Substrate-Less Planted Tank

Hi boys and Girls,

Had an idea for a 250L I would like some comments/criticism on!

The Idea:

Remove all the substrate from my tank (PFS at the moment), and replace it with gardening mesh, that green plastic netting, folding it double and inserting java moss. It has to create a carpet/lawn at the bottom of the tank. Then weighing it down with driftwood and a few plastic suckers at the bottom.

As for plants, I'll only be using plants that's feeding of the water column i.e. Ferns and Anubias etc...

I do have a Co2 system and regular dosing schedule.

1. Don't know what the buildup beneath the netting will be or if corydoras (among other fish) will be happy with such a setup?

2. Can any creative minds picture the outcome of such a setup?

3. Maintenance required? If only I could build some primitive under water lawn mower haha

4. Some type of moss other than java moss? some fine short leafed type...? Any other plants to look out for?

5. Has anyone ever tried this?

Any comments welcome!

Regards
Krefie

 

Almost sounds like installing a under gravel filter.
Might work, and might be kinder on your filter, but remember substrate adds bacteria...

 

@Krefie - Personally I've come to dislike moss in my tanks, it seems to accumulate a lot of gunk.

But if I had to do it that way I would go for something like Fissidens Fontanus - it will grow slower than normal mosses and be a bit more sparing on the maintenance. I suspect the mesh may result in the same effect as an ugf with gunk trapped beneath. Cleaning with a vacuum regularly and feeding sparingly should help with the accumalation of gunk. (and then of course any unmentionables...)

Corys shouldn't have a problem with it, I would just have everything established before adding them, mine are notorious for uprooting all I attempt to plant and I have no HC or HM left in my tank.

Coral Moss is also an option - not sure about the corys and the coral moss however. All in all I suspect this will be a long term project...

Best of luck, would love to keep an eye on your project if you decide to do it.

Ps: Get a nice long pair of those aquatic scissors!


Fissidens




Coral Moss

 

@Dinky,

Thanks for the reply, wow the Fissidens really looks amazing!

Just playing with the idea at the moment, we are moving and I have to redo the tank...

It will be a long term project I suppose, to get all the netting covered...

The other idea i'm considering is to leave the substrate and instead just use the netting with the moss on the back wall of the tank, covering it..quite allot of youtube videos on this

 

@Krefie - I also appreciate the look and feel of a moss wall. For that you can probably get away with some triangle moss which grows pretty fast. Your angle for trimming will also be MUCH better :bigsmile: