Ok, Spill The Beans - Just Exactly How Do They Do It ?

[Bloo]

I feel silly asking, but OK: so looking at these links Chris so nicely pulled together and looking through these "works in progress" (and elsewhere) nowhere do I see a massively planted tank full of fast growing stem plants to start off with.
Are they not showing us something ? (I think not)

So why is it always preached to heavily stock with fast growing stems and stick to EI - when these guys do just about the opposite and get the most stunning results ? I mean (no disrespect in any way) most don't even seem to know their water parameters or level of CO2 and certainly don't follow EI that I'm aware of.

So is there a "magic" ingredient that I'm not aware of ? Do they go to Aquascape school or have a Aquascape "Bible" they follow word for word ?

Or is it simply a fact that these tanks aren't viable long term ?

 

[Bloo]

haha ok fair enough - but then their shrimp and otos are magic too or simply work harder than mine ! that's for sure

I also somehow think their algae bloom and ours are two entirely different things

 

[DarkSeraph]

I don't think so. It's just a common concept on these forums that you need fast growing plants. You don't, but you have to be willing to clean up the glass if you don't. Eventually as the plants get larger it's not an issue.

 

[craynerd]

Just repeating what fishkiller said, i saw a picture of one of the tanks when i was searching yesterday and the tank was FULL of shrimp and attos!

I agree with you, they do seem rather vague on their water parameters! I think that a lot of them are so use to their tank, that they can ""feel"" what is needed so they just dose accordingly.

You also seem right about them not using EI, BUT i was supprised to see they did not use ADA (infact i was shocked to see how little ADA stuff they are using!!!! mainly only the diffuser and lily pipe, most are using an Eheim filter) The ferts they are using are stamped with Chinese symbols so i presume it is something from their own market. Its a pitty they do not frequent the sight more often to give feeback and respond to our questions! Don`t get me wrong, its good of them to post in the first place!

regards
Chris

 

[oldwhitewood]

They also use the ADA substrates too. If you read the ADA manual, it's a few years old but it says basically to start out with fast growing plants, it also says add loads of shrimp and ottos to deal with the algae blooms, something like 40 shrimp or so for a 60cm tank. There is a lot of information out there that seems to conflict.

Regarding the filters that ADA produce I guess those, along with the CO2 units are for the super rich, if you earnt £50,000 per week like a footballer then yeah it's not a problem.

 

[NAL]

It is because they use Power Sand Special in the substrate and Penac W, wouldn't you agree Neil??!! Where is Tom when we need him!?

I think there are a couple of things that help. I've set up a similar tank myself recently with virtually no stems and almost all slow growers. I'm using ADA substrate. I've got a limited intense photo period of 6 hours full blast, keep an eye on the CO2, big weekly water changes, daily micros and K, PO4 only when I think it needs it (not that often), no additional N at present. I'm also using a mature filter, which I think is a big help. But 2 key things are that I planted very heavily from the outset (and I mean a lot of plants- ~£150 worth) and added a lot of shrimp early on - in 125 litre tank there forty or so give or take, so not just a couple. I'm not going big on N and P at this stage because I get it from the t/w and I just don't perceive a need for it right now. I might start using ADA Brighty Shade if I think some additional macros are requried. I also use Green Gain (ADA) at the water change to the suggested dose. Has worked so far (~3 weeks) but it is clearly early days.

Nick

 

[oldwhitewood]

So what you are saying is loads of plants, be them stem or root feeders and loads of shrimp?

My reservation with that would be the shrimp. Say you had to remove a piece of bogwood, with that amount of shrimp there would certainly be some hanging on the bottom of it, ready to leap off as soon as they're free of the water and cause havoc. What about if you had to drain the tank and capture the inhabitants, trying to net a shrimp and moving it from one container to the other without it leaping from the net is something I find incredibly difficult....and to be honest scary!

 

[Bloo]

The trick is to capture shrimp in net and then slightly fold the net (before lifting from the water) so that the shrimp is trapped. Easier said than done (!!) - and much as I love these little critters, they absolutely freak me out and scare me to death when they jump. Because not only do they jump high and far in an unpredictable direction, but also make a noise

 

[oldwhitewood]

Just reading that then made me wince, I know exactly what you mean.

Sometimes you can net them quite easily, other times they suddenly swirl out of the way, they're such clever swimmers and very fast. However as you say it's getting them from net to container that I have the problem with. I've often just held a net in front of them, say if ones got out and is on the floor or something. Most of the time the shrimp will just walk into the net or jump into it, in my experience. Very odd.

I often wonder about fishing boats capturing prawns in nets, I am just thinking about a shrimp of the size of the amano shrimp leaping about, what would one of those bloody king prawns be like you've seen the size of them on your plate!

 

[handsomeboy]

their tanks are awesome because theyre chinese, and they have mastered the secret chinese planted tank method of 'fu tong ma ki,' which translates roughly into 'winging it, and getting really lucky'

 

[Gnatfish]

their tanks are awesome because theyre chinese, and they have mastered the secret chinese planted tank method of 'fu tong ma ki,' which translates roughly into 'winging it, and getting really lucky'

I second this