# Planted Tanks > Beginners' Corner >  Low tech nano/dirt tanks

## diazman

Hi all, just wanted to share my low tech tanks that I had setup using garden soil/potting soil instead of the usual aqua soil.

How i started out back in late 2011

Horrible setup i agrre  :Laughing: 



Used a 1ft tank to test if garden soil is ok to grow plants. 

In the tank are:
Water Wisteria
Water Sprite
Some Java fern and anubias 

Filtration:
Eheim 2041
24 Watts of DIY lighting

The result: Plant grew of course but it when out of control so badly that the fishes in it didnt have space to move around.  :Laughing: 

Then i decided to go soiless setup after itching to grow moss  :Razz: 



The moss grew well in 30C + water albeit the slow growth. Had tons of cherries in it.



Current setup:



Ignore the blue hue, photobucket did auto corrections to the picture and it look crap.

This tank is a dirt setup, using those cheap $2 brandless garden soil you can get by the wet market florist. Topped up by china brand gravel.

Plant list:

Bacopa caroliniana **
Bacopa monnieri **
Water wisteria **
E.Tenellus
Red tiger lotus
Java fern
Windelov Java fern
Crypt undulata
Crypt C. Parva
Taiwan Moss
Anubias barteri

Inhabitants:
1 Platy
3 Galaxy rasbora
2 Cherry barb
4 assasin snails
couple of shrimps

Equipment
55 watts lighting
GEX S HOF

Some may comment that the lights are way overkill for this setup, but the plants are doing extremely well, took off alot during the first month. (set up is going 2 months old). I'm trying to achieve a jungle like effect. Hope it goes well.  :Grin:  The sole platy,the cherry barbs and the galaxies get along well with the shrimps, no death so far. The shrimps also venture out in the open actively. Brave souls haha  :Laughing: 

That's all for this post. Feel free to ask anything you like!

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## bravobb

You tear down the moss setup (2nd picture) ?

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## felix_fx2

I have only 1 sentence & 1 question.

Lovely example of a wastlad tank, love it man!  :Grin: 

Question, did it have charcoal bits anot... ??

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## diazman

> You tear down the moss setup (2nd picture) ?


Yeap, tore it down, gave some of the moss away and put what ever is left into the current setup, not much of it left though. The moss was getting overrun by the shrimps haha. (only 1 tank setup policy in my home, mom's order  :Razz: )

Some did ask me why not go for a bigger setup. My answer is simple.

1) I lack in the scaping department for bigger tanks
2) Got too accustomed building up nano tanks since I was only allowed no tanks bigger than a 45cm setup  :Razz:

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## diazman

> I have only 1 sentence & 1 question.
> 
> Lovely example of a wastlad tank, love it man! 
> 
> Question, did it have charcoal bits anot... ??




Sorry for the late reply, missed out your post. As for the charcoal, answer is nope. I picked out all of it. a pain in the arse job but it was worth it.  :Grin:  Tank water is still yellow after coming into 2 months old lol! (that's for adding half a pack of sera superpeat =_=)

Anyway, here is the update as of 2 march. The bacopa caroliniana is getting as invasive as the water wisteria. I have no choice but to trim them weekly. So much for low tech setup hahahaha! The overkill wattage must have boosted alot of growth  :Razz:  I witnessed during photoperiod, there is tons of air bubbles rising from the substrate. Is it oxygen? The substrate is * not* anaerobic though. Sorry for the poor picture though, waiting for my new camera which will be with me somewhere during late march  :Razz: 

If you are observant enough, you can see the red tiger lotus is peeking behind the DW. I hope it grows up though. Although many would prefer it to be low laying near the substrate, which is what i'm getting now but it prefer it to be growing upwards, can cover the empty spots hahaha



More info:

25% WC every sunday + clearing of HOF
Fed the fishies once a day

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## diazman

Just a quick update, trimmed the plants abit, the bacopa and the wisteria is overshadowing the whole tank. After the trim, the tank looked abit better, can see the fishes haha.

