I'm a planted aquarium nut so I was just curious if anyone else here likes to dabble in this hobby?

About 12 days ago (pic is from the 10th day) I set up a high tech (co2 injected, High light, fertilization, etc) 45 gallon tank. It has dimensions of 24" w x 24" L x 18" H. This has been a project I've been working on for a while, from building the stand and the co2 injection system, to aquascaping, getting the water parameters correct etc.

Plant list as follows:
Micranthemum Monte Carlo
Rotala Indica
Rotala Colorata
Rotala Green
Rotala Macrandra Variegated
Rotala Florida
Ludwigia Super Red
Alternanthera Reineckii
Alternanthera Red Broadleaf
Fenestratum Mulyadii
Various unidentified Cryptocoryne
Anubias Pinto
Pogostemon Helferi
Some various Bucephalandra
and some random stems a friend gave me that have yet to be identified

Everything is still growing in, so it looks like hell right now, but hopefully one day it will be beautiful.

I also stocked it with 50 Neocaridina shrimp a few days ago. Fish coming in a month or two I think.... It really depends on when I can get a handle on the plants.

Just wanted to share a pic and possibly start a discussion with other hobbyists here! If anyones interested in any details I'd be more than happy to share information to the best of my ability/knowledge.

Feel free to post pics of your aquariums and tell us a little about it!

Man, that is awesome. I assume that it is salt water. How difficult is it to maintain and keep all of the plants, shrimp, and fish alive? Is it a lot of work?

btw, I think it looks cool. would appreicate photos of how the tank was built.

I have referred a few interested celebs to the makers of the cable show Tanked and have toured their offices a few times, so I learned a lot about their product approach and use of steel.

Also, where do you buy the fish?

It looks cool but I only saw one pic. Did I not do something right. I would like to see more. I'm trying to see the concept.

RD2WINAGNBEAR86: This is freshwater. So far it hasn't been a lot of work - at least not compared to the norm for this type of tank. I have my lights and co2 on a timer so that cuts down a bit of work for me. The only inhabitants right now are about 50 Neocaridina shrimp, and as long as I keep up with my water changes and keep the tank parameters stable they do fine. As far as plant health, right now I'm in the process of dosing fertilizers via the PPS-pro method and watching for deficiencies. If I see any I will do exhaustive testing and reformulate my fertilizer mix.

TellMeYouLoveMe: I will get some build pics up soon. Right now I'm getting most of my livestock from local breeders or hobbyists.

PartyBear: There's no concept really. I just wanted a nice tank to keep some harder to grow aquatic plants in and a place for a few fish and shrimp to call home.

Looks great how large are the shrimp? Like brine shrimp type creatures?

PartyBear said:

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Looks great how large are the shrimp? Like brine shrimp type creatures?

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They'll get to be 1.5" long at the maximum. Here is a video of the first feeding.

I plan on building a localized species aquarium in about a year or so. I'm thinking a couple of sunfish.

Very interesting. A couple of questions about this little biosphere. Why do you need to put Co2 into the water if you have little animals living in the water? What is the source of the Co2? If the little shrimp are herbivores won't they eat your plants? Without a little predator (s) in the tank won't they over take it?

PartyBear said:

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Very interesting. A couple of questions about this little biosphere. Why do you need to put Co2 into the water if you have little animals living in the water? What is the source of the Co2? If the little shrimp are herbivores won't they eat your plants? Without a little predator (s) in the tank won't they over take it?

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It's usually a good Idea to have an abundance of co2 in the aquarium for overall plant health. When we talk of plant growth and nutrients and co2 the important thing is to have the light source be the limiting factor on growth. If you have micronutrients, macronutrients, or co2 As the limiting factor you start showing signs of deficiency in your plant growth. Things like loss of color, melting, turning brown, twisted leaves, pinholes, leggy growth, being outcompeted for nutrients by algae, etc. A number that people shoot for when running "high tech" tanks like this is about 30ppm. If I were to rely only on surface gas exchange and not injection, I'd only be hitting 2-3 ppm total.

The co2 is just coming out of a 5lb tank. Regulated by a dual stage regulator and then sent out through a solenoid (for turning on and off the co2). After the solenoid, the co2 then travels through a needle valve which allows me to control the flow of co2 into the water. Once flow is controlled it goes into a device called a CO2 reactor. The reactor is basically a cylinder connected to the outflow of my filter which dissolves the co2 into the water very efficiently. From the reactor, the co2 enriched water is then pumped into the tank.
As far as the shrimp go, they don't really mess with the plants. They like to eat biofilm (cause by bacteria) and algae in the tank. But I will feed them some blanched vegetables every few days to diversify their diet. And yes, without predators they will take over. The hope is to get a colony going before introducing any predators that way they can keep population counts high even while being snacked on from time to time.

Interesting. You probably know this because I just saw it when I googled your neocaridina shrimp but there are breeders of those little shrimp that have breed them to the point they come in all sorts of colors. I mean such as royal blue etc.

Yes sir. Mine are all culls from a breeder. Stuff that didn't have optimal coloration, etc.
Fun fact: If you let the different color Neos breed with each other, after a few generations you will end up with all clear (wild type) shrimp again.

