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I took an interest to fish keeping over a year ago due to watching videos like these. Just wish I stumbled across your channel a lot sooner when designing my tank, mine looks so amateur it's laughable. The beauty about your channel is, I can watch and learn :)
Stefan Blackwell Yeah man, that is the beauty of YT. Thanks for watching and supporting my channel. If you have any questions just hit me up in the comments or private messages. Peace!
I've been watching a lot of vídeos once i'm trying to learn more about aquascaping and planted tanks. What I can say is that you convey an image of a very reliable guy doing your best at this hobby. Also , I find your vídeos really didactic and very helpful. Thank you so much for that. :)
FiveCardArmy I love those shrimps. When I got mine my mom said I'm crazy for putting in ugly, gross looking creatures, but I find them so pretty and interesting and she loves them now too!
I'm new to hobby and started with a 10 gallon tank, I know they're harder to maintain than a 20 gallon (upgraded and am now using the 10 gallon for an experimental DIY windowsill aquaponics) but I actually appreciated having the 10 gallon to learn on. It was way easier to see how what I did effected what was going on in the tank.
thunderjack1000 Thanks for the kind words. Tank is a breeze and really fun because I don't do anything! Other than pluck dead leaves, bi monthly water changes and occasionally scrape algae off the glass. Thanks for watching.
yes I ironically just bought some plants from paul. he's very knowledgeable and his plants are amazing! new subbie. Dave you inspired me. I want a low tech planted take then put some Pure breed endlers in there
+🐟💦Siren_SeaReviews&Aquariums(Gabbi) Thanks for watching, yeah go ahead and give this method a try, and if you use new soil or aquasoil you won't need to actually use root tabs. I was just using them because I was using old substrate. It took about 6 months to mature. The thumbnail to the video is a mature shot and you can also see the photo on my Google + for a close up. Cheers!
I love your videos you gave great information, I am just starting out with a 20 gallon high tank and a 32 gallon tank the only thing is that I probably charged my tanks with too many plants they both look crowded next to yours, thanks for sharing.
Marie Racciopoli It can be easier to balance if you start with a lot of plants, so that is good. It may be your placement of the plants that makes it appear that way. It will just take practice and patience. Thanks for watching.
NickMach007 You definitely have time for a low tech. Anyhow I was reading your comment about CRI and now I can't find it. I swiped it off my notifications, but I think it got deleted. Anyhow I am sure we are on the same page. I just prefer blue temps to reds or pinks. I love the color rendering of my T5HOs, but a little too pink for me. Mixed with my E-series it looks killer. I get super awesome CRI with shimmer and shadow. Great combo. Truthfully I am having some growth issues with the E-series, so they are sending me another one. The PAR is about the same as the Ray IIs and I needed two of those over the 40 breeder to get good growth so I figure I need two E-series. With the added colors the E-series provides I am hoping the plants will benefit a little bit more from them, enough to make growth somewhat better than with the RayIIs. If not, I may be switching back to T5HOs, or better yet supplementing my LEDs with T5HOs. I love the color schemes you can program with the E-series, so hopefully two of them will do the trick. But you are right, the CRI with T5s is just awesome. May be getting the GH4 after all. I am trying to sell a big guitar amp I don't need anymore and then put the funds towards the camera. I have someone interested in the amp so hopefully I can sell it.
I'll keep my finger crossed for the GH4...we need some 4k fish vids. And even if I upgrade my Canon down the road, I don't think they are going to start putting 4k in their DSLRs for a few years. They are really focused on separating their "cinema" line video machines from their DSLRs. Even if I won the lottery and patiently waited for the 5D mark IV, I don't think it will have 4k. I hope I am wrong though. I like Canon otherwise. The camera feels good in my hand and all the dials and menus are actually starting to make sense to me to the point where I actually know where things are without looking. Back to lighting though, yeah, I know the lens gave better spread on the E-series fixtures, but even so I would have been surprised if one was enough. I have been having a nightmare experience with Jacob's Aquarium and some dwarf baby tears I ordered from him. And he has stopped responding to my emails. So, my tank is still down. I am hoping to get some other dwarf baby tears from a different supplier today and then FINALLY start the tank using the dry start method to let them root in. I am going to stick with 2 RayIIs for now and see how they do. Updates to come. Can I ask a quick question though and get an opinion. Would I be a total jerk to post a video of my negative experience ordering from Jacob's Aquariums? I think I can do it in a professional way and be fair and honest. I kind of think we need to share our experiences with each other to build the community. But I also don't want to piss people off. Thoughts?
The tank looks great. I also had my Eheim 2213 crap out on me. Lucky I had pickup a SunSun 302 for $28.00 about a month before. The SunSun is working really good for the price and I have double the Eheim Bio Media in it. Thanks for sharing man.
Sorry to hear that!! I just had an innovative marine nuvo 8 nano break on me after only being setup for 4 days. Literally just split a crack down the side out of the blue in the middle of the night.
parula321 Funny how it is always at night. Pressure changes I assume. I have had several tanks break in half for no known reason. Sucks ass. The video is uploading right now! Part 3!
....."liquid rock"...... it's really that hard, huh....that's great!... You manage it well... I'm sure the RO unit helps...... looks good ! .. the Dragonstone is so cool... I'll have to get some from ya, someday....... Thanks Dave.....
Yeah it's like 8.6-9 pH. It is off the charts with 300+ ppm GH and KH. You can grow vals, anacharis, hornwort and what not, but my plants never did that great in my tap water. Way too much carbonate in the water which binds with a lot of nutrients making them unusable as well as converting any usable CO2 to bicarbonate. A lot of places in America have a 7-8 pH with moderate GH and KH. My water is perfect for Tanganyika Cichlids. So that is a plus. Thanks for watching man. I have plenty of rock in stock. As well I have a smaller medium package that is great for nano tanks. Just PM me when you are ready to get some.
Hi im doing a planted tank in a 20g and i also have a current led system, also a canister filter and using some Co 2 so i hope when i have it all set up it looks as cool as yours.
I plan on doing a planted tank. My tank is 150gal. How many bags at 20lbs do I need for this tank? Also what depth should I use at the front and at the back? Can you recommend some rocks to use? Lastly with a tank this size can I go low-tech or will I need Co2? Thanks for the help and your video's are a big help.
Rich Blondin With a tank that size it will be pretty expensive to use Aquasoil, but it is worth it in the end. If expense isn't an issue I would use Marfied Controsoil. If you need to save on money I would do a dirted tank, but that is more effort and more of a pain. To get a lush tank you don't necessarily need to go high tech, you just need to choose appropriate plants for your low tech. Really you can carpet or get a bushy look in a low tech, it just takes more time, and possibly more skill, depending on the plants you choose. With a tank that size it would be easier and a lot cheaper to go low tech, you can always transform your tank into a high tech later on. First what is the footprint of your tank? What type of look or scape do you want to create? At least 2" in the front, and really whatever you want in the back from 4-10" depending on your slope. You don't want carbonate based rocks so stay away from any clay or carbonate type rocks like limestone. I sell Dragon Stone, it is an inert lava rock that will not alter your chemistry. You can also go to a rock yard and ask for quartz based rocks or lava rock.
Rich Blondin Another winning combo is to use API laterite, some type of quartz sand or Eco complete, and then put DIY Osmocote plus root tabs in the substrate. First layer laterite, then the slow release pellets capped with Eco or quartz sand. The laterite will provide nutrients and hold nutrients, basically it organically chelates the nutrients so they stay in the substrate and are slowly released. I am not sure if this would be cheaper, but if you bought pool filter sand, API Laterite, and Osmocote Plus you may actually save tons of money. Both the Laterite and the Osmocote plus would only be used in small amounts compared to the sand, just a thin layer is all you need, 1/4" or so. It has instructions on the box for recommended amounts, and I would say 6 tablespoons of Osmocote plus sprinkled on top of the Laterite would suffice when first setting up the tank. And then you can replenish every 4-5 months with O+ by using gelatin capsule and making DIY root tabs.
Hey Dave I have a low tech tank 90 Gallon I do use Flourish Excel and Thrive Regular water changes 8 hours LED lite but my plants suddenly dying off not looking good ? I have eco-complete for about 2.5 years does that lose it’s nutrients over time I do use root tabs should I change out the gravel Thanks always Rob
You don't dechlorinate when mixing with ro? I started a 20 high with the basic Gravel and bs decorations lol spongebob....kids.... Straight ro then added fish. Would I need to change my substrate?
