Foolproof planted tank consisting of leftover materials

[ruud]

I used to have large, very low maintenance tanks, but I'm downgrading to 10 gallon low maintenance tanks that are somewhat scaped, along with a filter and light. Below is one such tank consisting of leftover hardscape and plants not used in my main displays.

• Substrate: mix of sand and dry leaves/mulm
• Hardscape: Yamaya stones and Talawa wood
• Plants: mostly Java ferns and Anubias, and many different plant species literally stuffed in the back
• Technology: internal filter, simple light, and a temporary heater to create Dario breeding conditions
• Animals: Neocaridina snowballs and a Dario black tiger couple (bottom image shows vaguely a male Dario in the center)
• Maintenance: a monthly 10% water change with a bit of fertilizer, feeding Dario fishes 4 times a week artemia nauplii

No updates coming for this tank. It is what it is, what it was and what it will be. But hopefully with some female Dario fry soon.











Male Dario, right in the middle of the image:

 

[Cawafuoshi]

Again, textbook stuff! Looks bigger than 10 gallons to me. Small, simple but beautiful tanks I usually find more interesting. Just yesterday I thought about adding more anubias and java ferns to my 10 gallon low tech setup. Your scape is def. food for thought for a future rescape!

 

[ruud]

Again, textbook stuff! Looks bigger than 10 gallons to me. Small, simple but beautiful tanks I usually find more interesting. Just yesterday I thought about adding more anubias and java ferns to my 10 gallon low tech setup. Your scape is def. food for thought for a future rescape!

Thnx. Materials are all small; java fern "mini", anubias "petite", thin branches, small grain sand, small dry leaves. The heater and filter unfortunately reveal the actual size.

As you can tell, some leaves look healthy, others not so. Just let nature run its course. The decaying plant matter give back to new life.

 

[Blacksheep1]

Love these little fish ! To say you’ve used ‘“leftover” materials and plants it looks great !!

 

[ruud]

Yeah, it's not that bad. Just lacks a little inspiration. The first image is a little dark (for photography). Below is one which is more clear. The water is more stained compared to last week due to "fresh" dry leaves.

Besides the Dario couple I added my favourite shrimp of all, the neocaridina zhangiajiensis / white pearl / snowball. It's my favourite as it is a neocaridina, without color hence doesn't distract much, and berried females have the most gorgeous looking eggs, resembling little snowballs. The image below shows at least a dozen if you look carefully.



I added a few close-ups:






And a berried one with snowball eggs.