Chetan Good tank can you take the picture form the front side also. only one doubt without co2 how can you keep the tank green...?
thanks bro! hope the pics in my following posts had all the shots you wanted to see. As for CO2, it's not that there is no CO2 at all in the tank. It is present, but only in natural forms - i.e. from fauna and the gas equilibrium brought about by the surface agitation. As you can see, a green tank can exist without a dedicated co2 system in place.
Awesome.... wish my tank turns out this way some day.. currently tackling bad algae problem
glad u liked it bro. i'm sure your tank will be just as good and probably better
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@ Ram_a_rosi, nandy, N3Aro, Kuna, angel_lover
Thanks a lot guys! Your simple words of appreciation really mean a lot to me. I never thought the tank would receive such a positive response. thanks a lot!
Hi, How are you getting this lush growth without co2 and it is also heavily planted... are you dosing excel or similar products and Specs+photo period please.
Hey sujith! I am not dosing any additional product (excel etc). However other than controsoil, the plants do have plenty organic manure available around them ... i.e. shrimp potty
As for photo-period, the tubes are on for about 8-10 hours daily (but usually only one tube).
Though I do not find any reason to be surprised at the plant growth in view of two vital points ...
a) the plants in the tank are mainly resilient and highly adaptable species. The bulk of the lush is contributed by the ambulia, cobamba, and water sprite (aquarose) - these highly evolved plants will grow even under an ordinary electric bulb. Java moss and dwarf sagittaria also are quite high on the evolutionary scale. The only exception in the tank is the red tiger lotus. It is a delicate species in terms of light requirements, but I find it to survive well as long as its getting a good dose of full-spectrum light.
b) the growth took about 5 months to achieve. This is quite normal according to the tank parameters. The purpose of a dedicated co2 system is to speed up the plant growth. But it does not mean that without a co2 system a planted tank cannot exist. It can, but we just need to be patient and let nature takes its course.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:30 am Post subject: Re: Tank Diary: It's A Jungle Out There (Non-CO2 Planted Shr
Diary Entry:
The Bamboo Plant Tragedy
During the setup of this tank many experiences were (and are being) learnt. One memorable (rather unforgettable) one was the disaster that occurred when I experimented with putting in some lucky bamboo in the tank. It seemed like a good idea, but it didn't go quite well. I ended up losing quite a lot of shrimp - including crystal red shrimp. it turned out not to be the fault of the lucky bamboo plant, but instead the growth chemicals used by its makers.
A good record of the event can be found in the following post of mine in the IAH community. The community members were supportive as ever. A fellow-member named thebluearatus was responsible for cracking the mystery.
P.S. The particular bamboos that caused the havoc are now happily residing next to the aquarium in their respective vases. They are featured in some of the pics in page 1.
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Looking for light on Lighting
Similarly during the setup period I had made another post for the lighting of the tank. Got good advice from the members there, particularly appreciated advice by jerin111111 on increasing the substrate thickness. Didn't know back then about the 4cm rule.
And another post seeking advice during setup was about snails - to keep or not to keep. I finally decided to introduce trumpet snails and ramshorn snails for maintenance purposes. In a month they multiplied quite well. But around the time the trumpets were becoming an eye-sore, I happened to introduce a few assassin snails. Within 2 months they wiped out _all_ of the ramshorn snails, and the surviving trumpet snails adapted to the strategy of remaining largely underground.
Posted: Wed Jan 11, 2012 12:20 pm Post subject: Re: Tank Diary: It's A Jungle Out There (Non-CO2 Planted Shr
Diary Entry: Learning about planted aquarium
The internet is the default source for our knowledge, but it's rampant with contradicting information. During the setup I needed a single point credible source to act as the foundation of my knowledge, and thereafter use the internet to build over it. The credit of being that source for me would be given to a brilliant book by Peter Hiscock titled 'Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants'. It is very well written and has stunning illustrations. It really gets into the science of planted aquariums.