The parameters of water u said u have in this tank , Can u put discus and plant in that , I have closely same tap water parameter , I'm just new in this hobby with 220 liter tank want to make some hardscape and planting and then discus . Any advice would be appreciate Regards .
Love watching your videos. I decided to follow your set up because honestly it was the most straight forward. The only difference is that I use eco complete as the substrate and my tank is a 29 gallon. My question is.... Does the osmocote produce false readings with the api test kit? I ask because I'm on the seventh day of a fishless cycle and I'm getting some confusing results ammonia 4ppm, nitrites 2.0ppm and nitrates at 20ppm. Not sure if it's the osmocote or not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
+Jeffrey Saude yes some of the ammonium nitrate will leak into the water column. Great for plants, but bat for test kits and can kill shrimp if you use too much.
love the low maintenance tank!! I'm still pretty new to the planted tanks and when I hear people rattle off the plant names its like another language (almost like latin or greek hehe ;).
Tim's Tanks Thanks for watching, yeah it can be confusing and hard to hear what they say at first. Haha, maybe it is a different language, who knows. Some of the names are just made up as well with a Latin feel to them. Yeah this tank is a really easy "Plug and Play" style tank great for beginners. Maybe not the cheapest because I am using Aquasoil vs just regular dirt, but for a beginner it is so much easier and cleaner to use Aquasoil and way less of a risk. Plus Aquasoil has high humic acid, way more than regular dirt. The Humates allow the substrate to hold nutrients, like the Osmocote Plus pellets I put in the substrate. They trap the nutrients where they belong. And then I used heavy root feeding plants to utilize the nutrients. It really is that simple. Just watch these videos and you can easily get these results. All I do is water changes every two weeks and pluck old or dying leaves from the plants and that is it! I don't have to dose any fertilizers or worry about pressurize CO2. A lot of low tech people that use dirt also dose Excel- a liquid carbon, and does either dry or liquid ferts to the water column, well I am not dosing anything!! So I save money that way allowing me to put that money towards the Aquasoil. So really it is just as "Low Tech" as other tanks out there, just a different approach.
This may be a stupid question but, if I'm starting up a new tank, do I need to cycle like I would a reef tank? I have multiple saltwater tanks and before I can even put anything in them I need to cycle it for about a month. Is it the same for planted tanks?
+Zoe Kim I think people say to stay away from using it, and if you are going to get a bunch to use fine soft sand or Aquasoil. I never did Cories with Eco, but I did have them with quartz sand before.
Glen Hawkins Thanks man, yeah there are so many different approaches to setting up a tank. My argument is a lot of people advocate for dirt, but for a beginner it really isn't as easy as Aquasoil. And a lot of people do dirt and then dose dry ferts and Excel. I am not dosing anything. Then they have to buy gravel for a cap and the water is usually yellow with tannins for quite some time or even the life of the tank and the dirt usually has chicken shit in it. Some risk of infection if you have cuts on your hands, IMO. So this tank is a "Plug and Play" tank. Easy for a beginner. Aquasoil has tons of humates allowing it to hold nutrients in the substrate and suck organics out of the water column, making for crystal clear water. And it is baked so it stays clean. Has way more humic acid than regular top soil. Plus the added Osmocote Plus pellets add tons of awesome nutrients to the substrate. I used heavy root feeding plants to utilize the nutrients. Again, a DIY clay root tab may be cheaper, but not as easy for a beginner to do. All I do is pluck the old and dying leaves off the plants, do a bi monthly water change and that is it. No dosing of any kind. So it is just as Low Tech as other tanks out there just a different approach. I challenged Tom Barr's EI method with high techs and now I am challenging Dustin's, really Diana's method with low techs. I like to incorporate modern techniques to make it easier.
It is a great low tech set up but like you said there are so many ways to set up a tank. I know currently I am going to have to rethink the one half of my divided tank that has the Aficana ADA aquasoil. A week after I set it up. I am getting hair algae on everything but only on that side and cant figure it out. Maybe too much light but why is the other half algae free. It is suppose to be low tech also but if I cant get this is issue resolved I will tear that half down and take a different approach.
+The Raul Guerrero G yes! you will love it. It is for people that need or love to focus. It really calms you down, and has helped me become more focused and patient.
I have sand at the bottom of my tank and I really want to heavily plant it so that I can get a certain fish (forgot it's name) that likes plants. can I add the soil on top of the sand while the tank has fish in it, or can I plant it with the sand?
How did you cycle this tank before adding the fish? I have a 29 gallon tank that is fully established and I totally understand the nitrogen cycle process but my question is, how is the cycling process accomplished with a planted tank? Before plants? After plants but before fish? Great video
The plants can suck up residual ammonium, but it will still take 3-4 weeks no matter what for new filter media to become fully cycled. They don't speed it up, but can take up some ammonium in the process.
Good video. And great low_tech. It can actually pass for a high_tech if one does not know. That's how good it looks. And your channel intro looked really cool. How did you do it? I am still stuck on movie maker.
Aquamaniac Thanks man, it is a fun tank. I don't worry about it much. I use Adobe Pro CC and a template for the intro. I did a lot of the music, but not so much the motion. Color, lighting and a few added effects as well.
+Paul Roadz I am packing the filter full of tons of sponge, micron sponge, and ceramic bio media. No carbon. The secret is to jam your filter full of media. I never cleaned the filter once, and it never got built up with detritus because there was so much bacteria in the filter that were almost completely metabolizing all of the waste. When I opened the filter after over nine months it wasn't even dirty inside. Just get some micron sponge as well to polish your water. I was using a SunSun 603 mini cansiter filter on this 10 gallon tank.
Dave ...what are your thoughts on using indian almond leaves to soften water? My tap water is 7.6 pH..I am not sure of the figures for hardness but my LFS uses same water as me and they said our water was hard...I dont care too much about lowering pH as mine is stable..but I would like to see if IAL's could soften the water therefore making some of my fish more comfortable -tetras, corydoras etc..have you ever used IAL's?..just want to know your thoughts on them...
I use them with my siamese fighter fraternity tank ( 40 gallon) and also in another tank that houses some corydoras (20 gallon)...I just use one leaf in the small tank and two in the larger...more for the medicinial benefit and I like the tannin colour...I just let them go until they look like they are breaking up and then put some new ones in..
For someone looking to get started with planted tanks and wanting to keep things low tech/maintenance, is there a book/article/resource you can point me toward? I am almost completely ignorant to what would be required for one. Thanks!
The book Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants is an awesome book. You will want to read it a few times. It has low tech, high tech, basically everything for beginners
Slim Tim Thanks man, yeah no need to dose when you use heavy root feeders and Osmocote Plus. A really simple "plug and play" style tank for beginners. Everything is easy for them to use and do. Maybe not necessarily the cheapest, but Aquasoil is comparable in price to Eco. And it has high humates making for a nutrient rich, clean, substrate. Dirt is cheaper, but not always the easiest for beginners.
hey, I just moved to Logan utah and I want to set up a planted tank. I haven't checked yet but I think it is liquid rock as well. should I do half filter half tap water for water change
Laura Wrenn I actually have one that you could buy if you'd like. It is the Cal aqua labs Oracle drop checker. Let me know, if interested PM me here on YT.
you could, but why? Can you not find any live plants locally? If you used Amazon swords and cryptocoryne plants it would be easy to do and take care of.
actually I have a 20 gallon tank ( Rs 580 A) model with LED lights and a over the top filter so I am confused whether live plants can thrive in it? also the substrate for live plants is quite high priced so if could suggest me any cheap alternative for substrate then it would be very helpful.
you can get an LED desk lamp that would help produce more power. Usually a mix of 6500K and warmer 4500K is a good mix. Substrate you can use a Laterite base layer with root tabs, Clay based, or Osmocote + based, or can buy manufactured ones. The Laterite holds the nutrients and is a good media for plant roots and bacteria. And then you cap the Laterite with sand. You can also use this method, but instead of using too tabs and Laterite you can use dirt. Dirt of course works because it is soil, top soil. But it can be harder to manage.
parula321 Probably the same way I aquascaped this tank. Same maintenance, equipment and method. Actually a bit bigger than this ten gallon long if it is a cube.
i have a 75 gallon tank that i plan on planting heavily. i have had success with plants in the past. but i think it might just be hardy plants and dumb luck. now i want to do it right this time and use fertilizer and substrates in addition to lighting. to experiment im going to start with a 10 gallon and see where that takes me. do you have to use aqua soil? why not just fluorite or eco complete? im probably just going to have rotalla indica, amazon swords and java fern. would i need a really complex set up for that? or just fluorite and some occasional liquid fertilizer. im going to have 4 t5 bulbs for the 75, will that be enough?
