Rebuilding My Tank - Got Any Low-tech Ideas?

[tightenup]

Hi everyone

I'm a new forum member, but looks like you have a good active community so I thought I'd let you guys tell me what I should be doing :) Here is my old/current setup and my plans for my new setup - feel free to advise / abuse me about what I have or am doing!

So... I've had to break down my tank to move house. At the moment I have by 4ft*2ft*2ft running in "skeleton crew" mode (no gravel or plants, just fish) until I can find a more permanent place to live and set it up proper. I'm in Sydney if you know of good shops to find any of the stuff I need.

So on to the question... given I have to rebuild my tank anyway, I'm giving some thought to how i can do things a bit differently. Haven't had a lot of success with plants (mainly due to my clown loach snacking and earth-moving habits) but I would like to have a really dense planted tank, only interested in easy-growing stuff and want to keep it pretty low tech (ie: cost).

1.) using some kind of substrate fertilizer (worm castings?)
Thinking of mixing some worm castings from my worm farm in with a lower layer of gravel - anyone done this kind of thing before? I was thinking of putting down a layer of gravel mixed with castings at the bottom, then a layer of normal gravel. Is enriching the substrate worth doing for someone who is after a low-tech, no CO2 tank but dense, easy-to-grow plants? Any other suggestions? Read that laterite is good, never used it and don't know where to get it. Any cheap alternatives?

2.) lighting for plants
Like I said I want heaps and heaps of easy to grow plants. Not sure what the lighting requirement will be. The tank is pretty deep (2ft). My plants in the past have tended to have a lot of leaves at the top, but bare at the bottom - could be because the clowns eat the lower leaves, or it could be that the light doesn't get down low enough. Not sure whether I'll stick with the current T8 flouro housings (which are pretty dodgey) or whether to step up to some T5s. Guppy's Aquarium Products (http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/fluro-lighting/cat_23.html) have some pretty nifty T5 rigs:
$54 for 2*54watt
$85 for 3*54watt
$135 for 4*54watt
$155 for 4*39watt
$135 for 8*39watt
I'm not sure if any of this is worth getting if I want a lot of plants, but I'm not particularly interested in growing difficult plants.

3.) Moon Lighting
Want to get some blue lights for night time set up cheap. Anyone got suggestions?
Seen this one, but it looks kind of dodgey: http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/s...e/prod_235.html (http://www.guppysaquariumproducts.com.au/submersible-lighting/blue-moon-led-aquarium-light-113cm-water-proof-marine/prod_235.html)
Would I be better off getting an additional light fitting and a blue flouro tube? Anyone know where to buy them?

4.) mixing in some darker substrate
I have always found it tough to get dark substrate at a decent price. Anyone know any suppliers?

5.) heaters - better options? In-line?
I'm running two 300watt heaters at the moment, neither of which are fancy brands. They weren't really up to the challenge when the temperatures went stupid low last winter, so I'm thinking of maybe adding another, or replacing some gear. Anyone had any luck with in-line heaters? I'll probably try insulating the back of the tank with polystyrene as well.

6.) tiering the gravel using planters
I'm thinking of getting some really deep areas of gravel by using ice cream buckets and planters. The idea is to have a multi-level effect (so the gravel is substantially higher in some areas) and to hide the sides of the pots using driftwood etc. Anyone had any success doing anything similar?



Appreciate your thoughts on what I could do better!

FYI My current gear:
- 4ft*2ft*2ft tank
- Fluval FX5 loaded with filter foam and nylon pot scrubbers as media (so not as many lph as the manufacturer intended because of the pot scrubbers!)
- aquaclear 500 hang on filter foam and pot scrubbers
- 2 * 300watt in-tank heaters
- 2 * cheap single bulb standard flouro tube light housings (T8) (need to get new bulbs, will try and get something plant-friendly)
- gravel substrate (about 100kg)

Might look at messing with the FX5 to increase the flow rate - the loaches and madagascan rainbow prefer fast flowing water. Need to balance that against my preference for more plants!

My current fish:
- 3 big clown loaches, 2 little clown loaches
- 1 big hoplo catfish
- 1 big chinese loach (I know... everyone makes mistakes...)
- 2 small pakistani loaches
- 2 parkinsons rainbows
- 1 madagascan rainbow
- 7 glass catfish (might give these away if they don't like the new tank)
- 5 siamensis
- maybe some bristlenose cats (got heaps, but don't think they like the big tank)

Looking to increase the school of loaches mainly because they are fun and interactive, and get madagascan rainbows to see more schooling behaviours.

