Mystery Tank Build :)

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Not going to give any details on the size of the tank or contents other than to say it will be a FW tank. :) Keep your eyes here for more details in the coming days. thumbs2:

[Cliff]

That's not fare SW Addict.:mysterymachine:

Yu gota give us more than that:tappingfoot:

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ok, I'll give you more, but just a little more.

I'm getting a new tank, and I feel like I'm stealing it at the price I'm getting it for. I felt that it was time to start cutting down a bit, so I am actually going to be selling my other 3 tanks and going with just a single tank.

[Cliff]

That sounds like it's going to be one really big tank.

[Oscar_freak12321]

That sounds like it's going to be one really big tank.

Better be. :tappingfoot: :hmm3grin2orange:

[Lady Hobbs]

Oh, Oh. I think I am smelling one super-doper humungous tank.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ok, so here's the first little bit of detail. I am getting the tank. It is currently set up as a SW tank and was installed and maintained by the owner of my LFS. So, here are the details on the tank itself.

280 gal(72x30x30) Acrylic aquarium, manufactured by Suncoast Aquarium in Florida. Tank has duel overflows on either end. Both ends are blacked out but the front and back panels are both clear so the tank can be viewed from either side. All corners are rounded to create a nice clean look to the tank. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get the tank.

[Z Fish Man]

Ok, so here's the first little bit of detail. I am getting the tank. It is currently set up as a SW tank and was installed and maintained by the owner of my LFS. So, here are the details on the tank itself.

280 gal(72x30x30) Acrylic aquarium, manufactured by Suncoast Aquarium in Florida. Tank has duel overflows on either end. Both ends are blacked out but the front and back panels are both clear so the tank can be viewed from either side. All corners are rounded to create a nice clean look to the tank. Pictures will be posted as soon as I get the tank.

daang if I had a tank that big i wouldn't have any other tanks either. Can't wait for some pics and good luck transporting it.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Well, sadly, the deal on the 280 fell through. The guy wasn't the most ethical person in the world, and it's come back to bite him. Anyway, the this tank will now be a 125gal natural planted tank, with a slight twist. Generally a natural planted tank is supposed to rely almost entirely on sunlight as a light source, however I don't have any windows in my house quite large enough to provide sufficient light for it. As a result, light will be provided by 8x39w T5HO lights to make up for the lack of sunlight. Since sunlight would naturally make the tank high light, that is what the lighting will be.

Since natural planted tanks are not that common here on AC, I will attempt to document each step for the benefit of the community. These are truly an amazing tank to watch develop, and when you read all the theory behind it, you begin to realize just how the organisms in an ecosystem work together to make it work.

[Cliff]

Too bad your deal fell apart

I'm looking forward to seeing, and learning about your 125 gallon planted tank

[Dacotah7]

Well, sadly, the deal on the 280 fell through. The guy wasn't the most ethical person in the world, and it's come back to bite him. Anyway, the this tank will now be a 125gal natural planted tank, with a slight twist. Generally a natural planted tank is supposed to rely almost entirely on sunlight as a light source, however I don't have any windows in my house quite large enough to provide sufficient light for it. As a result, light will be provided by 8x39w T5HO lights to make up for the lack of sunlight. Since sunlight would naturally make the tank high light, that is what the lighting will be.

Since natural planted tanks are not that common here on AC, I will attempt to document each step for the benefit of the community. These are truly an amazing tank to watch develop, and when you read all the theory behind it, you begin to realize just how the organisms in an ecosystem work together to make it work.

The big mystery tank and then nothing; dang. Well it would not have been such a let down if I had not read about the 280g first. That's like two of my 125g one in front of the other welded together, with an upstairs-loft addition. lol

Ok, that aside, how does a nautral planted tank differ from a planted tank? Mostly sunlight instead of artificial light? If so, that would be an interesting undertaking, especailly regulating conditions so as not to have green everything, including the glass and water.

My 125g could be lite by the sun only, with a sliding patio door to the South end of the tank, and to the West of the tank, twin windows on the opposite side of the room. If I don't keep the drapes and blinds closed most of the day or adjusted correctly throughout the day, I get a good growth of algae growing in a week, a lot of extra work in two weeks, with a big mess by the 3rd week.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ok, that aside, how does a nautral planted tank differ from a planted tank? Mostly sunlight instead of artificial light? If so, that would be an interesting undertaking, especailly regulating conditions so as not to have green everything, including the glass and water.