+Mitchell Staley you can use soil and cap it with sand, or you could do Laterite, root tabs and cap that with sand. You don't have to have Aquasoil. Flourite or laterite will work with root tabs. Eco complete works well, but really doesn't have many nutrients. And you could dose some liquid ferts to the water column. Just tiny amounts each week. Nothing crazy. Just monitor your plants, if they be mosses or Anubias, ferns, to make sure there is enough nutrients in the water column. It is easier if your water is lower in pH with a lower TDS and KH. Tap water that is hard and alkaline makes the hobby way harder. If you have to use RO water I would, Makes it so much easier to have low KH.
Hey thanks for watching and have fun. Should be a nice and easy tank. Try to use a soil substrate or some type of Aquasoil. You will have better results that way.
yeah you can do a low Tech with any size aquarium. You will have to test your water to find out your GH and KH. Good numbers to aim for are 3-6 dKH and 8-10 GH. Measured in degrees not ppm.
Forgot to mention, I just picked up a triggertrap (well it is in the mail) so I can do some timelapase stuff-- setting up the tank, maintenance, next time I tear down a tank, etc. Should be a fun toy to add to my camera. And I grabbed some extension tubes to play with some macro-ish photography. Are you on Instagram? If not, you should be. I just started posting some pics there...some good, some not so much, but still fun.
NickMach007 That will be sweet, a real one should work great. The interval shooting on my camera works fine, but the image sucks after is processes. Unless I do slower intervals, my sensor overheats etc... Yeah I have some diopter magnification filters that work okay. I actually just got a vintage 200mm with a macro setting. Has auto aperture so that is nice. It is pretty soft on macro, but works great otherwise. I don't have instagram, who knows maybe I will get it. I have some pics I could upload.
I resisted Instagram too for awhile-- and recently I have been curating who I actually follow. At first I was just on it to communicate with other hobbyists-- and I still do that to a certain degree. But now I actually am more interested in following folks who are into photography / art. There is a lot of creativity there. I was looking at picking up a 100mm macro lens, but $800 - $1000 is not in my lens budget at the moment. Nor am I a good enough photographer (yet?) to merit that kind of lens.
Hi could you give me some advise please I've got no idea about things like co2 , what to use Ect can you please leave a message explaining , how do I get this co2 machine Ect thank you
Kay Cresswell I will try to get a list together. I recently wrote out a list for another hobbyist, so I will try and find it and the copy and paste it into the comment. Thanks for watching.
Kay Cresswell Usually anything in a kit has a small non reusable CO2 cylinder. I would recommend either getting a paint ball cylinder or a 5lb aluminum CO2 cylinder from beveragefactory.com. As well as a permanent ABC seal for the cylinder. this way you don't have to change out the nylon seals that most people use. It is a permanent seal. You usually have to get your tanks filled at a sporting goods store, like sports authority where they have paintball gear. A paintball store, a beer brewing store, a welding shop or store, they will usually want to trade out your cylinder that you just bought for one of theirs, so don't get attached to the shiny aluminum. This way you are in a continuous trade. You drop it off and they give you one they have on hand. They do not refill on the spot. Beer brewers or ice cream/soda stores-if you can find one usually will refill on the spot. Same goes for paintball cylinders in sporting shops. The cheapest regulators that I endorse are AquaTek of California regulators. They have cheap regulators that actually work. You can get either one that fits on a paintball cylinder or a regular 5lb cylinder. You want to buy beverage grade PVC tubing off of US plastics.com or if that is too much you can get CO2 rated tubing from greenleafaquariums.com. Just cheaper if you go to usplastics.com. Beverage grade PVC tubing is what all the main retailers are selling everyone. It is what you want to use. If you are first starting out I would recommend getting a bubble counter and a drop checker to monitor your CO2 levels. Eventually you can graduate from using a drop checker, but a bubble counter is always nice to have. Make sure your bubble counter, diffuser or CO2 line has some kind of check valve, most diffusers and bubble counters nowadays have check valves installed into them so no water gets into the regulator. If using a cheaper regulator you will have to get an in-tank diffuser, do not get an inline, they do not work properly with cheaper regulators, but in-tank diffusers will work fine. A great cheap one to use is the Fluval diffuser. It works really well. You want to clean your diffuser every two months or so. just soak it in bleach for 5 minutes and rinse off. that is all. You don't need bubble counter solution or special diffuser cleaning solution. Just put water in your bubble counter and use bleach for the diffuser. The drop checker will come with reference solution. It is blue, when your CO2 is at about 30ppm in our tank it will turn a light lime green color. The solution inside is at 4dKH carbonate hardness, so to get more accurate readings you want your tank water to be at a 4 KH as well. So you need to be familiar with carbonate hardness and KH. This isn't super crucial, but it does help to match the levels for more accurate readings. Make sure to tighten the regulator to the cylinder as tight as you can. No need to break it, but get it on there tight with channel locks or vice grips. Start by running your tank at one bubble every second and then over the course of a few weeks you can up it to 2-3 bubbles per second. No need to do any more than that. Put the CO2 on a timer and have it come on 2 hours before the lights come on, and have it turn off 1 hour before the lights turn off. Have everything closed, then hook the regulator to the cylinder. Then open the cylinder, and watch the pressure rise in the regulator. Then hook up the tubing to the regulator. You can now turn on the needle valve on the regulator and wait as the pressure builds and the CO2 will start coming out of the diffuser. Try to put the diffuser as low as you can and preferably under your filter outtake or a powerhead that way the CO2 will get pushed into the current. That is really it. If for some reason your fish start gasping for air then turn the CO2 down. Make sure to monitor your tank closely for the first several hours after setting up. Best to do it on Saturday. I can't think of anything else, but if I do I will let you know, in the meantime run through my 10 quick tips videos and they may give you some more info and ideas. Thanks for watching.
the light will work well. This issue in that situation may be your hard water. Use ADA Aquasoil to help acidify the water and substrate. Or if your water is really hard you can dilute your water at a water change with RO water. You can do 50% Tap water and 50% RO water. This is not necessary, but may help. The ADA Aquasoil alone may be enough.
samuricexful I am not sure on the exact numbers, I was using a PAR meter and was getting around 30 PAR with the Current USA Satellite Plus LED fixture, but most PAR meters do not accurately read LED light that goes beyond full spectrum, so it isn't accurately reading the red and blue light from the LED. I don't dose this tank, and the S. repens was doing okay, but not great, so I replaced it with dwarf sag to make it a really easy and simple low tech for beginners, the dwarf sag is of course carpeting. I am sure you could get the S. repens to carpet, you could try two fixtures and dose liquid ferts to the water column along with Flourish Excel, and it would work as long as your water isn't too alkaline.
Hey dave question for ya, I want to start a planted tank with proper substrate and low tech, and i dont want it to be too expensive, and i also want to achieve low maintence in a planted 30-50 gallon tank, and i dont want to spend too muich money as I am working a job but i really want a planted tank with livebreader`s, any ideas on how i can achieve this without spending too much money?
+Noah Ellis you can either use organic top soil and cap with sand. Or use Laterite clay as a base layer with root tabs and cap with sand. Both will supply a lot of nutrients and are cheap to do.
I used ADA Amazonia Aquasoil. These days I would recommend ADA. For me it seems to work better than other brands. They put in a little extra ammonium so it really helps to jump start the microbial fauna and the tank overall.
You will have to look around for "Scoria" lava. I collect this rock locally and can ship internationally, but the shipping is really expensive. $70 per 20 pound box.
Sometimes it may be from a tank that is not cycling properly, or maybe silicates in the dragon stone pours and pits. But this is somewhat of a myth. You may be having a filtration cycling issue. Try increasing surface agitation to increase overall oxygen. Also, Oto cats will eat it overnight. Get two Oto cats and it will be gone in a day or two.
Do larger water changes too just to get rid of the already present diatoms. To flush them from the tank. As a tank matures the micro fauna becomes mostly ciliates and the diatoms will subside.
+viki gall You don't want hard water. You want soft water with low bicarbonates. 6.6 - 7.5 pH, not hard alkaline water. You can use Osmocote and soil. That is a great combination to use.
