Can't keep planted tank clean

[TheFishNerd]

In my 10 gallon I have one 3-month-old wild betta girl who is very small. About 7 or 8 ghost shrimp, and 2 otocinclus. I know the otos need groups of 6 or more but they are doing fine as a duo and happily graze on the pesky brown algae in the tank. Any more and there would be a food shortage. It is fairly heavily planted with driftwood and an oak leaf litter. The leaves are only about a week and a half old. No permanent filtration but it is cycled and I keep a close eye on the parameters which are all looking good. I added API root tabs where there is very heavy vegetation and dose carbon every other day. At first, I would do lots of water changes and make sure to remove any floating dead plant material. It's only about 3 weeks old and the Petsmart plants had a bit of trouble settling in. It gets dirty so fast and I have to constantly vacuum the gravel to keep it clean. I stopped cleaning so much and decided to let the tank find its balance on its own hoping to make the tank truly self-sustaining for the most part with just regular plant trimmings and small water changes but yesterday I noticed there was detritus worms in the water column. I can't figure out what I am doing wrong. I am sure planted tanks are not this demanding for the most part and I know they still require work but I just cannot seem to keep this tank clean. I don't want it to sparkle since it is a natural blackwater aquarium but there is accumulated fish poo and plant matter everywhere no matter how much I clean. Should I start from scratch at this point? Add a new leaf litter and vacuum everything up with a large water change again or am I missing something?

 

[Niki_up]

When you say no permanent filtration I assume you mean there’s no filter? When you say your tank is cycled I’m unsure what you mean. A cycled tank has a filter with media that has established beneficial bacteria, which I do not think your tank has.

a balanced aquarium Is a tank with a filter that is cycled, gets adequate water changes (dictated by the nitrates present) has minimal algae bc it receives the correct amount of light and food, and is not overstocked.

I’d suggest you get a filter and read up on the cycling process. Once two of those things are accomplished you should have an easier time keeping the tank clean. Also, a side note Ottos need a mature tank to survive and not starve, the are also sensitive to water pollution and require regular water changes.

 

[duanes]

Since you don't use a filter (and a heavily planted tank with very few fish in it, may not need one), do you have something creating any water movement? an air stone, or pump of some kind?
Without water movement, anoxic conditions that favor detritus worms will be par for the course.
And if you don't vacuum (as I seldom do) detritus worms will be a natural part of your system, (especially if you have leaf litter,
and as the leaves break down). Any lack of water movement also favors the worms, and other stagnant water loving, swamp type critters
.
As you can see by the photo below, I allow detritus to build up, and consider that good for the plants, though it not not be aethsetically pleasing. But....

The tank has plenty of water movement and flow and current, which allows aerobic bacteria to thrive, and out compete the anaerobes that can make a tank eventually smell bad, and look messy.
I do not consider planted tanks less demanding, in fact i find they take more hands on effort than non-planted tanks do.

But even with a double sump filtration system, I still do moderate "daily" water changes on the 180 gal above (preferring water changes for mineral replenishment, along with detritus) to root tabs or supplements for the plants.
On a 10 gallon I would think a 1 or 2 gallon daily water change would be the minimum I could do to maintain the tank, and probably take less than 5 minutes by just scooping out a gallon with a jug and replacing it with new water.
As Niki-up implied, how long has the tank been set up from day one?

Above, you can see one of the 20 gallon sumps I use to filter out debris. On the right of the box there are filter pads to catch debris, sitting above the bio-media like lava rock, ceramic rings, and bio-balls.

above, the kind of junk, detritus caught daily by mechanical filter media.

 

[TheFishNerd]