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## felix_fx2

> Sorry for the late reply, missed out your post. As for the charcoal, answer is nope. I picked out all of it. a pain in the arse job but it was worth it.  Tank water is still yellow after coming into 2 months old lol! (that's for adding half a pack of sera superpeat =_=)
> 
> Anyway, here is the update as of 2 march. The bacopa caroliniana is getting as invasive as the water wisteria


So same as me, hell alot of charcoal!!!  :Evil: 
Barcopa is nice if densely planted and short (i think it's just me having this preference?)....

If you dare, daily WC 10%. very power.

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## diazman

> So same as me, hell alot of charcoal!!! 
> Barcopa is nice if densely planted and short (i think it's just me having this preference?)....
> 
> If you dare, daily WC 10%. very power.


haha. bacopa is my all time favourite. Easy to grow, easy to get rid  :Grin: 

I think i can manage 10% everyday. atleast until before i start school again. hehehe

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## diazman

Just a short video update on the tank. Excuse me on the background noise  :Razz:  The platy quite annoying aye?  :Laughing:   :Grin:

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## diazman

Latest picture on the setup. WC so took the picture along the way.


*weekly sunday WC, topped up with water straight from tap*



*bacopa, bacopa everywhere*


FTS shot

the tiger lotus finally took off but it came out too late, the bacopa began it's "operation D day"  :Laughing: . whole lot at the back is filled with bacopa and water wisteria fighting for land  :Grin:

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## felix_fx2

barcopa madness... total madness....  :Razz:  
they are crazy hardy plants. i grow them emerse without planting ok ! just cut and throw in pot... 

btw, top view very sweet looking. i like that alot.

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## stormhawk

At this rate the fish can't swim very much.  :Laughing: 

Nice work diazman. Wisteria is a super strong plant. The burnt soil for gardening you used, did you check to see if it had those colored pellets in it? Some brands come with fertilisers in them that might cause problems in an aquarium.

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## diazman

> barcopa madness... total madness....  
> they are crazy hardy plants. i grow them emerse without planting ok ! just cut and throw in pot... 
> 
> btw, top view very sweet looking. i like that alot.


A couple of the bacopa just break water surface though. trying to make them flower then it will powerful  :Grin:  hopefully they do. :P

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## diazman

> At this rate the fish can't swim very much. 
> 
> Nice work diazman. Wisteria is a super strong plant. The burnt soil for gardening you used, did you check to see if it had those colored pellets in it? Some brands come with fertilisers in them that might cause problems in an aquarium.


Haha. i rarely see my cherry barb and the galaxies in the tank. only the platy is eager to swim up front. i may have over done the tank with soil. wonder what will happen in another month or so  :Laughing: . so far been letting the plants grow sbit after the ladt major trim. and the water wisteria is creeping low as if its trying to mimic my e tenellus.

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## diazman

Btw, the soil that I was a brandless garden soil. Nothing fancy about the soil, just tons of wood chips and charcoal bits. There no fertilizer or what so ever in it Sorting them out was time consuming but well worth it. I then mixed it with some clay substrate and peat before topping it up with normal 3-5mm made in china gravel. Works well for now but i will probably have to invest in root monsters few more months down the road.. 

On another topic, would it affect the plants if i were to downsize the light wattage? Its 55 watts now but i'm thinking of swapping to Up aqua LED set. :S

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## diazman

@ bro felix_fx2

Did you manage to get your bacopa to flower bro? if so, any tips? I heard the flower smells like lemon..  :Laughing: 

I also noticed that my cherry barbs are dancing in a "breeding like" mode. Am aware that its a male and female pair. Maybe they spawned somewhere in the tank.. never see any fries though but i see my yamato munching on what looks like fish egg..  :Laughing:

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## felix_fx2

> @ bro felix_fx2
> 
> Did you manage to get your bacopa to flower bro? if so, any tips? I heard the flower smells like lemon.. 
> 
> I also noticed that my cherry barbs are dancing in a "breeding like" mode. Am aware that its a male and female pair. Maybe they spawned somewhere in the tank.. never see any fries though but i see my yamato munching on what looks like fish egg..


