What Caused My Dream Dutch Style Aquarium to Fail?
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- Опубліковано 25 чер 2024
- In this video, I share my journey of creating a Dutch Style Aquarium and the challenges I faced along the way. I tried my hand at various techniques and equipment, including substrate heating cables, a matten filter powered by a custom air-driven spray bar, and an unconventional laterite cat litter substrate mixed with play sand. However, things didn't go as planned, and I'm left with more questions than answers.
Join me as I discuss my attempts at building my dream Dutch Style Aquascape and the reality that unfolded before my eyes. Throughout the video, I walk you through the process of setting up the tank, selecting and planting various aquatic plants, and experimenting with different equipment and techniques.
Despite Dr. Novak's advice against using substrate heating cables, I couldn't resist giving it a shot. I also created a unique air-driven spray bar to power the matten filter, and for the substrate, I opted for laterite cat litter topped with a sand and gravel mix. The result? A messy, algae-ridden tank that's far from my vision of a beautiful Dutch Style Aquarium.
In my quest to understand what went wrong, I explored various possibilities like high phosphorus levels, silicate leaching, and issues with the substrate heating cable. But, I'm still not sure about the root cause of the failure.
That's where you come in! Watch the video and share your insights, theories, or suggestions in the comments section below.
Let's work together to figure out what happened and how to move forward with a new and improved Dutch Style Aquascape.
📺 As promised, here is a link to my cat litter substrate video: • Cost Saving Aquarium H...
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Hey there, thanks for watching! For videos that continue the themes of this video, check out my Cat Litter substrate video here: ua-cam.com/video/Rzem3wrmU9c/v-deo.html and my summary of alternative aquascaping methods here: ua-cam.com/video/47MpBZuLAF4/v-deo.html
Enjoy!
Warm cabel and bad soil ..u could add lava rock under to make good air and water circulation..dosa good fertiliser in good amount
I personally would like you to add a new fresh batch of plants and see how they react, if it happens again that would mean that the root cause of the issue is still not fixed, I don't know what the issue is though, but could be the combination of substrate, that's my best guess.
Yeah, it is tempting to try. But I think the frustration and wasted money if it goes wrong would be too much to take. lol. Getting excited for the next experiment now....
I have all my Dupla gear from the 1990’s. Still works but I do not use them. The transformer on the heating cables generates so much heat that if you put it under a tank it will probably heat the tank without the heating cables… lol. The Optimum Aquarium. I still read it when I want a laugh. Fascinating video.
Maybe the heating cables over heated? who knows. Since all plants were affected, i suspect something in the substrate.
Good point, it would be a good idea to switch them off tbf. lol
Your water chemistry is so painstakingly accounted for and ferts seems on point, so it seems like either a substrate or flow issue. Either your ferts are settling due to poor flow and the concentrated areas of nutrients are causing the algae, or the substrate is too dense to promote root growth and the plants don't have the foundation to use the ferts efficiently. I've always had the best luck with dirted tanks or aquasoil in heavily planted tanks. Also I know scaping a Dutch with established plants would cost a fortune, but that would have probably also avoided these issues.
Yeah. I think the flow is reasonably good in this so my main thought is that the substrate was too dense/compact. I am looking forward to the new experiments with a dirted tank tho. Picked up some pond soil yesterday! Will keep everyone posted.
Hi! I think the biggest mistake was to trim ur plants so early that coused the alge in combination with plants that where not strong enough yet.
I would personally try more flow from the matten filter, increase the airflow drawing more water through the spraybar. Or make the uplift tubes longer to draw more water.
I'll say again that it's great that there are people with your angle on fishkeeping/aquascaping out there and willing to share will us all. You've done far more research and have more experience than I, but the sand would be the bit making me most uncomfortable. I had some fine sand in a small area of my tank and noticed the anaerobic bubbles getting trapped. It always felt too stagnant in that area. It didnt stop the marsilea crenata but just didn't seem right. Surely locking in the whole substrate with fine sand will give you anaerobic stuff going on but also prevent the circulation in the substrate that you are after? It looked to be going so well before that trim. Maybe its as simple as that, too brutal all at once. Looking forward to v2.0 😊
Substrate issue reacting to heating cable. Highly doubtful it's your filter and ferts are always on point.
Yeah, I reckon your right!! Thanks for watching, hope you enjoyed it!
I also made a Dutch style aquarium 1 year ago (30L nano Cube), but I only used Tropica Soil as a base. I also have to mention that I didn't use any unnecessary extra stuff like "plant booster or anything else". Every Sunday I did a 50% water change with rainwater that had a very low ph value and therefore had no problems with algae. my water temperature was constant 25-26 degrees.
