Freshwater tank setup

Hi all

Recently i stripped down my marine tank so need something to fill the gap............the only critieria for the new setup is that it must be freshwater and as low maintenance as possible as the reason the marine went was that i couldn,t commit the time to keep it in top shape.

I am tinkering with the idea of a low tech planted tank.........just a basic setup with some plants that do not need loads of light and defo no CO2.............the video attached is one that i like and at the moment its the setup i am leaning towards





Can anyone advise what would be suitable plants for such a setup??

What is the best substrate for such a set-up.............i would like the option to plant a few plants in the susbrate so is there anything i can do in the tank setup that will give me that option if say 2 months down the road i decide to add a few plants........i don,t want to have to pull the tank apart to add a few plants :roll:

At the setup stage i am definately going to add some plants or moss to the wood i put in the tank similar to the video, any suggestions which one would do.


Cheers

Jeff

Jeff,

I have pretty much that set-up, a few Java Fern attached to the Wood, 5 mm of White Sand on the bottom, that's it, and I love how it looks, you could throw Salvinia on the surface , it reduces the penetration of light and givesa lovely glow to the Set-up, it also grows very quickly, sucking up nitrates etc, when it grows too much, collect and throw it on the compost heap, win win.

Kev.

Hi Kev

What type of white sand do you have........do you have any plants growing in it or is it all stuck to the wood?

Amy pics?

What lights do you have on the tank Kev............i am planning on reusing my TMC aquaray led lights on this new setup but they are 15,000k and 20,000k so don,t know if they will do but i just love the shimmer effect they give to the tank.

The Salvinia on the surface is a great idea i love that the light does not pentrate uniformly into the tank i must try it out.

Cheers

Jeff

I'll go into more detail later but not really much to it , here's a poor Video shot with iPhone after a water change and a feed.



And an original, clearer one without the Plants.



Kev.

Heh , one of my dreams, 350l+ dark water aquarium

Nice one Kev.


Dan.

Cheers Dan, no siphoning of Substrate, the Geos do that for me, just Water changes, no algae because the Lights don't need to be on all Day, easiest Tank EVER!!

Kev.

kevs tanks are unbelievable the videos do not do them any Justice you have to see them face to face to see wat they are really like, the black background and not much light looks like it is never ending

fair play

also jeff best off luck with wat ever u come up with as always try do a step by step with photo


sean

Cheers Sean.

Kev.

stretnik wrote:

I'll go into more detail later but not really much to it , here's a poor Video shot with iPhone after a water change and a feed.

And an original, clearer one without the Plants.

Kev.

Cheers for post the vids kev very impressive and defo the look I am after. How big is the tank and what fish do you have in it?



Will take a few pics along the way Sean and post them up hopeing to have it going before Xmas



Jeff

its is always the best time settin up a new tank and as kev said it will not tank much lookin after i can some thing this meself but i have a 3d background in stead off the blackn out one

sean

gerryberry wrote:

stretnik wrote:

I'll go into more detail later but not really much to it , here's a poor Video shot with iPhone after a water change and a feed.

And an original, clearer one without the Plants.

Kev.

Cheers for post the vids kev very impressive and defo the look I am after. How big is the tank and what fish do you have in it?



Will take a few pics along the way Sean and post them up hoping to have it going before Xmas



Jeff[/quote

Thanks Jeff.

The Tank is 3 x 18 x 24 56 Gallons.

Fish? too many..... Rams, not in the Video, 2 Geophagus altifrons -M & F, Silver Dollars, Red-line Rasboras. Geophagus Tapajos Red Head. Bristlenoses.

Kev.

Hi Guys,
I am very interested in the setup discussed by Jeff & Kev here.
I'm in the planning stage of a new discus setup and the dim light setup discussed appears ideal for this.
I will raise a separate topic on this soon under the Discus section but I have a couple of concerns if the guys would like to comment on.
The root type setup is great but is there a danger that frightened fish (concerned for Discus here) could get impaled or injured by one of the spiked branches.
I also heard that some of this type of root wood tends to grow a white fungus over a period of time and then has to be removed an scrubbed down occasionally.

Greg

I would advise against the spindlier types of Wood, Adrian, aka, Arabu lost a beautiful Discus because it impaled itself on a sharp piece of Bogwood, not the type in my Tank but the real McCoy Bogwood. I suppose it's up to you to check for what might be capable of spearing or injuring a Fish.

Regarding the Fungus, It always grows but for bigger pieces of Bogwood like mine ( Moorwood ), Bristlenoses leave no part of it uneaten, they absolutely demolished every last bit of Fungus over a 24 hour period, none was left, no scrubbing or cleaning, they did all the hard work.

Kev.

Thanks Kev ,you have confirmed my worst fears with this type if root setup though it is beautiful too look at. I will make sure to include a bristlenose plec in my Discus setup though not sure if it will get to like the Discus mucus and cause issues. I have also noted the use of Salvina for the surface to break the light into the tank.

stretnik wrote:

I would advise against the spindlier types of Wood, Adrian, aka, Arabu lost a beautiful Discus because it impaled itself on a sharp piece of Bogwood, not the type in my Tank but the real McCoy Bogwood. I suppose it's up to you to check for what might be capable of spearing or injuring a Fish.

Regarding the Fungus, It always grows but for bigger pieces of Bogwood like mine ( Moorwood ), Bristlenoses leave no part of it uneaten, they absolutely demolished every last bit of Fungus over a 24 hour period, none was left, no scrubbing or cleaning, they did all the hard work.

Kev.

Great heads up on the impaling of fish on the root wood, it shouldn,t be an issue for myself as will only be lightly stocking tank with small species fish, cardinals etc.

I have a small piece of wood in my Fluval edge and get some of this fungas from time to time but you bristnose solution is a great on Kev.

Do you know of any good places that have a good selection of sand gravel Kev

Most lfs have it but the stuff I'm using is a buff coloured Sand from Petstop.
My tank Footprint is 12 x 36 and a small bag covered it nicely, I really thought I needed more but Adrian at Petstop said one Bag would suffice, he was spot on.

Kev.

stretnik wrote:

Most lfs have it but the stuff I'm using is a buff coloured Sand from Petstop.
My tank Footprint is 12 x 36 and a small bag covered it nicely, I really thought I needed more but Adrian at Petstop said one Bag would suffice, he was spot on.

Kev.

Do you have any plants growing directly in the sand Kev or are they all on the wood, just thinking what sort of depth i would need to plant directly in the sand.......a light covering of sand would probably not anchor the roots in place.

Jeff