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How to: Natural Planted tank

2M views 662 replies 146 participants last post by  Caelth 
#1 · (Edited by Moderator)
Natural Planted tank: Soil based with lots and lots of stem and floating plants. Common snails and shrimp complete the little ecosystem-everything has a job.

Plants functions as the filtration-All livestock and anything organic function as the ferts-When the organics start to break down and decomp-they naturally produce CO2 that the plants need. Shrimp also shred dead/dieing organics/plant matter so that it will break down faster and eat some algae. Snails-eat organics and dead/dieing plant matter and some algae.

Soil based tanks are as close to a complete ecosystem you can create in a closed system/aquarium. Everything works together to create the Balance.

It can take about 3 months for a soil based tank to mature. Once the soil has started its life under water, is alive and full of critters/microorganisms. I like to remove my filter or water movement in my 10gal and under tanks. I do use water movement in my 20gal and larger.

Nitrogen cycle-in properly setup soil based tank with lots of plants you don't need to worry about the nitrogen cycle or do anything special-It happens on its own. The silent cycle.
Often with heavy planted tanks-it will take a long time if ever to see the nitrate reading we normally look for that tells us cycling stage/completeness-But the nitrogen cycle is happening-its silent.

If you properly setup the soil based tank-you can safely add all your livestock on the same day you set it up.

Once mature-water changes are limited and this can vary from once a month to 4-5 times a year. If you want that really clean tank floor with an organized look-the soil based may not be for you.
Over cleaning-water changes and vacuum can upset the balance, however, your water should always look crystal clear-this tells you that you have good balance and the plants, microorganism, shrimp, snails and fish are doing their job.

Dirt-Look for organic type potting soil, top soil or use dirt from your yard. You don't want any added ferts, chemicals...etc.....
Sift the soil or pick through it to remove any large pieces of organics and wood.
In 1-10gal tanks use 1-1.5 inches of dirt
In 20-55gal tanks use-1.5-2 inches of dirt
In over 55gal-use 2-3 inches of dirt

Cap-use either-pool filter sand, play sand or small diameter gravel.
The cap is to help hold the soil in place and you only want to use half as much cap as you do soil.

Hard scape-If using large based items-like big rocks or driftwood-along with more than 1 inch of dirt. Place the hard scape item on top of the first 1 inch of dirt-then add the rest of the dirt and cap.

*Hint: Place the filter and heater in the tank before you place hard scape items. This will help you with proper placement and then place the hood if you are using one to check that everything will fit properly-You want the overflow of the filter to be directed over a hard scape item so it doesn't cause a kick up. Check the intake to insure that it isn't too low to the dirt/cap line-you may need to shorten the intake or place a flat rock under it so it doesn't suck up the soil/cap and ruin the filter.

Lights-proper lighting is really important-without the proper color temp bulb the plants can't see the light to use it for photosynthesis. Without good plant growth the soil based tank will crash.
You want-"Daylight" 6500k bulbs-watts will vary based on length of bulb.
You want to change both the bulb and the starter every 12 months-even if they still work since florescent bulb intensity can be lost over time.
The partition between the light and plants-need to either be removed all together or ensure it is kept clean for best light penetration to plants.
Photoperiod-keep the lights on 10-12 hours. Plants naturally are on 10h/day PP with 1 hour before and after of less intense light.
*Too short a PP or wrong color temp bulb, old bulbs can trick the plants into thinking its a season change and time to go dormant, die or flower.
Poor plant growth can result in poor water quality. You should need to make your first plant trim in 7-10 days after planting.

Algae: Its normal, expected and a sign of a healthy system, however, since this is a closed system-even the good algae needs to be manually removed on occasion. With soil based systems that have proper balance you shouldn't have algae issue-you will have some-but as long as you have enough of the right species of thriving plants-they should out compete problem algae.

Plants: If you can't start a soil based tank with enough of the right species of plants-DON'T set one up...It is important to have enough of the right species of plants on hand, correct lights from the start-otherwise the system might crash.
You want to start with lots of fast growing stem plants and some floating plants. You can add the moss, ferns, anubias to your hard scape items and add some rosette plants too.
Plants I like to use:
Stem plants:
Najas indica (naja grass)
Cabomba caroliniana(green)
C. piauhyensis (red)
Hygrophila dfformis (westeria)
H. corymbosa (giant hygro)
H, siamensis (thin leaf)
Ludwigia natans
Rotala indica
Rosette plants:
Vallisneria americana-var Biwanesis
V. spiralis
Sagittaria subulata
S. platyphylla
Cryptocryne walkeri
Crypt-bronze
C. wendtii
Echinodorus bleheri (amazon sword)
E. ozelot
E. tenellus (chain sword)
Other:
Nymphaes stellata (red lily)
Aponogeton ulvaceus
Microsorium pteropus (java fern)
Vesicularia dubyana (java moss)
Floating plants:
Pistia stratiotes (water lettuce)
Limnobium laevigatum (frogbit)
Lemna minor (duckweed)

