New member here, looking at doing a planted tank

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lcornell6

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Hi everyone! Although I have had a few freshwater aquariums before, I have never done a planted tank before.

I am considering doing a 30 gal tank using dark sand and slate rocks, and include a piece of bonsai driftwood. I suspect this is a riverbed arrangement?

I have not decided on the plants yet. I am looking at using some short grasses for the front and center, and some taller grasses for the back on one side. Based on this style of substrate, rocks, and bonsai, what fish and plants should I consider using?
 
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Hi and welcome to the forum :)

What fish you add will depend on your water chemistry, ie: general hardness (GH) & pH.
Do you know what the GH & pH of your water is?

I assume you will be doing a tropical tank?

How much light and what type of lighting did you have or did you plan on using?

Did you want to go over the top and add carbon dioxide (CO2), or just a simple planted tank?

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If you go simple planted tank you can use plants like Ambulia, Hygrophila polysperma & ruba, Ludwigia natans, Amazon Swordplants, Vallisneria (narrow is the best to try). These plants should all be planted in the substrate. If you want a floating plant you can try Ceratopteris thalictroides or the other species and it can either be planted or float on the surface.

You can then add a liquid plant fertiliser several times a week. Iron based fertilisers are the main type to use, and you should invest in an iron test kit to monitor the iron levels in the water. I use Sera Florena and the Sera Iron test kit, but you can use whatever is available to you.

You add x amount of fertiliser and then test the iron level each day or every few days and add more iron based fertiliser as required to maintain a steady level in the water. When you first start using fertilisers the plants will gorge themselves and you might need to top it up each day for the first few weeks. However, it should settle down and then you add some every few days or as it's required.

You can also add clay balls to the gravel for each plant. Find or buy some red clay, dry it out and crush it into a powder. Then mix a bit of clay and some water and roll it into a ball about 10mm diameter. Let the ball dry and then push it into the gravel under the plant, or push it in the gravel and put a plant on top of it.

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Have fluorescent or LED lights above the tank and run the lights for about 12 hours per day. If you get lots of algae on the glass, reduce the photo period by an hour and see how the algae goes. You want lights that have a 5500-6500K (K is for Kelvin) rating.

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If you want CO2, then you can get KH dosing pumps and other equipment but it gets expensive and I personally think there is ample CO2 in an aquarium due to the CO2 in the atmosphere, and in the water produced by the bacteria in the tank.

A CO2 system is not necessary for aquarium plants and is not something I bother with.
 
Thanks for the plant suggestions. As to your questions...

Do you know what the GH & pH of your water is?

Not, yet, but I live in a hard water area, so...high. I am considering hard-water-friendly fish, like xray tetras, nothing large.

I assume you will be doing a tropical tank?

Yes.

How much light and what type of lighting did you have or did you plan on using?

Not sure, but maybe 6500K.

Did you want to go over the top and add carbon dioxide (CO2), or just a simple planted tank?

Simple planted since this is my first planted one.

My goal is to have a relatively-self sustaining tank, that is, one that needs fertilization and partial changes only once per week.
 
Tetras are soft water fishes and don't like really hard water. If the water is moderately hard (GH around 200ppm) then tetras will be fine. However, if it's over 300ppm then you should probably avoid tetras and look at rainbowfishes, some barbs and livebearers.

If you take a glass full of tank water to the local fish shop they should be able to test the general hardness and pH for you. Alternatively check your water corporation's website and see if they have a list of what is in your water. It should give you a rough idea but might not be 100% spot on.

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If you go to your local hardware or lighting store, you can look at LED spotlights. There are plenty to choose from and range from 1 or 2 watt units, right up to 100+ watt units. The higher wattage will mean more light and brighter light, but you use a bit more power. However, if the tank is tall then you need more watts to penetrate the deeper water.
How long, wide & high is the tank?

You can even look online for your local hardware and check the items on their website. Look for LED lights and see what they have available. If you find something that interests you, post a link on here and we can see if it will work. :)
 
Thanks. I thought tetras were all soft-water fish. I found this article though that says xray tetras are different:

Hardwater-tolerant tetras


As a rule, the popular South American tetras tend to tolerate rather than thrive in hard water. Some, like Neons, cardinals, and Glowlights, suffer somewhat, and their mortality in hard, alkaline water can be very high. Nonetheless, a few tetras do inhabit hard water streams and rivers, and these make excellent choices for the aquarist with a hard water aquarium. One of the best is the x-ray tetra, Pristella maxillaris, a pretty, peaceful tetra that adds colour and movement to any community of small fishes. It isn't a fin-nipper, and so can be trusted with things like guppies, and is big enough that it isn't at risk of being eaten by things like halfbeaks or dwarf cichlids. Another fine choice for the community tank is the blind cave tetra, Astyanax mexicanus. Because this fish inhabits streams in limestone caves, it is perfectly adapted to hard, alkaline water. It is, of course, a wonderful oddball fish, and despite having no eyes it has an uncanny way of navigating and finding food very effectively; a splendid fish for the aquarist after something different.
 
Without knowing the actual hardness and pH you can try but they might not do well if the pH is too high or the water is too hard.
 
Have a look at your water supplier's website, that should have your tap water hardness on there somewhere. You need both the number and the unit as they could use any one of half a dozen different units and you may need to convert the value to one of the two used in fishkeeping.

Seriously Fish is just about the best site for looking at fish requirements.
For X-ray tetras that gives the pH range as 6.0 to 7.5 and the hardness as anywhere between 2 and 20 dH (36 to 360 ppm) http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/pristella-maxillaris/ However the site does comment that hardness and pH need to be at the lower end of the ranges for spawning.
Blind cave tetras, as mentioned in your quote, need pH 6.5 to 8.0 and hardness 90 to 447 ppm (5 to 25 dH) http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/astyanax-mexicanus/
 

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