Hello!  I am from Maumee, and had no idea this club existed till I did a google search and to my amazement Toledo actually has an aquarium club. 

I have kept aquariums on and off for many years.  Sorry, I am not an expert at anything, I just enjoy the hobby.  I currently have 27 tanks, the largest being 29gal (several).  A few years ago, I discovered a web site called Natural Aquariums.  www.naturalaquariums.com I was intriged by the use  and beauty of heavily planted aquariums using low-tech/no-tech methods.  At that time I set up most of my tanks using these techniques.  It produced beautiful results.  Over time, I was not diligent in keeping up with the tanks - mostly due to overgrowth of plants - and had some tank failures - all my fault.  I have decided to give this a go again and have been buying plants.

My avitar is a picture of some Blue spotted Platys that I had from a few years ago.  I loved this tank.  It is an 18gal tall (10 gal size only taller).  I still have this tank running and can't wait to get it planted again. There are blue platys in there now, not the spotted.

When I first started the natural aquariums a few years ago, I used no artificial filtration or air, just lights, plants and substrate.  Since then I have installed an air system and have low-tech corner filters and sponge filters running.  I may keep those this time around with the planted tanks - at least until the plants get strong growth.

I would love to hear from other low-tech plant lovers in the area, and am looking forward to coming to a meeting.

--Tim

Welcome

I keep low-tech tanks and will gladly help you out if you have any questions.  In my experience, a lot of the plants that are labeled low-light & easy, don't really work in my tanks.  I planted my tanks based on trial & error, I would buy a plant, throw it in the tank and see how it went.  I've been working on my 7 gallon for over a year now, and have finally figured out what plants work and what ones don't, so now it is pretty low-maintenance. 

I like having a lot of smaller tanks rather than a couple big ones as well, mainly because of the inverts.  What do you keep in all of those tanks?

Welcome Tim.  Glad you found us!  :)

Todd

Welcome to TRAC and thanks for the link- I joined the forum already and am looking forward to scoping the site out more fully.

27 tanks?  I think you need to put up and album in the User's Gallery and post some pix for certain. I would love to see 'em.

I'm all about natural gardening, and trying to feed my animals more naturally, and it seems that this is transferring to my aquarium addiction too.  Check out the Coldwater section of the forum and check out FarmerTodd's thread "New Crayola Color: Burn your eyes out green." I think you'll find some kindred souls in that thread for sure.

Now go get those pix posted so we can see!

Welcome to TRAC!  If you have 27 tanks, I'm sure you are an expert on at least one or two things!  Maintenance, I bet.  I have 17 tanks and sometimes it's hard to keep up with them.  Most of my tanks are planted, and I like to use low tech methods.  I use power filters, but no CO2.  I use cheap fluorescent lights.  I fertilize (when I remember to.)  I've been using dirt for a couple of years, and now I'm experimenting with deep sand beds.  

Welcome to TRAC!

27tanks puts you in the "obsessed" category of aquarium keeping..,,,,..you will fit in nicely here!

Another freshwater planted tank fan! Yay!

Welcome, welcome, welcome!

Welcome to TRAC!

Thanks for all the welcomes. Most tanks are in a state of maintenance right now with switching over to plants.  As the stuff grows and actually looks somewhat presentable, then I will post some pictures.

I did create a couple freshwater Nano tanks yesterday. On naturalaquariums.com (see the Nano Tank Club under Think Tank if your're interested), I thought it may be fun to build some of these tanks together - kind of how a book club reads a book for the month.  So I got the section going by creating a couple for starters. I am hoping people try this and we use each others' ideas.

So, these new nanos I created may totally change as I glean ideas from others. I wish I were more of an aquascaping artist .  They will look better once everything starts growing and I find more plants to add.

There are two 2 1/2 gal tanks side by side with a standard 10 gal 15 watt florescent light over top. I have a very old digital camera too, so pics are not that great. I put a Betta in each one to get the life going. Will probably add ramshorn snails a little later, and definitely some shrimp -- I am having a hard time finding them.

When I first set up my tanks a few years ago, I put soil underneath the gravel in several tanks. For ME anyway, I was sorry I did.  It really is a mess when the dirt starts coming up through the gravel. I may have just put in too much - there again my fault.  Live and learn. I have since tore down most tanks and removed the dirt.  I still have a few with dirt that I am going to remove SOME of the dirt and try to get it looking descent again and see how things go.  The plants really do seem to like it. 

Rhonda Wilson - the creator of naturalaquariums.com only uses gravel and gets amazing results. It just takes a while for the fish mulm to build up enough to really help the plants. You gotta have patience. 

You need to go over to the site and see her tank photos - just incredible - no filters, heaters, CO2 (she lives in Arizona).  I guess she has like one or two CO2 tanks as an experiment.

Rhonda writes a monthly plant column in Tropical Fish Hobbyist.