Just Started Out With A Planted Community.

[julibob]

Hi all, I am new to planted aquariums and I have probably done it all wrong already! I had a Lake Malawi setup in my 29 Gallon, and had emptied it of all but my bristlenose. I have sand substrate and the tank has been running for nearly 2 years. I have added lots of plants, a shoal of cardinals and 2 small Botia. I have an Eheim 2236 with a spray bar at the top of the tank and a UV filter. The lamps in the tank are 2ft Hagen Sunglo and Aquaglo (both 18W).

I have some more Vallis on order to cover the unsightly gap in the middle, and hope that the others will fill the tank out nicely. I know that I have Vallis, Anubias, Crypto's, and the new ones today are the Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica' and Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis.

How does it look? Hope I dont need more lighting as hubby will kill me.

Julia

 

[richchappy]

very nice,
I like it

 

[RadaR]

Hi,
Nice tank you've got

Hope I dont need more lighting as hubby will kill me

36W over 29gal. Thats 1.2WPG. Which to put it blunt isnt alot. I think your plants will be fine if you give them fertiliser and diy co2 would help. The plants that I dont think will be ok is the red plant and the brazilain micro swords at the front Sowi.

Oh, and lowering the spray bar underneath the water by 2inches will prevent Co2 being driven off.

 

[julibob]

Hi,
Nice tank you've got

Hope I dont need more lighting as hubby will kill me

36W over 29gal. Thats 1.2WPG. Which to put it blunt isnt alot. I think your plants will be fine if you give them fertiliser and diy co2 would help. The plants that I dont think will be ok is the red plant and the brazilain micro swords at the front Sowi.

Oh, and lowering the spray bar underneath the water by 2inches will prevent Co2 being driven off.

Can I buy new stronger tubes that will fit in the existing slots, or would the tank need a bit of DIY? I will lower the spay bar later!

The tank is a Fluval Duo Deep 800.

Julia

 

[MoreCoffee]

Hi,
Welcome to the 'planted side' Once you're in there's no way out
Really nice to see more people giving planted tanks a try

Hope I dont need more lighting as hubby will kill me

Well you do have a low light tank, but that doesn't mean it cant be a successful planted tank.
One of my tanks is a low tech setup with sand substrate and it's doing fine (Low tech pic)
Be aware that if you do increase the light beyond 2watts per gallon, you'll probably need to start
thinking about adding CO2.
If you go down the route of adding CO2, then you'll need to lower the spray bar to reduce surface aggitation.

What you will need to do is ensure you stock with plants that are suitable for your light levels.
The plants you listed are mostly OK for lower light setups .... with the exception of the Lilaeopsis brasiliensis. That needs high light and is often prone to algae.
The tank will benefit from the addition of a dedicated plant fertiliser, there are a number of options available off the shelf that should suit. The Seachem range are pretty good.

One of the plants looks like its got varigated leaves (centre/right), not sure what it is, but it may not be a true aquatic plant. If so dont be suprised if it's OK for a few weeks then starts to rot. Unless you know its a true aquatic plant, I'd take the loss and remove it now.
Personally I'd move that red coloured plant in a bit (not sure what type it is or it's lighting requirements !!) .
Somewhere off centre towards the back ... perhaps in place of the varigated one. That way it will be more of a focal point and should get a bit more light.

The botia will be good to control snails, but keep them in mind if you ever get tempted to add algae eating shrimps ..... botia can get a taste for shrimp.

You might also want to see if you can get hold of some recent copies of Practical fishkeeping. There are some excellent planted tank articles in there by George Farmer, that I'm sure you'll find very informative.

Al

 

[julibob]

Thanks for that! I have been assured that the varigated plant is aquatic (couldn't tell you what it is though!) The red plant is Ludwigia. I wont be getting any shrimps, as I have had Botia before, and know what they can do. I will eventually be adding a small shoal of Corydora (not sure which yet), and probably a pair of Moolight Gouramis. That will probably be my full stocking list.

Any more comments would be appreciated.

Julia

 

[The-Wolf]

looks great Julia
I'm no where near an expert in planted tanks
however I can see no reason not to a a CO2 system of some kind now
infact the Nutrafin CO2 system is designed for that size tank.

you don't mention if you have reflectors or not,
adding reflectors will give back some of the light that is lost when it hits the hood
some reflectors claim 'doubles light output' but I doubt double is
realastic, they do however make a visable difference.

 

[iroc]

I grew Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis for a lil while, it needs a lot of light, CO2 and no snails. It is considered a plant which is a lil harder to grow then a lot of other red colored plants (if that is why you chose it)

 

[George Farmer]

Nice start Julia and welcome to planted.

Not much to add to what has been said except....

I have been assured that the varigated plant is aquatic (couldn't tell you what it is though!)

It isn't aquatic I'm afraid. It is Chlorophytum bichetii (wheat plant). If you were told it was aquatic by the seller then personally I would ask for a refund.

 

[Dave Spencer]

I have some more Vallis on order to cover the unsightly gap in the middle, and hope that the others will fill the tank out nicely. I know that I have Vallis, Anubias, Crypto's, and the new ones today are the Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica' and Lilaeopsis Brasiliensis.

Julia

Try not to plant the Vallis too central, offset it a little.