First Planted Aquarium

[Hels]

Hi all

I've got an empty Aqua 40... see below link...

http/www.superfish.nl/site_en/aquarium.p...;product_id=117

its the smallest tank i have and only holds 27l... but i'm looking to make it into a 'proper' planted aquarium!

I've got plants in my other aquariums but nothing that i would call a 'planted' aquarium... i was hoping i could get some advice about the best way to go about things...

before i get started on the plants i wanted to make sure i get the set up right...

i'd like to start using co2... i was thinking diy but i keep hearing about the nurafin system...

also i wasnt sure about the substrate.... i was thinking about getting a heater cable for under the gravel...

could anybody give me some advice about the mix of substrate i need...

any thoughts would be great!

Many Thanks

Hels

 

[Neal]

Well mate, today I got my Aqua 25 (25l) from my PFK subscription. I'd be interested to see what replys you get, as they will probably help me aswell. I've heard from many people that substrate cables do little to nothing for plants, they are suppose to circulate water, but that's what a filter does. I'd save your money and buy extra lighting or an expensive Co2 kit or something. I'm wanting to use eco-complete, the only thing putting me off is I can only but it in large bags for £25, but I will only need a small quantity to fill the bottom of my tank. I'd personally buy a Nutrafin co2 kit, sell the sachets on ebay for a couple of quid, and buy some yeast and use a DIY method using the nutrafin canister and diffuser. I will follow this thread very closely, as it will be interesting to see what route you go down.
Here is a website that sells things for planted tanks, and he has good feedback!
Aqua Essentials
Also, this is a good site to look at plants, it's what I use to decided what I want!
Tropica
I personally want to do something similar to planted tank Guru, George Farmer has done with his nano, using only two or three plants.

Neal

 

[voo]

If you're just getting started with planted tanks then i recommend the nutrafin CO2 kit. Read the pinned topic on it so that you know how to make your own mix. It'll save you the hassle of making your own DIY bottle and diffuser. I wouldnt bother attempting to use the sachets that are included with it, they're useless.

As for the heater cable, as said above, save the money and use it on something else.

The light on that tank is only 11w, which will be suitable for some easy, low light plants.

 

[lljdma06]

If you're not going to upgrade your lighting, then you might not need CO2. IMO it's not necessary when you're dealing with as little light as you have. 11W isn't much, but it'll grow anubias, cryptocorynes, java fern, mosses, and egeria densa without much effort. Growth will be slow, but you would have a proper planted tank. Growth will be helped considerably if you place rootabs in the substrate or consider a nutrient rich substrate.

llj

 

[Hels]

thanks for the advice... sorry i've been so long to reply...its been a busy week!

have you any ideas about the best way to upgrade the lighting?

so you think eco-complete is the way to go for the substrate?

many thanks

Hels

 

[nry]

This is going to be the year for small cube aquarium! I also have a 5-gallon cube from a PFK subscription (also superfish but not the same model as yours) which I am looking to aquascape. The 11w lighting seems low but it ends up giving you 2 watts per gallon so it isn't as bad as it first seems. My 54litre tank only has 15w over 15 gallons so I only get 1w/gallon: even so my plants are doing very well! (My tank is in the members tank thread). I am not going to consider upping the lighting unless I find I need to, personally I think it will be fine.

I'm personally unsure yet if I will go for CO2 in this tank or not. I am certainly going to use Seachem Flourish Excel (carbon source for plants) as this has worked well in my larger 54litre tank alongside a small amount of 'normal' CO2. I have ordered some eco-complete for the substrate: this is really expensive for the amount I actually need for this tank but 1) it is black/dark which I wanted and 2) it appears to give really good results for plants. I wanted a single substrate and didn't want to have something which was then covered by something else: in my 54litre I have JBL AquaBasis Plus covered by gravel: the smaller plants seem to struggle to get roots down to the JBL and I want to avoid this for future tanks.

Heating cables under the substrate are said to create a very small upwards water current from the substrate which is supposed to aid nutrient circulation around the plant roots, providing you have a nutrient rich substrate. In such a small tank, an undergravel heater cable setup may also be more than enough to keep your tank at a decent temperature for tropical fish so it would be a very minimalistic approach helping to reduce electronic clutter in the tank itself.

 

[Underwurlde]

Collation of useful stuff...

Sanitize new plants FIRST:
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=167686

Get chemicals from: (Also NPK ferts as well)
http/www.gardendirect.co.uk

Purchasing Plants (in the UK)
www.birstall.co.uk
http/www.tropical-aquarium-plants.co.uk/
Note in particular this site:
http/www.plantsalive.co.uk/
the bargain surplus packs seem to be very good:
(do a site search for the word 'surplus')
(£6.00 will get you 50 or £9.00 for 100 unlabelled plants! It’s a bit of luck with what you get but at the prices who cares!)

GL

Andy

 

[Themuleous]

Get chemicals and NPK dry frets from www.aquaessentials.co.uk, you dont know what else you could be adding using garden ferts, so better to be safe when there are fish a risk

Sam

 

[Underwurlde]

I'm not talking about garden fertilizers, although that is a gardening web-site per se.

http/www.gardendirect.co.uk is by far the cheapest place I've found on the (UK) web AND all the dry ferts / chemicals in one place (so no need to keep adding up delivery charges).


You can SPECIFICALLY purchase, in its raw state as a powder the NPK fertilizers (do a search):
Potassium Nitrate
Potassium Phosphate
Potassium Sulphate

So I know EXACTLY what I'm dosing with. B) If you are getting the chemicals in their raw form, it wouldn't matter where you got it from. gardendirect, aquaessentials or for that matter planet zorb.

Also (for those snails / plant & tank cleaning):
Aluminium Sulphate
Potassium Permanganate

£20 for all 5 chemicals listed above in 500ml (1/2kg) bags (apart from the potassium pernanganate as I got a 100ml bag) including delivery will last me a year. I reckon that's well over half what you'd pay if you got them from aquaessentials.

Andy

 

[George Farmer]

If you are getting the chemicals in their raw form, it wouldn't matter where you got it from. gardendirect, aquaessentials or for that matter planet zorb.

True, but I prefer to support dedicated planted aquarium outlets.

A little more £££ but I think of it as an investment into the future of the hobby. It's a personal choice of course.

Just my £0.02.

 

[Underwurlde]

I would agree if said Aqua shops didn't see fit to double their prices just because of the word 'Aqua'.

Each to their own I suppose.