***** Go ahead and email me at, fishfinatics@live.com. I am going to make an email designated for rock inquiries. With the new google messages YT is a mess and I don't like it. But for now use that email. Thanks
Nikko Ebueza once the tank cycles, after 4 weeks, you don't need to worry about ammonia. Unless a fish dies or you put too much Osmocote plus in your aquarium. Dona weekly water change. Start out at 50% of aquarium water.
you can, but you will want to dose liquid fertilizers if using an inert sand substrate. Check out my "true definition of low tech" video. It is a recent video. I am doing a low tech aquascape and only using inert sand for the substrate. I just dose liquid fertilizers and make sure to have a bicarbonate buffer of some kind for an additional carbon source for the plants. I keep it a little on the hard side- 7.4 pH.
I tried the Sunsun HW- 603; 2 units to be precise, and both leaked at random times within the first week of purchase. I though maybe I was really unlucky and received faulty units so I went to 3 aquarium shops who were actually using them. Talked to the owners who kindly let me handle the filters. As soon as you slightly tilt them they start leaking. I have absolutely no trust in Sunsun. Perhaps 4 years ago they were of good quality but they are simply crap now.
Yeah they are no good nowadays. I don't use them anymore. My buddy has been using one for almost two years with no issues, but better to get an Eheim or Filstar
Do you think a 8w LED bulb 800 Lumen (60 watt incandescent equivalent) 5000k bulb on a desk lamp and a 3w LED bulb 225 Lumen (25 watt equivalent) 5000k on a clamp reflector will be able to grow a lush val forest and dwarf sag (basically all the low tech plants) successfully on a standard 10 gallon?
Brandon Cosme it should. The current satellite plus 18" is only 13 watts, you would be at 11 watts. May want to start with that and if it isn't enough try 16 watts. Also having softer water helps and a good bicarbonate buffer at decent levels 7-10 will help for a good carbon source.
Brandon Cosme that will work well. If you start having reduction in chlorophyll or more algae reduce the light. Check out my latest video. It will explain what I mean. Higher light isn't always your friend.
_DAKARI HOWELL_ I left the bottom rim on the tank and took the top rim off on the original ten gallon. It won't ruin the integrity of a ten gallon tank. My first one broke because my old man, who is getting old, accidentally crashed into the first tank with a chair and busted it. I just didn't want to embarrass him when I made the video. So you can take the top rim off of smaller tanks like this with no issues, bigger tanks it can cause problems. Thanks for watching man! Peace!
great info Dave thank you very much for the info. I have a question, are there any low tech, mid - low light plants that can make a good carpet in a low tech tank? I have a carpet of Dwarf sag in my low tech, but it's more like lawn lol. Is there anything else I can carpet with? Thanks for all your advice and help ADU Aquascaping
Maurice Aquariums Really you can grow most any plant in a low tech. A lot of hobbyists carpet hair grass, monte carlo, pogostemon helferi, staurogyne repens, and even HC! In low tech tanks. Dennis Wong claims he has carpeted HC. I would start with monte carlo, it seems really easy to grow, mine always works, or it seems people have good luck with pearl weed. But if you have to start dosing and using Excel is it a true low tech? That is the question. I don't mind, but a lot of people freak out say that is not a real low tech. So that is why I don't dose anything in my current low tech tank, to try and see what kind of results I get. I do use DIY root tabs though, and that probably isn't good in the Elitists eye, lol. I really want to try a mineralized top soil tank with laterite and peat moss, and maybe some red clay. Just all organic and dose nothing to the tank. The substrate I am using in my 10 gallon low tech is super old crummy Eco mixed with Aquasoil, so I can only imagine the results you could get with a properly dirted low tech tank. The results would probably be stunning if done correctly, which is why I am surprised there are not more high tech looking low techs on YT. I think it has to do with peoples gardening techniques and not their substrate.
Thank you so much for the info that mix that you just described, is what I actually use as substrate atm. It grows plants fast and robust with no fertz and co2. I have pearlweed available to me and it's already in that said tank, It's now catching on though, and tend to grow taller rather than horizontal. I was told to prune it and plant the clippings. So I'm going to try that. Thank you for all you assistance. You are a great help and inspiration. Thank you.
Maurice Aquariums Yeah man, there is a guy here on YT that carpets HC and downoi in his low tech, so it is possible. His YT name is Carlmelo. Check out his low tech tanks to get some ideas. I think I may do Laterite and sand next just to piss everyone off! LOL
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I took an interest to fish keeping over a year ago due to watching videos like these. Just wish I stumbled across your channel a lot sooner when designing my tank, mine looks so amateur it's laughable. The beauty about your channel is, I can watch and learn :)
Stefan Blackwell Yeah man, that is the beauty of YT. Thanks for watching and supporting my channel. If you have any questions just hit me up in the comments or private messages. Peace!
I watched this video numerous of times because of its beauty. I saved it to my list. Good job!
Thank you!! Glad you liked it.
I've been watching a lot of vídeos once i'm trying to learn more about aquascaping and planted tanks. What I can say is that you convey an image of a very reliable guy doing your best at this hobby. Also , I find your vídeos really didactic and very helpful. Thank you so much for that. :)
felipe zunino thanks for the support and for watching. It means a lot man!
I love your Amano Shrimp they add so much to the tank.
FiveCardArmy I love those shrimps. When I got mine my mom said I'm crazy for putting in ugly, gross looking creatures, but I find them so pretty and interesting and she loves them now too!
Amazing results with no dosing whatsoever ! Looks really nice !
THanks man, yeah no dosing. It is a fun little tank.
I'm new to hobby and started with a 10 gallon tank, I know they're harder to maintain than a 20 gallon (upgraded and am now using the 10 gallon for an experimental DIY windowsill aquaponics) but I actually appreciated having the 10 gallon to learn on. It was way easier to see how what I did effected what was going on in the tank.
Very nice, love that S. repens and need to get my hands on some!
DIY AQUAPROS I read your message, sounds good man. I will write something up. This week is slow, so I better do it now.
I really appreciate these! I have a 75 gallon tank I’m getting into live planting and this is very helpful!
great work Dave.
your plants look rely relaxed. and fish bright and healthy.
thanks for the info.
Great looking tank ADU love the plants and great info and support. keep up the great work that you do.
thunderjack1000 Thanks for the kind words. Tank is a breeze and really fun because I don't do anything! Other than pluck dead leaves, bi monthly water changes and occasionally scrape algae off the glass. Thanks for watching.
Nice one. I agree. Plants should take care of everything and beginners should be fine with a small tank
Yeah they will be fine. Thanks for watching man.
Corydoras are too cute... Very actively enjoying in your tank
yes I ironically just bought some plants from paul. he's very knowledgeable and his plants are amazing! new subbie. Dave you inspired me. I want a low tech planted take then put some Pure breed endlers in there
+🐟💦Siren_SeaReviews&Aquariums(Gabbi) Thanks for watching, yeah go ahead and give this method a try, and if you use new soil or aquasoil you won't need to actually use root tabs. I was just using them because I was using old substrate. It took about 6 months to mature. The thumbnail to the video is a mature shot and you can also see the photo on my Google + for a close up. Cheers!
I love your videos you gave great information, I am just starting out with a 20 gallon high tank and a 32 gallon tank the only thing is that I probably charged my tanks with too many plants they both look crowded next to yours, thanks for sharing.
Marie Racciopoli It can be easier to balance if you start with a lot of plants, so that is good. It may be your placement of the plants that makes it appear that way. It will just take practice and patience. Thanks for watching.
Great advice. If I can ever find some "free" time I am going to set up a 5gal low tech. Looks like a ton of fun.
NickMach007 You definitely have time for a low tech. Anyhow I was reading your comment about CRI and now I can't find it. I swiped it off my notifications, but I think it got deleted. Anyhow I am sure we are on the same page. I just prefer blue temps to reds or pinks. I love the color rendering of my T5HOs, but a little too pink for me. Mixed with my E-series it looks killer. I get super awesome CRI with shimmer and shadow. Great combo. Truthfully I am having some growth issues with the E-series, so they are sending me another one. The PAR is about the same as the Ray IIs and I needed two of those over the 40 breeder to get good growth so I figure I need two E-series. With the added colors the E-series provides I am hoping the plants will benefit a little bit more from them, enough to make growth somewhat better than with the RayIIs. If not, I may be switching back to T5HOs, or better yet supplementing my LEDs with T5HOs. I love the color schemes you can program with the E-series, so hopefully two of them will do the trick. But you are right, the CRI with T5s is just awesome. May be getting the GH4 after all. I am trying to sell a big guitar amp I don't need anymore and then put the funds towards the camera. I have someone interested in the amp so hopefully I can sell it.
