Low Maintenance Tanks

[Themuleous]

Just thought I would add, dont give up yet Alice, we all go through stages where we really dont like our tanks, mostly as we cant devote to them the time they need/deserve. I'm getting a bit like that with my nano. But keep at it, low tech sounds the ideal way forward, just dont expect results quickly, but I guess with the renovation the time will fly by and one day you'll wake up and go 'crikey where did that tank come from!'

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

Sam

 

[nry]

There's a big myth about corydoras, sand, cleanliness etc etc. Have a Google on where many species come from and there is a huge variation in the substrate (some from gravel, sand, rough, smooth etc) they live on, and probably a huge variation in the cleanliness of the substrate too.

I have pygmy cory on EcoComplete (which is really quite rough) and they are doing really well, even had them breeding at one point, really unexpected. Doing very very well.

 

[Miss Wiggle]

Just thought I would add, dont give up yet Alice, we all go through stages where we really dont like our tanks, mostly as we cant devote to them the time they need/deserve. I'm getting a bit like that with my nano. But keep at it, low tech sounds the ideal way forward, just dont expect results quickly, but I guess with the renovation the time will fly by and one day you'll wake up and go 'crikey where did that tank come from!'

I'll keep my fingers crossed for you

Sam

Thanks Sam that's really sweet of you



I know that cories needing to be on sand is a bit of a myth, thought the pristine substrate was a given though, i think i'll try and track down some pgymy cories and see how they go with it.

I'm undecided what to do about substrate just yet, I really don't like what I've got, it looks ugly and doesn't seem to be doing anything beneficial for my plants. I really just like the look of plain old play sand, i'm thinking as my eventual plant stocking is not going to have much in the way of root feeders (looking at mosses and ferns with a much renewed interest!) if I just provide them with enough water column fertilisation then they should be fine.... right? However then I think OK I need to leave the tank to mature with a load of stem plants in, do I need to make sure I've got a half decent substrate for them so that they do well and the tank can stabilise?

much confusion!!

 

[Miss Wiggle]

been thinking about leaf litter today

if i went for an inert substrate but kick started the mulm by crushing up some indian almond leaf for the floor of the tank would that help anything?

 

[Christine1014]

Good luck, Miss Wiggle. I'm watching this thread with interest, as I'm sort of in the same boat you're in, with wanting a nice planted tank without all the expensive high tech gadetry. I have one quick question to interject though (sorry, this won't be a hijack, I promise!) -- you've mentioned "weed"-type plants to use while the tank is maturing. What's a weed??? (I mean, obviously, in the garden I know what a weed is, but what's the tank version?)

 

[Miss Wiggle]

when people talk about weeds they generally mean the not so pretty commonly available easy growing plants, like cabomba, hygrophilia, hornwort that sort of thing.

sure someone else can come up with a better list than that

 

[Christine1014]

when people talk about weeds they generally mean the not so pretty commonly available easy growing plants, like cabomba, hygrophilia, hornwort that sort of thing.

sure someone else can come up with a better list than that

Gotcha. Just hadn't heard them referred to as weeds before... anyway, good luck with your tank!

 

[lljdma06]

been thinking about leaf litter today

if i went for an inert substrate but kick started the mulm by crushing up some indian almond leaf for the floor of the tank would that help anything?

Several breeders in the betta section have setup aquariums where IAL (indian almond leaf) was used as a leaf litter to better mimic the habitat of their fish. In addition, IAL has a calming effect on the fish and antibacterial properties. Using as a mulm kick-start, however, is something that I've not tried. I usually make an inert substrate more fertile by mixing it either with laterite or inserting several Seachem rootabs into my substrate. I guess you could get mulm from another tank, but you'll get mulm eventually, so why rush the process?


Some "weed" species to address the other issue.

Egeria densa
Egeria najas
Rotala rotundifolia
Hygrophila difformis
Hygrophila polysperma
Bacopa monneri and caroliana
Cabomba carolina (be sure you've got exact species, otherwise needs bright light)
Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Limnophila aquatica
Limnophila sessiliflora
Limnophila indicum
Ludwigia repens (IMO, better for higher light systems)
Myriophylum aquaticum and tuberculatum (High-light aquariums, not the best IMO)

Those are off the top of my head and the species I would be most likely to use. There are tons other stemplants, but I consider them too fancy, too slow-growing, too demanding with requirements, and possibly too pricy to use them as weeds. The Myriophylum is iffy for me too, as the leaves are so fine, they are terribly prone to debree accumilation and can clog with algae. You want the plants to outcompete the algae, not become overun with it.

llj

 

[Miss Wiggle]

been thinking about leaf litter today

if i went for an inert substrate but kick started the mulm by crushing up some indian almond leaf for the floor of the tank would that help anything?

Several breeders in the betta section have setup aquariums where IAL (indian almond leaf) was used as a leaf litter to better mimic the habitat of their fish. In addition, IAL has a calming effect on the fish and antibacterial properties. Using as a mulm kick-start, however, is something that I've not tried. I usually make an inert substrate more fertile by mixing it either with laterite or inserting several Seachem rootabs into my substrate. I guess you could get mulm from another tank, but you'll get mulm eventually, so why rush the process?

mmmm yeah i think your rigth, just thinking out loud really. need to make a descision on substrates quite soon.

asked on the soil thread but i'll ask here too incase it gets missed by someone who knows.

to make a soil substrate as per plantbrains method (that George linked too earlier in this thread) he's saying just use the soil from your garden basically. well i've no garden so no soil, however i can easily go to the garden centre and get some, but you get loads of different varieties like ones with fertilisation, top soil etc etc..... which one should i use?

also got a few little bits of nice mosses coming from some lovely forum members soon which will just be tied to some wood/rocks for now to grow on while my tank's maturing

 

[lljdma06]

been thinking about leaf litter today

if i went for an inert substrate but kick started the mulm by crushing up some indian almond leaf for the floor of the tank would that help anything?