Yeah, emerse growing they flower quite often, glosso also flower.. both white... never smelled them.
The parts that grow out of water, keep them out of water 2-3 weeks. They should flower.. (more likely they will start growing out of the tank abit when that happens)

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## diazman

> Yeah, emerse growing they flower quite often, glosso also flower.. both white... never smelled them.
> The parts that grow out of water, keep them out of water 2-3 weeks. They should flower.. (more likely they will start growing out of the tank abit when that happens)


Think i should be getting some flowers soon. 3 of them already grew out of water for about good 5 days now. Should have gone with bacopa monnieri instead of bacopa caroliniana. haha corolianiana is too soft and flimsy that they are bending in the tank instead of growing up wards.

Anyway, here's a short update. The java fern is kicking alot of baby sprouts, but not really growing new leaves. 

On another note, DUCKWEEDS~!  :Very Happy:  haha. I swear they grew out of nowhere (i diligently clear every single one out) and suddenly, bam! another platoon of floating stuff by the bacopa.



Tiger lotus within the bacopa mess
 

Can you spot the shrimp?  :Razz: 


FTS shot


Trimming session soon?.  :Grin:

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## diazman

A few more. Before and after trimming.


The tank must have been a good for growing these. The bacopa grew long roots suspended in the aquarium water.


Every trimming session amounts to this. Into the potted plant it goes  :Razz: 


Aftermath FTS

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## ivantan

nice set up. inspired to do a low tech set up now

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## felix_fx2

> Think i should be getting some flowers soon. 3 of them already grew out of water for about good 5 days now. Should have gone with bacopa monnieri instead of bacopa caroliniana. haha corolianiana is too soft and flimsy that they are bending in the tank instead of growing up wards.
> 
> Anyway, here's a short update. The java fern is kicking alot of baby sprouts, but not really growing new leaves. 
> 
> On another note, DUCKWEEDS~!  haha. I swear they grew out of nowhere (i diligently clear every single one out) and suddenly, bam! another platoon of floating stuff by the bacopa.


You go find bacopa monnieri, i want that also. Please get and grow some for a cup of coffee.

LOL..... duckweed!!! check the underside of your plastic rim... they can reproduce fast...

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## stormhawk

You want duckweed? The surface of my 4 footer carpeted with them.  :Laughing: 

I actually need wisteria. Next time you trim let me know diazman. I can pick up the cuttings to replant my tank. It looks like crap now and my pair of plecos keeps re-decorating the tank.  :Knockout:

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## diazman

> You go find bacopa monnieri, i want that also. Please get and grow some for a cup of coffee.
> 
> LOL..... duckweed!!! check the underside of your plastic rim... they can reproduce fast...


I will hehe. Changing the scape abit. Since plants grow fine, time to swap the plant list  :Evil:

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## diazman

> You want duckweed? The surface of my 4 footer carpeted with them. 
> 
> I actually need wisteria. Next time you trim let me know diazman. I can pick up the cuttings to replant my tank. It looks like crap now and my pair of plecos keeps re-decorating the tank.


Alamak. haha Should have given you the whole lot of wisteria to you.. Was resacping yesterday night and i gave away quite a couple of plants in to allow new plants to come in. I uprooted them and gained over 1ft worth of water wisteria.  :Opps:  Will let you know once they go wild again. haha

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## diazman

Just a quick update. I tore the 45cm down and moving stuffs into a 2ft tank. Tank will be a 1WPG tank (yes 1WPG, very low light setup). Reducing as much heat from any of my tank equipment. Weather these days too warm, boiling up my tank water..  :Laughing:  last 2 days was high 33C.  :Knockout:

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## Lulu

o_o 33 degrees! But your plants seemed to be doing really well still.
Did it just take some time for them to adjust to higher temperature waters?
Also may I know what fauna you were keeping at 30+ degrees?
My tank temperature is about the same as yours and am thinking of what to keep inside  :Smile:

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## diazman

> o_o 33 degrees! But your plants seemed to be doing really well still.
> Did it just take some time for them to adjust to higher temperature waters?
> Also may I know what fauna you were keeping at 30+ degrees?
> My tank temperature is about the same as yours and am thinking of what to keep inside


33 degrees is not the highest still  :Razz: . The tank seen temperatures up to 35 degrees. The tank is placed in the living hall, away from windows and sun light btw.

