# How low can you go?



## mrbelvedere (Nov 15, 2005)

Wow. It's simplicity is almost peaceful. There is a planted tank in my doctor's office that looks like it hasn't been touched in a year. Everything (low light easy plants) is thriving to say the least. It is filled with plants. And it has everything you aren't supposed to have (epoxy coated gravel, UG filter, crappy lighting, etc.). Simple tanks are nice.......but inevitably I try to "upgrade" them to a higher light, fertilized, CO2 supplemented monster.


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## deleted_user_4 (Mar 8, 2006)

How long have the plants been in the tank? 

That substrate looks like there's all kinds of "goodies" in it.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

About 4 weeks now. The Ambulia has gotten noticeably smaller leaves/rosettes, Sunset Hygro and a lonely Hottonia look great, and none of the plants are growing much compared to high maint tanks.

Yeah that substrate is nasty  Two or so years of fishpoop collected in the gravel, then I removed plants and most of the finer substrates and just left the gravel there. Must be quite "nutritious".


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Just for giggles, an update:










I upgraded the lighting to about 25W of T8 bulbs. This brings the light up to about 0.5 W/gal. Or? Since the light fixture only covers about 20 inches of the 4ft tank, one could re-calculate:

43 gal tank, filled to about 35 gallons, light extends over about 2/5 of the tank, 25 Watts:

25/(35*2/5) = 1.78W/gal

Just goes to show how useless the W/gal formula really is.

Other than that, the tank does well... no maintenance, I pulled out the Ambulia which didn't do well, but you can see that Sunset Hygro, Hottonia, and Vals are going strong. :hihi:


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## SCMurphy (Oct 21, 2003)

Hygro and hottonia are two of the keep em wet and sort'ah lit and they grow. They must take over shady areas easily in nature.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

Yeah, Hygro is one of them invasive things... can't even sell them to the LFS.

It is interesting to see the micro-fauna develop in this fishless tank. All of a sudden, Cyclops and smaller "thingies" jump through the water. I need to get a microscope!


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## deleted_user_4 (Mar 8, 2006)

You're going to get "evolution" in your tank... maybe like that movie with David Duchovny.


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

I might actually turn this into a Daphnia breeding tank :icon_idea 

Anyone ever done that?

I probably need to add some sort of gentle current... maybe... although daphnias seem to breed well in quiet ponds...


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## Just40Fun (Jul 15, 2005)

any update on this low low low tech tank?


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## Wasserpest (Jun 12, 2003)

I replaced it with a brand new 55gal tank, same footprint, cheap setup, low light and low tech, which is housing my Festivums and a Pearl Gourami. 

So, this tank doesn't exist anymore, it is just taking up space in my garage. The glass on it is extremely thick, which has kept me from smashing it until now. Maybe I bury it in the back yard and try to grow cyclops and mosquito larvae in it...


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