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Roy's 10 Gallon Low Tech Journal

35K views 25 replies 8 participants last post by  Phil Edwards 
#1 · (Edited)
Hi All,

This is my first journal and I thought I would try and keep it simple so I am doing it on my 10 gallon low tech planted tank that I breed Apisto's in and experiment with various plants from my emersed plant bank.

It is a pretty basic 10 gallon set-up with 2X 10 watt 6500K screw-in CFL's (PAR=25), generic 50 watt heater, Aquaclear 20 HOB filter (with 2X sponges only), black plastic background, and Safe-T-Sorb #7941 substrate; no CO2.

8/4/13 Day 1
Washed the Safe-T-Sorb #7941 in a 5 gallon bucket doing about 1/2 of the total amount used per batch. Thoroughly churned and rinsed the substrate 4 or 5 times per batch and it still came out looking like chocolate milk.

Day 1 pic



8/7/13 Day 3
Added a piece of Malaysian driftwood hardscape that has a hollow cave like area that my Apisto's seem to like spawning in. Also added some plants including Limnophila aromatica 'Wavy', Pogostemon helferi (Downoi), Pogostemon erectus, Helanthium tenellum (Echinodorus tenellus/Micro Chain Sword), Barclaya longifolia, Cuphea anagalloidea, Rotala sp 'Bengladesh', and Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Bronze'. The
Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' came from one of my isolation containers; the Pogostemon helferi and Cupia anagalloidea came from my emersed plant bank; the rest were grown submersed and came from one of my other established tanks. Yes, several of the species listed above would typically be found in a 'high tech' tank with much more light and CO2 but I wanted to see what I could do with 'low tech'.

Day 3
pic


8/9/13 Day 5
The water is starting to show signs of clearing. I added four small Corydoras habrosus; one Otocinclus affinis; and one Siamese algae eater, (Crossocheilus oblongus or syn. Crossocheilus siamensis). Also started dosing fertilizers today. I dose EI for 6 gallons on alternate days with Seachem Comprehensive. I dose Excel strength glutaraldehyde all days.

Day 5 pic


8/12/13 Day 8
The tank is staring to show definite signs of clearing. I did a 3 gallon water change today; rinsed the filter sponges in tank water, dosed dry ferts, dosed 1X Initial Dose Excel and added a little Equilibrium, MgSO4 (Epsom Salt), CaCl (calcium chloride/Dry-Z-Air), and NaHCO3 (baking soda) to bring up my dGH and dKH.

Here are some Day 8 pics




 
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#3 · (Edited)
Hi Phil,

I will be doing a lot of "experimenting" with this tank seeing how well various emersed plants transition to submerged growth so I will be moving and planting various plants regularly. In addition, it has been my experience that Apistos will do a little digging when spawning and when moving their fry in the wiggler stage. For this application capped MTS just didn't seem like the best substrate choice.

That said I have just started experimenting with using MTS (actually Miracle Gro Organic Potting Mix) with a couple of isolation containers for my plant bank and the results have been positive.

Isolation container with MGOPM
 
#4 ·
Roy, this looks interesting and will be fun to watch develop.

By coincidence, yesterday I decided to re-work my 10 gallon grow-out tank so I can breed ocellated shell-dwellers in it. I got around the digging problem by putting the soil and all the plants in a bowl shaped piece of volcanic rock. The shellies have 2" of Safe-T-Sorb in the rest of the tank where their shells are. Fortunately they prefer to dig in bare substrate, and tend to avoid planted areas.
 
#5 ·
Hi All,

Still playing 'catch up' on this journal. Here are some comments and pictures from the 14th.

8/14/13 Day 10
The water continues to clear, new leaves showing up on the Helanthium tenellum with a nice reddish color. Two of the plants that I added from my plant bank are starting to show new growth as well. The Cuphea anagalloidea that was added as cuttings from emersed growth is showing new leaves. The Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' was in one of my isolation containers that got warm and the stems lost most of their leaves leaving behind small, green, dormant 'buds'. Now that the Rotala is in cooler water with fertilizer in the water column it seems to be responding by sending out leaves again.

