use a cap, and used only dirt as the substrate. :O

Neil, you should check out AlbertaAquatica, if you haven't already. Great forums full of Albertans who just love fish. I get all of my fish off a member on there who imports them from different parts of the world. Got all my used materials and supplies from people on there as well. Aside from that, the cory in that picture reminds me of the sterbai corydoras. I really want to try shipping some in from someone one day. Cute buggers.

One thing I must invest in is a tripod! It'd be great if I could shoot off some long exposure, low ISO shots.

[Neil]

Thanks!
Been a member their actually since Nov 2007, havent been their for some time now though.
Love my Corydora, had 2 but one died, my fault I thingk, caught between rocks when I did a water change pouring water in (my guess) was missing for a week then appeared skinny and disheveled (unless flying fox attacked her but it gets along with the catfish).
They would do a beautiful dance together, like love birds. Have a video of it but its dark.
Tripod is a must, movement of plants in the water flow can be a problem with motion. The black stones are great and the fish like it, the only problem is it does not reflect light so areas look dark, however the fish and plants stick out better.

[Neil]

Here is one on top by the lights. It does give it a nice natural look, so Im not fretting about the Brush Algae anymore.

[ridethespiral]

I did a lot of work before taking shots today. Got rid of much of the overgrowth, found out that my amazon sword had a shoot with TWELVE baby plants growing, so I had to find room for twelve amazon swords.... Got rid of all the duckweed, and BAM, beautiful once again.

It took ~400 shots to get this one which I'm still not satisfied. LOL. Spent about 30 mins in total. I used my music stand as a tripod

ISO	100
Exposure	1/2 sec
Aperture	3.5
Focal Length	18mm

Click on link for massive resolution picture

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/-2...0/IMG_1162.JPG

[Neil]

Awesome looks great !
Get rid of duckweed ? the fish dont eat it? strange.
I removed my amazon swords in the first year, they over grew everything blocking light. Have tried numerous plants. Allot of them req high light concentration, mine is 1.5w/gal, so pointless for plants req 3w/g.
Funny thing is Java ferns dont like my tank and die, the Java moss thrives.

[ridethespiral]

Originally Posted by Neil

Awesome looks great !
Get rid of duckweed ? the fish dont eat it? strange.
I removed my amazon swords in the first year, they over grew everything blocking light. Have tried numerous plants. Allot of them req high light concentration, mine is 1.5w/gal, so pointless for plants req 3w/g.
Funny thing is Java ferns dont like my tank and die, the Java moss thrives.

Nope, the selection of fish I have won't touch it. I don't know what fish like the stuff other than goldfish tbh. I have problems with java fern too. It just is not thriving.. The leaves stay really little, but there are tons and tons of them. Could be too much light for them but I really doubt that.

[Neil]

Other people I know have also have their Java ferns die out, def not the light, im guessing the the water type (unless they like cold water).

[Anisa]

Where do you get your water plants? Local Petco has some but the variety is limited. I see that seller from Tailand and Malasia sell them on ebay but I am not sure how they would survive shipping. Any experiences?

[Neil]

Yup, dont order during winter from Thailand (eaquaplant) other wise is good (ice cube plants).
Petland, Pisces pets and Animal world are ones that I bought ferns from.

[Jlie]

Any updates on these tanks, guys? I'm resurrecting the thread because this is the reason why I haven't been hit by the orchid shopping virus. The planted tank virus hit me instead... I need to show and tell.

Oh, and for acquiring flora and fauna I recommend Aquabid.com. It's like ebay but more touch and go. But the best way to get what you want it to join a forum or community and trade with other hobbyists. Much higher quality, quantity since we like to help each other out and who really charges money for clippings of weeds? Some of these plants grow an inch a week, some fauna breed like flies. And you make new friends XD

Anyway! Enough rambling. I finally tore down my cyanobacteria farm (I know, really gross). I'm running low-tech, DIY CO2 injection, using some spare grow bulbs for now. 30gal standard.

Early scape, this is mostly the stuff I could rescue from my last setup from more than 2 yrs ago :X (The good news is that my Anubias exploded, lol).


Currently: I added driftwood with frondy mosses attached with rubberbands, and for fauna I have Sakura/Red Cherry shrimp, Tangerine Tiger shrimp and a variety of Otocinclus.


View from otherside:


I kinda want to mount my Haraella retrocalla to that part of the driftwood that sticks out of the water... If you look closely you can see the maidenhair fern sitting inside the filter. LoL. I'm surprised at how well it's taking to being put there.

Red rocket! Ready steady go!


Tiny Tigers!


My beloved frisky otos


It's got a long ways to go, well maybe a month or two before everything grows out. Ahhhh, I'm so glad to be back in aquatic plants. So glad in fact that I have two other tanks....

My nano, it's mostly a plant nursery. Home to random cuttings and my little orange dragon boy and some Cherry shrimp for him to, er, hunt. :X


My third tank is Walstad style with sand XD but no pics yet! It's too ugly just now =P but I DID mount my Gastrochilus japonica to the driftwood sticking out of that!
And ok, I'll admit it, I have a fourth tank all planned out. I'm supposed to be picking up another 30gal this weekend, lol. Yes, I got bit hard.

[1joyceh]

WOW!!!
they are outstanding pictures!!
Thanks so much for posting....oh oh...feeling the need for an aquarium resurrection project at my house...NOOOO..must fight it...AGHHH!!

[Neil]

Very nice !! love the shrimp.
Cant wait for things to warm up a bit so i can do some planting

Is that wire mesh u have on the stones to promote growth?

[Jlie]

Originally Posted by Neil

Is that wire mesh u have on the stones to promote growth?

It's just plastic netting from grocery apples or garlic. I tied some aquatic mosses (subwassertang and fissidens) to river rocks to keep it down and form a nice round moss mound. My setup is very DIY and I'm still very noob at this.

Thanks for the compliments! ^___^

[Neil]

Java moss is one of the easiest however some fish like to eat it, mine only do when their real hungry. They grow nice and fast in the right conditions, and latch on to rocks and wood.