I have added Tropica Iron Fertilizer after every water change, however I would use Masterline All In One which I switched to. I only used Bio Co2 which went well. my suggestion would be to use rainwater, not too much fertilizer means if the fertilizer says 1ml per 30 liters I would always use half which results in less algae problems. I would also recommend shrimp as stocking 😉
Oooh rainwater! Now you have me thinking! Thanks
Sand and cat litter seems like the most likely problem
I've used it, as has Owain with success.
I would argue about the flow being suboptimal. With a spray bar, you want more than just a rather poor vertical dribble, but a constant flow aiming towards the other side of the tank. You want the whole body of water being moved.
Air powered matte filters usually use a straight ascension pipe with only one curve towards the top (think reverse L) to maximize the throughput. Also, you don't need bottom holes in the pipe behind the matte - water will move through matte evenly if you got one or one thousand - I bet you saw that lower end design on a filter using a mounted zylindric matte. Getting rid of the bottom horizontal pipe alone will increase flow.
Also, with the positioning of the top holes, you will have a small column of water below this level and the air needs to work against it. You want no barriers and an exit with at least the same cross section as your intake, too.
What I would do, rather than using a spray bar: use one or two single reverse-L ascencion pipe/s and target the front of the tank. Try to adjust the head of the pipe/s in a way that it is about the same as the water level (cut cavities into the matte just above the surface) - you will maximize your flow.
On a side note: Using air will make you use more CO2 - low wattage pumps you'd see in indoor fountains or little ponds are small, affordable and oftentimes used for this kind of DIY filtration.
You also got a realitively big matte. A matte filter needs a certain flow rate in order to work properly. If I recall it correctly, it should be around +-10cm or +-4 inches per minute - since I don't know the dimensions, you would have to do the calculations yourself, but I guess you are way below that.
Heating cables work fine with a coarser substrate, but oftentimes do not pair well with sand - that's my personel experience. You will see exchange processes, albeit slower, anyway by diffusion. And the plethora of plants will take up nutrients through their leaves and does not need extra root fertilizer, too.
I have been using different sands as substrate for years and never had any problems. Just make sure it is not too fine (stay above the .4 mm mark to be extra safe). Pool filter or play sand is as cheap as you can get. I prefer .4mm - .9mm - don't mix too much, stay within a .5mm range. You can also use garnet sands (used for abrasion), but extra care is needed since they can easily scratch your glass.
Your main focus should be the substrate being INERT! - or it may bleed compounds (like silicates) into the water column, which is especially true in a low ph environment. Beware, that play sands sometimes come with additives - read the declaration of ingredients, carefully.
My routine would include to rinse it before usage. Wet sand has the advantage, too, of not trapping air pockets that easy. Fill in a little bit of water once it is in the tank, just above ground level, stir around and get rid of any remaining air in the process. If you have a small aquarium, you can rinse it inside by putting in the sand, filling in the water, stirring around, getting rid of the water using a hose and then repeat the process until you don't see a lot of cloudiness, anymore. Otherwise, use a bucket - I did the bucket once for about 80kg of sand .... . >_<
I never had a problem with a sandy substrate getting too dense - and especially in a healthy, heavily planted setup, the roots will transport oxygen into the substrate so it doesn't get anaerobic easily. Don't use anything extra, no gravel or cat litter, just sand.
So, let me sum up:
Problems, imho:
Not enough flow, hence poor distribution and local accumulation of nutrients in the substrate in addition to the root tabs. The filter is not working properly.
The heating cable does not pair well with sand. You could speculate that the sand isolated the area and, in consequence, created a rather unhealty environment. Heat may have promoted exessive bacterial growth. With the plants not having established a decent root system, it may have gotten anaerobic - if you stir and poke, you may provoke smelly gas bubbles to escape, if that indeed was the case.
The cat litter was most likely heavy in silicates.
Solution, recommendation:
Get more/better flow and check if you have enough throughput for the matte. I am also fairly certain that you don't need that big of a matte for this tank size - if you are not able to reach the target flow rate, downsizing may be an option (a corner/triangular design would be the easiest approach).
Get a sandy, inert substrate above the .4mm mark.
Keep doing your weekly 50%+ water changes if you want to incorporate E.I.. - you can do more during the first week/s. Try stiring up detritus on the substrate and remove it with your hose. If you see algae/biofilm building up/clogging the surface of your substrate, vacuum the top layer where you can reach it. Do not go deep, though.
Start with a 6 hour! photoperiod and if things look good after 4 weeks, do increments of half an hour per week until you reach your target photo period. Personally, I wouldn't go beyond 12 hours in total. If you want to incorporate a midday break, make sure you still have photoperiods of at least 4 consecutive hours at all times.
