I'm Back

[NinjaSmurf]

Okay, I know I seem to show up every now and again, ask questions, get all excited, and then don't end up doing them because of various acts of god. It's horrible, I know.

Now, this time, and I swear I'm really going to set this tank up, I just got a hold of a 47 gallon tank measuring 48"Lx19"Hx12"W and would like to have low light plants and Tahitian Black Moon sand with some driftwood. Now, after reading about sand, I realize I'm going to need something like flourite or similar to have the plants grow right, which leads me to a problem, since I don't want anything but black substrate, I've found something called EcoComplete Planted Aquarium Substrate that looks about as black as I'm going to find, would this be okay to use mixed in with the sand? Or is it better to put it on the bottom?

I used the converter on one of the pinned topics and it said I'd need at least 71w for low light plants. What's the highest wattage I could go for without hitting Co2 use? I really don't want to bother with this just yet.

I'm also still not sure what plants are in what light dependecy levels, so a little poke in this direction would also be a big help, considering I've read that Amazon swords need high levels of light, and then read somewhere else that they will be fine for all ranges of light . I know crypts and java anything works in low light, but that's about it. The fish will be mostly large predators (i.e. Bichirs, Purple spotted gudgeons and some African Butterfly fish) so some larger leafed plants would be a good thing, but I'll take anything I can get.


Groveling in advance.

 

[blue_ram]

[snip]
Now, after reading about sand, I realize I'm going to need something like flourite or similar to have the plants grow right, which leads me to a problem, since I don't want anything but black substrate, I've found something called EcoComplete Planted Aquarium Substrate that looks about as black as I'm going to find, would this be okay to use mixed in with the sand? Or is it better to put it on the bottom?

Rather than mixing it, I would just go with 100% EcoComplete. Although I'm starting to understand the benefit of two layer substrate (special substrates on the bottom, inert substrate on top). I'm not sure it will work in your setup. I've not used EcoComplete, but if you put them on the bottom, will probably work its way up, while the sand will work its way down. You would have to use pretty thick layer of black sand to prevent that from happening. Of course thick layer of sand has its own problems.

I used the converter on one of the pinned topics and it said I'd need at least 71w for low light plants. What's the highest wattage I could go for without hitting Co2 use? I really don't want to bother with this just yet.

That would depend on the plant; some plants are more efficient at photosynthesis. Also, incremental lighting upgrades can get pretty expensive.

I'm also still not sure what plants are in what light dependecy levels, so a little poke in this direction would also be a big help, considering I've read that Amazon swords need high levels of light, and then read somewhere else that they will be fine for all ranges of light . I know crypts and java anything works in low light, but that's about it. The fish will be mostly large predators (i.e. Bichirs, Purple spotted gudgeons and some African Butterfly fish) so some larger leafed plants would be a good thing, but I'll take anything I can get.


Groveling in advance.

I'm pretty sure Amazon swords (most of them anyway) are medium-low light plants. I've kept them successfuly at ~3watts/gallon in my 10 gallon for about 2 years. Then all hell broke lose, and algae took over. Chances are it will do fine with 71watt. Just make sure you use fluorite/ecoComplete/laterite/sub soil for the lower layer substrate.

 

[NinjaSmurf]

The main reason I was going for the black sand was for color and that I read bichirs can sometimes choke on gravel when they are eating. I don't suppose the ecocomplete is too big, I'll just have to be careful I guess. Alright, that clears things up some, thanks again.