Once the hard scape items and fully planted-make water only changes until the water is clear-Turn on the filter and heater-Once at temp-add the livestock after proper acclimation.
If you don't have trumpet snails that burrow to add-be sure and poke the soil a couple of times a week with either chopstick, wooden spoon...etc.....This will help prevent anaerobic soil. Once you make your first trim, plants are thriving-the roots of the stem plants will help prevent anaerobic soil by pulling oxygen into the soil layer.

You will need to make 1-3 times a week 25-50% water only changes for the first 1-2 weeks-Then decrease as you see plants growing/thriving to 1-2 25-50% a week. By the 3 month stage and provided plants are thriving and you have had to make at least 4-5 trims on the stem plants-Reduce water changes to monthly 50% and remove the filter if you want. As the tank matures-plants thriving you can use your judgment on water changes and reduce them further.

I don't use any added ferts or inject CO2-neither are needed in soil based balanced systems-They make everything they need if allowed, however, adding an extra pinch of fish food weekly is a great plant food for NPT's.

Once you have 1 thriving soil based tank-you will soon need another tank due to the plant growth.

Links to more info on NPT's
https://www.bettafish.com/showthread.php?t=84915
https://www.bettafish.com/album.php?albumid=2903

 
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#2 ·
As always, another FANTASTIC thread OFL! I insta-bookmarked. =)
 
#281 ·
Thank you for the wonderful sticky! I've started to set up a Betta tank. I have a 5.5 gal tank w/a glass canopy. I'm considering a Fluval Mini LED clamp on lamp PCL 13 P/N 3935. Does this sound reasonable to you? I have 2 AZOO Mignon filters for this project. I also have a 25 Watt heater for this tank. I have heard that Miracle Grow Potting soil is a good soil for an NPT. Any comments, suggestions questions are gratefully accepted.
 
#6 ·
Just a question, you say that it can take up to 3 months for a NPT to mature...but fish can be added the same day the tank is set up.
What do you mean by mature? To become completely "self sufficient" ie the plants and micro organisms have established enough to make regular filtration unnecessary? Just want to make sure I understand.

I have a 6.6gal and I've heard that the rule of thumb is 1gal per inch of fish. Does this change in an NPT? I have one betta right now, wouldn't mind adding a trumpet snail (for aeration) and maybe some other fish if possible.

Thanks!
 
#7 · (Edited by Moderator)
You can safely add fish the day you set one up and you really want to add a couple of trumpet snails from setup as well since they have a pretty important job of aerating the soil until the plant roots can help get the job done.

With enough active growing plants-they use the byproducts in the tank to help keep the water safe-the key being active growth-the plants need to be feeding-the plants are the filtration. Along with the plants-the microorganisms recycle byproducts-everything working together.....It can take up to 3 months for the soil to start its life underwater and for the microorganism, nematodes...etc....to colonize in great enough numbers to do the job.

Since this is a closed system-it will never be completely "self sufficient" but they are close....
 
#9 ·
I believe the difference is that the soil provides nourishment to the plants, whereas there is no nourishment in sand and gravel, and you have add supplements like root tabs to give the plants what they need to grow.
 
#11 · (Edited by Moderator)
As the tank mature you have natural decomp from organics that add nutrient back to the soil-along with all the poop/byproducts produced by the livestock...All food for the plants and to help maintain nutrients in the soil itself.

This is why you don't want to over clean a soil based tank.

Sometimes, if you have a lot of root feeder plants-like swords-they might need some extra food after about 4-5 years. I make clay balls from my native clay-allow them to dry in the sun-then cram them under/around the base of the sword plant a couple of times a year or when the plant looks tired.
 
#13 · (Edited by Moderator)
That is what I thought too.....dirt+water=mud....But it isn't like that if you set a dirt based tank up correctly. The sand or small diameter gravel you cap the dirt with will help keep the dirt in place until it become water logged. Once the dirt is water logged and starts its life under water-it stays in place......

When I dig up plants or replant-I will get dirt up in the water column-but within 10 min or less the water is crystal clear and you would never know that I had a mass amount of dirt floating around.

All my tanks are dirt based and all my tanks water is crystal clear all the time.