Double check your dosage regimes/fertilizer solutions - consider using half the needed amount until you see considerable new growth. Do not use root tabs. You have plenty of fertilizer in the water column and you want to control/reset nutrient levels by doing water changes. You may use tabs later on if you try to cultivate finicky root feeders once your system is working properly in general and they still show symptoms of nutrient deficiency.
Personally, I like plain, neutral sand because it leaves you with a more controllable environement - but if you are still looking for a DIY soil approach, I can only recommend you take a look at the concept of "Mineralized Soil Substrate" by Aaron Talbot, which did work quite well for me topped of with sand. It is similar to Diana Walstad's idea, but safer.
Disclaimer: I am not natively English speaking ... please, do forgive me for any potential word salad! :p
I am your subscriber and love all your videos. (The AI video is my favourite!)
Considering you love to experiment please may I give you a suggestion which will help everyday hobbyist like me..
There are a million videos here by vloggers on creating / setting up new tanks almost everyday but hardly any good videos on aquarium maintenance. May be you can show us how to do maintenance videos? (Having said that your one video on maintenance “revolutionise your aquarium maintenance” was very useful and I did get that pump purchased to make life easier)
Secondly any videos on any efficient automatic water top-up systems and how to go about them will be mighty helpful
Time permitting of course!
Thank you :)
Hey Hey. Thanks for all the positivity. Those are some great suggestions which I will add to my list for my Autumn season! Cheers.
Right so I’m also working on a Dutch tank now too. It’s been running for about two months.
I similarly have high phosphorous issues in my water in NYC. I eventually switched to RODI because the algae was so pervasive. You added phosguard but every time you do a water change you’re flooding the system with new phosphorus which the system will take time to remove. You might have enough of a lag time in the phosphorous reduction that the algae rebounds with every water change.
One aspect you didn’t touch on was the type of light you’re running. Dutch style tanks work best with high light encouraging extremely compact and dense growth. Something to consider.
I’m trimming every two weeks at this point. So I don’t think that should be an issue. Nor do I think the heater cables are an issue.
I am curious about the flow you are getting. Especially because carpeting plants need steady co2. Co2 as you know has a tendency to rise and then off-gas with surface tension breaking. So it could be that diminished flow is not adequately allowing co2 to circulate and you’re losing co2 through the filter dropping water down into the tank. Sand can also easily clog filters. I didn’t notice a drop checker so curious if you’re measuring co2.
Anyway that’s where my brain went first! Happy to keep trouble shooting. Could be a question of time as well.
Hey Hey. So the lighting is a Aquael Leddy Plant which I've used to successfully grow out other tanks so I son't think thats the issue. I use a Co2 drop checker and get a nice lime green colour. Tho I am always slightly conscios of the gassing off that occurs with my air driven filters. I'm pretty sure that substrate compaction is the issue. What sort of substrate and equipment do you have on your setup? How are you dealing with the excess phosphorous?
@@AquariumShed I was thinking about substrate compaction too. Baby roots can’t get through sand super easily.
I’m using ADA Amazonia.
NYC will occasionally flood the system with phosphorus so I am now using RODI water.
The tank has a co2 generator (baking soda and citric acid), an aquaclear 20 and a twinstar E series
I am going to assume it is the substrate. I am using cat litter, and I don't think clean sand is mutch more nutritious, but I found things took a long time to settle. I had pretty slow growth for months. Some plants never took at all and some are barely hanging on. At this moment at time, my tank is overgrown because I haven't trimmed it in 8 days and the stem plants are trying to escape the tank.
My thoughts about my own tank are, that if cat litter stores excess nutrients, then it may take time. I think having some mulm build up in the substrate helps, even though this is supposedly inert. Dr Novak did a video where he said something about plant roots developing hairs which can better pull ferts out of the substrate, it may be that these take time to adapt?
I would be tempted to pull out the struggling plants and replant them somewhere else. And then replant this one and see how it evolves. It might be too early to end the experiment.
Ooh, that is interesting abot the root structure. Yeah, I know what yoy mean about it potentially being too early to end the experiment. But also, new plants in the same substrate is a lot of expense and risk.... It's a tricky one! Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
This is good i have too think about it. I just bought 2 cables dennerle . Have you tried the BCB basket because that so far is the one thing that i was really surprised how well worked.
Aah interesting. I have watched a bunch of videos about BCB baskets, but never tried one. Cheers for the tip.