Actually, the light source is probably the most minor of all things in a NPT. A natural planted tank has no mechanical filter, only something for water movement, soil substrate, and the plants are more functional then decorative. Ferts are provided by overfeeding the fish, and the CO2 source is generated by the bacteria metabolizing the nutrients available to them. Furthermore, floating plants, or emergent growth is used to draw CO2 directly from the atmosphere and thus the nutrients in the water are used up much quicker then they would be if submersed. Also, plant selection is carefully considered as certain plants produce allelochemical algae inhibitors. So the combination of the allelochemicals and the emergent growth helps to keep algae growth to a minimum, the rest is taken care of by algae eating organisms like shrimp, snails, or fish.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

First update on the progress of the tank.
Got the soil in tonight. This is one of the key components of a Natural Planted Tank. One of the keys to choosing the proper soil is to make sure you get something with no ferts added. For my soil I decided to go with this
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT003.jpg
Miracle Grow Organic Choice contains mostly peat, compost, and other natural soil products. Again, the key is that there are no herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides in it as well there are no added fertilizers.

Here is a close-up shot of the soil to give you an idea of it's composition. Notice the small pieces of bark in there as well. These will provide provide further decomposition and generate more usable Carbon for the plants.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT002.jpg

Finally here is a shot of what the tank looks like with just the soil in the tank.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT001.jpg

You will notice the intake and return lines for a pair of canister filters. I will be removing the Eheim and not running it as this is not necessary in this kind of tank. The use of additional bio-filtration in a NPT can actually be detrimental to the tank. The XP3 will be kept for the purpose of water movement only.

[cichlids209]

First update on the progress of the tank.
Got the soil in tonight. This is one of the key components of a Natural Planted Tank. One of the keys to choosing the proper soil is to make sure you get something with no ferts added. For my soil I decided to go with this
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT003.jpg
Miracle Grow Organic Choice contains mostly peat, compost, and other natural soil products. Again, the key is that there are no herbicides, pesticides, or fungicides in it as well there are no added fertilizers.

Here is a close-up shot of the soil to give you an idea of it's composition. Notice the small pieces of bark in there as well. These will provide provide further decomposition and generate more usable Carbon for the plants.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT002.jpg

Finally here is a shot of what the tank looks like with just the soil in the tank.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT001.jpg

You will notice the intake and return lines for a pair of canister filters. I will be removing the Eheim and not running it as this is not necessary in this kind of tank. The use of additional bio-filtration in a NPT can actually be detrimental to the tank. The XP3 will be kept for the purpose of water movement only.


WOW it looks great already cant wait to see more

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Forgot to add, I also ordered the plants for this tank as well. :) They should show up on Wednesday.

[Ashley]

wow! This is one journal I will be following, very interesting, can't wait to see it with the plants! What type of filters do you have in there?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You will notice the intake and return lines for a pair of canister filters. I will be removing the Eheim and not running it as this is not necessary in this kind of tank. The use of additional bio-filtration in a NPT can actually be detrimental to the tank. The XP3 will be kept for the purpose of water movement only.

Answer is right there Ashley. :) There is no real filter in the tank other then for water movement. No mechanical filtration at all.

[SunSchein89]

Sounds interesting. I'm starting to read up a lot more on planted aquariums and will definitely be following this build. Would've never thought about going all out with no filtration like that. How often do you do water changes in a scenario like this?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Once a Natural Planted Tank is established water changes are about 50% every 3-6 or even 12 months.

[SunSchein89]

Wow, sound like my kind of tank. Since I'm holding back on converting my 20 to planted until I get my dart frogs up, I may consider trying this out if I think I'm up for it. Will definitely be keeping an eye on the thread, keep us updated with lots of pics thumbs2: .

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Before you even think of trying it, you need to get Diana Walstad's book, The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium and read it. There are some very important things in there to learn in there.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Got a little more work done today. I have been blessed with ultra soft water out of my tap. My dKH and dGH are both 0 and on my TDS meter it reads 14. Just for a point of reference average tap water has a TDS reading of about 50-60. As a result, my water lacks many of the basic nutrients that plants need, mainly, magnesium and calcium along with a few other elements. In a Natural Planted Tank (NPT) the plants draw most of their nutrients from the substrate. As a result of this, in combination with my soft water, it is necessary for my to "reinforce" my soil substrate with some additional nutrients. So, for the NPT hobbyists, here is the method of choice.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT001-1.jpg

Bone Meal provides phosphorous, calcium, magnesium and a number of other essential elements, and it is far less reactive then many other choices. So, at the recommendation of Diana Walstad, I added 1 Tbsp of the bone meal for every quart of soil in the tank. That means I counted out and spread around 34 Tbsp of bone meal. ugh.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT002-1.jpg

This will be mixed into the soil before the plants are added.

