Low Tech and El Natural Forum

[Caliban07]

Tidied things up a little

 

[Caliban07]

https://youtu.be/8ijCUmFM7Ww

 

[Caliban07]

Hi All,

Thought I would add some photographs if my tank. Hopefully the quality will hold up.

Tanks been through quite a journey but here we are at the moment.



An underwater garden so to speak. Keep thinking of putting a background on but can’t be bothered right now.



The lilly in this tank is formidable. It just puts out so many leaves.



The tank is super stable right now. It is exceptionally clean and clear despite the slight tannin stained water.

 

[libertybelle]

Beautiful! I love jungle tanks!

I just stuck a black trash bag on the back of mine. It was a temporary background at first but I find I actually rather like the look! The black makes the plants pop, and it’s not as permanent as painting the thing so if you decide to change it later no big deal.

Is this an EI fertilized tank or do you just use fish food in this one?

 

[Caliban07]

Beautiful! I love jungle tanks!

I just stuck a black trash bag on the back of mine. It was a temporary background at first but I find I actually rather like the look! The black makes the plants pop, and it’s not as permanent as painting the thing so if you decide to change it later no big deal.

Is this an EI fertilized tank or do you just use fish food in this one?

Thank you. I do have a black background I can use. I think I just like. The look of both.

Up until a week and a half ago this was just fish food. I was changing water every few months with rain water which had a tds of 25ppm. Some of the plants were looking a little pale so I added some ferts. Magnesium nitrate and potassium phosphate.

 

[Delapool]

Looks great - I like the lilly.

 

[Caliban07]

Looks great - I like the lilly.

Cheers Delapool

 

[Caliban07]

Under lily shot.

 

[Delapool]

Very restful

 

[Caliban07]

I just cut them all off [emoji15]

 

[Delapool]

I just cut them all off [emoji15]

Tank clean-out?

 

[Caliban07]

Just wanted some more light.

 

[Caliban07]

Got rid of the tiger lilly and repositioned the wood. Vacuumed most of the mulm.

 

[Delapool]

Looking good [emoji106]

 

[gilpi]

I hope Im not out of topic here... born and raised in a tropical island where life itself was low-tech, I had the opportunity of being introduced to tropical fish at a young age and was fortunate to meet a few breeders. Nowhere to this date have I seen the size and quality of certain tropical fish where the most elaborate filtering was a box type filter used on anything from homemade tanks to pools. The main focus on tank-keeping were "lots" of plants, aeration, water changes and quality foods (mostly live)... talk about low tech! Of course conditions were ideal as far as natural light and temperature since most of the tanks were in an outdoor settings, sure I'm probably missing some small details of maintenance, but those were the basics. This simplicity approach to fish-keeping was perhaps the best lesson I've had regarding this hobby. I'm glad to see Caliban07 taking the time to promote the low-tech approach and will be looking forward to following this thread.

 

[Caliban07]

I hope Im not out of topic here... born and raised in a tropical island where life itself was low-tech, I had the opportunity of being introduced to tropical fish at a young age and was fortunate to meet a few breeders. Nowhere to this date have I seen the size and quality of certain tropical fish where the most elaborate filtering was a box type filter used on anything from homemade tanks to pools. The main focus on tank-keeping were "lots" of plants, aeration, water changes and quality foods (mostly live)... talk about low tech! Of course conditions were ideal as far as natural light and temperature since most of the tanks were in an outdoor settings, sure I'm probably missing some small details of maintenance, but those were the basics. This simplicity approach to fish-keeping was perhaps the best lesson I've had regarding this hobby. I'm glad to see Caliban07 taking the time to promote the low-tech approach and will be looking forward to following this thread.

Thanks for the kind words. I must confess, I went too low tech, at less the 150 micro Siemens conductivity theres hardly anything in solution. Most of the plants I had didn’t grow much without the hardness or access to carbonates. Funnily enough all that growth from the tiger lily was on next to nothing. Perhaps lots of reserves in the seed and access to aerial co2. Clearly doesn’t mind soft water.