# My 3 weeks old low tech dirt tank, 20g...



## rcs0926 (Jun 14, 2013)

It looks very nice!


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## kenshinH (Jun 1, 2013)

tetra73 said:


> I think I am pleased with the progress with this tank. Everything is growing pretty well and even faster than I expected. Dosing with 2x excel and light EI dosing, twice per week. 40% WC. Medium light. I do have some BBA issues on the tips of my Blyxa and few grass blades on my chainswords. However, nothing that serious. Really like the simplicity of the tank. No fine CO2 bubbles. One canister filter. Very calm water movement and current. Yeah, this 20g is pretty old and I wasn't able to clean it well, as you can see from the back of the tank.


Very nice tank!! whats your excel dosing dosage?


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

kenshinH said:


> Very nice tank!! whats your excel dosing dosage?



Thanks. I don't use the initial dosage recommendation because I am trying to save some money with excel dosage. Two, I do weekly WC. Just daily 5ml, that's it. On the night of my WC date, I would dose another 5ml before going to bed.


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## kcoscia (Jul 24, 2013)

i like how you have the same plant in both back corners, looks great


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## Cokers (Aug 15, 2011)

This is...low tech? :icon_conf


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## fishtank (Jul 23, 2013)

im still learning all the plant types, what are the two grass types in the middle?

Tank looks great, I want the same kind of look in my 40 im building. Just the addition of some driftwood.


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## TropicalHoko (Jun 23, 2013)

Looks great, love the contrasting greens here. When you say EI 2x a week what do you mean? Just skipping 1 day of micro and a day of macros?


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

Cokers said:


> This is...low tech? :icon_conf



Hahahaha...low tech does not mean "let the tank to run its course and not knowing what is happening...." Sure, it is low tech. Light is a 48" shop light from Lowes using two t8 65k bulbs. The fixture is made of PVC. The light does not even have an on/off switch!!! Hahaha.. The tank is some 10 years old. My high tech 40g consists of pressurized CO2, medium high light to high light, heavy EI dosing 3x a week. Maybe 1 or 2 50% WC per week. The growth rate is ridiculous... How? Well, I planted about 10 Blyxa Japonica two weeks ago in my high tech tank. Right now, I can trim off about 6 huge stems to sell them again...


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

fishtank said:


> im still learning all the plant types, what are the two grass types in the middle?
> 
> Tank looks great, I want the same kind of look in my 40 im building. Just the addition of some driftwood.



The carpeting plants are all Pygmy Chain Swords. They were originally from my high tech tank but they didn't do too well even with root tabs. They didn't last long enough, maybe 2 months, before the leaves and roots would turn yellow. So, I decided to use them in my low tech tank with dirt. So far so good. The rest of the leaf like plants are the Blyxa Japonica. My current favorites. I even have them in my high tech tank. Those in the corners are the ludwigia ovalis. They were originally in my high tech tank but my black neons are eating them. So, I decided to plant them in my low tech tank. The bottom leaves are dying and not sure why. Maybe not getting enough light down there or just the plants adapting to a different tank condition.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

TropicalHoko said:


> Looks great, love the contrasting greens here. When you say EI 2x a week what do you mean? Just skipping 1 day of micro and a day of macros?


I modified my EI dosing based on my nitrate and phosphate levels at the end of the week. The tank can consume about 3+ ppm of nitrate and about 1 to 2ppm of phosphate, in the entire week. So, there is no need for me to dose more than twice. And my second dosing period, middle of the week, would be lighter and no phosphate dosing.

Sunday night schedule:
40% WC.
10ml of KNO3. Including the nitrate level which is already in the tank, the tank would start Sunday with about 10ppm of nitrates.
10ml of K. I don't test K here. Excessive K is generally not a problem.
5ml of phosphate. Including the phosphate level which is already in the tank, I would have about 5ppm of phosphate.
5ml of trace.
1ml of Iron.
1 tsp of GH booster since my GH level from the tap is less than 1 degree.
1/4 tsp of Mg. I have been adding Mg to see if I would see better results. So far so good as long as I don't overdose Mg. Overdosing Mg can cause the plants to not use Ca. 

On Wednesday night schedule.
Same as Sunday except I would reduce my dosing KNO3 and K dosing amount by 50%. And I don't dose phosphate. I don't add GH booster. I would continue to dose trace at 5ml, Iron at 1ml, and 1/4 tsp of Mg. I figure that the amount of trace is so little, it is kind of hard to overdose them. 

And dosing 2x excel daily. About 8 to 9 hours of light.


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## Saxtonhill (Dec 28, 2012)

Very attractive planting! I love the footprint of the 20 long tanks! I've got one two and will be setting it up in a few weeks to cycle.


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## shambhalove. (Jan 22, 2013)

So nice and simple, good job!

Perfect choices for a dirt tank too, i'd really like to try that. Trimming stems all the time in short tanks can be a pain im starting to realize.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

shambhalove. said:


> So nice and simple, good job!
> 
> Perfect choices for a dirt tank too, i'd really like to try that. Trimming stems all the time in short tanks can be a pain im starting to realize.



Thanks. Will post another shot tomorrow. It has gotten more denser now. The growth rate is sufficient for this tank size, since I am using excel. I have been thinking about adding CO2 to it since I have a high tech tank with CO2. I decide to scrap that idea..that's because I believe adding CO2 would make these plants to grow too fast.


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## tetra73 (Aug 2, 2011)

The tank is about 1 month old. The Blyxa got denser and larger. The chainswords got greener and sending out more runners.










I just added about 9 Amano shrimps in there. So far so good. With so few fish, the shrimps should be safe. For one thing, having a low tech tank and no dosing CO2 is sure easier to keep shrimps.  My previous attempt was in my high tech tank and overstocked with fish. The result wasn't pretty...mysterious deaths and massive died out....


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## shambhalove. (Jan 22, 2013)

Looks great!


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## adive (Oct 30, 2013)

tetra73 said:


> Thanks. I don't use the initial dosage recommendation because I am trying to save some money with excel dosage. Two, I do weekly WC. Just daily 5ml, that's it. On the night of my WC date, I would dose another 5ml before going to bed.


"Before going to bed" - meaning at night. Not sure why you would dose Excel at that time. The plants dont wake up till the next photoperiod unless its in the night for your plants. See what I am saying?


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## foxbat426 (Jan 6, 2006)

Hi, can you list all the plants you have in there - i like your selection!!

Thx, john


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## Kntry (Dec 26, 2013)

What is the pvc on the ends of the tank?

Looks awesome!


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## peachii (Jun 1, 2013)

Pretty sure the pvc is the DIY light fixture stand.


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## JJVanier (Feb 4, 2014)

The line between low tech, and high tech has been fuzzy lately, I would still consider this build low tech, because of the use of soil, shop lighting, no diy/pressurized co2. Beautiful tank btw!


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