I'll keep my finger crossed for the GH4...we need some 4k fish vids. And even if I upgrade my Canon down the road, I don't think they are going to start putting 4k in their DSLRs for a few years. They are really focused on separating their "cinema" line video machines from their DSLRs. Even if I won the lottery and patiently waited for the 5D mark IV, I don't think it will have 4k. I hope I am wrong though. I like Canon otherwise. The camera feels good in my hand and all the dials and menus are actually starting to make sense to me to the point where I actually know where things are without looking.
Back to lighting though, yeah, I know the lens gave better spread on the E-series fixtures, but even so I would have been surprised if one was enough. I have been having a nightmare experience with Jacob's Aquarium and some dwarf baby tears I ordered from him. And he has stopped responding to my emails. So, my tank is still down. I am hoping to get some other dwarf baby tears from a different supplier today and then FINALLY start the tank using the dry start method to let them root in. I am going to stick with 2 RayIIs for now and see how they do. Updates to come.
Can I ask a quick question though and get an opinion. Would I be a total jerk to post a video of my negative experience ordering from Jacob's Aquariums? I think I can do it in a professional way and be fair and honest. I kind of think we need to share our experiences with each other to build the community. But I also don't want to piss people off. Thoughts?
Great vid Dave! Looking forward to seeing this fill in!
The tank looks great. I also had my Eheim 2213 crap out on me. Lucky I had pickup a SunSun 302 for $28.00 about a month before. The SunSun is working really good for the price and I have double the Eheim Bio Media in it.
Thanks for sharing man.
Another great informative lesson. Thank you for your time, it really is appreciated.
Keeping my sleeves wetMarvin 😁
Good talk! I found my self cant live without at least one low tech tank hah! its just like a " Safe place for everything" that i need to have!
Sorry to hear that!! I just had an innovative marine nuvo 8 nano break on me after only being setup for 4 days. Literally just split a crack down the side out of the blue in the middle of the night.
parula321 Funny how it is always at night. Pressure changes I assume. I have had several tanks break in half for no known reason. Sucks ass. The video is uploading right now! Part 3!
....."liquid rock"...... it's really that hard, huh....that's great!... You manage it well... I'm sure the RO unit helps...... looks good ! .. the Dragonstone is so cool... I'll have to get some from ya, someday....... Thanks Dave.....
Yeah it's like 8.6-9 pH. It is off the charts with 300+ ppm GH and KH. You can grow vals, anacharis, hornwort and what not, but my plants never did that great in my tap water. Way too much carbonate in the water which binds with a lot of nutrients making them unusable as well as converting any usable CO2 to bicarbonate. A lot of places in America have a 7-8 pH with moderate GH and KH. My water is perfect for Tanganyika Cichlids. So that is a plus. Thanks for watching man. I have plenty of rock in stock. As well I have a smaller medium package that is great for nano tanks. Just PM me when you are ready to get some.
Nice tank!
you have great advise and enjoyable intelligent videos. Thanks
+Ron Griese Thanks for the feedback and for watching.
Nice visor, keeping it simple that's the way I puefer
Gloday81 It is a fun little tank. Easy to take care of, I still love my high tech tanks. Thanks for watching.
Hi im doing a planted tank in a 20g and i also have a current led system, also a canister filter and using some Co 2 so i hope when i have it all set up it looks as cool as yours.
+Fish Tales just be patient and consistent and it will.
Oh man this good! Thanks for updating!!
parula321 No problem, thanks for watching, glad I could help.
This is great. Looking forward to updates on this.
Nice tank. Always like the low tech. Which light do you use?
Lovely tank!
+roggerfrogger2 Thanks, glad you like it.
Great info, thanks for sharing Dave!
Could you please tell me what type of bulb you are using? Give me all the juicy details please!
I plan on doing a planted tank. My tank is 150gal. How many bags at 20lbs do I need for this tank? Also what depth should I use at the front and at the back? Can you recommend some rocks to use? Lastly with a tank this size can I go low-tech or will I need Co2? Thanks for the help and your video's are a big help.
Rich Blondin With a tank that size it will be pretty expensive to use Aquasoil, but it is worth it in the end. If expense isn't an issue I would use Marfied Controsoil. If you need to save on money I would do a dirted tank, but that is more effort and more of a pain. To get a lush tank you don't necessarily need to go high tech, you just need to choose appropriate plants for your low tech. Really you can carpet or get a bushy look in a low tech, it just takes more time, and possibly more skill, depending on the plants you choose. With a tank that size it would be easier and a lot cheaper to go low tech, you can always transform your tank into a high tech later on.
First what is the footprint of your tank? What type of look or scape do you want to create?
At least 2" in the front, and really whatever you want in the back from 4-10" depending on your slope.
You don't want carbonate based rocks so stay away from any clay or carbonate type rocks like limestone.
I sell Dragon Stone, it is an inert lava rock that will not alter your chemistry. You can also go to a rock yard and ask for quartz based rocks or lava rock.
Rich Blondin Another winning combo is to use API laterite, some type of quartz sand or Eco complete, and then put DIY Osmocote plus root tabs in the substrate. First layer laterite, then the slow release pellets capped with Eco or quartz sand. The laterite will provide nutrients and hold nutrients, basically it organically chelates the nutrients so they stay in the substrate and are slowly released. I am not sure if this would be cheaper, but if you bought pool filter sand, API Laterite, and Osmocote Plus you may actually save tons of money. Both the Laterite and the Osmocote plus would only be used in small amounts compared to the sand, just a thin layer is all you need, 1/4" or so. It has instructions on the box for recommended amounts, and I would say 6 tablespoons of Osmocote plus sprinkled on top of the Laterite would suffice when first setting up the tank. And then you can replenish every 4-5 months with O+ by using gelatin capsule and making DIY root tabs.
ADU Aquascaping Thank for the info, I'll see what I can afford.
I agree with the small tanks for a new planted aquarium hobby aqua scraping can get super expensive hahaha
Hey Dave I have a low tech tank 90 Gallon I do use Flourish Excel and Thrive Regular water changes 8 hours LED lite but my plants suddenly dying off not looking good ? I have eco-complete for about 2.5 years does that lose it’s nutrients over time I do use root tabs should I change out the gravel Thanks always Rob
You don't dechlorinate when mixing with ro? I started a 20 high with the basic Gravel and bs decorations lol spongebob....kids.... Straight ro then added fish. Would I need to change my substrate?
Amazing!!! Can you do this exact video 'for dummies'?! I feel like I cant understand every 2nd word haha :) Thanks for the video
The parameters of water u said u have in this tank , Can u put discus and plant in that , I have closely same tap water parameter , I'm just new in this hobby with 220 liter tank want to make some hardscape and planting and then discus .
Any advice would be appreciate
Regards .
Love watching your videos. I decided to follow your set up because honestly it was the most straight forward. The only difference is that I use eco complete as the substrate and my tank is a 29 gallon. My question is.... Does the osmocote produce false readings with the api test kit? I ask because I'm on the seventh day of a fishless cycle and I'm getting some confusing results ammonia 4ppm, nitrites 2.0ppm and nitrates at 20ppm. Not sure if it's the osmocote or not. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
+Jeffrey Saude yes some of the ammonium nitrate will leak into the water column. Great for plants, but bat for test kits and can kill shrimp if you use too much.
You movies are beautifull. I love aquascape tanks and stone and reef tanks.
Thank you!! I am glad you like it. Check out my cinematic videos playlist!
You got yourself another sub!
Akeem Mohammed Thanks for the support and for watching.
may I ask what is your light setup? how many watts? lumens?
great tank, mesmerizing
A 16" Current satellite plus LED
Do you only use 'Starfire' (or whatever you want to call it), the ultra clear glass, or just regular tanks from a regular pet shop?
+Herbshirt I wish. I have one ADA low iron glass rimless tank, but my other tanks are just cheap standard tanks.
love the low maintenance tank!! I'm still pretty new to the planted tanks and when I hear people rattle off the plant names its like another language (almost like latin or greek hehe ;).