I keep platies, cherry barbs, galaxy rasboras and cherry shrimps in them. They are ok as i provide heavy aeration in the 2 footer. Not to mention my cherry shrimps are still breeding like crazy in these temperatures. 

Just make sure you acclimatize them sufficiently and all should be fine. 

P.S: Not all the plants made it though, my taiwan moss died  :Laughing:

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## Lulu

Oh! My tank is also away from windows and sun light but its currently hovering between 31-32 degrees. 
Great to hear that cherry shrimp can survive! I thought I had to give up on keeping them. I'll look into getting an airstone then  :Grin: 
Sad to hear about the taiwan moss. Mine is currently browning in sections. Think I tied them too thickly too  :Opps:

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## diazman

Nevertheless, the taiwan moss put up a good fighting spirit ahahha. survived many scape changes, water condition, light deprived. Finally got taken down by the temperature.  :Laughing:  Switching to Java moss instead. 

The tank has since gone full air pump filtration. Near maintenance free tank, apart from water topups. 15 Watts only over a 2 foot tank  :Razz:  Will post a decent picture soon when I complete filling in the plants. Tank now "botak"  :Grin:

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## cephelix

Nice setup!...simple yet beautiful...
why can't my plants grow like that!?
finally got permission to keep a bigger tank?? :Grin:

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## diazman

Not really got a final word from my parents.. haha. the bigger the tank, the bigger their eyes go. I was able to negotiate on the terms that the tank wont exceed usage of electricity up to 30 watts.  :Laughing: .

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## cephelix

wow......all the best.if anyone can do it, you can......

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## diazman

Annnnnnnd here's the update:



Will be filling in more plants over the next course of months. Shopping for plant takes time  :Razz: 


No more root plants, all switched to tied up plants.

Currently in there are:

Java fern normal variety & the Philippine version
Windelov fern
Narrow java fern
Java moss (cultivating them on ceramic pieces)
Anubias plant. (Never cease to amaze me  :Laughing: )

Filtration changed to air driven pump : Diy-ed K1 filled bottle & internal submersible pump

I cant express how clear the water is after i switched to K1. No surface scum for one particular matter, cant even see tiny particles floating about the tank. *No water change for this tank btw. It is my intention to allow the plants do the work. All I have to do is to top up evaporated water.*


And for the main event, the tank is illuminated by only 15 Watts of lighting, 9 hours a day. Total WPG brings to about 1.01. Talk about very low lighting  :Razz: 

EDIT: Btw, i find something interesting though. After i swtiched to air driven filtration, the tank temperature seemed to be more stable 28-30C ish range instead of the usual 33C. :/

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## diazman

Short update. coming 3 months old setup..

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## Naraki

Updates please! Love your setup

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## diazman

> Updates please! Love your setup


2ft is long gone. The legacy of the plants however continued in this 30cm setup. Same old plant list and substrate. E.tennellus is moving realllllllly slow. and i mean dead slow. hopefully turns jungle again.  :Razz:  Water wisteria is on conquering mode again.

Unlike its bigger brother and sister, this mini tank suffered a long time cloudy water before it got to where it is now, ignore the front glass, havent clean the tank for Hari raya. LOLOL  :Laughing:

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## diazman

Just quick update. Tank got overhauled and replaced with new stuffs.





Plant list:

HM
Bacopa caroliniana
Crypt Wendtii "Brown
Java Windelov
Hidden from view - Rotala rotudifolia

Substrate:
OF aqua soil, based with garden soil

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## diazman

One month later..  :Smile: 

Anyone got any idea how to get them crypts grow tall?

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## bennyc

timing for trimmings already bro  :Smile:  haha

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## diazman

> timing for trimmings already bro  haha


No takers for the trimmings bro. Would be a waste if i do that  :Sad:

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## |squee|

It's better to trim to promote growth. If you don't trim, growth may slow down/stagnate and you will run into algae issues.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

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## diazman

Been a while since I updated this thread. 

