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Post by rickl on May 29, 2012 8:52:14 GMT -6
I know one of the rules to a sucessful planted aquarium is to heavily plant. However, being one to buck the trend... does anyone have tips for making a more moderately/lightly planted tank work? I have a scheme that I'm cooking up (pending funds and time to assemble) that would involve 4 20gallon tanks, one of which would be heavily planted, one of which would be planted more lightly, and 2 of which woudl be minimally planted.
I can tie all 4 tanks into a single sump system, or I can run each on it's own filter. I'm assuming that being tied into a sump system with non planted tanks changes the equation somewhat, but I could be completely mistaken on that front since I'm a total plant noob.
-Rick (the armchair aquarist, who will post bad pictures of his plans as soon as he draws them)
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Post by tlyons01 on May 29, 2012 10:07:34 GMT -6
Well it is definitely possible. Anything is possible. You will need to choose the right type of plants for a lightly planted tank, and probably dose into the water column, occasionally. Unless you choose to have heavy root feeders, then it would be easier to use root tabs.
Food for thought about your sump, would having all of them tied to the same then transport any algae spores you might develop to all 4 tanks? In essence, if something bad is in one tank, will it be transferred to the rest? I do not know much about sump tank setups and even less about multiple tanks tied together.
I do know that it is very very reasonable to have lightly planted tanks, you just need to select plants that are very low to low light and be sure that your lighting is appropriate for them. A little fertilizer on occasion and that could even be done by the fish.
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Post by bamaplants on May 29, 2012 10:23:49 GMT -6
multiple tanks... with varying degrees of planting if connected together via a sump would all planted the average of the tanks.. LOL
in other words if one was heavy one was not planted and two were moderate it would be like all of them being moderately planted.. and the nutrients from the non planted tank would distribute between them all.. basically the planted tanks would work harder but the non planted tank would receive all the benefits while adding natural ferts to the system/others.. it works and works well as I have done this myself.. I had 24 tanks in one systems.. 6 tanks were heavily planted while the others ( save one) were breeding tanks for Tangs with minimal planting..The last tank was a rearing tank for Tilapia, Oreochromis azureaus... the whole system did quite well.. watch for green water or any algae growth and do most of your light reductions in the non planted or medium planted tanks ., ANd use the 2 hour intervals for lights and all should be fine ( NOTE I had an advantage with the tilapia tank as they would filter feed out ANY " green water" algae
The general rule for all tanks is the bigger the tank the easier it is to care for... By tying four 20 gal tanks together you have an 80 gal tank but the height of a 20( I am hoping a 20 L but t hat may be wishful thinking LOL) the 20 will be less expensive and difficult to light for a heavily planted tank than would be an 80 so your idea has strong merit for sure
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Post by rickl on May 29, 2012 11:24:57 GMT -6
Alas 20-high's are what I'm going for. Imagine a 4'x2' stand, with 4 20gallon tanks stacked side-by-side, with a narrow side facing front. Probably a 40br underneath, though if I could find a 75g cheap that'd be the sump (if I went sump). I was planning to tie the tanks together with common landscaping, with some elements such as rocks or driftwood actually spanning multiple tanks. One side heavily planted, fading to almost entirely unplanted on the other side.
Initially I was gonna do just rocky, and house 4 shell-dwelling species, each in their own tank. Now I'm thinking it might be kind of cool to go for an "edge of the lake" sort of look.
I could do 20L's (and might have to draw it up and see what it looks like) -- I'm not sure how much more difficult it'd be to service with a 30" reach to the back of the tank, though.
-Rick (the armchair aquarist)
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Post by rickl on May 29, 2012 11:30:05 GMT -6
Gotta save pennies and wait for the next $1/gallon sale at petco  . -Rick (the armchair aquarist) |
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Post by rickl on May 29, 2012 15:46:09 GMT -6
Here's a terrible drawing of what I've got in mind :  |
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Post by bamaplants on May 29, 2012 16:59:18 GMT -6
LOL.. the drawing is great and I think your idea has strong merit..
I only laugh 'cause if you are asking for apology for your " terrible drawing then I really need to not do anymore drawings on here .. LMAO.. fine drawing and I think a very good idea.
I would definitely go with the sump and a decent pump for outflow..
I would suggest lights on each tank so they are individually manageable but I would definitely put individual lights on the two left most tanks as they will be the tanks that tend toward the algae growth
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Post by rickl on May 30, 2012 9:10:25 GMT -6
I was thinking of running lower intensity lights on the left tanks, in an effort to give the illusion of deeper water (even though the tanks are all at the same level). It shouldn't be hard control the lights separately (4 timers, doh!).
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Post by bamaplants on May 30, 2012 9:20:28 GMT -6
I look forward to seeing the finished project.. You have an excellent idea and I see it being a real eye catcher for sure
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