You must not have read my book, so you are confused about what the El Natural forum means by "Low-tech". If you don't have soil in the substrate, then you will probably never get decent plant growth. Gravel-only tanks are a disaster, not only for plants but the fish.
If you want to try a Low-tech tank, then you first need to understand more about the ecosystem (for example, why soil will provide CO2 naturally to your tank; why emergent growth is so important, etc). |