Tim's Tanks Thanks for watching, yeah it can be confusing and hard to hear what they say at first. Haha, maybe it is a different language, who knows. Some of the names are just made up as well with a Latin feel to them. Yeah this tank is a really easy "Plug and Play" style tank great for beginners. Maybe not the cheapest because I am using Aquasoil vs just regular dirt, but for a beginner it is so much easier and cleaner to use Aquasoil and way less of a risk. Plus Aquasoil has high humic acid, way more than regular dirt. The Humates allow the substrate to hold nutrients, like the Osmocote Plus pellets I put in the substrate. They trap the nutrients where they belong. And then I used heavy root feeding plants to utilize the nutrients. It really is that simple. Just watch these videos and you can easily get these results. All I do is water changes every two weeks and pluck old or dying leaves from the plants and that is it! I don't have to dose any fertilizers or worry about pressurize CO2. A lot of low tech people that use dirt also dose Excel- a liquid carbon, and does either dry or liquid ferts to the water column, well I am not dosing anything!! So I save money that way allowing me to put that money towards the Aquasoil. So really it is just as "Low Tech" as other tanks out there, just a different approach.
This may be a stupid question but, if I'm starting up a new tank, do I need to cycle like I would a reef tank? I have multiple saltwater tanks and before I can even put anything in them I need to cycle it for about a month. Is it the same for planted tanks?
Have you ever used eco-complete with cories? Is it too rough on their barbels, or would chemical imbalances be responsible for any erosion?
+Zoe Kim I think people say to stay away from using it, and if you are going to get a bunch to use fine soft sand or Aquasoil. I never did Cories with Eco, but I did have them with quartz sand before.
I have a few tanks set up like this being low tech as well as high tech tanks and some that are in between. Great video and nice tank.
Glen Hawkins Thanks man, yeah there are so many different approaches to setting up a tank. My argument is a lot of people advocate for dirt, but for a beginner it really isn't as easy as Aquasoil. And a lot of people do dirt and then dose dry ferts and Excel. I am not dosing anything. Then they have to buy gravel for a cap and the water is usually yellow with tannins for quite some time or even the life of the tank and the dirt usually has chicken shit in it. Some risk of infection if you have cuts on your hands, IMO.
So this tank is a "Plug and Play" tank. Easy for a beginner. Aquasoil has tons of humates allowing it to hold nutrients in the substrate and suck organics out of the water column, making for crystal clear water. And it is baked so it stays clean. Has way more humic acid than regular top soil. Plus the added Osmocote Plus pellets add tons of awesome nutrients to the substrate. I used heavy root feeding plants to utilize the nutrients. Again, a DIY clay root tab may be cheaper, but not as easy for a beginner to do. All I do is pluck the old and dying leaves off the plants, do a bi monthly water change and that is it. No dosing of any kind. So it is just as Low Tech as other tanks out there just a different approach. I challenged Tom Barr's EI method with high techs and now I am challenging Dustin's, really Diana's method with low techs. I like to incorporate modern techniques to make it easier.
It is a great low tech set up but like you said there are so many ways to set up a tank. I know currently I am going to have to rethink the one half of my divided tank that has the Aficana ADA aquasoil. A week after I set it up. I am getting hair algae on everything but only on that side and cant figure it out. Maybe too much light but why is the other half algae free. It is suppose to be low tech also but if I cant get this is issue resolved I will tear that half down and take a different approach.
i really wanna star doing this, it looks cool and i think it'd hep my mind focused
+The Raul Guerrero G yes! you will love it. It is for people that need or love to focus. It really calms you down, and has helped me become more focused and patient.
+ADU Aquascaping I'd be good if you make a beginner's guide to aquascaping
good idea. This series is kind of a beginner model, but I could think of some other technique ideas that beginners may want to see.
+ADU Aquascaping yeah man, you should really do it
I have some ideas swimming around in the old fish bowl
I have sand at the bottom of my tank and I really want to heavily plant it so that I can get a certain fish (forgot it's name) that likes plants. can I add the soil on top of the sand while the tank has fish in it, or can I plant it with the sand?
Great videos. Really and truly.
thanks for watching!!!
How did you cycle this tank before adding the fish? I have a 29 gallon tank that is fully established and I totally understand the nitrogen cycle process but my question is, how is the cycling process accomplished with a planted tank?
Before plants? After plants but before fish?
Great video
The plants can suck up residual ammonium, but it will still take 3-4 weeks no matter what for new filter media to become fully cycled. They don't speed it up, but can take up some ammonium in the process.
Thanks for the reply. Did you use ammonia for dosing? I'm familiar with tank cycling, I was just unsure how to approach the situation with plants...
Patrick Maslowski there is no difference really.
Awesome thanks, I didn't want to harm the plants when cycling.
Good video.
And great low_tech. It can actually pass for a high_tech if one does not know.
That's how good it looks.
And your channel intro looked really cool.
How did you do it?
I am still stuck on movie maker.
Aquamaniac Thanks man, it is a fun tank. I don't worry about it much. I use Adobe Pro CC and a template for the intro. I did a lot of the music, but not so much the motion. Color, lighting and a few added effects as well.
Aquamaniac And it was created in Adobe After Effects.
Hi great advice what media are you using in the filter and would you use carbon in the filtration for a set up like this ? thanks .
+Paul Roadz I am packing the filter full of tons of sponge, micron sponge, and ceramic bio media. No carbon. The secret is to jam your filter full of media. I never cleaned the filter once, and it never got built up with detritus because there was so much bacteria in the filter that were almost completely metabolizing all of the waste. When I opened the filter after over nine months it wasn't even dirty inside. Just get some micron sponge as well to polish your water. I was using a SunSun 603 mini cansiter filter on this 10 gallon tank.
Are you using a simple chem kit to monitor your levels?
Dave ...what are your thoughts on using indian almond leaves to soften water? My tap water is 7.6 pH..I am not sure of the figures for hardness but my LFS uses same water as me and they said our water was hard...I dont care too much about lowering pH as mine is stable..but I would like to see if IAL's could soften the water therefore making some of my fish more comfortable -tetras, corydoras etc..have you ever used IAL's?..just want to know your thoughts on them...
did you end up using some? I never have. Can just use Aquasoil, or soil to acidify the substrate and pH of the water.
I use them with my siamese fighter fraternity tank ( 40 gallon) and also in another tank that houses some corydoras (20 gallon)...I just use one leaf in the small tank and two in the larger...more for the medicinial benefit and I like the tannin colour...I just let them go until they look like they are breaking up and then put some new ones in..
+ORANGE FISHHEAD yeah the tannins would be nice and the fish love the natural habitat. good to know.
Looks Great!
For someone looking to get started with planted tanks and wanting to keep things low tech/maintenance, is there a book/article/resource you can point me toward? I am almost completely ignorant to what would be required for one. Thanks!
The book Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants is an awesome book. You will want to read it a few times. It has low tech, high tech, basically everything for beginners
Check out my low tech playlist as well.
No dosing, nicely done
Slim Tim Thanks man, yeah no need to dose when you use heavy root feeders and Osmocote Plus. A really simple "plug and play" style tank for beginners. Everything is easy for them to use and do. Maybe not necessarily the cheapest, but Aquasoil is comparable in price to Eco. And it has high humates making for a nutrient rich, clean, substrate. Dirt is cheaper, but not always the easiest for beginners.
Brilliant vid. Thankyou. I was going to go hi-tech straight up but now I'm leaning toward lo-tech. Plants still the focus.
Is that a 2 or 3 ft tank?
+Herbshirt Thanks, it is a cheap 10 gallon aquairum, about 16-18 inches I believe. yeah low tech can be fun and easier to do for most beginners.
hey, I just moved to Logan utah and I want to set up a planted tank. I haven't checked yet but I think it is liquid rock as well. should I do half filter half tap water for water change
+Ryan Knowles I would, check and see what your alkalinity and pH is at! If it is in the high 7's or above 8. I would...
Hello,
Do you use a co2 drop checker? If so, can you recommend one to me?
Thank you
Laura Wrenn I actually have one that you could buy if you'd like. It is the Cal aqua labs Oracle drop checker. Let me know, if interested PM me here on YT.
hey I am asking out of the box question but can you please let me know whether I can put my discus fish and black skirt tetras with artificial plants?
you could, but why? Can you not find any live plants locally? If you used Amazon swords and cryptocoryne plants it would be easy to do and take care of.
actually I have a 20 gallon tank ( Rs 580 A) model with LED lights and a over the top filter so I am confused whether live plants can thrive in it? also the substrate for live plants is quite high priced so if could suggest me any cheap alternative for substrate then it would be very helpful.
you can get an LED desk lamp that would help produce more power. Usually a mix of 6500K and warmer 4500K is a good mix. Substrate you can use a Laterite base layer with root tabs, Clay based, or Osmocote + based, or can buy manufactured ones. The Laterite holds the nutrients and is a good media for plant roots and bacteria. And then you cap the Laterite with sand. You can also use this method, but instead of using too tabs and Laterite you can use dirt. Dirt of course works because it is soil, top soil. But it can be harder to manage.
thank you so much buddy! what quantity should I use of laterite?
