First Ever Tank - Want To Plant

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I will be getting my new 110L tank in about a week, and I have no idea where to start with getting it planted and then adding fish. I thought I was ready to do a fishless cycle, but I have just read in the pinned topics that a planted tank shouldn't be cycled. This has really confused me.

So with all my research thus far seemingly thrown out the window, please could you guys tell me where to start.
  1. When will I be able to stock the tank?
  2. What is my shopping list? What do I need to get started planting?
  3. FYI, I will have 2 x 18 W T8 tubes - is this OK for low light plants? I don't want plants to take over the tank at a ridiculous rate but I hope this is enough to allow some Java ferns, moss, Anubias, Amazon Sword, etc. to grow.
 
Here are a couple of links that BVB posting in another thread. They should give you an idea of what is needed for a planted tank.

Planted Aquariums Resource Center

Back To Basics

T8 lighting is gonna be fine and it usually preferred for low-tech planted tanks. Java fern is a typical plant in the low-tech tank, but you might be worth having a look at what you like and then see if it's suitable.
 
Thanks. I have been looking through those articles but I am still really confused as to whether or not I need to fishelss cycle my tank, or if I can just plant everything then let it settle and start putting some shrimp or fish in.

I am also struggling to find a step-by-step guide to exactly how to plant... e.g. what substrate(s) or nutrients/fertiliser to buy, and how to use it and how to actually bed the plants.
 
About cycling: IME you need a fairly heavily planted tank in order to be able to plop the fish in right away. Otherwise I suggest doing a regular fishless cycle.
 
Thanks. I have been looking through those articles but I am still really confused as to whether or not I need to fishelss cycle my tank, or if I can just plant everything then let it settle and start putting some shrimp or fish in.

I am also struggling to find a step-by-step guide to exactly how to plant... e.g. what substrate(s) or nutrients/fertiliser to buy, and how to use it and how to actually bed the plants.

From what is written in the back to basics thread it suggests for a silent cycle it should be 75% planted. U don't HAVE to do a silent or fishless cycle, you could do a fish-in cycle, you can do which ever you perfer. I personally haven't done a fishless cycle on either of my tanks. I started on the 240l but didn't follow it all the way through and tbh I don't really want to go from zero to full bio-loading, I'd rather increase it gradually and I'm not scared of doing water changes.

There are to many possible options to have a step by step guide, to many types of substrate, to many types of nutrients. I personally have used ADA Aqualsoil (Amazonia) capped in places with ADA Sarawak sand and in other gravel, and I fert with TPN+ and EasyCarbon but I could easily have used Tropica or Naturesoil on its own or capped with play sand from argos, fert with the ADA product with pressurised C02. It depends on what you want to achieve.
 
Hi,

I am also struggling to find a step-by-step guide to exactly how to plant... e.g. what substrate(s) or nutrients/fertiliser to buy, and how to use it and how to actually bed the plants.

look here, everything should be able to be found!

Planted Aquariums Resource Centre

Back to Basics


I thought I was ready to do a fishless cycle, but I have just read in the pinned topics that a planted tank shouldn't be cycled. This has really confused me.

What this means is if you choose to fishless cycle, do not add any plants because light + ammonia = algae.
you must do the fishless cycle with lights out to avoid algae problems.

Or, what most people are starting to do is add minimum 75% substrate coverage of plants, then add the fish a few days later (stock lightly to begin with). any ammonia produced by fish is utilised by the plants before it reaches toxic levels. a minimum of 3 x 50% water changes are performed weekly to also help neautralise ammonia. if you can, daily water changes is better.

Thanks, Aaron
ps. thanks for your comments on my tank on flickr :good:
 
Thanks guys, I have read the beginners resources many times but I am still not sure about many things, probably because there are so many users here discussing methods that I don't understand or haven't experienced yet. So if someone would be so kind as to answer these questions specific to my setup:

Tank Size = 110L
Light = 1.25W/gal
Fish = Will be tetras and other small fish, some small bottom-dwellers, shrimp.
Plants = Java Ferns, Java Moss, Anubias, Cryptos, Amazon Swords... the easy to grow stuff.


  1. I already assume that I will not be able to attain 75% planted or high-tech plants to actually benefit from planting immediately and not doing a fishless cycle. Is this correct then that I should just get on and start a fishless cycle?
  2. I would like gravel as opposed to sand. Can somebody please recommend a size/shape gravel suitable for the fish I want and suitable for plants? I am in the UK, if anybody can recommend a specific brand. Does gravel colour affect anything?
  3. What are the layers of substrate needed for the plants? I am under the impression that I need some kind of fertiliser topped with gravel. Again, brands of fertiliser or soil(?) would be helpful, as it doesn't mean a lot to me. How deep should each layer be?
  4. What chemicals or additives for the water do I need to buy for plant growth? Again, specific product names helpful.