Getting closer. I finalized the plant order today. Should ship tomorrow and be here Thrusday. Thursday should be a rather large update as I will be planting, and then adding the sand to the top to hold in all that soil.

[SunSchein89]

Before you even think of trying it, you need to get Diana Walstad's book, The Ecology of the Planted Aquarium and read it. There are some very important things in there to learn in there.

I've actually just read a good majority of The Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants by Peter Hiscock over the last two days. He didn't go into any kind of depth about creating a tank without filters and such, but he may just yet since there's a big section of different biotopes and types of tanks coming up. I am learning a good deal about all of the nutrients plants need through fertilizers/substrate and all that good stuff. He did mention using organic soils a few times and the pros and cons with them as well. Here's just a few paraphrased points he has about it...

- Low levels of co2 are constantly released because of all the organic matter, so co2 injection may not be necessary for the first 6-12 months

- In the first few weeks, the high release of organic matter may cause problems for fish, so it's best to wait to stock the tank

- Quoting this one here: "Apart from carbon, chlorine, hydrogen, nickel, and oxygen, soil will provide every other nutrient required by aquatic plants for a number of years. Because hydrogen, chlorine, nickel, and oxygen can be readily obtained from the water, it is possible to use just soil and co2 as a complete fertilizing solution." Pretty cool stuff.

- He did recommend putting a layer of pea-sized gravel on top of the soil. It should probably have the same effect as the sand you're putting on top, just watch out for those anaerobic pockets!

- And last but not least, using soil is not for beginners! it can cause a lot of variations in water quality if you're not careful.


Well I'm sure you knew most, if not all, of this from your book, but I figured it'd be good to see another author's take on the matter and a good overview for anyone else looking at your journal to kind of understand what you're going for there.

Anyway, can't wait to see it with some plants in it :22: . I'm interested to see what choices you made. Without giving away too much, did you choose to make a biotope tank or just a bunch of plants you thought would look nice?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Without giving away too much, did you choose to make a biotope tank or just a bunch of plants you thought would look nice?
In a NPT the plants are not chosen so much for their looks as they are for their functionality. You need a good mix of stem plants, rossettes, and floating plants.
At the same time though, you do still want to make it nice. Unlike most planted tanks, the focus is not on the aquascaping, it is on the function. There must be a balance between fast and slow growers as well.

[Ashley]

so interesting. I may just pick up some of those books for a good read! I can't wait to see some plants in there. Sorry about the comment on filters, i noticed it later, at the bottom, lol.

[fins_n_fur]

Very interesting project! Can you please hurry up? :hmm3grin2orange: Kidding, sort of, but I know this is not going to be a fast project--I'm very curious to see how this turns out and what sort of plants you choose and what works and what doesn't. What's your driving motivation behind doing an NPT? I've read bits of Walstad's book, but was put off as it sounds dubious, to me at least.

Anyways, looking forward to following this thread and your project.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

What's your driving motivation behind doing an NPT? I've read bits of Walstad's book, but was put off as it sounds dubious, to me at least.

Anyways, looking forward to following this thread and your project.

There are a couple of driving motivations behind this. First off, I wanted to try something that uses a bit less energy then the typical tank. The main motivation behind this though, is the idea of using nature to maintain a tank. We have done this with reef tanks for a few years in that we turn all the filtration over to a natural source in Live Rock, but we don't seem to do it in the freshwater realm with plants and bacteria.

Diana Walstads book is actually quite accurate, and she has been maintaining tanks like this for years now. Many see it as dubious simply because it really goes opposite to what is popular today. It takes away the addition of CO2, fertilizers, and typically even the strong lighting, and replaces them sources from nature. The science of her book is quite sound, and is written on a high school biology level. I find it rather refreshing actually. It is an aquarium that is based more on function then form. It's not meant to be the dutch aquascaped tank, it is meant to look somewhat like a jungle. It is meant to be a nice attractive piece that doesn't require a lot of work.

