I have an outdoor 15g heavily planted dirted tank that has been running for more than 2 years. No filter or any form of circulation, just top ups every few months since it's covered. The guppies, shrimps and snails are still breeding. Feeding is minimal at around 3 to 4 times a week. It looks as clear as my filtered indoor setup. Had a few challenges in the first few months but once things stabilized it just created its own ecosystem and balanced itself out.
@@wix3759 when refilling/ topping up, I just use a cheap dechlorinator. I can probably get away with just letting the water sit in a container for 24 hours to let the chlorine dissipate but I prefer using dechlorinator because it's faster and cheap anyways.
@@joelkanawati4729 the tank has ramshorn and MTS in it..the snail population isn't really much of a problem because the tank has mininal algae and the feeding isn't really heavy so there isn't much for the snails to eat..I also use the snails as feeding indicators, if there's too much of them then I need to reduce the feeding and take out any dead leaves from the plants to control their population
Awesome tank! I think a key thing here is also the relatively deep substrate level for a tank this size. It allows the differentiation of bacteria into layers which promotes nutrient recycling and keeps the water quality more stable!
For people wondering were the poop goes its actually goes into the plants it's a very great natural fertilizer and the plants also filter your water so if your a lil broke and can't get a filter get plants the pretty and helpful
for a long time, maybe 9 years i've had a similar setup with endlers (or hybrids), amano, nerite, but with bublebee gobies too. i use a spoon or two of salt per gallon but never to replace evaporated water. first set of gobies last near 6 years. fed em every other day, if that, enriched frozen food.
Hello everyone! Please subscribe if you enjoyed this video! Also, follow me on Facebook and Instagram for details on future projects! My Facebook: Facebook.com/regisaquatics My Instagram: instagram.com/regisaquatics The products and plants used in this build can be found in the amazon link here: Amazon.com/shop/regisaquatics (DISCLAIMER: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
Great video. I did similar in a 90cm tank with lobster, fishes, etc all natural feed only garden veg. Animals happy plants happy. Only used water pumped to a growbed and flow back just to break water surface.
Munch Mary it’s good to have lots of plants, with a mix of fast growing stem plants and medium to slow growing mid and foreground plants. Floating plants are also very important for no filter tanks as they work to remove a lot of the nitrate in the water. You need the fast growing plants as they help take up nutrients faster, keeping the water cleaner! Hope that helps!
So basically a plant tank, now lets say you want a aquarium without any plants at all. Just stone and maybe some wood and some fish in it. How would you keep the water clean and good for months without a ton of work on it?
Without the plants you'd have to have a filter or perform water changes very, very often. Ideally, a canister filter with lots of porous filter media, like Seachem Matrix, would be pretty effective at maintaining good water parameters since it allows for huge beneficial bacteria colonies to perform the nitrogen cycle. Maybe even chuck some Pothos plant cuttings on top of the tank with their roots submerged to help suck up waste. The reason no-filter works on heavily planted tanks is because the plants consume the fish fertilizer (nitrate/nitrite/ammonia) to fuel their growth, basically working as a natural filter. In a bare-bones tank with no plants to absorb the fish waste and no filter full of bacteria to convert it into less harmful chemicals, it's going to rapidly build up in the water until it poisons your fish. The only way I can imagine no-filter working without plants/frequent water changes is if you had a large tank for a very small fish so that the fish waste is heavily diluted by the sheer volume of water.
sooo accurate, sooooo logic. A true sample of respect of the natural process. TX- Bein' doin' tha same for more than two years, unfortunately can't manage to keep the infusoria / daphnias alive in mines. Think i need to do the water change more often, though problematic for tiny baby cherry shrimps and guppys AND infusoria lasting OFF the vacuum ! But working on it and NEVER have I in 2 year have Ilost fish or shrimps die from other thing than AGE of FOOD temptation (to the other fish) A bit of garlic on a stick does wonder, once a month or so.
How do you get new minerals for the plants and fishes without adding new water? With supplements? Thanks in advance! PS : I just read your description and saw it comes from the substrates :) It's all good ! :D
What are the two thing that you placed in the aquarium that white looks like sang and brown is it just dirt or something you need to buy from the aquarium shop
@@earlbobsoledad9721 Awesome thats great i like low tech tanks alot as well, if you have plants should not have algae friend suggest to have emerge and submerge plants
Very natural and i liek it the only opinion/suggestion is taht he could have separated those poor fishes first so that they do not have to face the stress and they would be more comfortable :)
Hi bro...ur tank looking cool 😎 I'm having a doubt u didn't face any alege issues??? And without adding CO2 how can u growing a red plants in ur tank??