Several breeders in the betta section have setup aquariums where IAL (indian almond leaf) was used as a leaf litter to better mimic the habitat of their fish. In addition, IAL has a calming effect on the fish and antibacterial properties. Using as a mulm kick-start, however, is something that I've not tried. I usually make an inert substrate more fertile by mixing it either with laterite or inserting several Seachem rootabs into my substrate. I guess you could get mulm from another tank, but you'll get mulm eventually, so why rush the process?

mmmm yeah i think your rigth, just thinking out loud really. need to make a descision on substrates quite soon.

asked on the soil thread but i'll ask here too incase it gets missed by someone who knows.

to make a soil substrate as per plantbrains method (that George linked too earlier in this thread) he's saying just use the soil from your garden basically. well i've no garden so no soil, however i can easily go to the garden centre and get some, but you get loads of different varieties like ones with fertilisation, top soil etc etc..... which one should i use?

also got a few little bits of nice mosses coming from some lovely forum members soon which will just be tied to some wood/rocks for now to grow on while my tank's maturing

I would personally avoid soil that has additives, as you don't know whether or not the additives are toxic to fish. The sources I've consulted when I researched Walstad-type tanks a while back says to use an unfertilized potting or topsoil with a layer of gravel on top.

I don't know, Miss Wiggle, though a soil substrate can be great, it may need more prep time than you are ready to commit to. It might be just easier to just use an inert substrate and just add rootabs. I don't know, you keep implying that you want things simple, and I don't think it gets any simpler than that.

 

[SuperColey1]

I can't answer for other brands, but I don't know where the idea that there are fertilisers or additives in top soil!!!

I can tell you that as far as J Arthur Bowers Top Soil is concerned. It is bought as raw soil, and then goes through an incinerater barrel which burns all the weeds and 'contaminants' out and is therefore sterilised soil.

Many cheaper brands are soil straight out of the ground with nothing done to it except being bagged.

As for other premium brands I don't know if they sterilise it or not so I can't give any advice here. You will be able to tell as it is an almost beige colour once sterilised and pre sterilised it is the darker soil colour you see in the garden (or ploughed fields)

As for using topsoil in the tank. I would've though after being sterilised it would be pretty inert.

The same goes for play sand and dry (Silver) sand. dry sand is just a sterilised version of play sand, whereas play sand is bagged in the same condition it arrives.

Hope this helps

Andy

 

[Arimus]

Okay,

I'm being really thick here but what's the best way to boil the soil mix - for my 270l tank boiling enough soil is going to take alot of sauce pans...

would repeatedly using boiling water on it work from a kettle and leaving it standing until cooled work?

 

[Underwurlde]

I can tell you that as far as J Arthur Bowers Top Soil is concerned. It is bought as raw soil, and then goes through an incinerater barrel which burns all the weeds and 'contaminants' out and is therefore sterilised soil.

IF that is all it is then great. Perfek. Luvvly Juvvly. But I'm asking myself why bother when you can (OK, sometimes) just dig the stuff up yourself? The rule with buying soil from a garden centre is the cheaper the better - the more expensive ones have 'stuff' added & you don't want that.

Now note that you don't have to use STERILIZED soil - many people (and I include 'the experts' here) just take it straight from the garden, pick out obvious things & put it right into the tank. My main bug-bear therefore with pre-boiling thte soil is that I am unsure as to if anything actully useful is taken out of the soil in doing this. The ONLY reason for boiling is to quickly leech out ammonia & nitrites that would otherwise take 6 - 8 weeks to slowly soak out. This soaking period can be either in a bucket (water changed weekly) or in a tank full of fish, but note the obvious dangers re: ammonia leeching + fish. Again doing the latter is not unheard of (and again, I include 'the experts' here). However I like a simple life so I decided to test soaking against boiling & boiling wins it for me.

I'm being really thick here but what's the best way to boil the soil mix - for my 270l tank boiling enough soil is going to take alot of sauce pans...

I simply simmer on the lowest heat some 'bits removed' soil from my garden, lowest heat for 10 mins. Just do a bit at a time therefore no need to use loads of pans. Alternatively let the whole lot soak for 2 months.

would repeatedly using boiling water on it work from a kettle and leaving it standing until cooled work?

No, I don't think so.

Read Dians's book.... There is SOOO much info in there (I am no biologist, chemist, gardener...)

Andy

 

[Arimus]

I'm going to use steralised soil rather than from the garden as our house is on brownfield and the area used to be heavily used for mining etc and has a risk (albeit low) of being contaminated with heavy metals - not a good choice for the tank... (not to mention our soil seems to be: .01% soil, 80% rocks, 19.99% broken glass and general builder rubble... I would need to dig a pit big enough for a funeral to get enough soil).

I'll see if I can persuade the wife to let me lose in the kitchen tomorrow

 

[Underwurlde]

Yes, of course, you have to be careful!

DON'T MENTION IT TO THE MISSUS! God, mine would've flayed my man-flesh into next weekend... Wait for her to go out.

Andy