Liking this setup Dave too bad the wife refuses to let me have more tanks in the house or I would have set something like this up just for kicks
so beautifull
Any wise words for dealing with Black beard Algae?
How would you aquascape a 30cm cube? I want it to be low maint but beautiful!
parula321 Probably the same way I aquascaped this tank. Same maintenance, equipment and method. Actually a bit bigger than this ten gallon long if it is a cube.
i have a 75 gallon tank that i plan on planting heavily. i have had success with plants in the past. but i think it might just be hardy plants and dumb luck. now i want to do it right this time and use fertilizer and substrates in addition to lighting. to experiment im going to start with a 10 gallon and see where that takes me. do you have to use aqua soil? why not just fluorite or eco complete? im probably just going to have rotalla indica, amazon swords and java fern. would i need a really complex set up for that? or just fluorite and some occasional liquid fertilizer. im going to have 4 t5 bulbs for the 75, will that be enough?
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+Mitchell Staley you can use soil and cap it with sand, or you could do Laterite, root tabs and cap that with sand. You don't have to have Aquasoil. Flourite or laterite will work with root tabs. Eco complete works well, but really doesn't have many nutrients. And you could dose some liquid ferts to the water column. Just tiny amounts each week. Nothing crazy. Just monitor your plants, if they be mosses or Anubias, ferns, to make sure there is enough nutrients in the water column. It is easier if your water is lower in pH with a lower TDS and KH. Tap water that is hard and alkaline makes the hobby way harder. If you have to use RO water I would, Makes it so much easier to have low KH.
I am about to do a planted 10 gal with guppies and some shrimp as time passes might switch the main fish which is the guppies
And I love your videos man very good info
Hey thanks for watching and have fun. Should be a nice and easy tank. Try to use a soil substrate or some type of Aquasoil. You will have better results that way.
Hey Dave can I start a Low Tech tank with a 90 gallon set up, and what is the GH / KH reading Thanks Rob
yeah you can do a low Tech with any size aquarium. You will have to test your water to find out your GH and KH. Good numbers to aim for are 3-6 dKH and 8-10 GH. Measured in degrees not ppm.
Looking good
What is your CO2 system do you use in your setup? BTW, great setup mate!
In this tank there is no CO2. It is low tech. Thanks for watching.
What light and fixture do you have on this tank?
How long does it take for Brown Algae to go away, I'm a newbie. Thanks.
symbolicsin Usually a month or so, if it is longer than you have improper filtration. Need better filtration and O2 levels.
thank you!
what other plants would go well with this species?
Forgot to mention, I just picked up a triggertrap (well it is in the mail) so I can do some timelapase stuff-- setting up the tank, maintenance, next time I tear down a tank, etc. Should be a fun toy to add to my camera. And I grabbed some extension tubes to play with some macro-ish photography. Are you on Instagram? If not, you should be. I just started posting some pics there...some good, some not so much, but still fun.
NickMach007 That will be sweet, a real one should work great. The interval shooting on my camera works fine, but the image sucks after is processes. Unless I do slower intervals, my sensor overheats etc... Yeah I have some diopter magnification filters that work okay. I actually just got a vintage 200mm with a macro setting. Has auto aperture so that is nice. It is pretty soft on macro, but works great otherwise. I don't have instagram, who knows maybe I will get it. I have some pics I could upload.
I resisted Instagram too for awhile-- and recently I have been curating who I actually follow. At first I was just on it to communicate with other hobbyists-- and I still do that to a certain degree. But now I actually am more interested in following folks who are into photography / art. There is a lot of creativity there. I was looking at picking up a 100mm macro lens, but $800 - $1000 is not in my lens budget at the moment. Nor am I a good enough photographer (yet?) to merit that kind of lens.
Hi could you give me some advise please I've got no idea about things like co2 , what to use Ect can you please leave a message explaining , how do I get this co2 machine Ect thank you
Kay Cresswell I will try to get a list together. I recently wrote out a list for another hobbyist, so I will try and find it and the copy and paste it into the comment. Thanks for watching.
Kay Cresswell Usually anything in a kit has a small non reusable CO2 cylinder. I would recommend either getting a paint ball cylinder or a 5lb aluminum CO2 cylinder from beveragefactory.com. As well as a permanent ABC seal for the cylinder. this way you don't have to change out the nylon seals that most people use. It is a permanent seal.
You usually have to get your tanks filled at a sporting goods store, like sports authority where they have paintball gear. A paintball store, a beer brewing store, a welding shop or store, they will usually want to trade out your cylinder that you just bought for one of theirs, so don't get attached to the shiny aluminum. This way you are in a continuous trade. You drop it off and they give you one they have on hand. They do not refill on the spot. Beer brewers or ice cream/soda stores-if you can find one usually will refill on the spot. Same goes for paintball cylinders in sporting shops.
The cheapest regulators that I endorse are AquaTek of California regulators. They have cheap regulators that actually work.
You can get either one that fits on a paintball cylinder or a regular 5lb cylinder.
You want to buy beverage grade PVC tubing off of US plastics.com or if that is too much you can get CO2 rated tubing from greenleafaquariums.com. Just cheaper if you go to usplastics.com. Beverage grade PVC tubing is what all the main retailers are selling everyone. It is what you want to use.
If you are first starting out I would recommend getting a bubble counter and a drop checker to monitor your CO2 levels. Eventually you can graduate from using a drop checker, but a bubble counter is always nice to have.
Make sure your bubble counter, diffuser or CO2 line has some kind of check valve, most diffusers and bubble counters nowadays have check valves installed into them so no water gets into the regulator.
If using a cheaper regulator you will have to get an in-tank diffuser, do not get an inline, they do not work properly with cheaper regulators, but in-tank diffusers will work fine. A great cheap one to use is the Fluval diffuser. It works really well.
You want to clean your diffuser every two months or so. just soak it in bleach for 5 minutes and rinse off. that is all.
You don't need bubble counter solution or special diffuser cleaning solution. Just put water in your bubble counter and use bleach for the diffuser.
The drop checker will come with reference solution. It is blue, when your CO2 is at about 30ppm in our tank it will turn a light lime green color. The solution inside is at 4dKH carbonate hardness, so to get more accurate readings you want your tank water to be at a 4 KH as well. So you need to be familiar with carbonate hardness and KH.
This isn't super crucial, but it does help to match the levels for more accurate readings.
Make sure to tighten the regulator to the cylinder as tight as you can. No need to break it, but get it on there tight with channel locks or vice grips.
Start by running your tank at one bubble every second and then over the course of a few weeks you can up it to 2-3 bubbles per second. No need to do any more than that.
Put the CO2 on a timer and have it come on 2 hours before the lights come on, and have it turn off 1 hour before the lights turn off.
Have everything closed, then hook the regulator to the cylinder. Then open the cylinder, and watch the pressure rise in the regulator. Then hook up the tubing to the regulator. You can now turn on the needle valve on the regulator and wait as the pressure builds and the CO2 will start coming out of the diffuser. Try to put the diffuser as low as you can and preferably under your filter outtake or a powerhead that way the CO2 will get pushed into the current.
That is really it. If for some reason your fish start gasping for air then turn the CO2 down. Make sure to monitor your tank closely for the first several hours after setting up. Best to do it on Saturday.
I can't think of anything else, but if I do I will let you know, in the meantime run through my 10 quick tips videos and they may give you some more info and ideas.
Thanks for watching.
Im sorry if I missed it, but can you tell me what light you were using for this set-up?.
Lori Green It is a Current Satellite Plus LED. 18"model
Now they have the Current Satellite Plus Pro 24/7 with built in timer. Works well
Would that light work well on a hard tap water, low tech scape?.
the light will work well. This issue in that situation may be your hard water. Use ADA Aquasoil to help acidify the water and substrate. Or if your water is really hard you can dilute your water at a water change with RO water. You can do 50% Tap water and 50% RO water. This is not necessary, but may help. The ADA Aquasoil alone may be enough.
What kind of substrate are you using?
What's the PAR hitting the S. Repens?
samuricexful I am not sure on the exact numbers, I was using a PAR meter and was getting around 30 PAR with the Current USA Satellite Plus LED fixture, but most PAR meters do not accurately read LED light that goes beyond full spectrum, so it isn't accurately reading the red and blue light from the LED. I don't dose this tank, and the S. repens was doing okay, but not great, so I replaced it with dwarf sag to make it a really easy and simple low tech for beginners, the dwarf sag is of course carpeting. I am sure you could get the S. repens to carpet, you could try two fixtures and dose liquid ferts to the water column along with Flourish Excel, and it would work as long as your water isn't too alkaline.