How are your plants growing so nicely without co2? Mine always turns brown and eventually dies. Also, I have a lot of fuzzy algae.. any solutions to this?
He started out with a dirted bottom layer that adds nutrients to the plant roots and a small heater. Have you tried adding fertilizer or root tabs? Might try that and see if that helps. Also snails or shrimp are a good clean up crew to keep algae in check. Don't overfeed the tank and make sure the plants are getting adequate lighting. Hope this helps and good luck! 👍🙂
@@vanissaberg5824 thank you! I have been using liquid fert. Might ease off a little on the fertilizers because there may be too much nutrients in the water. Still need to install the heater.. been too lazy lately 🤦🏻♂️
@@dineshdiyagu most tropical plants like it a little warmer same as tropical fish. You'll just have to try and see what works best for you since every tank is different.
A 3-4 watts is enough. Choose a White-Red-Blue LED light which can be turned on independently, visually more pleasing you can change the 'mood' as you like.
That's the one item I'm not liking, choice of white? sand color detracts from the natural look and makes tank look messy. Otherwise the wabi is cool and fish look happy.
How is it that no water change is needed? What about the fish poop? I LOVE THE BALL WITH THE PLANTS. Man you got some talent. Minute 11:44 is the BEST for me. Thank you.
these little guppies aren't messy fish at all. The poop is small. It gets absorbed by the plants as nutrients, and the rest just kind of goes away into the water .. where i guess it's absorbed there too. I don't understand no water changes ever.. but I guess it works here. The guppies have such a low bio-load. The snail and shrimp poop more than all of them combined.
Great video, and beautiful tank! I do wish you had included the addition of what appears to be a water pump, and exactly the best way to set that up- especially since you are not using filters. Perhaps another video showing us how that can be done? Thanks so much! :)
Pumps agitate the water- which leads to more algae - with light period of 5h / day. Instead of 8 or more can also help to reach algae free balance in the tank.
I can't help but wonder if I need brighter lights I mean I have little clip on LED lights that go on the back and you know it's on 6 hours a day but maybe it's not suitable enough I don't know I know that betas don't like incredibly intense light. I wish I could ask someone like I think I have like a six or seven gallon tank and I'm wondering if it needs one of those lights that just goes across the tank because in Taiwan all we have are glass aquariums without lids so it's like you buy an aquarium you going to hang on filter or one of those filters you put inside and then you put a light on top of it but I really don't know
Filter only filter the water coloumn, still debris left on the bottom of the tank. So basically without filter doesn't mean more dirtier. Any tank need vaccuming during water change.
Too many plants to remove excess nutrients especially the floating plants help allot. I hav a set up been running for more than 2 and half years.. but now I guess I need to start adding some fertz
Anyone have any idea what was that black colour thing in the tank. And the white sand and brown dirt? I checked the description. Seems confusing cause many things not used in this video was included
Did mine similar to this one. Other than light which is on timer for 4 hrs in the morning and evening each, and water top ups its been running well without water change for over a year now. Its 10g, got about 6 assorted tetras ..a thriving breeding colony of cherry shrimps..1 otocynclus a lot of snails..never had issues with surface film. Water is always clear.no smell whatsoever and absolutely no algae.i used to test every other week intially as this was my first tank and it was set up by literally copying everything floo the flowerhorn did ;) .except for the first 2 weeks while my plants stabilised have always had zero readings for nitrite nitrate and ammonia. Initially maintenance was mostly throwing out the duckweeds i had floating on the surface ..but once the rotolas started going crazy on the growth front about 4 months back duckweeds are slowly getting phased out..so now i mostly cut tgem down once ebery two weeks instead. i guess there isnt any nutrients in the water column these days as floating plants have thinned out, although the rooted plants are thriving..every month the aquascape ..dominant plants all change. i generally leave it to itself and prefer to watch whats going on instead. The original golden floor is now rather dark which i assume is from old dead plants..poop etc...it looks more like cellulose than anything else...probably from the java moss which used to thrive before duckweed phased those out !.i have never tried to clean them up yet as the shrimps do seem to browse at the bottom. I feed only the tetras..otocynclus and shrimps find their own food. Hope this helps. For this sort of setup its normal to see blue green algae on the exposed sand in the first few weeks of setup owing to light..it will go away by itself in a few weeks time once the plants take over.duckweed kills them off like a charm..but yeah it will kill of your java moss too !