Tore down the old setup for a complete rescaped and as usual, filled her up with some garden soil - followed by leftover aquasoil. Inspired by Diana Walstad setups  :Grin: 

Only about 3 weeks old. Hopefully this time I have the patient with the windelov  :Laughing:  I just love the ballon platies. They are so cute that they dug themselves between the lava rocks when they sleep at night.  :Grin: 

Plant list:

Water Wisteria (added later on)
Windelov fern (cable tied to the wood)
Hairgrass (perished)
E. Tenellus
Spiky moss tied to lava rocks (dying?)


Equipment list: (recycled)

Aleas HOF
Dymax Astro fitted with 14W PC lightbulb

Inhabitants:
3 red ballon platies

Parameters:

-Not measured-

Maintenance:

Weekend water top-ups only. No ferts, No CO2.

Picture @ 1 week old, in it's un-glamorous form.

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## khementi

+1 for low tech setups! On a side note, nuseries sell bacopa quite cheaply.

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## diazman

> +1 for low tech setups! On a side note, nuseries sell bacopa quite cheaply.


As much as I love bacopa, i let it sit out this time round for this set up.  :Grin: 

Just ordered a pot of anubias barteri var. nana mini and crypt wendtii "green" each. Shifted the moss and tied it to the branches instead. 

Pictures will flow in soon...  :Smile:

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## 112508

Nice setup

Sent from my ThL W7 using Tapatalk

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## felix_fx2

whats the thing hanging on the left-top side?

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## diazman

> whats the thing hanging on the left-top side?


that's the clip on light boss. hahaha. Dymax Astro to be exact.

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## zola0653

Nice and simple. More background plants to hide the cables and background will be good. Well done.

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## diazman

Plants ordered on saturday is in! IMO i cant tell the difference between nana petite and nana mini :S. Also, used a spare corrugated board to cover the back.. 

Lighting bumped to 8 hours. Now thats left is to resist and wait..

As at 12th may.

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## diazman

Top View Shot

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## Goalkeeper

Nice setup bro. How long does it take for water to get clear with garden soil?

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## diazman

> Nice setup bro. How long does it take for water to get clear with garden soil?


Thanks  :Smile: . Tank water will clear almost immediately upon setup in my experience. I use garden soil as shown below. These can be obtained from NTUC/Giant easily. Another alternative is the horti soil. I like using these two brands because they don't really cloud tank water, unless you intentionally stir them up.  :Grin:  And the best part of all, I've also managed to breed cherry/sakura shrimps in these dirt setups. 

The key point in dirt setups is to "sift" the soil, separating any wood chips, bits and some larger chunk of soil. 

**Images taken from google. Credits to individual owners.

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## Goalkeeper

Thanks for the additional info bro.

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## diazman

Just a quick update. While tidying up my aqua storage, i came across my ph test kit, so decided to whip it out and test water parameters. This is what i got.  :Shocked: 



Probably will be throwing some coral chips to keep them stable..

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## diazman

Just a quick weekend update. Nothing much changed. The E. Tenellus is doing well and creeping about the tank. Older leaves turning yellow though.
Water wisteria growing taller every day. One of the platies died recently too :/

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## diazman

Got the fertilizers in place. Doing small dosing once a while just in case as the plant mass begins to fill up the tank.



500g worth of Ca(NO3)2 & 100g of KH2PO4 for macro source 
500ml Excel for carbon source
250ml flourish comprehensive for trace

Tank turns 1 month today - quick shot 

Temperature in the day - 28-29
In the evening during lights on - 27-28 (fan cooled)

Also added in 8 neon tetras from Polyart

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## diazman

11PM Update: I got sick of dust forming on the water surface of the tank, so I whipped out nano parts from various small sized pumps, valves and leftover pipes for a DIY surface skimmer to work with the service HOF. Here goes:





FTS shot:


All parts are movable, so I can easily adjust for changes in water level. Works better than what I imagined, water cleared almost immediately after I got it to work. The valve salvaged from a nano pump also allowed me to adjust the water flow feeding into the HOF (For the win!). :Grin:  I am not worried about the device sticking out, hopefully the plants (or more plants added in later on) will help it blend in with the scape.