Old video, but do you still recommend adding osmocote to the bottom of aquasoil in a low tech tank?
Steve S It isn't necessary in the beginning. Over time as the tank matures you can add some root tabs.
Hey dave question for ya, I want to start a planted tank with proper substrate and low tech, and i dont want it to be too expensive, and i also want to achieve low maintence in a planted 30-50 gallon tank, and i dont want to spend too muich money as I am working a job but i really want a planted tank with livebreader`s, any ideas on how i can achieve this without spending too much money?
+Noah Ellis you can either use organic top soil and cap with sand. Or use Laterite clay as a base layer with root tabs and cap with sand. Both will supply a lot of nutrients and are cheap to do.
I bought two bags of florite substrate, would that work just as well?
yeah it works. And you will probably want to dose ferts or use root tabs, or both.
What aquatic soil substrate did you use or which do you recommend?
I used ADA Amazonia Aquasoil. These days I would recommend ADA. For me it seems to work better than other brands. They put in a little extra ammonium so it really helps to jump start the microbial fauna and the tank overall.
Where can I buy in Europe such rocks?Are these volcanic rocks?
You will have to look around for "Scoria" lava. I collect this rock locally and can ship internationally, but the shipping is really expensive. $70 per 20 pound box.
ADU Aquascaping
thx
My tank is 3 months old and still have brown diatoms in it, covering my plants, dragon stones and substrate.
Sometimes it may be from a tank that is not cycling properly, or maybe silicates in the dragon stone pours and pits. But this is somewhat of a myth. You may be having a filtration cycling issue. Try increasing surface agitation to increase overall oxygen. Also, Oto cats will eat it overnight. Get two Oto cats and it will be gone in a day or two.
Do larger water changes too just to get rid of the already present diatoms. To flush them from the tank. As a tank matures the micro fauna becomes mostly ciliates and the diatoms will subside.
What lights did you use?
so I'm trying to start and aquascape in a 40 gal tank, so from what I understood I just need hard water ph of 8 or so, osmocote and soil?
+viki gall You don't want hard water. You want soft water with low bicarbonates. 6.6 - 7.5 pH, not hard alkaline water. You can use Osmocote and soil. That is a great combination to use.
ok thank you!! my fiancé and I are trying our hand at a landscape tank so we want to get it as close to right the first time around
Why type of filter do you use? Do i need co2 to plant these plants?
I used a SunSun canister 603 nano filter. No you don't need co2 for these plants.
ADU Aquascaping thank you sir👍
How do I PM you about getting some of that rock?
***** Go ahead and email me at, fishfinatics@live.com. I am going to make an email designated for rock inquiries. With the new google messages YT is a mess and I don't like it. But for now use that email. Thanks
Watch, listen and learn.
Simple planted aquariums stripped down.
colinbarsby Amen, I don't even touch this tank and it is rolling! thanks for watching man.
how often will i change my water to avoid increase of amonium and maintain the pH level?
Nikko Ebueza once the tank cycles, after 4 weeks, you don't need to worry about ammonia. Unless a fish dies or you put too much Osmocote plus in your aquarium. Dona weekly water change. Start out at 50% of aquarium water.
Can I have a nicely planted low tech aquarium with pool filter sand substrate?
you can, but you will want to dose liquid fertilizers if using an inert sand substrate. Check out my "true definition of low tech" video. It is a recent video. I am doing a low tech aquascape and only using inert sand for the substrate. I just dose liquid fertilizers and make sure to have a bicarbonate buffer of some kind for an additional carbon source for the plants. I keep it a little on the hard side- 7.4 pH.
Will waste from fish not fertilize the plants on its own?
+Zaq G it can, but that kind of system takes a lot longer to mature, and you may never get the results that you want.
fish dont have iron
I tried the Sunsun HW- 603; 2 units to be precise, and both leaked at random times within the first week of purchase. I though maybe I was really unlucky and received faulty units so I went to 3 aquarium shops who were actually using them. Talked to the owners who kindly let me handle the filters. As soon as you slightly tilt them they start leaking. I have absolutely no trust in Sunsun. Perhaps 4 years ago they were of good quality but they are simply crap now.
Yeah they are no good nowadays. I don't use them anymore. My buddy has been using one for almost two years with no issues, but better to get an Eheim or Filstar
Btw where do you get you plants? Thanks!
Do you think a 8w LED bulb 800 Lumen (60 watt incandescent equivalent) 5000k bulb on a desk lamp and a 3w LED bulb 225 Lumen (25 watt equivalent) 5000k on a clamp reflector will be able to grow a lush val forest and dwarf sag (basically all the low tech plants) successfully on a standard 10 gallon?
Brandon Cosme it should. The current satellite plus 18" is only 13 watts, you would be at 11 watts. May want to start with that and if it isn't enough try 16 watts. Also having softer water helps and a good bicarbonate buffer at decent levels 7-10 will help for a good carbon source.
ADU Aquascaping I can add another LED bulb. What would you recommend I add to accompany my 8 watt bulb already?
ADU Aquascaping I was thinking about buying a 12 watt LED bulb to accompany my 8 watt so I would have 20 watts all together.
Brandon Cosme that will work well. If you start having reduction in chlorophyll or more algae reduce the light. Check out my latest video. It will explain what I mean. Higher light isn't always your friend.
Brandon Cosme what are you using for fertilizer, and dosing method, what kind of water do you have? maybe you already told me
Thanks so much for the info
Where do you buy all your plants from?
+max williams a local LFS called Animal Ark.
did you keep the bottom rim on ?
_DAKARI HOWELL_ I left the bottom rim on the tank and took the top rim off on the original ten gallon. It won't ruin the integrity of a ten gallon tank. My first one broke because my old man, who is getting old, accidentally crashed into the first tank with a chair and busted it. I just didn't want to embarrass him when I made the video. So you can take the top rim off of smaller tanks like this with no issues, bigger tanks it can cause problems. Thanks for watching man! Peace!
great info Dave thank you very much for the info. I have a question, are there any low tech, mid - low light plants that can make a good carpet in a low tech tank? I have a carpet of Dwarf sag in my low tech, but it's more like lawn lol. Is there anything else I can carpet with? Thanks for all your advice and help ADU Aquascaping
Maurice Aquariums Really you can grow most any plant in a low tech. A lot of hobbyists carpet hair grass, monte carlo, pogostemon helferi, staurogyne repens, and even HC! In low tech tanks. Dennis Wong claims he has carpeted HC.
I would start with monte carlo, it seems really easy to grow, mine always works, or it seems people have good luck with pearl weed. But if you have to start dosing and using Excel is it a true low tech? That is the question. I don't mind, but a lot of people freak out say that is not a real low tech. So that is why I don't dose anything in my current low tech tank, to try and see what kind of results I get. I do use DIY root tabs though, and that probably isn't good in the Elitists eye, lol. I really want to try a mineralized top soil tank with laterite and peat moss, and maybe some red clay. Just all organic and dose nothing to the tank. The substrate I am using in my 10 gallon low tech is super old crummy Eco mixed with Aquasoil, so I can only imagine the results you could get with a properly dirted low tech tank. The results would probably be stunning if done correctly, which is why I am surprised there are not more high tech looking low techs on YT. I think it has to do with peoples gardening techniques and not their substrate.
Thank you so much for the info that mix that you just described, is what I actually use as substrate atm. It grows plants fast and robust with no fertz and co2. I have pearlweed available to me and it's already in that said tank, It's now catching on though, and tend to grow taller rather than horizontal. I was told to prune it and plant the clippings. So I'm going to try that. Thank you for all you assistance. You are a great help and inspiration. Thank you.
Maurice Aquariums Yeah man, there is a guy here on YT that carpets HC and downoi in his low tech, so it is possible. His YT name is Carlmelo. Check out his low tech tanks to get some ideas.
I think I may do Laterite and sand next just to piss everyone off! LOL
Lol!
+ADU Aquascaping this is a big help thanks
can you run a Hygrophila Pinnatifida test ?
sdq sdq what do you mean? Hygrophila pinnatifida can be hard to establish, but once it does it is easy to grow.
see if it grows in high ph and hard water conditions
sdq sdq It can grow in 7.2-7.6 pH, not sure about 8+ pH. If dosing CO2 than it will be easier to grow in higher pH