I think i want plants...

[Wolfdog]

My first question is about lighting.

As of now i have a 29gal and two 10gals. And possibly a 55gal on its way.(the two tens will be put into the 55 if it happens)

Ive heard if you have plants most of them need 10-12 hours of light a day. Well i know with both of my 10gals with having the light only on for a few hours the temperature goes up a few degrees. I couldnt imagine how much it would go up if it was on for 10-12 hours.

With the 29gal i have a simelor problem too but its not as dramatic as the two 10's.

So if i happen to get a 55gal will the light have really no effect on temperature?

Next,
Most the plants from my LFS come in pots. Do i take the plant out of the pots and just stick the roots down into the gravel? And whats better, Large or small gravel?

Third,
My LFS has bamboo, ive searched and cant really fine anything online about bamboo, anyone know about it?

ANd Last!
Is there a type of plant that is like "grass" Some thing that will kinda spread along the bottom? If there is how would i go about cleaning that?

Sorry for all the questions! Thanx for all advice in advance!
Wolf

 

[zig]

Phew........lots of questions........ill answer best i can.

Ok well first of all you have to look at your lighting ( post what you have running on your tanks to give me a better idea, wattage and spectrum or kelvin, if you know, just wattage if you dont )

Yes they have to be kept on for 10 12 hours per day to allow the plants to photosynthesize, if you have temprature problems people use fans (usually from PCs) under the hood to cool the lights down, im sure there are other methods, check them out.

Yes the plants come out of the pots and depending on the plant, it depends how you plant it some go into the substrate some float on the surface and some can be tied to bogwood or rocks, it really depends on the plant.

Most people who are serious about planted tanks will not use just gravel as a substrate, as gravel is inert, so it is of no benifit to the roots of the plants, although you can mix gravel with special substrates, common ones would include Flourite, Eco Complete (although this is used mainly on its own) and Laterite ask in lfs and you should them, or search this forum for substrates. A smaller size gravel is best to mix with the above substrates.

Dont know anything about bamboo looking plants, but i did see that someone did a bamboo themed tank.......look in the photo section on this site for the pictures.

Their are lots of plants that look like grass and are usually used to carpet a foreground area of a planted tank, but for this to grow you need the correct lighting (hence the first question, what you got)

 

[Wolfdog]

OK well on the ten gallons there is two 25watt bulbs

On the 29 there is a strip light that goes across and im not sure what wattage is on that. SO i copied down some numbers and maybe i got the right ones:

On teh hood it said:

RATED: 120 VAC 60Hg 20W << so is it 20watts?

There was this thing that i pulled out from under the hood that said:

Fs22 Starter 4... 22W 110V/130V - single
220V/240V - series

so hopefully i gave u some right numbers. I have no idea what kind of lighting is on the 55 i might get!

WOlf

 

[zig]

Ok well the lighting is probably your first consideration if thinking of starting a planted tank, the general rule is to try and get 3 watts per gallon and this would allow you to grow most type of plants, so with a 55 gallon you are trying to achieve 3x55=165 watts, now if you are going to go to 3 watts per gallon you also need to introduce co2 to your tank, you can check the forum here for DIY co2 for planted tanks, these can be made easy with plastic mineral bottles or you can buy kits that are not expensive, or you can splash out lots of cash and buy a cannister co2 injector, but DIY is ok.

A lot of plants will grow with less light than the 3 watts per gallon, even 1 or 2 watts per gallon is ok, but you wont be able to grow the grass type plants as most of these require a lot of light.

But check out plants that need less light, or low to medium light and you could set your 55 gallon for those type of plants.

Easy growing plants that would not need a lot of light would include, Java Fern, Java Moss and Anubias but their are lots more that would grow with less light.

Also the bulbs or lamps you use must be of the right spectrum to grow plants, these usually come between 5500k to 6700k (kelvin)

You must also fertilise your plants regularily and with the right lighting and substrate you should have a nice tank.

But check out the forum here and just read through the threads and you will learn a lot.

Best of luck whatever you decide

oh yeah if you decide to go for low to medium lighting you probably wont need co2.

Anyway hope this helps.

 

[Wolfdog]

sweet thanx for all the info. I pretty much have the 29 set up with a bunch of fake plants.

So if i get the 55 i will try to do live with them after i figer out the lighting.

Thanx for all of this help!

Wolf

 

[tear-scar]

Keep in mind too, when we're talking about light for the planted aquaria in watts, we mean watts of FLOURESCENT lighting NOT INCADESCENT. Metal hallides are popular too, but the wattage consideration should be different. From what it sounds to me, you have incadescent lighting right now, don't you?

Wattage = energy used

However, the energy can go into either heat, or light.

Incadescent + energy = (lots of heat) + (only a little light)

Most likely this is why your temperature goes up. The lighting would also be very bad.

Flourescent + energy = (almost no heat) + (good amounts of light)

Bottom line, 25 watts of incadescent lighting on a ten gal is practically nothing. 25 watts of flourescent lighting on a ten gal is ok, IF there are reflectors. Without reflectos a lot of the potential light is lost because it doesn't go into the tank. Without reflectors, 25 watts even of flourescent lighting is not too good.

For tanks as small as 10 and 29 gals, flourescent is the way to go. In a bigger tank, metal hallides can also be used, but these produce a lot of heat.


For planted tanks, the first place you should start is with a good book on planted aquaria set up, also a pretty deep wallet, and an open mind.

 

[Wolfdog]

ok i see now.

I dont think i was planning on planting the two ten gallons anyway.

But i think that clears it up for me with flourescent and incandescant lighting.

Im going to the ladies house tonight to maybe get the 55. ill post what goes on with it.

Wolf

 

[zig]

Yeah excellent points by tear-scar..........FLOURESCENT + REFLECTORS.

I forgot...........