40G – Farm Tank
February 8th, 2009I just wanted to share a picture of my completely non-aquascaped 40G farm tank. This is the aquarium where I grow out plants for use in future aquascapes, or hang onto plants that I don’t want in one of my current aquascapes, but don’t want to get rid of either. This is the 40G aquarium that has earthworm castings underneath a top layer of ADA Amazonia Aquasoil. I dose Flourish and Flourish Iron daily, adding Potassium every once in awhile, but otherwise it does pretty well on it’s own.
One of the benefits of keeping an aquarium like this, as opposed to an emersed tank, is that plants grown in here are immediately ready to go into another aquarium when needed. When plants grow too large in this tank, I just trim them out, and take them to club auctions or sell online. Farm tanks also let you truly use only the plants you want in an aquascape, without feeling the need to cram a plant into the aquarium just so you don’t lose it. I have no idea how many different species of plants are crammed into this tank. I’m convinced that if I had a 1000 gallon aquarium, I’d somehow find a way to fill it with plant mass. The biggest challenge is ensuring that no single group of plants shade out others, as it’s easy to lose track of what’s growing where. Nevertheless, I highly recommend keeping a farm tank of some size as a way of improving the aquascapes in your other aquariums.
February 9th, 2009 at 3:09 am
>>>>”Farm tanks also let you truly use only the plants you want in an aquascape, without feeling the need to cram a plant into the aquarium just so you don’t lose it.”
Oh yeah that’s me. It makes my 72 gal too often look too much like a farm tank. I’m trying like heck to get the wife to let me start another tank for this very reason. Yeah, right. Try convincing and non-aquatic planted tank wife that you simply NEED another tank for some of the reasons above…make perfect sense to me! Her? She just looks at me with one of those looks….
February 9th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
I actually really like the appearance of farm tanks – the weedy haphazard (unscaped) appearance is very natural-looking, like a submerged flood-plain meadow. Might as well toss in a couple of fish!
February 9th, 2009 at 6:25 pm
Rich, point well taken. All I can say, is good luck! 😉
Mark, I actually do have fish in this tank – some blue-spotted sunfish and banded darters, until I move them into my 54G aquarium. Plus some loaches that I didn’t have any other place for. Helps keep it interesting. 😉
February 10th, 2009 at 5:19 pm
Goodness I’m glad someone else has a plant grow-out tank. I have a two gallon hexagon right beside my window where I cultivate plants that I want to put in my other tanks…I don’t dose with anything and some of the plants still grow a couple of inches per week. And yeah, anyone else should try it…I think it will save you money and time.
February 11th, 2009 at 9:05 am
Oh dear, my show tank is starting to look a bit like your farm tank. It’s sort of become a java moss farm tank! Time for a revamp I think. 🙂
February 11th, 2009 at 9:37 am
Thanks for the comments! AquaDaily, it’s definitely easy to see a perfect good aquascape return to the jungle — especially with moss!
February 11th, 2009 at 11:56 pm
If you can resist the urge not to scape it 😉
I can’t do that lol