I have an outdoor 15g heavily planted dirted tank that has been running for more than 2 years. No filter or any form of circulation, just top ups every few months since it's covered. The guppies, shrimps and snails are still breeding. Feeding is minimal at around 3 to 4 times a week. It looks as clear as my filtered indoor setup. Had a few challenges in the first few months but once things stabilized it just created its own ecosystem and balanced itself out.
What do you use to treat the water ?
@@wix3759 when refilling/ topping up, I just use a cheap dechlorinator. I can probably get away with just letting the water sit in a container for 24 hours to let the chlorine dissipate but I prefer using dechlorinator because it's faster and cheap anyways.
Do you have snails in it? If so, what kind of snails and have they ever become a problem for you. Thanks
@@joelkanawati4729 the tank has ramshorn and MTS in it..the snail population isn't really much of a problem because the tank has mininal algae and the feeding isn't really heavy so there isn't much for the snails to eat..I also use the snails as feeding indicators, if there's too much of them then I need to reduce the feeding and take out any dead leaves from the plants to control their population
@@namelessone5968 Very helpful, thank you so much
Awesome tank! I think a key thing here is also the relatively deep substrate level for a tank this size. It allows the differentiation of bacteria into layers which promotes nutrient recycling and keeps the water quality more stable!
ruclips.net/video/HvzIbca5jCw/видео.html
You would be happy to match my nanoscape then.
For people wondering were the poop goes its actually goes into the plants it's a very great natural fertilizer and the plants also filter your water so if your a lil broke and can't get a filter get plants the pretty and helpful
Thanks for the info.. I'm recreating my landscape and thinking to put plant in it
ruclips.net/video/HvzIbca5jCw/видео.html
You would be happy to match my nanoscape then.
To the plants and to the bacteria that grow in the soil
What sort of plants do I need to get.
@@collinmckinney6952 this has to be a joke right?
With such a small tank, I didn't think we could maintain a natural low-tech aquarium, but you've just shown it's possible. Thanks.
That is a really beautiful tank....So natural. The fish look really happy....not swimming aimlessly, but curiously looking around....enjoying life. 😄
ruclips.net/video/HvzIbca5jCw/видео.html
You would be happy to match my nanoscape then.
The life of this tank was inspiring to watch. Thank you so much for sharing!
No water change means topping up due to evaporation , I do this myself and works just fine .
Nathan Browne So you can’t have a lid?
@@Millsy5 I have a lid and I need to top up anyway :)
Have some aquarium no water change
I've been running a 20 gallon with tetras and gambusia for over a year with no water changes. LOTS of plants and macro algae. Yes it's a viable method
I got 55 litre never done water change just top it up every week
That ball thing was really cool. Gonna go get my hands dirty ^^
for a long time, maybe 9 years i've had a similar setup with endlers (or hybrids), amano, nerite, but with bublebee gobies too. i use a spoon or two of salt per gallon but never to replace evaporated water. first set of gobies last near 6 years. fed em every other day, if that, enriched frozen food.
ruclips.net/video/HvzIbca5jCw/видео.html
You would be happy to match my nanoscape then.
Hello everyone! Please subscribe if you enjoyed this video! Also, follow me on Facebook and Instagram for details on future projects!
My Facebook: Facebook.com/regisaquatics
My Instagram: instagram.com/regisaquatics
The products and plants used in this build can be found in the amazon link here: Amazon.com/shop/regisaquatics (DISCLAIMER: As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases)
Hey i want a fighter fish for my pet plas send me in parcel pls pls
instant click!!!
Omg Hi! I love Ur video! My favourite tank is your rainbow river tank, my favourite video is where u got Timmy though!
Yo MD . In your small nano tanks how do you prevent fish litter from accumulating in the bottom of the tank . Is it just regular water changes or .
Wish my plant trimmings all floated to the top that easy!!! Moss breaks my heart 😂
Great video chum 👍🏻
Thanks! Moss trimmings are a nightmare!
Dude what happened to this tank? Should do an update on it if you still have it
Great video. I did similar in a 90cm tank with lobster, fishes, etc all natural feed only garden veg. Animals happy plants happy. Only used water pumped to a growbed and flow back just to break water surface.
*fish not fishes
I had a self maintaining ecosystem for 3 years, all I really did was feed and add water. It was beautiful. I miss it. 😢
Did you have to take water out to add it or did the water just evaporate on its own? What kind of water did you add in?