Since you don't use a filter (and a heavily planted tank with very few fish in it, may not need one), do you have something creating any water movement? an air stone, or pump of some kind?
Without water movement, anoxic conditions that favor detritus worms will be par for the course.
And if you don't vacuum (as I seldom do) detritus worms will be a natural part of your system, (especially if you have leaf litter,
and as the leaves break down). Any lack of water movement also favors the worms, and other stagnant water loving, swamp type critters
.
As you can see by the photo below, I allow detritus to build up, and consider that good for the plants, though it not not be aethsetically pleasing. But....
View attachment 1409479
The tank has plenty of water movement and flow and current, which allows aerobic bacteria to thrive, and out compete the anaerobes that can make a tank eventually smell bad, and look messy.
I do not consider planted tanks less demanding, in fact i find they take more hands on effort than non-planted tanks do.
View attachment 1409480
But even with a double sump filtration system, I still do moderate "daily" water changes on the 180 gal above (preferring water changes for mineral replenishment, along with detritus) to root tabs or supplements for the plants.
On a 10 gallon I would think a 1 or 2 gallon daily water change would be the minimum I could do to maintain the tank, and probably take less than 5 minutes by just scooping out a gallon with a jug and replacing it with new water.
As Niki-up implied, how long has the tank been set up from day one?
View attachment 1409481
Above, you can see one of the 20 gallon sumps I use to filter out debris. On the right of the box there are filter pads to catch debris, sitting above the bio-media like lava rock, ceramic rings, and bio-balls.
View attachment 1409482
above, the kind of junk, detritus caught daily by mechanical filter media.

This was so helpful. I thought the worms were a sign my tank was not healthy. I have an airstone to keep it well oxygenated but the poor little betta is still fairly new and very shy so any other current and she gets stressed. I have a filter in there but I only turn it on when I see stuff building up just to clear the water column. From now on, I'll do gallon a day water changes, do another really good cleaning and see how it goes from there. I'm always used to keeping perfectly clear and clean aquariums that are over-filtered and don't really have any experience with planted tanks so you're help is very appreciated.

 

[TheFishNerd]

When you say no permanent filtration I assume you mean there’s no filter? When you say your tank is cycled I’m unsure what you mean. A cycled tank has a filter with media that has established beneficial bacteria, which I do not think your tank has.

a balanced aquarium Is a tank with a filter that is cycled, gets adequate water changes (dictated by the nitrates present) has minimal algae bc it receives the correct amount of light and food, and is not overstocked.

I’d suggest you get a filter and read up on the cycling process. Once two of those things are accomplished you should have an easier time keeping the tank clean. Also, a side note Ottos need a mature tank to survive and not starve, the are also sensitive to water pollution and require regular water changes.

I have cycled many tanks and thought the beneficial bacteria would grow in the tank whether or not there was a filter to aid it. Even without a filter I still get no ammonia, nitrites and do enough water changes to never see nitrates either. Ph is also always stable. Despite it being fairly new, there is already a layer of biofilm and a good brown algae population. I made the tank to suit the needs of the betta so lighting is high enough for the plants but fairly low. I also have no flow for the betta and this also encourages the algae. I've always wanted otos and this was the perfect tank for them. They are doing very well. When I got them they were very skinny and lethargic but now they are nice and fat and active so I am hopeful they will do well in the tank for the long haul. I want to add another but it is nearly impossible to find healthy ones near me that aren't starved. I only feed the betta 2 Hikari betta bio gold pellets twice and day and one freeze-dried treat a week. I make sure she eats it. Should I only give her one pellet three times a day to cut down on the amount of food going in?

 

[Niki_up]

I have cycled many tanks and thought the beneficial bacteria would grow in the tank whether or not there was a filter to aid it. Even without a filter I still get no ammonia, nitrites and do enough water changes to never see nitrates either. Ph is also always stable. Despite it being fairly new, there is already a layer of biofilm and a good brown algae population. I made the tank to suit the needs of the betta so lighting is high enough for the plants but fairly low. I also have no flow for the betta and this also encourages the algae. I've always wanted otos and this was the perfect tank for them. They are doing very well. When I got them they were very skinny and lethargic but now they are nice and fat and active so I am hopeful they will do well in the tank for the long haul. I want to add another but it is nearly impossible to find healthy ones near me that aren't starved. I only feed the betta 2 Hikari betta bio gold pellets twice and day and one freeze-dried treat a week. I make sure she eats it. Should I only give her one pellet three times a day to cut down on the amount of food going in?

If you have no nitrates at all I’m pretty sure that’s a sign your tank isn’t cycled. I’m also pretty sure BB need water movement to stay alive. You said you have an air stone for movement, you could find and replace the stone with an air driven sponge filter for the tank that will house BB and keep your water oxygenated.
If your ottos are fat then they are def eating and thriving in your tank (which not a lot of people can say)
I cannot comment on the amount you are feeding as I “overfeed” my betta. I put about 8 pellets in his tank once a day. I use 8 pellets bc I want some to sink to the bottom for my snails.