Dutch style is one of the hardest to set up and maintain. I have to give credit to anyone who tries this set up. You said you used cat litter. This is interesting, but I would never try it. You didn't say whether it was zeolite, bentonite, or diatomite. There can be many variables here and contaminates as well. It would be way too high in phosphorus, and it is said to over soften as it depletes the water of calcium. See below:
I once had a mysterious Black Algae problem in a tank where I used some large pebble gravel that I found at a home center that was labeled as 'planter rock' for use in dish gardens. I suspect that this may have been the problem since I had never had Black Algae in any tank of mine in over 50 years of fishkeeping. I had several tanks set up in the same region of the valley where I lived in the western states, and it only occurred in this one tank. I didn't bother testing the phosphorus on this tank since I was going to be taking it down anyway to set up a different sized one.
I would say the Matten Filter isn't necessary, and only use something for a little water circulation. Cable heaters have fallen out of favor for the reasons you've mentioned. If you have a dedicated fish room, I would heat the room as much as you can and use a tube/stem heater if you need more heat. 💙🐟
Add a powerhead. Not enough flowrate
Most cat litter is made from clay (e.g., bentonite) that acts as an absorbent. Since clay typically contains elevated levels of naturally-occurring radionuclides, large amounts of cat litter can be measurably radioactive. Shipments of cat litter have been known to trip radiation monitors.
Wow. That's crazy. Thanks for sharing! 👍
@@AquariumShed So can zeolite. 😮
What is the ph of your water? And did you add root tabs in the substrate bro?
Hiya. Ph is 7.5. Yes, I used EasyLife root tabs evenly distributed through the substrate. 👍
Heating cables are expensive and a pain in the ass. If you have plants that need substrate heat stick low heat reptile heating pads on the bottom of the tank. I set tanks with these on a thin piece of styrofoam painted black, slotted to run the cord through. Use Malaysian snails to prevent compaction and oxygenate the substrate. I always build mattenfilters - the sponge will not become clogged with debris if you stick plants on it with plastic bobby pins. They absorb debris. Size 30 sponge in the 65g. I think you trimmed plant matter that was absorbing phos and it started feeding algae instead.
See the 'wall o plants' in back right corner? Anubias, rotala etc. That's my homemade mattenfilter. I had a spray bar on it that ran across the back of the tank and had taken it off to clean it- and grabbed some video because the flow looked pretty cool. ua-cam.com/video/AUW09nUmx_k/v-deo.html
Is Cat litter Laterite? Or actually clay, hopefully baked.
Bad co2 distribution with high light
In mine opinion, you have Cyanobacteria in the substrate, better to start over, bleech the tank before starting a new montage
Yeah, I'm defo leaning this way! Cheers
Modern substrate, modern filter like that Oase = problem solved. Edit: what a window view!
Hi, it is perfectly possible to grow plants with a zero substrate nutrient (see my tank, just click on my picture) and also with no filter whatsoever. I personally think Oase filters are massively over-rated for a host of reasons, not least the price. But of course expensive compacted/baked soil based substrate works and if your Oase doesn't leak (as mine did) and you change out the pre-filter material for something a bit more porous and you inject CO2 and the lighting is right and the water is not saturated with Nitrate and Phosphate then things will go well, but Tropica often have algae in their new setups, their substrate is very rich and their capsules are full of Nitrate. They recommend 50% water change every other day in a new tank, and of course tap water may be full of Nitrate and Phosphate, way above natural waters in the tropics. Wild flowers love a low nutrient soil and most plants prefer low macro nutrients, Phosphate and Nitrate run-off is the major issue for damage of higher river plants, it causes algae blooms, eutrophication. My goldfish pond is low in nutrients (with a good filter, rainwater and a UV) and plants grow well and fish can be seen, little algae. Walstad tanks are never going to look like a Dutch tank, but add CO2 and you can literally grow almost any plant, I have done it, but the soil must be a heavy loam with low nutrients. Best wishes.
@@williammcdowell6257 Of course it is.
I like Oase because of their built in heater and pre-filter.
I don't have access to Tropica soil, but you only have to look at how successful their tanks are, and of course the massive qty of tanks and plants they've grown.
Absolutely excess nutrients are a problem in rivers, but I'm not a farmer. My water changes go into the garden.
@@grey7513 I'm glad you like the Oase filter, but it is not unproblematic to house a heater in a filter, it tends to click on and off and of course if flow is down - blocked pre-filter - then keeping the tank a the right temperature can be an issue. My point was however, primarily that I am not convinced that the problems Owain has had are filter related, plants grow fine in an unfiltered tank. But thanks for the interest in my comment.