I really like the ball you made. Very cool.
Yeah just like foo the flower horn👏
To je dobrý jak udělal ten závěsný květináček, líbí se mi to moóc. 👍👍👍✌️
it's waldstad metod , very amazing ;-)
Can you explain why and what plants made it so you don’t need a filter?
Munch Mary it’s good to have lots of plants, with a mix of fast growing stem plants and medium to slow growing mid and foreground plants. Floating plants are also very important for no filter tanks as they work to remove a lot of the nitrate in the water. You need the fast growing plants as they help take up nutrients faster, keeping the water cleaner! Hope that helps!
condorX2 try buying plants from local fish stores/ pet shops. the plants are usually higher quality and are cheaper than at chains!
condorX2 I’m late here but i get my aquatic plants from natural lakes and ponds. just make sure you clean it good in case of any hitchhikers
Z
What I'm wondering is: where does the plants get their nutrition from? I feel like if I would try to do the same the plants woulf all cripple away T_T
Glad I came across this video ❤
Because ComEd Prices are constantly rising & this will cut some cost on my Fish tanks I will rebuild 👍🏽
So basically a plant tank, now lets say you want a aquarium without any plants at all. Just stone and maybe some wood and some fish in it. How would you keep the water clean and good for months without a ton of work on it?
Wish someone would answer your question.
Without the plants you'd have to have a filter or perform water changes very, very often.
Ideally, a canister filter with lots of porous filter media, like Seachem Matrix, would be pretty effective at maintaining good water parameters since it allows for huge beneficial bacteria colonies to perform the nitrogen cycle. Maybe even chuck some Pothos plant cuttings on top of the tank with their roots submerged to help suck up waste.
The reason no-filter works on heavily planted tanks is because the plants consume the fish fertilizer (nitrate/nitrite/ammonia) to fuel their growth, basically working as a natural filter.
In a bare-bones tank with no plants to absorb the fish waste and no filter full of bacteria to convert it into less harmful chemicals, it's going to rapidly build up in the water until it poisons your fish.
The only way I can imagine no-filter working without plants/frequent water changes is if you had a large tank for a very small fish so that the fish waste is heavily diluted by the sheer volume of water.
Editing is so amazing lol
I was looking at the bettas in the shop today when I was buying pond liner....
I've got two aquariums in the garden.. just sitting there
I like how you take your time o every little details
do aquascaping they said., it is relaxing they said..
Sorry if I missed it. What fish are you keeping in here? How many? So cute 🙌
The tank is good but i dont know wht kind of plant u use in the tank except when making the ball.😅✌
I thinl its in the discriptition
Great video, what plant do you think grew the fastest, which was the easiest to maintain, which on was the slowest to grow?
Edwin from Costa Rica. Nice. Happy fish and shrimp !!! Thank you for sharing !!!
Thanks for watching Edwin!
The plant growth is amazing. I keep thinking about trying a dirted tank, but soooooo many people have told me not to lol.
The rescape came out very nice. 🤩
Maa shaa ALLAH very Amazing
Beautiful system
I did setup my 240l aquarium that way, 24 months ago. I put in way more fish though. It is still fine. It just works.
how do you test the water quality? or dont you do that?
Informative and relaxing 🙏🏼
Glad you enjoyed
Lovely aquarium
Uff that patience...🙏
It looks like a magic
😇😍😍😍loving it..
Nice video. Thanks!
How many hours a day do you have the light ON for?
What type of lighting should you place this tank in to maximize success?
When u see - 'No water'😂😂
Later see that it is 'no water change'
this is really cool :) love it
Thanks!
wow amazing!
Very cool set up.
Would you be able to list the plants you grow I the water please
They are amazing and I'm new to fish keeping
Plants are listed in the description
Amazing tips for the wabi kusa!
sooo accurate, sooooo logic. A true sample of respect of the natural process. TX- Bein' doin' tha same for more than two years, unfortunately can't manage to keep the infusoria / daphnias alive in mines. Think i need to do the water change more often, though problematic for tiny baby cherry shrimps and guppys AND infusoria lasting OFF the vacuum ! But working on it and NEVER have I in 2 year have Ilost fish or shrimps die from other thing than AGE of FOOD temptation (to the other fish) A bit of garlic on a stick does wonder, once a month or so.
How do you get new minerals for the plants and fishes without adding new water? With supplements? Thanks in advance! PS : I just read your description and saw it comes from the substrates :) It's all good ! :D
Amazing work
U deserve million subscribers ♥️♥️
Thank you!
