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Quick update to share results four years after of setting up a dirt substrate (no tech) planted tank. Only maintenance is regular water changes and removing decaying plant material.

Forgot to answer your lighting question. I use 2 x Aqua One PlantGlo LED lighting. The plants seem to like it and its cheap to run. I have the lights on a siesta lighting schedule (5 hours on, 4 hours off, followed by 5 hours on again). Between that and a daily dose of glut the algae is kept...

Yep my tank is definitely a low tech setup (but that is exactly what Diana Walstad calls her method). Agree that filtration doesn't rate highly in her book but then her tanks are only lightly stocked. I figured that as I already owned an Aqua One Nautilus 2700UVC I might as well use it. A...

Hi Boet, I've had a Walstad style tank going for a little over 5 months now. So far pleased with the results. I've deviated slightly from the Walstad method in that I do a weekly 10% water change, have a reasonably heavy fish load, use a daily dose of Glutaraldehyde and every few days add...

Hi Cloaker, I recon the clown is the culprit. Below is the damage caused by a L333 pleco. It also only seemed to eat the newer leaves. I've since replaced it with an albino bristle-nose and I haven't had a repeat of the problem. As a suggestion, if there isn't a lot of algae to feed on then...

Hi Daven, I use 2 x Aqua One PlantGlo LED lighting on my 4x2x2 planted. LED is a bit expensive up front but cheap to run and the plants seem to grow well under it. Also the light really makes the colors come out in the fish.

Hi irdajoh, I don't have experience with carpet plants and their specific requirements but I can share with you my experience in setting up a dirted tank. Below is a photo taken as I was adding the "dirt" to the aquarium. I did things a little differently in that I placed a layer of course...

Wisteria gets my vote. Its easy to grow and is an attractive background plant.

Agree with Autumnsky. If you are using soft water (ie rain water/RO) then you will need to add some aquarium salts to supply K, Ca , Mg and bicarbonates. I just use a freshwater aquarium salts mix purchased from my LFS.

Hi Mom2reds, GH 12 and pH 8.2 is definitely high for plants. I usually aim for GH 6-7 and a pH between 7.0-7.4. What are you using for a substrate? This could influencing the pH and or hardness. As for the issue with the well water it's possibly high in zinc or copper. Fish are far more...

Hi Mebbid, There is nothing "super specific" about my set up. I'm using river sand and the same plants that everybody else is using. The most significant difference is instead of using a commercial soil based substrate (the're basically just baked soil) I'm using plain unprocessed. Rather...

Forgot to mention that gravel is not a good choice for planted tanks. Coarse sand size is better. The larger gravel tends to trap fish waste that can end up feeding anaerobic bacteria. This will lead to the production of Hydrogen Sulfide which will kill you plants/fish. With sand the waste...

Hi Iris, I've had similar problems with trying to grow plants in the past. The black dots will likely be a type of algae. The limiting factor in algae growth is usually iron, which you are adding by dosing Flourish. To grow healthy plants you need to keep light, nutrient and CO2 in balance...

I don't think this is necessarily the cause rather a symptom. Below is a picture of damage caused by a hungry L333 Pleco. Fish/snails won't usually eat health plant tissue as it contains chemicals to deter grazing. It's not until the leaf has started breaking down and the chemicals leached...

Hi DaniFishGirl84, Low Tech is a good starting point for getting into planted aquariums, however a gravel substrate with poor lighting, little nutrient or any form of CO2 supplementation is what I would call "No Tech". Basically no plants are going to do well under these conditions except...

Hi rosinx, I can't say for sure what is causing the problem, but I can share with you what's working for me. I have three types of Anubias all doing well but the one that's doing the best is an Anubias Barteri. You can see in the photo that it's even throwing out flower spikes. The plant...

Hi Crusty, I agree with Fish Wrangler, you need to have adequate lighting ie the right intensity, spectrum and length of exposure. To save energy and reduce heat I've installed a PlantGlo 120 LED lighting system. With the deeper tank it's definitely better to use plants that have lower light...

Hi Sk3lly, That nonsense seems to work for me. http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/members/100168-albums14356-picture68895.jpg Have you actually read the book? I'm wondering how you explain the "Bubbles coming up from substrate"?