Please, these are the last things I really don't understand and need answering before I can begin. I don't want to waste money on things that are not going to be suitable.
 
Hey migthegreek,

A lot of the things you ask about a subjective and down to personal tastes, but I'll try and answer the question from my own (limited) experience.

1. When I started my 240l tank I started off with the intention of doing a fishless cycle with a bare tank. I added some water to the tank that contact mulm from my other filter to introduce some good bacteria and started adding ammonia, but then was ill and stopped dosing... After about 3weeks of leaving the tank bare and the filter/heater running I scaped using ADA Ammazonia (which leaches ammonia into the water). After a further 3 weeks I planned the tank, but not heavil, I'd say about 30%. Left it a couple more weeks b4 adding 4 angel. The water has tested fine since then, so I'm happy with the results but it's definitely not the recommend way of doing things...

2. Gravel/sand is pretty much down to personal taste, the fish aren't bothered whether you grade the grave to sand to make it as natural as possible or if you used shocking pink gravel. Cory cats prefer sand, but I have 6 in my 110l which has just pea size gravel that I got from my LFFS in it.

3. In a typical planted tank you usually have a nutrient rich substrate capped with gravel/sand. The depths depends on style or scape you're doing, minimum 2 inchs and an a further inch of gravel/sand on top of that. Common makes are ADA Aquasoil, ECO Complete, Tropica soil, Nature Soil and I think even JBL make some too.

4. You need to dose the water colum with ferts, TPN is popular and the only one I've used. You will have to add some form of carbon (liquid or Co2) if your lighting is high enough to create the demant. Tbh I don't know if your lighting will need it.

Have a look around for plants that you will want to use as different plants have different requirement (temp, co2 and light).

For plants check out The Green Machine (TGM), The Aquatic Room and/or Aquarium Gardening for the different plants available and their requirements.

Also have a look at UKaps, there is lots of information and beautiful examples of planted aquascape.

Cricky! Sorry for the long winded response!
 
Hi, for the gravel I would choose a darkish based gravel(the natural coloured one is fine) because most colourful fish like tetras feel safer on a dark substrate where they can blend in more easily (its like if you give some fish lots of decorations and hiding places, they will come out loads, but if you dont, you wont see them much). some tetra tanks ive seen had black sand and they look fantastic just because the fish glow like beacons on the dark sand. i wouldnt go for white sand if i were you, but it is quite based on personal taste as said by Bobtastic. For gravel, I would go for the natural coloured on or something darker. The sort of grain size I find is good is pea sized gravel. Its also the ideal size for UG filters, but you might not need one of those, its still a nice size.
Good luck :good:
 
Hi, for the gravel I would choose a darkish based gravel
Brilliant, thanks. I wanted dark gravel, like a slate sort of colour maybe, but was unsure. Does anybody know of a brand that does a dark grey colour? I'm not 100% about jet black gravel.

Do most of you guys go for natural gravels? I'm worried that gravel in one colour will look artificial and tacky.

4. You need to dose the water colum with ferts
Thanks for all your excellent advice... but what is the water column? :unsure:

Are the ferts the same for all plants? Will TPN be OK for any plants that I am likely to get, and also how much should I buy, as I am unsure of what sort of dosage and how regularly I should be putting it in my tank.
 
I was just being fancy with the lingo, the water column is the water in the tank. :good:

I think you're supposed to dose TPN 5ml per 50l per day so you'll probably be looking at 10ml for your tank, but it depends on the amount of plants u have in.

You tend to pay less per ml the more you get, so it's worth getting a larger bottle if you've got the money. Tho I started out with the 250ml from here, then got the 500ml the last time. There are other ferts too, Seachem Flourish and even dry powders.

As with most things you have to make your own choices, read as much as u can about the different types of substrate, fert, carbon, etc and then make a decision. Tho u'll find when you hit a certain point u just have to try something to see if it works for you. Not everyone uses or likes the same stuff.
 
think you're supposed to dose TPN 5ml per 50l per day so you'll probably be looking at 10ml for your tank, but it depends on the amount of plants u have in.

5ml per 50l is weekly.

it is 5ml per 100l daily or every other day.
 

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