BrutalBear said:

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Yes sir. Mine are all culls from a breeder. Stuff that didn't have optimal coloration, etc.
Fun fact: If you let a breed the different color Neos breed with each other, after a few generations you will end up with all clear (wild type) shrimp again.

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Interesting it seems you might create for example a purple one or two out of a litter if a red and blue mated As I'm typing though I'm thinking genetics doesn't work that way such as if a blue eyed guy and brown eyed gal had a baby. The eyes would be blue or brown or the color from a grand parent say green. The eyes wouldnt have a chance of being bluish brown. Oh well.

I also didn't realize those little critters were so expensive. I thought they would be like a few bucks a dozen lol. I guess you would want to stick to one color if they mix and eliminate the bright color gene you pay so much money for. Anyway cool hobby. I like those things that are almost like science projects as well.

I've watched about a zillion videos on planted aquariums, but have never managed to go ahead and really give it a serious try. I've kept a smallish 20 gl long for about 10 years now. Pretty much let it go for the last few years, so now it's down to a solitary Oto. Fiddled with a homemade CO2 system many years ago just doing the yeast and sugar thing. Found it hard to keep regulated. I'm basically lazy, and am attracted to the idea of a planted aquarium that requires almost no maintenance and limited water changes. Just happened to watch this guy over the weekend and was tempted to try this method:



What medium do you have in the bottom of your tank?

curtpenn said:

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I'm basically lazy, and am attracted to the idea of a planted aquarium that requires almost no maintenance and limited water changes.

What medium do you have in the bottom of your tank?



I have a product known as UNS controsoil in the bottom of my tank. It's whats known as an aquasoil - Clay based balls with nutrients, etc....
As far as the idea of a low maintenance planted tank. Look into low tech/low energy tanks. You will still have to do quite a few water changes at first, but once you get it balanced you may be able to push it 1 - 1 1/2 months between water changes. To meet your requirements, I would look into something called the Walstad Method. It's as close as you can get to a self sustaining system in the closed world of the aquarium. The methods creator, Diana Walstad, has a book called "Ecology of the Planted Aquarium" that I highly recommend. It is not a fun read, but it is packed to the brim with information. Amazon link below.


https://www.amazon.com/Ecology-Planted-Aquarium-Practical-Scientific-ebook/dp/B00DB94K5I

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BrutalBear said:

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I'm a planted aquarium nut so I was just curious if anyone else here likes to dabble in this hobby?

About 12 days ago (pic is from the 10th day) I set up a high tech (co2 injected, High light, fertilization, etc) 45 gallon tank. It has dimensions of 24" w x 24" L x 18" H. This has been a project I've been working on for a while, from building the stand and the co2 injection system, to aquascaping, getting the water parameters correct etc.

Plant list as follows:
Micranthemum Monte Carlo
Rotala Indica
Rotala Colorata
Rotala Green
Rotala Macrandra Variegated
Rotala Florida
Ludwigia Super Red
Alternanthera Reineckii
Alternanthera Red Broadleaf
Fenestratum Mulyadii
Various unidentified Cryptocoryne
Anubias Pinto
Pogostemon Helferi
Some various Bucephalandra
and some random stems a friend gave me that have yet to be identified

Everything is still growing in, so it looks like hell right now, but hopefully one day it will be beautiful.

I also stocked it with 50 Neocaridina shrimp a few days ago. Fish coming in a month or two I think.... It really depends on when I can get a handle on the plants.

Just wanted to share a pic and possibly start a discussion with other hobbyists here! If anyones interested in any details I'd be more than happy to share information to the best of my ability/knowledge.

Feel free to post pics of your aquariums and tell us a little about it!

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Thanks for the inspiration. Finally got motivated to order substrate, a new light, and some tools. Made spread sheet of potential plants and started shopping for them online. Will wait until closer to delivery of substrate to order plants - probably near the end of this week. Do you have a favored source for plants?

I'm a big fan of Buceplant.com, LiquidCreations.net, Wetplants.com, r/aquaswap (on reddit), and Planted Tank Quick Auctions (on FB), plus it's always a great idea to find other local hobbyists.

What substrate and light did you end up getting?

BrutalBear said:

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I'm a big fan of Buceplant.com, LiquidCreations.net, Wetplants.com, r/aquaswap (on reddit), and Planted Tank Quick Auctions (on FB), plus it's always a great idea to find other local hobbyists.

What substrate and light did you end up getting?

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Put down a base of seed starting soil and sprinkled in some Osmocote. Topped that with a layer of Carib Sea Peace River gravel. Ordered the following plants from AquariumPlants.com:
Bacopa Caoliniana
Cryptocoryne Spiralis
Cryptocoryne Wendtii
Micro Sword
Amazon Sword
Vallisneria Italian
Vesuvius (sort of spiral Val)

Want some repens or other carpeting type, but they are out of stock at the moment from these guys.

Got this light:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07XGZT13S/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o09_s00?ie=UTF8&th=1

Plants are supposed to arrive this Friday or Saturday. I may go ahead with my old CO2 home brew kit again at least at first. I actually had a decent result with it, but had to add a bag of coral shells to my filter to offset some spikes. The CO2 release rate is very inconsistent.