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## Forsalmon

Very nice setup. I have so much to learn.

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## diazman

> Very nice setup. I have so much to learn.


Thank you bro. I have a lot to learn too. Scaping in a small tank with butter fingers isn't fun D:. But looking at the tank set up by various pros here keeps the passion alive.  :Grin:

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## diazman

11th June Update:

Nothing much has changed, plants growing in, fishes going missing in the tank (Yes, missing, I have no idea how they can go missing in such a small tank, suspected they were sick to begin with, died and then got eaten by others) 

Also, got my hand on a bottle of Seachem Iron, adding as part of the fert regiment. Also added DIY CO2 in an effort to increase CO2 content in the water, which I believe is really low as my tank's temperature clocks in 31 Degrees these past few days. All plants are growing still though, including the Spiky Moss and a small patch of Fissidens I got from a kind bro. Last but not least, I upgraded the HOF to the largest model I could get my hands on. Wasn't disappointed, apart from the larger compartment, higher water flow is a plus point for this tank. Fishes enjoying it too.

On another note: Fasting month is also coming (oh no). Also, finally got my NS pes status sorted out - I'm going NS very very soon. So in the mean time, teaching my parents to care for the tank during my confinement period - To top up tank water. hahaha. I also won the Eheim Autofeeder in the recent Eheim Asia Pacific Giveaway, which will be very helpful in automated feeding while I'm away. (PS: Its not that I dont trust my parents to feed the fish, they tend to overfeed them  :Laughing: )

Without further ado, pictorial updates: Sorry if it seemed small, i edited them with a android app on my phone and they resized the pictures :/

 





Hope you guys enjoyed this journey as much as I do. Feel free to ask me any questions  :Smile:

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## Goalkeeper

Bro good luck with your ns. How nice if they planted tank in the bunk!!

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## diazman

> Bro good luck with your ns. How nice if they planted tank in the bunk!!


Haha thanks goalkeeper. Waiting for the enlistment letter.. How i wish i can bring my tank over to tekong. LOL

Just hoping that the tank not be overrun by algae while i'm away.

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## felix_fx2

> Haha thanks goalkeeper. Waiting for the enlistment letter.. How i wish i can bring my tank over to tekong. LOL
> 
> Just hoping that the tank not be overrun by algae while i'm away.


bro, still not yet enlist ar?
Faster go in, faster come out....

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## diazman

> bro, still not yet enlist ar?
> Faster go in, faster come out....


cannot lurh boss.  :Sad:  Wished I could have gone in earlier. Missed out June/August intake due to extended medical checkup.. Wasted 2 months review my blood pressure.  :Laughing:

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## diazman

While cleaning up the front glass this evening, found out that my wisteria sort of "closes up" its leaves way too early before lights out (12am) (already "closed up" at 10pm). Anyone with this plant experiencing the same thing? Should i be concerned?  :Laughing:  Or should i go ahead and trim the them?  :Smile:  Advice appreciated!

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## diazman

quick update:

Uprooted the right side of the front "lawn". Didn't realize that one of the mother plant grew long, making the scape looked out small. Planning to switch to glosso but until I am able to find a good source, it may stay like this for quite some time..



And the up rooting process resulted in this:

(Half a pot?) worth of e.ten and some hairgrass that grew back out of sight.  :Laughing:  Anyone wants this?  :Smile:  refer to my give thread: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...540#post779540

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## felix_fx2

> quick update:
> 
> Uprooted the right side of the front "lawn". Didn't realize that one of the mother plant grew long, making the scape looked out small. Planning to switch to glosso but until I am able to find a good source, it may stay like this for quite some time..
> 
> 
> 
> And the up rooting process resulted in this:
> 
> (Half a pot?) worth of e.ten and some hairgrass that grew back out of sight.  Anyone wants this?  refer to my give thread: http://www.aquaticquotient.com/forum...540#post779540


I'm finding time to decom my indoor tank. (but I just trim the day before lol) 
Come toa payoh find me if you want glosso.

