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May 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Natural Aquarium Project
Natural Aquarium Experiment
After doing a lot of research, I have decided to try my hand at a natural aquarium. This aquarium will be a heavily planted aquarium with no filter. The plants will act as the filters and help to keep the nitrates down. I will do large bi-weekly water changes and vacuum the substrate. The tank will be lightly stocked with a trio of guppies and cherry shrimp and planted with guppy grass, wisteria, java fern, and crypts. Hopefully if the conditions remain optimal the guppies will breed for me and I will be able to grow out the fry in an outdoor pond. Please Note: I will be keeping a close eye on the water parameters of this tank. If the Nitrates get over 20 at any point, I will add a filter onto the tank or increase the amount of water changes that I do. I will not endanger the fish while doing this study.
Tank: 10g Glass Aquarium
Lighting: 15 watt Fluorescent Fixture (1.5 WPG)
Substrate: Gravel
Hardscape: Rocks
Plants: Java Fern, Guppy Grass, Wisteria, Crypts
Livestock: German White Tailed Guppies and Red Cherry Shrimp
Temp: 78 Degrees (I am not using a heater right now because in the summer months my tanks stay a constant 78 degrees without heaters because the ambient temp stays constant.) Day #1:
Set up tank. Added gravel from my 80 gallon setup and rocks from my African Cichlid tank. I dosed the tank with Superbac to help finish the cycle and I added two dwarf rainbows from my 75 gallon tank to help keep the tank cycled until my fish, shrimp, and plants arrive on Thursday or Friday. I also added a couple bags of bio-media from my cycled filters. I have them sitting in the tank. This will also help speed the cycle along. I will test the water tomorrow to see how far along the tank is in its cycle. I will take some pics once I get the plants in the tank. Right now its pretty much a bare tank with some rocks….not very exciting  | 
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Good luck MissMTS! Hope all goes well for you. Will be looking forward to your blog updates. | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| good morning Kate 
Your project sounds wonderful... for the planted tank alone its got to be great looking.  Looking forward to the progress reports and checking out your new fin babies. I found a great seller on ebay that I am working a list of plants for my own tank right now.. shes got some beautiful plants and is selling from Arizona. Prices look fantastic.
Best of luck...  | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Wow, sounds awesome! Can't wait to see pics! | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| that sounds great! in fact we did somthing like that in science but we had a crayfish not shrimp. best of luck to you and dont forget the pics.  | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Good luck. I have one of these going (a 90g) and I love it. I currently only do my normal weekly water changes, and have no problems with it (though it's good to start out with an excess of care and then work your way down).
If you can set up a small CO2 injector, that may help things a lot with plant growth, which will help the plants keep the cycle under control. | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Thanks everyone I am really excited to get this set up. I love planted tanks, but the idea of the plants acting as the filters is really cool to me. I think that as long as I don't overstock it will work pretty well. Quote:
Originally Posted by sirdarksol  Good luck. I have one of these going (a 90g) and I love it. I currently only do my normal weekly water changes, and have no problems with it (though it's good to start out with an excess of care and then work your way down).
If you can set up a small CO2 injector, that may help things a lot with plant growth, which will help the plants keep the cycle under control. | Thanks SDS What do you have in your 90g? Hopefully I will only have to do weekly WC's but I figured I would start out with more and then I can always decrease frequency. I may try out a DIY CO2 unit (I can't afford an expensive one), but I am not sure what the result of CO2 would be with low light plants. Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate good morning Kate
Your project sounds wonderful... for the planted tank alone its got to be great looking. Looking forward to the progress reports and checking out your new fin babies. I found a great seller on ebay that I am working a list of plants for my own tank right now.. shes got some beautiful plants and is selling from Arizona. Prices look fantastic.
Best of luck... | Thanks Kate I can't wait to see your plants when you get them in. I ordered my plants for my sorority tank from a seller in Arizona as well. I wonder if its the same person? This time, I am getting my guppies, shrimp, and plants from Dino and Ross, so I know everything will be great quality. And for some reason, they have way cheaper shipping rates than a lot of aquabid sellers do. I'll post some pics when I get everything set up | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| All I have in the tank right now is a pair of kuhlis (I need to buy more to round their numbers out after an unfortunate death), a handful of otos (can't count them.. they hide in the plants), a gold barb, a few black neons, and a glassfish (disparate remnants of the aquarium I adopted a few years ago and an aquarium I adopted last year.) | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| cool! | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by MissMTS Thanks everyone I am really excited to get this set up. I love planted tanks, but the idea of the plants acting as the filters is really cool to me. I think that as long as I don't overstock it will work pretty well.