Day 10 pics



Cuphea anagalloidea & Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' starting to show new growth

 
#6 ·
8/16/13 Day 12

Here are a couple of new pictures; please note I added some Eleocharis sp (tall hairgrass) in the right rear. The Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' continues to add new growth.

Add Eleocharis on right rear


New growth on Rotala continues
 
#7 ·
Hi All,

8/18/13 Day 14

It has been two weeks since I started this tank and the 10 gallon continues to mature. I am definitely seeing new growth on the Cupia anagalloidea and the Rotala 'Bangladesh'. Now several of the 'buds' are starting to grow along with the one or two at the top of the stems. I am including a photo of what the stems looked like when they were more or less dormant in my warm garage isolation container and a photo showing the Rotala 'bud' locations showing the new growth.

8/18/13 10 gallon low tech


Rotala 'Bangladesh' mostly dormant buds


Rotala 'Bangladesh' buds showing new growth
 
#9 ·
Hi electra74,

Those little guys are Pogostemon helferi (sometimes known as Dowoi). They are native to the area around Thailand and seem to like water with higher mineral content.
 
#11 · (Edited)
Hi All,

8/20/13 Day 16

It's been about two weeks since the initial set up and all the plants are doing well including the emersed grown Cuphea anagalloidea and Rotala sp 'Bengladesh'. I added a Nymphoides sp. 'Taiwan' in the right rear behind to Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Bronze' to help the Crypt stand out a little more.

The only plant that is showing some signs of distress is the Pogostemon helferi (Downoi). I don't know if it is due to the extremely soft water I have here or the fact that the plants were grown emersed. If it is 'shock' from transitioning from emersed to submersed growth this is the first species I have had that has suffered. Granted the tank does not have CO2 but I checked the water parameters and I have PH = 6.4; dKH = 1.0; dGH = 7.0 so it could be the carbonate level that is causing the problem. I do see new leaves forming but the older leaves are showing signs of distress.

10 gallon low tech at 2 weeks

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Cuphea anagalloidea and Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' continue to grow well without CO2 (note height of Eleocharis, it seems to showing signs of growth)


The Helanthium tenellum (Echinodorus tenellus/Micro Chain Sword) is definitely showing new growth; note the reddish coloration


The Pogostemon helferi (Downoi) have definitely lost some of their older leaves
 
#12 ·
Hi All,

8/27/13 Day 23

It's been about three weeks since the initial set up and all the plants are continuing to do well. The emersed grown Cuphea anagalloidea and Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' are growing nicely and I think I see a side shoot starting on the C. anagalloidea. I am seeing signs of new growth on the Eleocharis (tall hairgrass).

I think I am most excited about the Pogostemon helferi (Downoi)....they seem to have stopped the 'melting' that occurred for the first two weeks. I am losing only the occasional leaf now and there seems to be a flush of new leaves in the crown area. Hopefully in the next few weeks I will see some signs of recovery.

10 gallon low tech at 3 weeks


Note the additional growth of the R. 'Bengladesh' and the Pogostemon erectus compared to the prior week
 
#14 ·
Hi All,

9/10/13 Day 37

It's been two weeks since the last update and the tank has been set-up for about 6 weeks. As you can see the Pogostemon erectus and Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' are growing well approaching the surface. In fact, I trimmed the leafless lower portions of the Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' stems and replanted them and they didn't slow down a bit. The Pogostemon helferi (Downoi) seem to have stopped losing their emersed grown leaves and I am seeing side shoots starting to come off of the base of the plants. The Helanthium tenellum (Echinodorus tenellus/Pygmy Chain Sword) is starting to send out runners as well. The Cryptocorynes have new leaves and I am trimming 4 new, taller leaves off of the Nymphoides sp. 'Taiwan' every week. The Eleocharis (tall hairgrass) is growing taller and I am starting to see runners off of it as well.