Nice job
Beautiful
Question about the shrimp. What are most people doing when they over multiply?
What are the two thing that you placed in the aquarium that white looks like sang and brown is it just dirt or something you need to buy from the aquarium shop
Without changing. How the water keep that clean?
Well there isnt much in the tank that could cloud the water and about 90% of it is just plants. If youre topping what evaporates it keeps its balance
For small planted aquqriums how many fish should you put in it?
Depends what size like a tank this size maybe 4-6 small fish
coolest no co2 tank, anyone else have a similar tank as well?
I have a tank that has no filter and yet all the fish keeps breeding. The only problem in my tank is algae
@@earlbobsoledad9721 Awesome thats great i like low tech tanks alot as well, if you have plants should not have algae friend suggest to have emerge and submerge plants
beautiful
Awesome thanks for making tutorial
Thanks for watching!
Very natural and i liek it the only opinion/suggestion is taht he could have separated those poor fishes first so that they do not have to face the stress and they would be more comfortable :)
What light program do you use ? Great job bro , just amaizing...
Superb great job brother wonderfully arranged😀😘😘
Thanks a lot 😊
is this heater in this tank? in olanted aquarium do we need heater if yes so what temperature should we set?
Hi bro...ur tank looking cool 😎 I'm having a doubt u didn't face any alege issues??? And without adding CO2 how can u growing a red plants in ur tank??
2021 love the background music.
Ossam soo nice low tech ...
Thank you very much my friend
How are your plants growing so nicely without co2? Mine always turns brown and eventually dies. Also, I have a lot of fuzzy algae.. any solutions to this?
He started out with a dirted bottom layer that adds nutrients to the plant roots and a small heater. Have you tried adding fertilizer or root tabs? Might try that and see if that helps. Also snails or shrimp are a good clean up crew to keep algae in check. Don't overfeed the tank and make sure the plants are getting adequate lighting. Hope this helps and good luck! 👍🙂
@@vanissaberg5824 thank you! I have been using liquid fert. Might ease off a little on the fertilizers because there may be too much nutrients in the water. Still need to install the heater.. been too lazy lately 🤦🏻♂️
@@vanissaberg5824 thanks very much
Your coment is soo informative
My small dout
Is the heater help the plant to grow how!
@@dineshdiyagu most tropical plants like it a little warmer same as tropical fish. You'll just have to try and see what works best for you since every tank is different.
@@vanissaberg5824 thanks very much👍🙏
Is heater necessary for this type setup? in south Asian mild weather.
pauvres poissons ... pas de changements d'eau mais la révolution permanente
Is that a fish at 13:50 that you might have accidentally chopped while trimming the plants
If you watch a lil after that time stamp it looks like two snails, one on top of the other
@@Jaekization yeah man I think you are right, it might be the snails
Awesome ecosystem aquarium. Can i do this type of aquarium with a 12inch glass fish Bowl?
How was the water evaporation handled?
Osmosis water? Tap water?
I’ve never seen anyone plant first then water. I might try that!
Its known as the dry start method done by iwagumi
@@vamsikrishna.c6277
That is NOT what dry start method is.....
@@supremeleaderarmy9164 thanks for letting me know
@@vamsikrishna.c6277
Did u look into how it works?
Hey how many watts does your led light have?
A 3-4 watts is enough. Choose a White-Red-Blue LED light which can be turned on independently, visually more pleasing you can change the 'mood' as you like.
真有耐心,厉害!!!
What is the white material u used to cap the soil.. Is it sand?
Yep! Sand
Regis Aquatics I mean clearly it worked but I’ve read sand isn’t best when having a dirted tank. Have you done both?
Regis Aquatics and any thoughts?
That's the one item I'm not liking, choice of white? sand color detracts from the natural look and makes tank look messy. Otherwise the wabi is cool and fish look happy.
@@Animalstrom Sand is the best for dirted tank.. you can do mini, so fine gravel as well, that is almost like sand.
How is it that no water change is needed? What about the fish poop? I LOVE THE BALL WITH THE PLANTS. Man you got some talent. Minute 11:44 is the BEST for me. Thank you.
these little guppies aren't messy fish at all. The poop is small. It gets absorbed by the plants as nutrients, and the rest just kind of goes away into the water .. where i guess it's absorbed there too. I don't understand no water changes ever.. but I guess it works here. The guppies have such a low bio-load. The snail and shrimp poop more than all of them combined.
beautiful 🥰
Great video 😘😃🙋
Thank you!
