First Hitech Planted Tank

[wolfwolf]

Okay here is what I have... A 29 gallon tank, 10 harlequin rasboras, 1 pearl danio, 7 corydoras catfish, 5 chain loaches, an aquaclear 50 filter. I want a sand substrate and a heavily planted tank. Emphasis on heavily planted. Right now I have 1 18 watt bulb. Being a 29 gallon tank the tank is quite deep.

I live in the US. Can someone help me with light fixtures/ wattage/ co2 injection? And plant recommendation that would be okay for a sand substrate.

Can I start co2 injection while the fish are already in the tank?

I think EI dosing is too much work. Is there something easier?

 

[aaronnorth]

well for a high tech tank:

Lighting - 2WPG - 4WPG (60w - 120w), if your tank is deeper than 24", then go for T5's or Metal halides. go for a kelvin rating between 4000k - 11 000k, this way it isnt to pink or blue, 6700k is reccomended as it is a nice green colour which shows off the plants, if you couple this with a 4000k (pink) it will bring out the reds too.

CO2 - Definatley pressurized, the fire extinghuisher route is the cheapest (see the 2 guides in my sig for everything you need to know) start the injection as soon as possible.

fertilisation - you really should be thinking about EI, as it is cheapest optoin for your tank, but otherwise i would go for Tropica Plant Nutrtion+ (TPN+) and dose this daily.

dose at 5ml per 100l, but adjust as necassary (look for defficencies in the plants.)

 

[frozenbarb]

I highly not recommend you to use sand in a high tech.
Use a substrate used mainly for plants/ planted tanks.

If you however do use sand. Plants you can get are like moss, Java ferns,


Hi-tech cost a lot of money and equipments, I would recommend stay low tech,.

 

[wolfwolf]

I want to use sand for my cory cats. I don't know if there is any plant substrate that is safe for cory cats

Also I want to go high tech for lots of plant growth and a larger selection of plants. All of the plants I like seem to need 3-4wpg. Right now I have like .6wpg.

 

[hellohefalump]

I think EI dosing is too much work. Is there something easier?

there's PPS, which I'm using. Can't say if it's good or not, because I've only been doing it a week (I'm new too). Here's a link:
link

 

[aaronnorth]

as long as the substrate (even gravel) is small & smooth then any substrate is fine with them, Aquasooil would be a good choice, it is an excellent substrate and has a high CEC exchange.

 

[lljdma06]

How much money are you willing to spend initially, and how much time are you willing to spend on maintenance? I ask these questions because these are the only potential drawbacks to a High-tech planted tank. Otherwise, it is a wonderful option and allows you to grow many species. For your information, a tank doesn't have to be high-tech to be densly planted.

 

[wolfwolf]

Well, money wise I was looking at $100 for 65 watts of T5 light and $180 for a pressurised co2 system. Plus another few bucks for more plants. I love tinkering with my tanks... hence I have finally arrived at ridding myself of plastic plants in my current 29 gallon setup.

How do I go about having a densely planted tank without going hi-tech?

I have a 20 gallon tank that is moderately planted with about .9wpg and flourish excel. I have good luck with crypts, anubia, and a lace java fern. But growth is very very slow. I trim the plants about once every 4 months. Even then it is mostly to trim off leaves that have BBA on them. The tank looks nice but I want Amazon swords and other high light plants.

I'll have a look at aquasoil, thanks!

 

[aaronnorth]

exactly the same except you use low light plants, the only difference is that it will take longer to fill in.