# My no tech 8 gallon tank



## Indian fern (Jul 16, 2012)

No filters, bright indirect sun. Light 

My 8 gallon planted tank. 
Soon to be a shrimp tank

FAUNA:
neon tetras
long finned cories

FLORA:
Amazon swords
Marimo ball flattened and used as carpet
Ludwigia
Limnophila
Rotala nanjenshan
Rotala rotundifolia
Water lettuce
Anubias nana petite
Java moss and x-mas moss
Stargrass
Cryptocoryne
Nymphaea stellata
Dwarf sag
Water wisteria


SUB:
Garden soil with laterite topped with black sand


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## PondLily (Dec 20, 2014)

Do you get biofilm? How often you do WC?


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## wantsome (Sep 3, 2006)

Pretty cool!


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## Josh40996 (Aug 1, 2011)

I really like your scape. &#55357;&#56833;


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## Indian fern (Jul 16, 2012)

I have no alage issues so far because there are tons of ramshorn snails in the tank. I also don't do WC as tank is stable, just top offs once a week. I based the tank in Walstad method.


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## Cheops (Sep 24, 2014)

Very impressive friend. I have heard of this method but have never seen it pulled off before. Well done indeed.


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## Indian fern (Jul 16, 2012)

Will post an update pic of the tank soon . Rotalas have tons of growth and rearranged the driftwood a bit (added more moss too). Pearlweed at the back grows quite well (not seen in he pic as it was way to small) and the stargrass had 2 inches of growth. ^_^

Light in the tank is for night viewing purposes only. Tank is literary NO TECH, as in no electronic equipment :3


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## Booswalia (Nov 29, 2003)

How long has it been running that way. That's very impressive.


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## Indian fern (Jul 16, 2012)

It's been running for almost 4 weeks since setup. It receives bright indirect sunlight all day, but no direct sunlight.


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## PondLily (Dec 20, 2014)

Thank you for the reply. I also noticed my pond snails eating surface biofilm, so they most likely take care of it. I am trying to set up 2 no-tech tanks (1.75 ga and 5.4 ga) and very curious how your project is going on. 

So in this type of no-tech tanks no water changes, just add for evaporated water? My substrate is mushroom compost, peat and Ada Amazoinia, and I am curious how it will work out. How long did it take to cycle? Did you do any testing? Do you turn off the light mid day for a bit?


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## MissOddi (Mar 2, 2011)

It looks great!


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## Indian fern (Jul 16, 2012)

PondLily said:


> Thank you for the reply. I also noticed my pond snails eating surface biofilm, so they most likely take care of it. I am trying to set up 2 no-tech tanks (1.75 ga and 5.4 ga) and very curious how your project is going on.
> 
> So in this type of no-tech tanks no water changes, just add for evaporated water? My substrate is mushroom compost, peat and Ada Amazoinia, and I am curious how it will work out. How long did it take to cycle? Did you do any testing? Do you turn off the light mid day for a bit?


Beware of pond snails, they are very prolific. That's why I prefer ramshorn or nerites. 

I have another no tech tank which is 2 gal. It houses only a couple of shrimp and some snails. Plants are pearlweed, moss and some random stem cuttings. Receives bright sunlight, going for 3 months of no water changes.

It took me a week to cycle the tank. Adding water from established aquariums is my shortcut for cycling. 

Tank receives sunlight only, no lightbulb. The lightbulb is for nightviewing purposes only. 

I think your project will work well, just give the tank bright indirect sun to avoid algae. Lots of plants and snails will help too. Good luck


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## junebug (Jan 25, 2014)

The issue in this type of tank is generally in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. I'm curious to see if shrimp will tolerate a tank with no surface disruption. Even Diana Walstad uses powerheads to oxygenate the water and prevent dead spots, and make sure all the plants get the nutrients they need.

I have a few tanks that get by completely on natural daylight, but I always run a filter, not for filtration, but for surface disruption and circulation. 

Mystery snails are my only algae control, as I haven't been able to get the fish I want.

Also just an FYI for you Walstad Method folks, she also now runs UV sterilizers on all of her tanks to combat bacteria and parasites.


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## Indian fern (Jul 16, 2012)

junebug said:


> The issue in this type of tank is generally in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water. I'm curious to see if shrimp will tolerate a tank with no surface disruption. Even Diana Walstad uses powerheads to oxygenate the water and prevent dead spots, and make sure all the plants get the nutrients they need.
> 
> I have a few tanks that get by completely on natural daylight, but I always run a filter, not for filtration, but for surface disruption and circulation.
> 
> ...


My tank is going pretty well without much water disturbance. Like what I said in my previous post, I have a 2.5 gal tank that receives bright light, no filter with tons of pearlweed and mosses. It has been going well for 5 months. There are 4 ghost shrimps in there and a couple of snails. No algae issues and everything seems fine. Until now, I had no bacterial issues, but I can see a lot of seed shrimps roaming the tank. Maybe it's because I live in a tropical country where everyday is sunny. I don't know. :/

My 8 gal now is going well. My crypts never had crypt melt and starts to grow 2 new leaves. My problem now is that some pond snails got into the tank via plants (it could be the moss I recently added. The population exploded and they started to tear my limnophila sessiflora (its the only plant they're eating). I moved my 2.5 inch clown loach from my 20 gal so it can fix the problem. It's been there for 3 days and the snail population started to thinned out (although there are still many). It killed a lot of pond snails and baby ramshorns, but it didn;t mind the larger ramshorns though.


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## PondLily (Dec 20, 2014)

junebug said:


> The issue in this type of tank is generally in the amount of dissolved oxygen in the water.


But if the tank is heavily planted, the plants should supply plenty of oxygen, no? Pearling is a sign of water oversaturation with O2. Here is a pic from my no-tech, 1.75 ga bowl, I have no filter, no air stone, nothing, just light


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## Indian fern (Jul 16, 2012)

Yup, plants can supply enough oxygen at the water at day. My marimo moss balls flattened as carpet pearls like crazy all day. Same too with my ambulias. I recently added some blyxa and the snail population has thinned out because of the clown loach (just taking vacation there  ). College is super busy so I barely have time for my tanks so they are practically neglected. I just feed, trim and remove some dead leaves once in a while to keep the plants in shape. Still no water changes though, just top offs.


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## MoreyFan (Jul 3, 2014)

PondLily said:


> Pearling is a sign of water oversaturation with O2.


not really


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## jerilovesfrogs (Oct 22, 2010)

looks beautiful! i had a 4g no tech tank. i did heat it though. it had moss, java fern, anubias, sag, some micro sword, dwarf hair grass....plus frogbit. i also used a light. but other than that, it was no tech. no filter.....with rcs. it worked very well! i had to downsize, due to circumstances.....or else it'd be up today.  good luck.


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