@@williammcdowell6257 That pre filter is very easy to clean. The reason I mentioned the oase filter was of course to house a heater out of site. If its clicking on and off I'd assume that's the thermostatic switch doing it's thing when it reaches temperature. Of course plants can be grown without a filter. But I'd definitely use one in a dutch style.
My whole original comment of using aquasoil and modern filter (with hidden heater) been that tech has advanced to make things easier.
Please correct me if I'm mistaken but I think you need to get some more test kits. It sounds like you made a lot of assumptions and then took actions on those assumption without basing them on any actual measurements. Get some test kits to either confirm or reject your hypothesis instead of making guesses and acting on them. You'll have a much better sense for what's actually happening then. If I were to take a wild guess as the biggest contributor to your problems, it would be the substrate.
Sorry, I probably should have mentioned that I tested for phosphorous repeatedly and it was very high. All other tests were in normal range. But yes, I think substrate is almost definitley the issue. Cheers.
nice windows
from the looks of it the die off from plants was the main issue. even though the plants you put in were healthy. there's always die off. it had nowhere to go. mixed with a heated substrate that was to dense. all the little air pockets in the sand and especially in the cat litter was what made the substrate denser. because when air is heated the molecules expand. like a hot air balloon. but the air was trapped. so couldn't rise. also stopping bacteria growing in your substrate. instead grew on top. then to much plant die off from suffocating roots and not enough good bacteria to deal with it all. Well that's were you are now. just an educated guess
Yeah. That's a good assessment I reckon. And makes me way more inclined to break it down than bother trying anything more with this substrate setup as some people have been suggesting. Cheers for the input! 👍
Wait a month to trim
Serves you right for shitting on the biomaster , All hail the the biomaster😂
🤣🤣
Gosh, too much as you know going on.
Remove all unhealthy plant material and then plant the gaps with easy healthy plants, and do not do such early trimming (but you know that), wait till plants hit the surface. Test the water, keep Nitrates below 20 and Phosphate below 1 ppm and, turn off the substrate cable - as I said to you before, I personally found them a waste of time and overheat tanks in the summer. Wait and see. Perhaps for just a week, the plants will tell you if they are happier. If plants are not happy and especially if the fresh plants are not and growing then turn off the filter, with low stocking and low macro nutrients, the fish will be fine, and I mean also turn off the skimmer - don't like them myself, for lots of reasons.
If this fails, then stir the substrate a bit and see if anything noxious bubbles up - especially thinking hydrogen sulphide.
Heating cables - plant roots do all the transporting of oxygen and nutrients you need if plants are growing well and the substrate is less than 5 inches or so deep they do all the 'heavy lifting' needed.
If all this fails, take out the plants, use a wide diameter syphon tube and remove the substrate, replace with two bags of pond soil and cap with fine horticultural grit, replant any healthy plant material and make sure the plant load is adequate.
If things are going well, try then turning on the filter, if plants start to deteriorate, turn it off.
If things go well, turn on heating cable (if you must) and if things deteriorate turn it off.
Thanks William. Good advice as always. Out of interest, what's your concern regarding surface skimmers?
@@AquariumShed I like surface plants, to thereby harvest plant material, I remove Indian Fern and Salvinia at least weekly in handfuls on my 4 foot tank - natural Nitrate and Phosphate removal and shade, I have lost fry and shrimps to skimmers (when using to get rid of duck weed), I l also like spring tails on the meniscus - disease free living food - and am unconvinced that removing natural 'oils' is key to gas exchange. Basically, I think I am trying in my planted tanks to recreate pools and slow river water courses - the sort of half choked side pools that aren't stagnant but are certainly not like a chalk stream in England. Pools that flood and have the water changed, and have low levels of surface agitation.
Love the experiment by the way, really interesting, even if not that scientific. Great DIY demonstrated with the home made filter. Cheers as always Owain, and I was just trying to suggest an incremental strategy to work out in 'reverse, sort of deconstruction, what is going on, might not be the best way to explore, I know. I am not a scientist either.
Issues: Poor water circulation and poor substrate. Suspect poor nutrients to plants also.
Ha. Yeah, not giving up the day job any time soon......
I wouldn't worry about it. I tried for 14 years to grow plants and never succeeded.
🤣🤣
I tried for nearly three decades, and then in the early 1990s bought a CO2 system, Dennerle, and used extra fluorescent tubes (3 on a tank 15 inches from back to front), and bingo, success.
I think the main reason is bcuz you trimmed those plants bcuz plants and algae are always competing for nutrients and since you trimmed them algae end up winning
Are you really a scientist? Had you a long previous experience in fish keeping?
Ha. No, I'm definitely not a scientist..... I kept fish for about five years as a teenager, and then got back into the hobby in 2019. 👍