Thanks SDS What do you have in your 90g? Hopefully I will only have to do weekly WC's but I figured I would start out with more and then I can always decrease frequency. I may try out a DIY CO2 unit (I can't afford an expensive one), but I am not sure what the result of CO2 would be with low light plants.
Thanks Kate I can't wait to see your plants when you get them in. I ordered my plants for my sorority tank from a seller in Arizona as well. I wonder if its the same person? This time, I am getting my guppies, shrimp, and plants from Dino and Ross, so I know everything will be great quality. And for some reason, they have way cheaper shipping rates than a lot of aquabid sellers do. I'll post some pics when I get everything set up | Is the person you are buying the plants located in Hereford Arizona by chance?
Cant wait to see the guppies you get from Dino and Ross's fish house. What kind are you getting? | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by capekate Is the person you are buying the plants located in Hereford Arizona by chance?
Cant wait to see the guppies you get from Dino and Ross's fish house. What kind are you getting? | Yes they are. The plants that I got from her are the ones in my sorority tank. I was very impressed with this seller. Good prices, fast shipping, beautiful plants I ordered the German White Tailed guppies from Dino and Ross. I was tempted to go with the Thai mosaics, but at $30 for a trio, I just couldn't justify it, lol. | |
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May 25th, 2009
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| Quote: |
And for some reason, they have way cheaper shipping rates than a lot of aquabid sellers do. | Some (note I said some) Aquabid sellers sell their product cheap then pad their shipping charges to recoup their money. and some pad them even if they don't sell cheap.
Can't wait for pics, it sounds interesting. Have you been reading Diana Walstad books lately ?
Carol | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Hi Carol
Yes I have noticed that a lot of aquabid sellers do charge insanely high shipping costs. The seller that I ordered from only charged about 6 dollars for shipping which IMO was pretty reasonable.
I don't have any of her books, but I have been reading about her methods online and have also read a lot of information on Rhonda Wilson's site www.naturalaquariums.com
The only thing that I am unsure about is how they are able to go without water changes for six months. I wouldn't mind not having to change the water, but I am a little nervous to try it.....
I'll post pics as soon as my fish and plants get here | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| This sounds like an interesting project. I can't wait to see how it progresses. | 
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May 26th, 2009
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| With high-growth plants and understocked tanks, the plants can often keep up with nitrate production. I haven't reached that stage, yet, but I've got mostly slow-growing plants. | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| She also does plant articles for Tropical Fish Hobbyist mag.
SDS is right about the fast growing plants and understocked tanks but since I'm a fanatic vacuumer and water changer it might drive me crazier than I already am LOL .
Will be keeping my eye on this as it sounds really interesting.
carol | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I look forward to following your project. You should have this set up as a sticky! The challenge of getting the balance just right, it would be an interesting thread to follow. Good luck with it. | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Quote:
Originally Posted by MissMTS Yes they are. The plants that I got from her are the ones in my sorority tank. I was very impressed with this seller. Good prices, fast shipping, beautiful plants I ordered the German White Tailed guppies from Dino and Ross. I was tempted to go with the Thai mosaics, but at $30 for a trio, I just couldn't justify it, lol. | Hi Kate...
She has gorgeous plants and the shipping for each additional plant was really cheap. Im glad to hear that you are happy with her plants and Im still getting my order together with her. Makes me feel better knowing that someone here has had experience with her plants and are happy with them.
Ohh those German White tailed guppies are gorgeous! Best of luck with them... | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by MissMTS Please Note: I will be keeping a close eye on the water parameters of this tank. If the Nitrates get over 20 at any point, I will add a filter onto the tank or increase the amount of water changes that I do. I will not endanger the fish while doing this study. | Good idea on the close monitoring, but adding a filter won't do anything to reduce nitrate. You'll have to increase the water changes, or add more plants to aid in nutrient uptake, or both. Also, you may want to consider using a different substrate for your plants. I've used EcoComplete in the past and have been very happy with it, but I've heard even better reviews about ADA Aquasoil (more expensive though). I've also heard of people using soil (with no additives, of course), but I wouldn't be able to recommend for or against soil as I know so little about that myself.
I've seen this method grow in popularity over the past few years, but as I tend to stock my tanks somewhat heavily, it's not a method I would feel comfortable trying.