I had acquired this book before the setup and studied right through the setup process. While the book title implies it to be a list of aquatic plants, it is much more than that. The initial chapters are a rich source of theoretical knowledge, which are followed by chapters on aquarium design layouts. After this do the plant profiles begin.
This book is excellent as a beginner's foundation.
Posted: Thu Jan 12, 2012 10:33 am Post subject: Re: Tank Diary: It's A Jungle Out There (Non-CO2 Planted Shr
Diary Entry: Enter Marsilea Hirsuta
Got some Marsilea Hirusuta for the tank last weekend. Figured it will do well to cover the foreground on the left side of the tank. However the combination of controsoil and trumpet snails is giving problems in keeping the plants rooted. End having a bunch of floaters everyday. Let's see if the saplings can form a strong enough rooting eventually. A good idea in this situation would have been to plant the entire plant mat together without cutting it into small bits with only 2-4 leaves per cutting.
Marsilea requires bright light to propagate - check! However let's see if the root system can hold up to the snail thoroughfare.
Last edited by Chetan3 on Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:48 pm; edited 1 time in total
The internet is the default source for our knowledge, but it's rampant with contradicting information. During the setup I needed a single point credible source to act as the foundation of my knowledge, and thereafter use the internet to build over it. The credit of being that source for me would be given to a brilliant book by Peter Hiscock titled 'Encyclopedia of Aquarium Plants'. It is very well written and has stunning illustrations. It really gets into the science of planted aquariums.
I had acquired this book before the setup and studied right through the setup process. While the book title implies it to be a list of aquatic plants, it is much more than that. The initial chapters are a rich source of theoretical knowledge, which are followed by chapters on aquarium design layouts. After this do the plant profiles begin.
This book is excellent as a beginner's foundation.
Posted: Fri Jan 13, 2012 12:38 am Post subject: Re: Tank Diary: It's A Jungle Out There (Non-CO2 Planted Shr
@vk_8e
Thanks for link bro. Knowledge is meant to be shared.
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@pranavakira
Oil film naturally occurs over any stagnant water body. Easy way to tackle it is by having constant surface agitation in your tank. You can accomplish this by tilting the outlet of your filter towards the surface so as to create ripples. You won't have oil film bothering you ever again.
Posted: Sun Jan 22, 2012 5:08 pm Post subject: Re: Tank Diary: It's A Jungle Out There (Non-CO2 Planted Shr
Diary Entry: Tackling the Marsilea uprooting
So its confirmed: the marsilea cannot hold on its own in the controsoil. The combination of the infirm controsoil, borrowing trumpet snails, and curious shrimp is not giving the plant time enough to ground itself. Every 6 hours there were new floaters. So finally I had to intervene and device a basic anchoring system for each chain.
At first a small piece of wood was used. Had read somewhere that marsilea can grow on wood too (like anubias). However the wood was not heavy enough to keep them under the soil. Eventually it got pushed out. The final solution was to use the gravel stones from the other aquarium for the anchoring. I retained the wood pieces, just in case they help in the nourishing the plant in any way.
Here are some pics of the anchoring and the final look, stable grounding since a week now ...
Wood Anchor:
Wood + Stone Anchor:
Final Foreground:
(p.s. check out the pelia moss growth in the background, has come a long way from the initial pics. The stone it was tied to is not visible anymore.)
Last edited by Chetan3 on Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:52 pm; edited 1 time in total
Posted: Mon Jan 23, 2012 12:01 pm Post subject: Re: Tank Diary: It's A Jungle Out There (Non-CO2 Planted Shr
Thanks for sharing chetan. We need more such examples of lush green jungles that don't beed 4k worth of CO2 powerstations.
apart from your outstanding tank, what i liked is how you enjoy wrapping your head around a problem before you solve it! Fantastic approach, very painstakingly displayed too. dunno what deserves more praise, the plants, the endlers (god, neon-quality), or the shrimp (sakura quality)!
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can you take the picture form the front side also. only one doubt without co2 how can you keep the tank green...? 
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