Here is the list of different plants that I have ordered for my tank.
Amazon Sword - Echinidorous blehri
Purple Cabomba - Cabomba pulcherrima
Dwarf Hairgrass - Eleocharis acicularis
Frogbit - Limnobium spongia
Ludwigia inclinata
Crypt Lutea - Cryptocoryne lutea

I've kept it to only 6 species but larger quantities of each. For example, this tank will have 4 Amazon Swords in it and 5 bunches of the Cabomba. The Frogbit is essential in this tank as is the Cabomba since both will use up the nitrogenous waste in the tank quickly. The Frogbit will work best since it will access the CO2 available from the atmosphere.

[cichlids209]

There are a couple of driving motivations behind this. First off, I wanted to try something that uses a bit less energy then the typical tank. The main motivation behind this though, is the idea of using nature to maintain a tank. We have done this with reef tanks for a few years in that we turn all the filtration over to a natural source in Live Rock, but we don't seem to do it in the freshwater realm with plants and bacteria.

Diana Walstads book is actually quite accurate, and she has been maintaining tanks like this for years now. Many see it as dubious simply because it really goes opposite to what is popular today. It takes away the addition of CO2, fertilizers, and typically even the strong lighting, and replaces them sources from nature. The science of her book is quite sound, and is written on a high school biology level. I find it rather refreshing actually. It is an aquarium that is based more on function then form. It's not meant to be the dutch aquascaped tank, it is meant to look somewhat like a jungle. It is meant to be a nice attractive piece that doesn't require a lot of work.

Here is the list of different plants that I have ordered for my tank.
Amazon Sword - Echinidorous blehri
Purple Cabomba - Cabomba pulcherrima
Dwarf Hairgrass - Eleocharis acicularis
Frogbit - Limnobium spongia
Ludwigia inclinata
Crypt Lutea - Cryptocoryne lutea

I've kept it to only 6 species but larger quantities of each. For example, this tank will have 4 Amazon Swords in it and 5 bunches of the Cabomba. The Frogbit is essential in this tank as is the Cabomba since both will use up the nitrogenous waste in the tank quickly. The Frogbit will work best since it will access the CO2 available from the atmosphere.


I would love to do this too only problem i think for me in trying it . Is it may only apply to fish that don't dig,sift or move around there substrate or uproot plants etc

which for me i don't want a big tank full of neon tetras and stuff

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Dane, lots of people actually use a small 1-1.5gal bowl to start. They are actually quite easy to do.

[cichlids209]

Dane, lots of people actually use a small 1-1.5gal bowl to start. They are actually quite easy to do.


could i do this to lets say a 10 gallon ? i do have rasbora and glo light tetra in that one

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Easily. Here, read through this, it may help. Also, I'd recommend following the link to the pictorial guide provided in this link.
http://thegab.org/Plants/setting-up-a-walstad-natural-planted-tank.html

[smaug]

This sounds very much the way my tank was set up for 2-3 yrs.I did use a filter though.My plant mix was almost identical to what you list and the lighting was actually higher then what you are doing [in a wpg way].My water changes were done for the heck of it every 2 months or so.Algae was non existent and I did not use pressurized co2.Not quite totally NPT but very close.Good luck with it,I found mine very easy to set up and maintain.

[Ashley]

cool, i want to try this with a small bowl, with shrimp or something!! Maybe 5 gallons!!! would shrimp produce enough of a bio load though?!

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ashley, a small tank would work fine, but there is one thing I want to make clear about this tank. This kind of tank is not for the beginner or for someone not familiar with the concept. I would contend that this kind of setup is something that should be researched and understood to about the same extent as a reef tank.

[Lab_Rat]

What fauna are you planning on stocking?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Haven't 100% decided on that yet Lab Rat. Thinking of something around 50-75 Neons or Cards. I may even go with Black Neons or something completely different. Still working all that out.

[Lab_Rat]

That would be cool. Emperor tetras would look awesome as well.

How low are you keeping the bioload? Do you plan on titrating bioload up to nitrate levels?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Diana Walstad describes the bio-load in these tanks as "moderate" so it won't be really low, but it won't be high either. The key, as in all tanks, is balance, and the balance is achieved in these tanks using fish to an extent. So really, as you mentioned, it's a matter of titrating the bioload up to a level that can be handled by the plants. The key is to not have accumulating nitrates. In reality, most of the nitrogenous waste is going to get used up before it ever reaches the nitrate stage anyway. Another thing to remember is that you have to somewhat keep in perspective the functional creatures in the tank. Since I have decided to go with Hairgrass as one of my plants, I am likely going to also get a few RCS, and as a result, I will need fish in the tank that will be friendly to these guys.

