Low Tech Planted Tank As First Tank?

[kdizzle]

Would a low tech(No CO2) tank be to difficult as a first tank?
It would have to be a small tank either 10 or 15 gallon. I would really like to have live plants and this seems like the most cost effective way for me to do.

 

[justin85]

No, Would be a good way to start imo. Just make sure you do research on your plants before you buy to avoid geting plants that have high requirements, you can always ask people on here for advice on which plants would be best. Lighting is importent if you want to keep live plants, but once you decide on a tank and size this will help you get the right sort of lighting, again just ask people on here and you will get some really good advice.

 

[kdizzle]

I have been reading posts about good plants to start with.
I have read and been told multiple times that 2 wpg is where I want to be for lighting.
As for substrate I was thinking Eco-Complete is it a good substrate or are there better options?

 

[justin85]

I have been reading posts about good plants to start with.
I have read and been told multiple times that 2 wpg is where I want to be for lighting.
As for substrate I was thinking Eco-Complete is it a good substrate or are there better options?

2wpg will do just fine. I have no experience with Eco so I cant comment on that, Personally I use ADA aqua soil in my planted tanks, I wouldnt say it's better than any other it really just comes down to the user's preference and experience. I have read good review's of Eco so if you decide on that im sure it would do great.

 

[kdizzle]

As for adding fish to a planted tank how do you cycle it? I have read articles that say you can do fish and fishless with planted plants and without. Also I have stumbled upon silent cycling. Is this preference as well?

 

[justin85]

As for adding fish to a planted tank how do you cycle it? I have read articles that say you can do fish and fishless with planted plants and without. Also I have stumbled upon silent cycling. Is this preference as well?

Never heard of silent cycling.... Doing a fishless cycle is by far the best and easiest way to get your tank ready, plus your not harming any fish in the process and once the cycle is complete you can put all your fish in at once, instead of putting them in a few at a time.

 

[kdizzle]

http/www.aquahobby.com/articles/e_silent_cycling.php
http/www.rexgrigg.com/cycle.htm
There are some links on silent cycling.It seems like it would work.

 

[kdizzle]

I am confused on how to set up the substrate. can someone help me with this?

 

[ian]

personally if you are going with a no C02 tank, the lower the light the better. I would probably go for 1 x 15w T8. This will give you around 1 watt per gallon. If you start looking at 2 wpg, you will have to start thinking of adding some carbon of some sort.

As for substrate, you can go completely inert if you want. I would suggest anything really. Just don't get drawn in by the eco complete stuff as it isn't as 'complete' as you think. It only contains trace elements for a couple of months. It doesn't contain any macros. You don't really need to provide any extra macros in your tank though, if the light is low enough.


just remember to keep the light low, and you'll be able to grow anything really, just a bit slower.

 

[Andy Vox]

I have been reading posts about good plants to start with.I have read and been told multiple times that 2 wpg is where I want to be for lighting.As for substrate I was thinking Eco-Complete is it a good substrate or are there better options?

2wpg will do just fine. I have no experience with Eco so I cant comment on that, Personally I use ADA aqua soil in my planted tanks, I wouldnt say it's better than any other it really just comes down to the user's preference and experience. I have read good review's of Eco so if you decide on that im sure it would do great.

I use Eco-complete, its in my tank at the moment, but as has been said it doesn't contain everything you need so you will still need to add ferts. It's not as 'complete' as they would like you to believe.
You can however use it straight out the bag without washing and use it as the substrate or with something on top, so from that point of view its fairly easy!

 

[SO19Firearms]

Do we know what the CEC value of Complete is? Better or worse than Cat litter?
Just to say if the CEC is there and it already has the look you want, it would save the effort of layering.....

 

[ian]

this is an interesting read if you get 2 mins.

http/www.barrreport.com/archive/index.php/t-7978.html

 

[Andy Vox]

this is an interesting read if you get 2 mins.http/www.barrreport.com/archive/index.php/t-7978.html

This is indeed an interesting read, I'm setting up a new tank over the weekend, not going to be buying any ec to go in it. Root tabs and cat litter it is!

 

[kdizzle]

That was interesting especialy the comments about it almost being sponge like. I went to a couple lfs and asked them and one recomended eco and the other said just gravel or whatever you want with some ferts. So I took away that it is basically whatever I want. I will be looking into what is the most cost effectiveand looks the best to me.

 

[Andy Vox]

Do we know what the CEC value of Complete is? Better or worse than Cat litter?Just to say if the CEC is there and it already has the look you want, it would save the effort of layering.....

The CEC of EC is considerably more than that of cat litter apparently. But been as you have to dose anyway, having read about it more I can't see any real reason to use an off the shelf substrate over something like cat litter.
I do like the look of EC as a substrate itself, but it's overpriced. Next time I'm going to use cat litter and dose heavily for the first few weeks to allow the litter time to take up the nutrients.
It'd be cheaper to buy cat litter and soak it in ferts for a week than buy EC, it'd probably be better too.