namehater

heres a pic of my 10g NPT tank, the bottom layer is top soil, then a layer of gravel. those plant are live and out of control!!

theres no filtration and no air on this tank at all, been running with no water change for 4 months, readings are all perfect.

click

your plants are consuming all the amonium. Nice. Does the beta has enough space to swim?

namehater

he can swim around, but i still need to trim it up so he has more space

Beth1965

Top soil? Top soil one would use for a garden?
I have a ten gallon that I've wanted to try the same thing - no air no filtration just for plants, it would be nice to have plants on hand to fill in ohter tanks or to just rearrange.
thanks for sharing this

namehater

yup, just plain jane cheapo top soil from home depot. heres a link for you to read up on if your considering it. i dont think fish are necessary, but you have to 'feed' the tank even without fish so that plants have nutrients. with a simple to care for fish like a betta, you just feed the betta, any food he leaves behind decomposes and his waste decomposes through the gravel and is absorbed into the soil

http://theaquariumwiki.com/Walstad_method

namehater

i have another 10g setup up the same way, but it has duckweed in it and they block 90% of the light so im having trouble getting much else to grow, i need to thin out the duckweed in that tank so it can grow from the substrate.

Beth1965

I am going to do this for my plants. Use snails or the like. Wonder how shirmp would do.

Beth1965

Ive been really wanting moss, the moss you see in shade on a sidewalk or a tree trunk. Any thoughts?

namehater

shrimp would be awesome i think! just be careful what shrimp you choose because some need a current to feed like bamboo shrimp. with no filter or anything, theres no current at all. once in awhile i do put in a little in-tank filter just to break up the film that builds up on the surface.

im far from being able to advise about plants. the only plant i have in any of my tanks that i even know the name of is duckweed lol. the rest are just clippings that i got from various friends.

Beth1965

thanx, love your planted tank.

mr.fishy

Now that's a HEAVILY planted tank. That's good your plants keep the tank clean.