No filter, No fert, No Co2 and No water changes i agree, but how the hell are all those plants growing in sand without proper soil substrate!!
Did you not watch the first 60 seconds of the video? He shows the soil preparation.
there's soil under the sand
Regis, the only accessory you put in the aquarium was the thermostat, is that it? Wonderful work you inspired me!
Great video, and beautiful tank! I do wish you had included the addition of what appears to be a water pump, and exactly the best way to set that up- especially since you are not using filters. Perhaps another video showing us how that can be done? Thanks so much! :)
Rick the Swift i think it’s actually a heater, there is no pump/filter in this tank. You just stick it in and it starts working
There is no water pump, it's a heater
Pumps agitate the water- which leads to more algae - with light period of 5h / day. Instead of 8 or more can also help to reach algae free balance in the tank.
ruclips.net/video/HvzIbca5jCw/видео.html
You would be happy to match my nanoscape then.
What's the black electronic you put into the water? Is that heater?
Excelent and different . Thanks for sharing
Thanks for watching!
Very nice
I can't help but wonder if I need brighter lights I mean I have little clip on LED lights that go on the back and you know it's on 6 hours a day but maybe it's not suitable enough I don't know I know that betas don't like incredibly intense light.
I wish I could ask someone like I think I have like a six or seven gallon tank and I'm wondering if it needs one of those lights that just goes across the tank because in Taiwan all we have are glass aquariums without lids so it's like you buy an aquarium you going to hang on filter or one of those filters you put inside and then you put a light on top of it but I really don't know
Does it gets very dirty compare to tanks woth filter?
Filter only filter the water coloumn, still debris left on the bottom of the tank. So basically without filter doesn't mean more dirtier.
Any tank need vaccuming during water change.
just wondering do u treat the water that u use here or just tap water?
Can I do this with a 55 gallon tank ??
Yes
Beautiful work here! I was just wondering, what is the plastic thing inside the tank? Look like a pump
It’s a water heater
Ive got one question, after the setup. How u clear the water? Any filter involved?
mind-blowing! how in the world did the tank stayed algae free?
Too many plants to remove excess nutrients especially the floating plants help allot. I hav a set up been running for more than 2 and half years.. but now I guess I need to start adding some fertz
Please give details of plant i want to use this in my tank
Anyone have any idea what was that black colour thing in the tank. And the white sand and brown dirt? I checked the description. Seems confusing cause many things not used in this video was included
What are those cute little fish you have swimming in there? Are they ok to put with a betta fish?
Hi. I have newbie question, Isn’t it necessary to clean the fish poop in that kind of aquarim setup?
What happens to poops, I use the same technique but tank getting dirty cz of poop.. n plants are catching algae.. please help
Exactly. Wish there are more "how to solve problem" vs "look how easy it is for me to do it"
Some put shrimps. They eat the algae
Or a snail I think
Did mine similar to this one. Other than light which is on timer for 4 hrs in the morning and evening each, and water top ups its been running well without water change for over a year now. Its 10g, got about 6 assorted tetras ..a thriving breeding colony of cherry shrimps..1 otocynclus a lot of snails..never had issues with surface film. Water is always clear.no smell whatsoever and absolutely no algae.i used to test every other week intially as this was my first tank and it was set up by literally copying everything floo the flowerhorn did ;) .except for the first 2 weeks while my plants stabilised have always had zero readings for nitrite nitrate and ammonia. Initially maintenance was mostly throwing out the duckweeds i had floating on the surface ..but once the rotolas started going crazy on the growth front about 4 months back duckweeds are slowly getting phased out..so now i mostly cut tgem down once ebery two weeks instead. i guess there isnt any nutrients in the water column these days as floating plants have thinned out, although the rooted plants are thriving..every month the aquascape ..dominant plants all change. i generally leave it to itself and prefer to watch whats going on instead. The original golden floor is now rather dark which i assume is from old dead plants..poop etc...it looks more like cellulose than anything else...probably from the java moss which used to thrive before duckweed phased those out !.i have never tried to clean them up yet as the shrimps do seem to browse at the bottom. I feed only the tetras..otocynclus and shrimps find their own food. Hope this helps. For this sort of setup its normal to see blue green algae on the exposed sand in the first few weeks of setup owing to light..it will go away by itself in a few weeks time once the plants take over.duckweed kills them off like a charm..but yeah it will kill of your java moss too !
What is the red plants used in your moss ball