Mikaila31
Always Watching
Use dirt. I may run some high tech tanks, but planted only has to be technical if you want it to be. BTW I greatly dislike the "fancy" brands, green machine/ADA stuff I will not touch it. I recently started a low tech tank. I haven't read a lot of El Natural methods, I get the basics, but my attempt stems off of it. I emptied the tank of flourite and went digging for dirt. First off setting up a cheap planted tank is not easy. Washing dirt is not easy either, clay is even harder. Anyway my cap is sand and everything I dug out of the woods. You can tell too since when I filled the tank lots of fish food came out of the substrate and started drowning 
. I've also had a few plants try to sprout in the tank, then they also drown. Anyway most of the plants seem to be taking well. It did not get as cloudy as I thought it would. It has a powerhead and a heater. Currently lightly planted with some cheap spiral compact bulbs. Its not even two weeks old. Its currently crystal clear and has 4 fish, some cherry shrimp, and snails in it. BTW there is no reason to cycle a planted tank, mine doesn't have a filter anyway...
. I've also had a few plants try to sprout in the tank, then they also drown. Anyway most of the plants seem to be taking well. It did not get as cloudy as I thought it would. It has a powerhead and a heater. Currently lightly planted with some cheap spiral compact bulbs. Its not even two weeks old. Its currently crystal clear and has 4 fish, some cherry shrimp, and snails in it. BTW there is no reason to cycle a planted tank, mine doesn't have a filter anyway...
