Low-tech Planted Tank

[charlie4486]

I went to a lfs and i saw 29 gallon tank that had some very nice plant growth (not award winning or anything but decent). So it really caught my eye and i started talking to the owner and he showed me what was under the hood (so to speak) and to my surprise i see 2 30w spiral fluorescent bulbs. The same kind you would use for a lamp or something like that. well to say the least i was inspired to try out my own low tech planted tank. so i started out with a 50g tank that i got off Craigslist for $40. Stripped the tubes out of the housing unit and went to my local home improvement store and got some timers, light bulb sockets with leads, 2x40w spiral daylight bulbs, and some switches to be able to turn the light on and off manually. I also got some cold cathide lights for my DIY moonlights. I got everything hooked up in about 20 mins and it everything works great. i will get some pics up tomorrow of what it looks like so far.

 

[Underwurlde]

I wonder how long the tank you saw in your LFS had been running for...

 

[charlie4486]

he said 9 months

 

[Underwurlde]

Cool. Did you ask him what type of bulbs they were?

Andy

 

[Azaezl]

Did you ask how long the plants had been in for? Maybe he just swaps the plants over every few weeks when they start to die off. If not then it will be very interesting to see how you get on growing plants in your setup

 

[RadaR]

Aye, I've seen it done, and the results can be great. Just got to make sure that the kelvin rating is ok for plant growth. The other hard thing I found was trying to water proof them, but I think a simple condensation grid could fix that.

 

[charlie4486]

Cool. Did you ask him what type of bulbs they were?

Andy

yes they were regular spiral fluorescent bulbs. the ones that simulate daylight.

Did you ask how long the plants had been in for? Maybe he just swaps the plants over every few weeks when they start to die off. If not then it will be very interesting to see how you get on growing plants in your setup

Yeah it's going to be fun seeing how they grow over time. if it doesn't work out, i'll just go to a regular lighting set up.

Aye, I've seen it done, and the results can be great. Just got to make sure that the kelvin rating is ok for plant growth. The other hard thing I found was trying to water proof them, but I think a simple condensation grid could fix that.

My Tank Cover actually has built in condensation grids. so i didn't even have to worry about it.

 

[charlie4486]

Here are some pics of the process. Not finished, need to clean up cables and such.

$40 tank from craiglist
2x light bulb socktes with leads
2x 40w daylight spiral light bulbs (energy efficient=low electric bill )
2x on/off switches (on the back)
2x cold cathode bulbs for DIY Moonlight with adjustable voltage
2x power cables with leads

 

[RadaR]

Exciting
Looking forward to this one.

 

[charlie4486]

Just as an update, i should have water in the tank tomorrow as well as Eco complete and black sand. I am ordering plants tonight but am first doing research on some low light/low maintenance plants. I will update with a list of the plants i order. if you guys/gals have any suggestions, i am totally open to them. thanks in advance.

 

[RadaR]

Just one question. How come you are getting Eco-Complete AND sand? Eco-Complete is fine on it's own.

 

[charlie4486]

Just one question. How come you are getting Eco-Complete AND sand? Eco-Complete is fine on it's own.

haha, i thought about that shortly after i wrote it, and realized i didn't need to spend the money on sand.

 

[lljdma06]

Just as an update, i should have water in the tank tomorrow as well as Eco complete and black sand. I am ordering plants tonight but am first doing research on some low light/low maintenance plants. I will update with a list of the plants i order. if you guys/gals have any suggestions, i am totally open to them. thanks in advance.

Check out the "easy Plant list" in my signature. Many of them are perfect for the type of experiment you are running. A word of advice, the spiral bulbs seem great in theory, but they just don't light as evenly as say a twin-tube CF. Adapt your planting to the gaps in lighting intensity that are being created, which seems to be in the middle of the tank and towards the back. Concentrate the hardiest plants that like the least amount of light there and plant the plants that demand more light directly below the bulbs. Anubias would look pretty awesome on that wood. In addition, many of the spiral tubes don't have a great color temperature, which is a trade off for convenience, I guess.

Look forward to seeing this up and running.

llj

 

[charlie4486]

Just one question. How come you are getting Eco-Complete AND sand? Eco-Complete is fine on it's own.

haha, i thought about that shortly after i wrote it, and realized i didn't need to spend the money on sand.

actually i changed my mind again. i am going to put some sand on top. after getting the eco complete in, it seem a little rough for the panda corys i plan to put in there. i will get some pics as soon as everything clears up.

llj thanks for the help i will definitely be picking up some anubias. how long should i wait (do i have to wait) to put plants in?

 

[lljdma06]

Just one question. How come you are getting Eco-Complete AND sand? Eco-Complete is fine on it's own.

haha, i thought about that shortly after i wrote it, and realized i didn't need to spend the money on sand.

actually i changed my mind again. i am going to put some sand on top. after getting the eco complete in, it seem a little rough for the panda corys i plan to put in there. i will get some pics as soon as everything clears up.

llj thanks for the help i will definitely be picking up some anubias. how long should i wait (do i have to wait) to put plants in?

Well, if it's low-light, I don't see any reason why you can't plant once you have your substrate in place and you are ready to fill up the tank. When I ran high-tech systems, I usually waited until my CO2 levels were stable before I turned on my lighting and planted. I don't recommend running lights until you are planted though as Eco complete is a nutrient-rich substrate and you don't want to trigger algae. Oh, and a reminder, Eco-complete does something funny with the water for the first few weeks. I've never used it, but others here have complained and I remember the complaints. Something to do with either ammonia leaking or pH rising, one of the two. You might want to wait on the fish a for a month or so. I remember distinctly people had to wait like a month for something to fix itself.

llj