Weather is really crap last 2 months and most of my crops died off due to neglect + late nights at work. 

But die die can spare you half of what I have. 

Can sms or whatsapp me to meet up. I need go Lfs to restock stuff soon... Maybe after payday hahaha

Sent from GT-N7105 powered by Temasek CM11

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## diazman

So I went shopping today to swap the lightset for a LED one (That was the original plan)

Instead, I came back with these...  :Laughing:  So much for self control. HAHAHA!  :Embarassed: 



Swapped the PL clip on lightset for the Up Aqua T series. It may be a bit hard to see in the picture but after using a Philips Daylight bulb, the LED seems to give off a blueish/reddish kind of light? Is this the same with the Z series? Hope these can sustain my tank. Was quite surprise despite the lower wattage compared to the Z series, the brightness seemed almost the same as the Philips 14 Watts bulb. Only time will tell..



Also, kinda made a judgement mistake with the lightset. Supposedly fits a 36 cm profile, but the wire stand thingy overshot, so had to DIY a "stand" using some left over clear PVC pipe. Placed as close to the water surface to maximize light intensity. Voila

 

In other updates, swapped the bamboo makeshift diffuser for a ceramic diffuser, was not dissapointed, it actually works for a DIY setup  :Grin:   :Laughing: . 




Also, got my hands on some marsilea hirsuta. My long time favorite foreground plant. Saw some glosso at c328, but they were badly damaged. Must have been out for quite some time. (rotting and smelled really bad)

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## limz_777

another way you can cut the bottom pvc pipe to vertically fit the rim ,cut and adjust the height

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## diazman

> another way you can cut the bottom pvc pipe to vertically fit the rim ,cut and adjust the height


Yeah bro  :Smile:  The PVC sits nicely on the rim. Probably will source for some clear connectors and work the pvc pipes a bit higher from there. Kinda hard to find the connector as the pipes i bought was smaller in diameter compared to the normal sized ones and i couldn't find any suitable connectors from my neighborhood LFS just now.  :Opps:

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## diazman

Been a while since i updated the tank:

1) Did a major rescape after some of the wood in the tank started rotting, fouling the water parameters.. 

While seeing bro felix's tank. Thanks to him i got poison on stone setups  :Laughing:  Raised the substrate from left over materials.

The stones you see in the scape is one huge stone I got off from aunty's shop, broken up into multiple pieces.

Planning to keep to scape for as long as possible



Plant list also refreshed:

- Un-identified crypt species (suspect maybe crypt undulata)
- Staurogyne repens
- Rotala Macrandra "red"
- Sole survivor Nana var mini
- Marsilea Hirsuta

Inhabitants : 8 ember tetras & and snails  :Laughing: 

2) Finally got a battery ATO setup going. No more frequent manual top-ups!  :Grin:  (thanks to melthazor for supplying the float switch!)



P.S: To mods, would it be possible to shift this thread to the aquascaping section? Many thanks in advance  :Smile:

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## felix_fx2

I will put a request for the move... When I have time to login Aq at home..

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## diazman

End October update. 

The crypts are doing well. Not sure which variant though. Marselia stopped spreading when I took out the co2, hence its incomplete lawn. Somewhere down the road the S repens badly melted..  

Hopefully they (algae) doesn't come knocking on this tiny setup during my confinement period..

Fishes include 4 pristella? Tetra, 2 ember tetra, 2 newly introduced Otto and approximately 8 golden clam housed in the HOF chamber

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## Urban Aquaria

> and approximately 8 golden clam housed in the HOF chamber


Thats a pretty good idea to put the golden clams in the hang-on filter, it ensures they receive constant water circulation and access to suspended particle food matter. At the same time, they are kept securely in one place too.  :Smile: 

Just curious, how did you position them inside the hang-on filter? Is it easy to check on them from time to time?

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## diazman

> Thats a pretty good idea to put the golden clams in the hang-on filter, it ensures they receive constant water circulation and access to suspended particle food matter. At the same time, they are kept securely in one place too. 
> 
> Just curious, how did you position them inside the hang-on filter? Is it easy to check on them from time to time?