10 gallon low tech at 6 weeks


Pogostemon helferi showing side growth (remember no CO2)
 
#15 ·
Hi All,

10/3/13 Day 60

It's been a month since the last update and the tank has been set-up 9 weeks. The Pogostemon erectus has grown to the surface and Rotala sp 'Bengladesh' as grown to the top once, been trimmed and the tops re-planted and are again up to the surface. The Pogostemon helferi (Downoi) are doing well, no longer losing leave and the side shoots are growing well. The Helanthium tenellum (Echinodorus tenellus/Pygmy Chain Sword) is spreading rapidly sending out runners throughout the tank; many of the plantlets are ready for thinning so I will probably bring some to the GSAS auction after the meeting on Tuesday. I continue to trim multiple leaves off of the Nymphoides sp. 'Taiwan' every week. The Eleocharis (tall hairgrass) continues to grow, with larger crown areas and plantlets forming on the runners. The only plant that seems to be stagnant and not doing anything is the Cuphea anagalloidea. It's not dying but not really growing either. I will take water parameters this week on all my tanks and maybe it will give me a hint.

10 gallon low tech at 9 weeks


Pogostemon helferi (Downoi) with sideshoots!
 
#19 ·
Tattooedfool83 - Looks great. What kind of apistos?
@tattoodedfool83, thanks for the complement! I have a couple of species I am conditioning in my community tanks; either A. cacatuoides 'Triple Red' or A. baenschi 'Inka'.

Luminescent - It's looking gorgeous. Both types of pogo seem to be doing great. My helferi lost all of it's outer leaves upon planting after shipping.
@Luminescent - thank you; the Pogostemon erectus is on the left...the similar shorter leaved plant in the center is Rotala 'Bangladesh'. The P. helferi lost a few of the emersed growth leaves but I grow my emersed plants in extremely high humidity to keep the leaf cuticle layer very thin so the stress of transitioning to submerged is minimized.

BruceF - Looks great Roy. I wonder if you have continued with the dosing you were using?
@BruceF - Yes Bruce, same fertilizing regime since the beginning. Here it is:


***Our water is extremely soft here that is why I add the Seachem Equilibrium, CaCl2, and MgSO4 (also P. helferi do better in harder water).
 
#21 ·
Hi tattoodedfool83,

It is mostly the Estimative Index (EI) method but I strongly believe that CSM+B is missing a lot of the micronutrients I need in my very soft water so I dose the Seachem Flourish Comprehensive and extra iron for the additional micro-nutrients. Obviously the Excel / glutaraldehyde is for available carbon molecules.

What I do like about this tank is the growth rate is very manageable and I have minimum algae issues.
 
#22 ·
Hi All,

10/17/13 Day 74

I have trimmed and replanted the Rotala 'Bangladesh' in the center and the Helanthium tenellum (Echinodorus tenellus/Pygmy Chain Sword) continues to send out more and more runners. The Pogostemon erectus in the left corner has reached the surface and it continues to grow denser at the base with more branching. What I really like is the P. erectus has not lost any lower leaves even in this low light environment.

10 gallon low tech at 11 weeks
 
#25 ·
@DogFish2.0 - Absolutely!

@Phil Edwards - Hi Phil, it was one of the early plant species I picked up when I re-started in the hobby in 2008.

I either picked it up here on APC (possibly as an 'extra' with some Eleocharis sp. I ordered from houseofcards) or from a GSAS member at a meeting (possibly Erik Olson).
 
#26 ·
I wouldn't be at all surprised if it came from Erik and Kathy. They've got a treasure trove of old school plants in that basement of theirs. I may have to nab some from you when the weather warms up, if you still have it then, that is.
 
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