Here's a book that might help you; I've heard lots of people recommend it as a very informative read. http://www.amazon.com/Ecology-Plante...3361542&sr=8-1 | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Actually, with the current lack of filtration, adding a filter will (indirectly) lower the nitrates over time, because the filter catches waste that most of us rinse off during water changes, thus keeping this waste from decomposing into nitrogen. | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by sirdarksol Actually, with the current lack of filtration, adding a filter will (indirectly) lower the nitrates over time, because the filter catches waste that most of us rinse off during water changes, thus keeping this waste from decomposing into nitrogen. | Ok, I definitely see where you're coming from. But I don't rinse particulate matter out of my filter media with every water change; so in that respect, the particulate matter is still technically decomposing in the tank and the fact that I have a filter in and of itself isn't reducing nitrate. Perhaps if I were better about maintaining my filters this would apply, LOL. But I do change 50% weekly on all my tanks so my nitrates are consistently very low. | |
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May 26th, 2009
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| Then you're definitely right about filtration not really reducing nitrates.
And, I guess I shouldn't have said "most." I should have said "some."
It really just depends on your method of caring for the tank. | |
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May 27th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Quote:
Originally Posted by harpua2002 Good idea on the close monitoring, but adding a filter won't do anything to reduce nitrate. You'll have to increase the water changes, or add more plants to aid in nutrient uptake, or both. Also, you may want to consider using a different substrate for your plants. I've used EcoComplete in the past and have been very happy with it, but I've heard even better reviews about ADA Aquasoil (more expensive though). I've also heard of people using soil (with no additives, of course), but I wouldn't be able to recommend for or against soil as I know so little about that myself.
I've seen this method grow in popularity over the past few years, but as I tend to stock my tanks somewhat heavily, it's not a method I would feel comfortable trying.
Here's a book that might help you; I've heard lots of people recommend it as a very informative read. http://www.amazon.com/Ecology-Plante...3361542&sr=8-1 | Thanks for the imput I tend to stick with low tech setups in my planted tanks and plain old gravel has always worked well for me. I know that Eco Complete, ADA Aquasoil, etc are supposed to be wonderful, but as my plants have always done well without it, I can't justify spending the extra money at this point. If I ever get the funds to set up a high tech setup, I will deffinetly invest in a more nutrient rich substrate. Thanks for the link to the book. I'll deffinetly look into it Quote:
Originally Posted by sirdarksol Actually, with the current lack of filtration, adding a filter will (indirectly) lower the nitrates over time, because the filter catches waste that most of us rinse off during water changes, thus keeping this waste from decomposing into nitrogen. | My thoughts exactly Though if Nitrates do climb too high, I will be more inclined to up the water changes before adding a filter. However, since I am only stocking the tank with a few guppies and shrimp, hopefully I won't have a need to do either Quote:
Originally Posted by Butterfly She also does plant articles for Tropical Fish Hobbyist mag.
SDS is right about the fast growing plants and understocked tanks but since I'm a fanatic vacuumer and water changer it might drive me crazier than I already am LOL .
Will be keeping my eye on this as it sounds really interesting.
carol | I didn't even realize that until a few days ago when I read her name and said to myself....hmmmm....sounds familiar. I love her column in TFH and read it every month Since my plants aren't going go be any fast growing species and it is going to be a low light set up, I am not sure I could get away with doing no water changes. I just don't think my plants would soak up the nitrates quickly enough. Quote:
Originally Posted by Lifesabeach I look forward to following your project. You should have this set up as a sticky! The challenge of getting the balance just right, it would be an interesting thread to follow. Good luck with it. | Thanks | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Update 5/29/09
Yay! I got my fish and plants yesterday, so now I am just waiting on my red cherry shrimp to arrive on Wednesday I got the tank set up last night. So far I am pretty happy with the aquascape. Please excuse the giant bags of bio-media sitting in the tank. I took those from one of my cycled tanks so that it would help seed this one. I'll take them out in a few weeks once this tank establishes its own biological filtration. The guppies are soooo tiny, and I think they might have had babies in the bag (either that or Dino and Ross sent me extras). I have counted about 10 of the little guys. I have two large males, and I have no idea what sex the other guys are. Let me know what you think. I am open to suggestions! Anyways... here are some pics: | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| I am thoroughly enjoying this thread and learning as i go, as usual.
Love the look of the tank so far.
Beth | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Looking good! | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| wow it looks great, nice job. | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Moderator
| Oh wow Kate, the tank looks great!
I know there's no filter, do you have any sort of aeration? What stops the water from getting stagnant? | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Keeper
| Great project. I am also enjoying the updates. I see you have been over at plantedtank.net at the swap and shop! I browse there alot as well.
Do you have the link to the seller in arizona by chance?
The tank looks wonderful keep the updates coming!
-Nate- | |
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May 29th, 2009
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| | Fish Master
| Thanks everyone
Lucy, thanks so much for pointing that out. I didn't even think about that before. I think I may go pick up an air pump tomorrow because I agree, water movement in the tank is a good idea | |
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