I just utilize a metal mesh meant for tying mosses and made kinda like a cage near the hot outflow.

I understand that the clams need some sand for their activity, so I've been looking for a plastic container ( like a filter cartridge) suitable enough to be placed inside the HOF instead.

The clams are surprisingly doing well. Some times they can be seen "eating" off whatever got stuck on the metal mesh.

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## Forsalmon

I've seen someone say that the clams are high because a single clam death would cause an ammonia spike to wipe out a 2 feet tank. Any truth in that? On the other hand, where did you get the clams?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

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## diazman

> I've seen someone say that the clams are high because a single clam death would cause an ammonia spike to wipe out a 2 feet tank. Any truth in that? On the other hand, where did you get the clams?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I do have concerns about ammonia spike so I heavy stock the tank with plants, including floaters and conduct 30-50% WC to be on the safe side.

So far, I only had one clam dying to date and my tank water remains clear, no noticeable effects on the livestock.


The clams can be bought off from c328 aunty's shop

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## Urban Aquaria

> I just utilize a metal mesh meant for tying mosses and made kinda like a cage near the hot outflow.
> 
> I understand that the clams need some sand for their activity, so I've been looking for a plastic container ( like a filter cartridge) suitable enough to be placed inside the HOF instead.
> 
> The clams are surprisingly doing well. Some times they can be seen "eating" off whatever got stuck on the metal mesh.


Thanks for the photo, thats a good method to keep the clams in place and still visible to be checked on.  :Well done: 




> I've seen someone say that the clams are high because a single clam death would cause an ammonia spike to wipe out a 2 feet tank. Any truth in that? On the other hand, where did you get the clams


Yeah, dead clams will generate ammonia too, just like equivalent sized dead fishes/shrimps/snails, but usually if only one or two small ones die and the tank's filtration/beneficial bacteria can process it quickly, or there are lots of plants to absorb the ammonia, or there are lots of scavengers like shrimps and snails who can eat it up, then the ammonia effects should still be minimal.

Most people get worried with keeping clams because they dig into the soil or sand substrate and disappear, so when they die no one knows. But in the case of how diazman placed the clams in the hang-on filter, he can access and check on them easily, so any dead clams can be removed quickly before they cause issues.

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## diazman

I did originally placed those clams in the tank on a DIY suspended plastic tray but considering my tank size, i decided to move those clams into the HOF instead. Still waiting for the right time to upgrade the tank..  :Smile:

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## Kiang

Nicely done!

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## diazman

Just a quick update. NS life in a matter of few more hours. Gonna miss this maintaining tank in camp  :Laughing: 

Assassins bred in my tank. Knew there's some baby snails in it but couldnt capture them on picture




Also upgraded the reservoir "tank" to cope with the water topups.. Hope its enough to last at least a week but with what I observed so far, that may be pushing it.



Other than that, the tank is mostly on cruise control.

Question, if I leave the livestock with no food for 2 weeks, would they be OK?

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## jiajuen900

> Just a quick update. NS life in a matter of few more hours. Gonna miss this maintaining tank in camp 
> 
> Assassins bred in my tank. Knew there's some baby snails in it but couldnt capture them on picture
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Also upgraded the reservoir "tank" to cope with the water topups.. Hope its enough to last at least a week but with what I observed so far, that may be pushing it.
> 
> ...


i guess it would depend on how heavily stocked the tank is. If it is heavily planted fishes might be able to forage for themselves. Otherwise, I personally like to dump a pack of tublifex worms in the tank. They will burrow into the substrate and survive for quite a while for fish to slowly hunt them.

All the best with NS bro. If you're enlisting this year that means we're probably about the same age haha. I'm enlisting next year May.

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## diazman

Hey thanks JJ. Not sure if we are in the same age group but I 20++ old liao.  :Laughing:  which uniform btw. Tekong is calling me already  :Laughing: 


Tubifex huh? Hmm guess I could get some tomorrow

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## jiajuen900

Hahaha okay I guess not that close after all  :Laughing:

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