My 180g natural planted tank

[Angelman]

I wanted to share my new project with you all as i am very impressed with how it is going so far. I have never had a green thumb when it comes to planted tanks. I have had many tanks with plants but very rarely have they thrived only survived. This is a natural planted tank using dirt,clay, and sand as a topper. This tank does not need a filter but I wanted a river set up so I do have my 55g sump running on it for a very fast current (1700+ GPH). I used 2 1-1/4" pvc pipes as drains and a 3/4" hose for return with a DIY spray bar. The tank has been set up only 3 weeks now with me adding 35+ fish after 3 days. Only once did I get any readings for Nitrite and was less then .25 ppm so I did 50% w/c and added a mature sponge so the fish were not harmed. That evening I had nothing again. As of today the readings are 0 ammonia. 0 Nitrite 0 nitrate. I have had some stunning growth so far in the tank with some of the plants growing more than 1.5" and all of them showing some growth. Even some plants I thought were dead in other tanks are starting to grow in this one. I set up a photo bucket page for the tank to recored the progress it located here if you would like to take a look...

http://s1207.photobucket.com/albums/bb466/mpfsr/My%20new%20natural%20planted%20tank%20%20%20dirt%2 0tank/

Thanks for taking a look and any advice would be nice or criticism too

[Merrilyn]

Good looking tank Angelman. I think the best plant growth rate I ever had was in a simple low tech tank set up too.