New low-tech tank set-up

[Brazzen1]

Hi all, I'm getting a new 55 that I want to set up as an ultra low tech planted tank, I already have 96w of light to use. What I'm planning is having it heavily planted with nothing but lights and ferts every so often. I will be doing water changes as needed. So far I'm thinking bichir, African spotted leaf fish, betta or blue gourami and any others that can go with just taking the oxygen from the plants? I may run a small pump at night, if I notice that that the plants are putting out too much CO2. As for substrate I was thinking Eco Complete with play sand on top, since none of the fish are diggers. I do like the idea of lava rock though. Thanks for any advice. @Mods I did post this in different forums because I wanted to get the widest number of options & I didn't know which would be best.

 

[HybridHerp]

Hi all, I'm getting a new 55 that I want to set up as an ultra low tech planted tank, I already have 96w of light to use. What I'm planning is having it heavily planted with nothing but lights and ferts every so often. I will be doing water changes as needed. So far I'm thinking bichir, African spotted leaf fish, betta or blue gourami and any others that can go with just taking the oxygen from the plants? I may run a small pump at night, if I notice that that the plants are putting out too much CO2. As for substrate I was thinking Eco Complete with play sand on top, since none of the fish are diggers. I do like the idea of lava rock though. Thanks for any advice. @Mods I did post this in different forums because I wanted to get the widest number of options & I didn't know which would be best.

What kind of light? Watts means nothing tbh.

If you do a bichir do an upper jaw, also skip the betta it's too small to go with a bichir.

I'd almost recommend going with an African oddball stock tbh but I think a standard gourami would be fine.

Look into doing a dirt tank with a heavy sand cap, as then you will never have to dose terribly much (just micros and some K)


Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app

 

[bbortko]

Plants consume co2 and produce oxygen so a pump shouldn't be needed. Pressurized setups generally have little surface agitation since it expedites the time it takes for co2 to leave the water, since you're going lowtech you can have your filters disrupt surface tension just as you would in an unplanted tank.