A tale of 4 tanks

[TheTenthDoctor]

WOW

 

[seangee]

To be fair after a few months of high tech I am about ready to strip it out never had so much algae. If it wasn’t for the amount my light cost I would definitely be going low tech about now - I’ve just had to pull out most of my medium- advanced plants and replace them with easy stuff like Siamensis 53b.

Wills

I did wonder how you would keep that under control when I saw the post in your thread. That stuff grows like crazy anyway. Its a long time ago that I was seduced into the high tech world, so I can't remember if I had particular algae problems or how long it lasted, but I do remember that after a few years I removed the CO2 and stopped the EI because of how much time I was spending trimming and re-arranging plants every single week. In the end I let it go jungle. It remained very heavily planted until I broke it down, but the easier plants eventually outcompeted the difficult ones and the look changed quite a lot over the next few years.

 

[PheonixKingZ]

Impressive tanks @seangee, very natural.

 

[AbbeysDad]

I am ok with planted tanks without fish. I am also (mostly) OK with serious fishkeepers who choose high tech as long as the fish come first. What really annoys me is when someone responds to a correct suggestion in a "help my fish are sick / dying" thread with "Can't do that it might hurt my plants".

The 'problem' that I kindof have with high tech is that the focus seems to be on plants with little regard for fish health. Bright light, excess ferts, and higher than normal CO2 are great conditions for plants, but likely not so much for fish. I certainly can't say how much harm is done to fish in high tech tanks, only that from the fishes perspective, conditions are harsher and life spans may very well be reduced. Of course the high tech plant people prefer to think that their fish are just fine. That EI salts and high levels of light and CO2 don't affect the fish. I just have a different opinion and prefer a simpler, more natural approach to fishkeeping.

 

[Wills]

The 'problem' that I kindof have with high tech is that the focus seems to be on plants with little regard for fish health. Bright light, excess ferts, and higher than normal CO2 are great conditions for plants, but likely not so much for fish. I certainly can't say how much harm is done to fish in high tech tanks, only that from the fishes perspective, conditions are harsher and life spans may very well be reduced. Of course the high tech plant people prefer to think that their fish are just fine. That EI salts and high levels of light and CO2 don't affect the fish. I just have a different opinion and prefer a simpler, more natural approach to fishkeeping.

See its things like this, combined with my experiences of a high tech tank so far that make me talk myself out of it... I've not added fish to the tank yet and its been set up since early June. There is just something telling me I am not comfortable with the idea of it... what would happen if I ran a 66 watt light at say 60% in a 100 liter tank with an active substrate and a standard Tropica fertiliser? Algae pit or a chance of success?

 

[mbsqw1d]

See its things like this, combined with my experiences of a high tech tank so far that make me talk myself out of it... I've not added fish to the tank yet and its been set up since early June. There is just something telling me I am not comfortable with the idea of it... what would happen if I ran a 66 watt light at say 60% in a 100 liter tank with an active substrate and a standard Tropica fertiliser? Algae pit or a chance of success?

I think the problems arise from having 'young' plants. From my experience, there seems to be a % of plant matter that needs to be obtained before algae issues subside. Personally Wills, I'd love for you to stick it out with your project. Perhaps having some fast growing basic plants build up the plant mass first and then adding the more specialised plants later could be the trick?

 

[AilyNC]

Gorgeous tanks but tank #4 is my favourite tank you've a great set up in all of them, so you're not really lazy well done

 

[mbsqw1d]

Just to add to the discussion earlier concerning high tech plants affecting fish health. Byron once provided some links on the matter:

Aquascaper 600

This is my first foray into properly planted tanks, in the past I've kept to many diggers, herbivores and just descructive fish to succeed. But now with a smaller tank and wanting to focus on something new here we are! I've been posting a few WIP posts about this tank so I wanted to consolidate...

www.fishforums.net

 

[Fishmanic]

You should enter tank 2 in our sept TOTM. You already have your pic and description.

 

[seangee]

And this is what happens when you remember to replace the root tabs. I thought some of the leaves in tank 4 looked a bit tatty and realised it has been up and running for 3 months, so its at least that long since I topped up the other tanks. Changed during this week so this is less than a week later. Hygrophila now bursting through the surface in all 3 of the smaller tanks. Never did the community because I ran out of tabs.

The sword has also perked up noticeably

 

[itiwhetu]

Love this thread, I love your comment keep it simple. This is really easy, I think aquarists spend far to much time testing water and not enough time looking to see if the fish are happy.

 

[seangee]

Time for an update:
Tank 2 - minimal maintenance anymore. Its settled into a good rythm and I occasionally trim the hygrophila when it gets too thick or high and a root tab for the Amazon Sword. Removed all the floating plants because there is plenty of cover and shade with what I have.

Tank 3: This one gets close to zero maintenance. Its gone a bit jungle but the inhabitants love it. Thought it was finally free of duckweed a few months ago - but its back. Not a major problem as they are the only floaters so just get scooped out.

Tank 4: Still gets regular trimming but it is starting to take nicely and looks great from across the room. Ignore the floater it will get re-planted in a minute when I do this week's water change. No need for floaters here either as it really is quite dense in amongst the plants. BGA finally seems to be gone

Tank 1 to follow.

 

[seangee]

Hmmm - water change done. The floating alternanthera rosaefolia really is as much redder than the rooted ones as it seems in the pic. Perhaps I should send them all to the surface on rotation . My lights are only running at 45% but that seems to be the right level for the tank, so I won't turn them up - especially as that seems to be a contributing factor for the BGA.

For the sake of completeness here is tank #1. I may actually take the frogbit out for a few weeks to try to get on top of the duckweed. The lotus has finally recovered and I do now have a set of pads floating on the surface. Can't seem to find sufficient motivation to shift it back from the wall to re-attach the piece of black card that's dropped off the back. The hygrophila will grow back soon enough after its recent trim to cover that section.

 

[eatyourpeas]

It is great to see your tanks, thanks for sharing!

The more I read the more I am convinced that water changes are crucial, but substrate vacuuming is dependent on what the tank inhabitants are doing. I stopped fertilizing and relying more on fish waste and plants are doing better than ever. I am still very diligent with water changes and keep an eye on the fishies in case they let me know something is amiss. I think I have found a good balance between Walstad and traditional tank maintenance. I do clean the glass once a month since the ostracods tend to leave very little algae for me to take care of on a weekly basis.

 

[Fishmanic]

Nice tanks. You should enter tank 2 into our present Tank of the Month contest.