[Bristley]

This is a really cool concept. I think I'm going to start researching this as it sounds like a very cool project for the 1.5 gallon that I have sitting around doing nothing. I'll definitely be following this thread, and maybe in about 6 months or so I'll try my hand at it with the 1.5 gal.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ok, so I'm a little behind on my updates so here it goes all in one shot.

The next step in the setup was to mix in the bone meal and then to put a 2" border of sand around the tank. This is to create a buffer for planting and to ensure that you get all the soil "sealed" in so it doesn't float up.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT003-1.jpg
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT004.jpg
This was done on Sunday evening. Nothing was done on the tank between Sunday evening and Friday when the plants arrived. The only thing I did was stir up the dirt a little. Spreading out the dirt in advance like I did allowed some of the ammonia to gas off from the soil.

I'm going to put the next step in a separate post, just too much to put in one. :)

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Friday was plant day!!! :)

Planting in a NPT can take a little while since you have to plant each plant, then fill in around it to give it some stability. You end up with something that looks like this:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT013.jpg

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT012.jpg

Bunch plants present a slight challenge.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT009.jpg

And Hairgrass plugs just get filled in around when the final layer of sand in put in.
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT015.jpg

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Once planting is done you have a tank that looks like this:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT005.jpg

Then it's time to put in the top layer of sand.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT016.jpg

Now, all that is left is to add water. :) This must be done very carefully. You must place a plate on the bottom of the tank and then run the water very slowly so as not to disturb the top layer of sand. This process takes a while when you are dealing with a 125gal tank. Filling took almost an hour. But when it was done it looked like this:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125gal%20NPT/125galNPT023.jpg

I already have to do my first water change since the water is now very cloudy. Soil contains a good bit of ammonia so even if there are no fish in there, you really do need to change the water just to clear things up.

So that's the basic setup for a NPT, now it's a matter of adding the floating plants. I ordered Frogbit from AquariumPlants.com, but apparently they have their Frogbit misclassified. What I received was a species of Frogbit, but not the species I needed. What I got was a rooted plant that will grow to the surface, what I wanted was Amazon Frogbit that floats free. Was hoping to use it as an alternative to Duckweed, but I may end up using the Duckweed instead.

[SunSchein89]

Looks like you're off to a good start thumbs2: .

[Ashley]

Love it so far!

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Well, today looks like fun. Need to do another water change. Apparently there was some mold in the soil and it is not growing all over the substrate. Rather nasty looking. Going to have to suck it out with the WC and then add my UV sterilizer to try to kill it completely. I think I know exactly why it happened though so that helps.

[wolf_eyes]

Another way you can do water changes without disturbing the gravel it to buy one of those hard plastic "breeder nets". I pour my water into the breeder net and it goes out the slits on the sides, but doesn't disturb the bottom. You don't have to pour as slowly and it makes changing water a little faster.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

With a 125 I don't pour anything. lol I us my Python and have the water run through the pond pump attached at the end. The pump acts as a diffuser and I run the water on low.

BTW, I really don't think the stuff on the substrate is actually a mold.

[fins_n_fur]

BTW, I really don't think the stuff on the substrate is actually a mold.

What do you think it is/was then?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Well, after doing some reading, I'm not entirely sure what it is, but apparently it does show up sometimes in areas of high nutrients. The soil I used is quite high in nutrients so that would be my first guess.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Well, I've gotten a rather nice surprise out of this tank. The ammonia is off the chart right now, which is what I expected, and the Amazon Frogbit is absolutely loving it, as is the Duckweed. I have the usual diatoms that come with a new setup, but none of those are the surprise. The growth I have gotten out of everything else is unbelievable. I will post pics later as I need to wait until dark to get a decent pic of the tank.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

As promised are the pictures at 1 week and 1 day short of 2 weeks.

1 Week Old:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125galNPT002.jpg

2 Weeks Old:
http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125galNPT011.jpg

As you can tell by the diatoms the tank is maturing.

[Lab_Rat]

Looks good, the plant growth in a week is very impressive!