Going to try and build some nice caves for the clowns by siliconing substrate to PCV pipes. Up to now they've lived in cut up ag piping (they've never hurt themselves, but I worry that the thin ag pipes may have sharp edges) They also hide in copious amounts of wood.

Cheers much,
Tightenup.

[Woodsy]

Wow, that must have taken ages to write mate :p

Without going into tooooooo much detail:
- Get the T5's! A single T8 won't cut it in a 2' deep tank, and yes, it's the reason you've experienced elongation of your plants in the past.
- Worm castings probably aren't the way to go, and in my opinion, neither would be using icecream containers to tier your gravel. The water has to be able to move through the substrate to keep your plants nice at healthy at the roots, and to prevent anoxic/anaerobic pockets developing.
- For the moonlight, you might be able to use a reptile globe and small reflector. (I know Exoterra make one)
- If you're worried about the ag pipe, try using un-glazed terracotta pipes or pots. They make perfect caves, and you can graft your plants too them!

I could go on all night mate, but the main thing from what I see is to get those lights. Otherwise, it looks like you've got more than adequate gear for a nice lo-tech tank. There are some great threads on this site about cheap fertilizers ect, so you should be able to find some help there ;)

P.S Hopefully trying out a new in-line heater this week, so I'll get back to you asap on that.

[GoGuppy]

I'd be wary of using worm castings in a tank, I think I read somewhere it has been done in the past, but it's not something that is generally promoted for aquariums, IMO you'll be asking for trouble if you go down that path ... :ohmy: .
I'm not too sure about the quality of the T5s that come with the housing, but see how you go and if necessary you can change them to more suitable aquarium tubes.
Cheers

[tightenup]

Thanks for the replies, guys. Yeah, so sounds like the worm castings are out... Not sure if I'll bother using any fertilizer if I'm only going with easy stuff

I'm currently thinking of going with vals, crypts, java fern, wisteria, hornwort, anubias - I"ve got a lot of this stuff already. Might get some ambulia and some of the different varieties of val. So there'll be a mix of slow-growing low-light plants and fast-growing stuff. Can't go any swords because my clown loaches punch holes in them.

I'm trying to work out my lighting requirements. The way I work it out, the tank will have 450 litres (less gravel etc), which is 120 gallons. I read that you want between 1 and 4 watts of light per gallon, but I also need to keep in mind the depth of the tank.

So T8s probably won't get the depth I need, probably need T5s. But how many? 3*54watt gives me 1.3watts/gallon, 4 gives me 1.8watts/gallon. Will this give me decent depth penetration? In the past I've used 4*4ft T8 bulbs in very inefficient non-reflective housings, and had not-so-great results (great growth in java ferns though!).

[Woodsy]

I wouldn't consider hornwort as "easy", some wholesalers won't even refund you for them after shipping due to their "unstable nature". Good luck with them if you do decide to use them though, as they look stunning in peak condition. Also, if you want your ambulia to stay healthy, or you're planning on keeping any of the red crypt varieties, my advice would be the more light the better. T5's with high peaks in the blue end of the spectra will give you the penetration you need, and keep the lower leaves of your background plants healthy. Maybe consider 2-3 plant tubes (or marine whites, or a mixture of the two) and 1 marine blue, depending on how they're mounted. Another upside of using a marine blue tube is that it will help display the iridescent colours of your fish.

[aquafarian]

Whenever I have had really nice aquarium plants it is because I have prepared the substrate with laterite. It acts as an uptake sight for plant nutrients and also supplies iron. I got mine from some council diggings on the sunshine coast when on holiday. Australia has heaps here and there because we are a very old continent geographically. There is the dupla laterite but if you can find it all the better.

http://www.e-aquarium.com.au/laterite.htm

[masterid]

Have you try it? If your current collection of aquarium (http://www.agritura.com/index.php/cat/c344_Aquariums.html/category/Aquariums) fish has little sentimental value and can be reasonably replaced at the new location, it’s certainly simpler to leave them behind. The local aquarium store (http://www.agritura.com/index.php/cat/c344_Aquariums.html/category/Aquariums) may accept them, and possibly even offer a small amount of store credit that can be used for merchandise such as filters or food that are easily packed and moved. Likewise, if the move is of many hundreds of miles, the time and effort spent to move the fish may far outweigh their value. On the other hand, a move across town or to the next state is possible and may be practical if properly prepared for and carried out. :p