Go to my album and you can see some pic of all my dirt based tanks
 
#15 ·
That is what I thought too.....dirt+water=mud....But it isn't like that if you set a dirt based tank up correctly. The sand or small diameter gravel you cap the dirt with will help keep the dirt in place until it become water logged. Once the dirt is water logged and starts its life under water-it stays in place......

When I dig up plants or replant-I will get dirt up in the water column-but within 10 min or less the water is crystal clear and you would never know that I had a mass amount of dirt floating around.

All my tanks are dirt based and all my tanks water is crystal clear all the time.
So, in my gravel only planted tank should I add something to it? It is on week three and doing very well, plants growing, rooting etc. Should I use some sort of ferts besides the fish poo and extra food?
 
#16 · (Edited by Moderator)
When using inert substrate-you will need to add ferts of some type. If you have root feeders-root tab and if water column feeders you need water column food. Seachem has a pretty good line of plant food products, however, I have limited personal experience since I don't need them.

You also should schedule water changes so that you add the water column food after a water change-This way you will remove any unneeded/unused food so the algae can't use it....

I would really like to try and keep this thread on the topic of soil based tanks.....
 
#21 ·
What are some mini/carpet plants you might suggest for a smaller NPT? I've got a couple of 2.5 G's I would love to turn into NPTS, however most of the plants I've used so far are taller or would be far too large.

Also plan on doing some searching for a new light/6500k bulbs I can modify no AQ specific light fixtures for.
 
#23 · (Edited)
Is there any point to adding a CO2 system to my planted tank? I have mostly low-light plants and I use Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel. My substrate is Fluorite with a sand cap. I guess I'm just wondering how much of a difference added CO2 would make.

Also, I did get some mud in my filter when I first set up this tank, mostly because I didn't wash the substrate first. All that dusty dirt was really light and got kicked up by the filter. I washed the filter bag 3 times or so over the first week (each time shedding enough mud to make a 2 gallon bucket of water opaque and still needed to be rinsed under the tap), and after that it improved greatly on It's own. I also switched to an uptake bubble filter instead of a filter that continuously dumps water into the tank (much gentler current) and have had zero issues with mud or fine particles fogging up the tank. Even water changes aren't causing too much dust to kick up as long as I pour the water onto a plate I've set on the sand. The only thing that really causes clouding now is if I pull up a rooted plant and move it. When I first added water some of the substrate came up out of the sand cap and I was worried they would mix together, but since then they have not mixed further and my MTS are very careful about what they move around. Little ninjas.
 
#27 · (Edited by Moderator)
Please keep this sticky on topic....Soil based planted tanks.....

As for filters-with the soil based tanks the plants can function as the filtration..

I remove my filters in my 10gal and smaller soil based tanks-because they are not needed.....Once they are mature-the soil is alive and plants thriving the plants will filter the water.

Soil based planted tanks-when setup properly with enough of the right species of plants, soil is mature and plants thriving-They are as close to a natural ecosystem that can be created in a closed system.....

You don't need any added ferts or injection of CO2 with soil based planted tanks.

As for carpet plants-it can be hard to get a true carpet that you see with the high tech CO2 injected tanks-but I can create a fairly nice carpet in my soil based using java moss, pygmy chain swords and another one I can't recall the name right now. I just got back from vacation and will have to look through my log books and post it tomorrow....seems like it was tennulas or something like that.....

Soil based tanks are nice systems-but you have to remember they are intended to be a low tech system and plants will be limited.
 
#28 · (Edited)
OFL what kind of soil do you recommend? I've heard people use Miracle Gro, is there a specific type that works best?

Also, I just put some Quikrete Commercial Grade Fine Sand in one of my 5 gallon tanks and I was AMAZED at how it responded to being in water. It's a very fine white silica sand that is 0.6-0.2 mm so it's comparable to pool filter sand, possibly even finer. No dust at all, I dribbled in the first bit of water and after that more or less splashed bucketfuls into the tank and the sand did not move. No floating particles whatsoever. It's beautiful sand, I will definitely be using it in my next NPT. And it's available at pretty much any home improvement store at around $3 for a 50 pound bag. Win.
 
#46 ·
Do you know if the have any smaller bags?
I know it's an awesome price but my boyfried doesn't want me to get that much sand because of the risk of spilling it every where -.-
But I appreciate his thoughtfullness 'cause I would be sooooo annyoed with picking up a mess that big!
 
#29 ·
When creating the base, you had mentioned using sand or a small diameter gravel as a cap. In anyones experience, what tends to work better? I have a couple partial bags of regular store aquarium gravel that I could use as a cap, or I could go out and buy some sand. Does anyone prefer one over the other?

Also, I'm not sure if this has been mentioned or not, but is it easier to place plants in position before adding the water? Or should I fill the tank with water and then place the plants?

Thanks!
 