[SunSchein89]

Nice growth so far. Not that I have to tell you, but keep us updated thumbs2:

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ok, been a while since my last update. This tank has gone through some growing pains. lol The sand layer I put on top was a little too thick and it didn't allow the soil under it to properly oxygenate so as a result there were some pockets of hydrogen sulfide that formed and "exploded" sending soil into the water column. Rather interesting to watch actually. So, I decided to try something and I have mixed the sand into the soil, and I have no covered it back up. It is a very nice natural look, and it stays in place rather nicely. It does make it a bit difficult to stock any bottom dwellers but that's ok since they are not actually a necessity in this kind of tank anyway. Having the fish waste and extra food sink into the soil and decompose is quite desirable actually.

After 2 months of just sitting there with just plants in it I finally added some fish last night. Pictures will be forthcoming later today. As of right now though, there is a nice happy school of 10 Tiger Barbs exploring the tank. I finally broke out of my South American rut. :)

[fins_n_fur]

Ah, nice to see some progress. Interesting that you chose Tiger Barbs, but I like the choice! When's the next update pic coming?

[Time-Out]

All your photos look like artificial lighting to me. What are you using to light the tank?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Read post #9 Time-Out.

Fins, I'll be getting some pics tonight when it gets darker. I'll try to post them later.

[fins_n_fur]

Fins, I'll be getting some pics tonight when it gets darker. I'll try to post them later.

Looking forward to it, ILuvMyTigerBarbs :hmm3grin2orange:

[rich311k]

Nice looking tank.

[hockeyhead019]

gorgeous tank and that's some awesome growth... using any ferts?

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

nope, no ferts. That's the beauty of the Natural Planted tank, it is extremely low maintenance. Water changes are done once every 6 months and no ferts are added. The only "ferts" that are added is that you slightly overfeed the fish.

Thanks for the compliments. Pictures will follow. The growth is unbelievable.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Ok, here's the updated picture I promised.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/NPT.jpg

[hockeyhead019]

gimme a second to find my jaw as it fell somewhere on the floor...

ok WOW awesome growth, it'll look even better if that hair grass grows completely in to carpet the bottom

bravo GoldBarb

[Yourkisa]

Very nice indeed, took me a while to read all of it from start to finish there, but well done indeed !

Looks great.

[Time-Out]

Some of my plants grow a foot a week, I can't trim them fast enough lol. That's with no ferts either. I'm more interested in how you keep the nutrient circulating through the substrate so that it doesn't produce any stagnant patches.

[Bristley]

That is beautiful. Awesome job!

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

Time-out, that's about how much my cabomba grows in a week. lol I use an Eheim 2026 for water circulation.

Thanks for the compliments folks.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

ok, it's been a month since my last update. So here's an updated photo. The hairgrass just hasn't worked well in this tank due to the dense cover from the Amazon Frogbit. I've added 3 cuttings of Dwarf Sagetaria in hopes they will do much better. I have all the fish in there that I will be putting in there, a nice little school of 30 Tiger Barbs. :) Growth on the left side of the tank is lower because that is where the Amazon Frogbit collects on account of the flow direction. I will be fixing this in the near future. The Frogbit gets thinned out on a weekly basis, and the Cabomba gets trimmed bi-weekly to allow the Frogbit to move. Sorry for the low quality pic, I just snapped it quickly tonight.

http://i12.photobucket.com/albums/a227/iluvmygoldbarb/125galNPT026.jpg

[SunSchein89]

Lookin' good. That frogbit seems to be growing at warp speed.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

It does, it's unbelievable. The only thing more unbelievable is the growth of the Amazon Swords. Those 2 plants on the right side and Amazon Swords, as are the 2 on the left. There are 2 more in there but they were shoots I planted from one of the others.

[SunSchein89]

Wish I could get my Amazon sword to grow like that. My Argentine blew up, but my Amazon won't get any taller. It's grown out a lot, but no taller than what I got it at; no idea what could be going on there.

[ILuvMyGoldBarb]

You may have gotten one of the new compact versions of the plant. They stay short but fill out.

[promise]

it took me a while to read from the start but that is some serious plant growth, wow what an amazing looking tank, i was thinking of starting a planted 30, im going to order that book online tonight and have a serious serious read through, im very interested in this whole concept and after seeing yours i want to try it.

Again a very beautiful tank well done thumbs2: :19: