Setting up first NPT 10g - Page 2 - El Natural

colinsk · 04-19-2009, 06:58 PM

Quote:

Use a pump, circulating water are good but only low water current for most plants.

I have found that this is one of the most important parts of making the water healthy for both the fish and the plants. I fine tune the location and flow of my pumps all the time.

Alex123 · 04-19-2009, 08:05 PM

Definitely go with topsoil over potting soil. You want as little fertilizer as you can or you run into this so called break in period. I think 10 gallon is a fun size to start with. The plants you want depends on the water chemistry. If it's hard water with high PH, you should consider hard water plants. Since it's 10 gallon you don't want plants that grow big. 10 Gallon is not much to work with, you probably want one tall grower and everything else to be small. The single strip is good since 10 gallon tank is not very tall so more light will reach the bottom than the other larger tanks. So your single strip will be pretty effective. NPT is the easiest way I think to planted tank. I start reading micro/macro nutrient, CO2 injection, high light and my eyes glazed over and I get a headache thinking about the cost and effort involved to maintenance. The most important for NPT is to set it up correctly in the beginning to avoid the algae outbreak as the plants don't grow as vigorously as high tech method. That means plant a lot.

melauriga · 04-20-2009, 02:01 AM

Thanks for all the advice!

The topsoil I found is "Jolly Gardener" brand, says it's all natural and I couldn't find any additives listed on the bag. Just a few sticks to pick out.

I may not use the riccia on this tank then, but I have frogbit and salvinia that I think will work.

I found some water wisteria, echinodorus tenellus, and dwarf sag that I can use also. I'm finding it difficult to think of small plants that would might grow without high light and pressurized co2. Any suggestions?

Also, is it really difficult or detrimental (as far as disturbing the substrate) to add plants after the tank is filled and established?

I have a medium light planted tank that I'm tired of dealing with problems with DIY yeast co2 and I am absolutely against having a pressurized tank in the house. I also don't want to endanger my fish again with yeast mixture in the tank or worry about overdosing the co2. I'm experimenting with adding some floating plants to that and see if just adding Excel will be enough.

So, I'm really looking forward to having a tank that is much less maintenance. It would be great to just enjoy the fish and do a little pruning now and then. I also like the idea of a more natural, balanced approach.

Forgotten Path · 04-20-2009, 09:15 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by prBrianpr

if you want more Gh-Kh do that the other members says but not use a lot of a buffering products marine levels is bad for most plants.

Yes, this is very important... If you decide to go with aragonite or similar product, make sure you watch your pH/KH/GH closely. It took my 5 gallon only two days to reach levels I wanted.

Quote:

Originally Posted by melauriga

I'm experimenting with adding some floating plants to that and see if just adding Excel will be enough.

You shouldn't need Excel. Since you have "low" light (as opposed to 3+ wpg found in high tech tanks), your plants won't be preforming enough photosynthesis to need elevated CO2 levels. And the bacteria breaking down organic material in the topsoil will also provide CO2, even before you add fish. I would try it without Excel.

Alex123 · 04-20-2009, 10:22 AM

Dwarf sag I heard does fine at lower light however, they can grow tall as some have informed me. Maybe consider having the lower growing plants near the window to get the sunlight. Or have 1/4 area on both side of the tank have tall plants and the middle have low growing/grassy plants so that the sunlight don't get blocked by the tall plants. That 3-4 hour morning sunlight should be good enough for the plants that need more light, depending on how you setup the position of the tank it might work. Adding plant should not be too bad. It's not good to disturb the substrate but if you trim the roots before planting, it should not disturb that much. Now moving plants around when they are well rooted is a problem. If you must, it's probably better to trim around the roots so you don't pull up a large chunk of substrate in the tank.

Forgotten Path · 04-21-2009, 12:59 PM

How's it coming??

melauriga · 04-22-2009, 10:45 AM

[quote=Forgotten Path;468942]How's it coming??[/QUOTE

Some of the plants haven't arrived yet, so I actually haven't set it up yet. I'm planning on this weekend. Also, I bought some Miracle Gro Organic Choice potting soil to use instead of the topsoil. I think I read on another thread that Ms. Walstad and others have gotten pretty consistent results with it, and that makes me feel more comfortable.

Forgotten Path · 04-22-2009, 11:50 AM

Yeah, it seems pretty easy to find, and has worked great for me. Eyeball your ammonia if you plan to add fish right away, but otherwise you should have no problems. My ammonia was at 1 ppm for a while, but if there are no fish, this is just food for your new plants. And if they don't take care of it all your tank will begin to cycle (without fish, ain't it great?) and take care of the rest.
Let us know how setup goes! Looking forward to it.

melauriga · 04-27-2009, 01:35 AM

Ok, I set the tank up last night! I ended up using Miracle Grow Organic Choice potting soil. Picked out the larger pieces of bark, then read after I had filled the tank that I probably should have sifted it through a screen to get more out. So, as expected, tannins leaching out by this morning. Added charcoal to the HOB filter. I capped it with my plain gravel instead of fluorite (was concerned about the acidic soil plus iron-rich fluorite combination). I also added a piece of cuttlebone and some baking soda and epsom salts to increase hardness.

Plants include Echinodorus angustifolia, crypt lutea, crypt Wendtii 'Red', Hygro 'Compact', Valisneria nana, dwarf sag, Hygro difformis, java moss, ludwigia, and pennywort. The Hygro 'Tiger' I bought ended up looking not so good after all, mostly stems with few leaves, so I trimmed my other tank and got some rotala rotundifolia and rotala sp. green to replace the hygro. Also some water lettuce and what was sold to me as frogbit, but I think it is actually duckweed. I'm excited to be able to try the valisneria, as I can't grow it in my other tank with Seachem Excel added. I hope I have enough plants.

I found out my strip light doesn't work, the power button broke off and fell inside the fixture. Will have to run out on my lunch break and get a new one. Too bad, I was hoping to mostly use stuff I had laying around for this tank. I hope it will be ok with just window light for today.

No fish yet, I'm waiting to see how things go in the next week or so. I'm crossing my fingers and hoping the plants grow and I don't have any major algae breakouts.

Forgotten Path · 04-27-2009, 02:34 AM

I hardly sifted through my Organic Choice at all... My water was a little tannic, but a water change and charcoal cleared it up pretty fast.
You may be surprised about the plant growth. Also, my tank has been up about three weeks now, and I'm just starting to see a little algae on the glass, but thats it... And the only floater I have is hornwort, which was added a little late. With your floater being a faster grower and in from the start, your tank may take even longer to see algae.
Do you have any pics? That would be great!