wishe Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 Hey all... So lately I have been thinking about making a complete ecosystem tank for my desk.. maybe a 20 gallon or so? I have been thinking about looking for a hex tank or a little corner tank, just cuz of how my desk is set up. But how hard it is? What do I need. In My mind i see planted plants, snails, Srimp, smail fish, driftwood. But how do I do think and is it even possible? Please Im asking the vast pool of knowledge. Help... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted April 20, 2009 Report Share Posted April 20, 2009 What type of ecosystem are you looking at making? Do you mean more like a biotope or just a self sustaining tank without the need of filtration and stuff? Sloughshark has made some really awesome biotopes, you could PM her and find out how she does it. First step is figuring out what type of plants you want to go for, low light medium or high light plants. Once you figure that out, it would be figuring out what kind of substrate you would like to use. For planted tanks I highly recommend going with special substrates that contain natural fertilizers or ones that hold nutrients they get from the water. Do you want all the fish to be from the same area? If so do some research on the type of habitat it is, is it sandy, rocky etc to help you figure out what kind of substrate to go for. If not then go for what you like the looks of. But in general the most important things to consider with live plants is lighting and substrate. When setting it up I would buy ALOT of fast growing plants to help cycle the tank, you can always remove some of them later. Or if you want to just set it up how you like it that works too. Plant the tall plants in the back, medium in the middle and short in the front. If you have high lighting and want some low light plants in there as well, you can place the low light plants so that they will be shaded by the taller plants. Hope this helps you somewhat on getting started. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blainep Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 Do a little research on the 'Walstad' method of setting up aquariums. You can't really create a complete ecosystem in an aquarium, but with a little work, you can make them very low maintenance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
timmyg Posted April 21, 2009 Report Share Posted April 21, 2009 very interesting. how many of you use dirt as part of your substrate? I use well rinsed flourite red and am thinking maybe I should add dirt underneath. I want prolific plant growth. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted April 23, 2009 Report Share Posted April 23, 2009 very interesting.how many of you use dirt as part of your substrate? I use well rinsed flourite red and am thinking maybe I should add dirt underneath. I want prolific plant growth. I don't use peat because I don't like the mess it can make. You shouldn't need peat or soil underneath of fluorite, I don't think it will make that much of a difference since fluorite contains most nutrients. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Iceturf Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 (edited) very interesting.how many of you use dirt as part of your substrate? I use well rinsed flourite red and am thinking maybe I should add dirt underneath. I want prolific plant growth. I've started to use dirt, but thats because I'm too lazy to buy fluorite. (nothing dead yet) (since fluorite is 'built' for the job, I would imagion it would be better though) Edited April 26, 2009 by Iceturf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Baos Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 (edited) Very interesting concept. I may try it in a 10 gal with some feeder tetras and maybe a few young geophagus iporangensis. A while back I bought plants at canadian tire from the pond section and put them in the aquarium. The fish dug them out. The black soil clogged my filters daily until I actually didn't have much soil left in the tank. Maybe a layer of bamboo place mats could solve the digging in black dirt problem? I think I will be buying ECOLOGY of the PLANTED AQUARIUM thanks to blainep Edited April 26, 2009 by Baos Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted April 26, 2009 Report Share Posted April 26, 2009 I think I will be buying ECOLOGY of the PLANTED AQUARIUM thanks to blainep IMO, that's a must-have book for your library. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blainep Posted April 27, 2009 Report Share Posted April 27, 2009 (edited) Very interesting concept. I may try it in a 10 gal with some feeder tetras and maybe a few young geophagus iporangensis. A while back I bought plants at canadian tire from the pond section and put them in the aquarium. The fish dug them out. The black soil clogged my filters daily until I actually didn't have much soil left in the tank. Maybe a layer of bamboo place mats could solve the digging in black dirt problem? I think I will be buying ECOLOGY of the PLANTED AQUARIUM thanks to blainep Diana also has a section dedicated to the 'El Natural' method at APC From some of the reading I've done, Diana Walstad is one smart cookie, not just with the planted tanks. Edited April 27, 2009 by blainep Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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