#30 ·
I prefer sand, it just looks more natural to me :) It's really down to your own preference though. I will say that I think fine consistently graded sand is easier to clean than gravel.

I'm not good enough at filling the tank for the first time when I use anything dusty to avoid serious clouding so I do not add my plants until that's settled down. I'm cautious about adding plants. I'll put in 1 or 2 after the water is clear and ammonia is testing at 0ppm, and if they do well overnight I add the rest. I know some people can add just a few inches of water, then plants, then the rest of the water also.
 
#31 · (Edited by Moderator)
For soil-anything that doesn't have any type of chemical additives, ferts, too much manure, pine bark.....Organic type potting soil, top soil, dirt from your yard.

I have used all kinds of different soil bases-and really haven't seen much difference as far as water quality-but I have seen differences in plant growth.

I used a local nursery brand potting soil they make and it was full of the perlite and that didn't cause any problems other than it floats when disturbed and looks a bit ugly until you net it out.

My dirt I use from my pasture "black gold" I like to call it-since it is from virgin land high in organics, composted leaves...etc....It will have lots of bugs, critters, worms and the like. I don't stress over it-I leave them and they drown-I look at it as more plant food or even food for the fish.

I like to add a bit of native sand and clay to my dirt and I sift it all together.

I have used generic clay kitty litter-but found it too messy when I pull plants-but it is great when used in a 25/75 mix. The added Iron is loved by the rosette plants.

When I set one up-
I add my dirt-then add just enough water to cover-then I add my sand-I don't rinse my sand-I like to use everything dry. Then I add water-drain and repeat until clear. Then I add about 2-3 inches of water and start to plant-I already have my hard scape placed, filter, heater and check the hood for placement if one is used.
Once I have everything planted-I fill with water and drain and re-fill if needed until clear.

Its important to start with enough stem plants from the beginning and clear water for best light penetration to plants. The active plant growth is what keep the water safe.

The cap-its up to you on what you want to use-My first NPT I used sand but I had some really nice 1-2mm gravel and used that on one tank and larger on yet another. I use both on some or use sand with handfuls of gravel around the base of plants to help keep them anchored until they take root or for some contrast in texture......It endless...no right or wrong per se...The goal of the cap is to help hold the soil in place until it is water logged and starts its life under water and why you don't need that much.

I used pool filter sand for the first time on the 55gal I re-setup last Oct. and it has worked fine.

This is the tank that I experimented with using sand I collected from my stock pond and ended up needing to add an inch of gravel on top of that sand due to the silts from the pond sand-What a mess-but the gravel worked to help collect the silts and to prevent more silts in the water column. I also had some anaerobic soil issue due to too deep of substrate layer, however, even with all these problems the tank lasted for 5 years before I got tired of looking at it and 2 of those years it didn't have a filter running-but only because it stopped working and I didn't replace it-that is how well the plants worked as the filtration-Plants or fish never suffered-everything thrived.....And this is the tank that also got the flea powder in it at one point-killed a lot of shrimp but nothing else......

I have needed to replace sand on occasion-after a time the sand will start to discolor and I will suck it out with my python that drains out in the garden. I use a plastic cup with dry sand-lower it into the tanks and pour in the places I need it. Best to have the filter off if one is used and usually within 2-3min its all settled.

I have also used a larger meshed net to kinda turn the sand a bit and to remove the hundreds of snails-I scoop them up along with a net full of sand and kinda shake it or sift it and that brightens the sand back up.

I don't use any specific brands-honestly I don't think it matters, I don't stress over water prams. I watch the water, plants, fish, shrimp and snails and they tell me when something is wrong-You can't beat the power of observation. Too many things can cause skewed water pram readings and you are going to do the same thing with the results that you would do with change in behavior of livestock....Water change......

If the plants are thriving/growing and needing regular trims-provided that you used enough stem plants-they will keep the water safe.
Shrimp usually will be the first thing to tell you that you have a water quality issue. Bettas will be the last to tell you since they can tolerate more harsh conditions than other species of fish.

By understanding normal behavior it will be easier to pick out abnormal behavior.....

And when in doubt....make a water change-by the time you complete the water test it might be too late.....

Most important...relax, have fun, use your imagination and enjoy your little ecosystem....That is what its all about...
 
#34 · (Edited by Moderator)
Peat moss you want to limit that to about a handful or 2 per 10 gallons. Make it your first layer under the soil.

If you have soft water or plan to use R/O water add a 1/4 cup/10gal of bonemeal to the soil. For smaller tanks a tablespoon or so....

Most plants that work well in the soil based-low tech tanks like hard water and higher pH-so soft water or R/O water isn't needed.
 
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