New Planted Tank Advice

[Livewire88]

Hi all,

Now that my fishless cycle is well on its way I would like to plan out all the decor and plants, I am not looking for anything special just want to have the tank full of easy to care for plants. Tank has fine black substrate, also tank will have a piece of bogwood, slate cave(s) and some random stones.

Tank is 200 litres (100 x 40 x 55 cm) and lighting is taken car of by One Power-Glo Fluorescent Aquarium Tube 30W 91.44cm (36in) T8, and One Aqua-Glo Fluorescent Aquarium Tube 30W 91.44cm (36in) T8

After searching around I am looking to buy 25 bunched plants from http/www.plantedtanks.co.uk/25-bunched-plants-784-p.asp it says "This consists of 25 bunches of plants complete with weights . Minimum 125 aquarium plants of our choice. There will be a mix of foreground, midground and background plants" so hopefully this will be enough to start me off??

I have allready purchased a bottle of Seachem Flourish Excel and am hoping this should be all I need to keep the plants fed??

So my main questions are;

1, Is the lighting I have good enough for a planted tank?
2, Would the bunch of plants linked be a good choice to start me off?
3, Will dosing the tank with Seachem Flourish Excel be enough to keep plants alive and healthy?

Any help/advice would be great

 

[minnnt]

You will need to dose some fertiliser aswell as the carbon.

Have a look in the parc sticky at the top of the planted section for all the info you will ever need!

 

[Aquamaniac]

It depends on what you want to keep. For easy to keep plants,that light should be enough. They will grow slow but eventually will cover the entire tank if you let them.
But you need to have a good selection of plants. Anything more demanding will have trouble growing due to the lack of light.
And as said before you will need to add some fertilizer in to the mix.
But how much is up to you.
Low light
Easy carbo for co2
And easy to keep plants

All this means you don't need to use too much fertilizers unless you want algae. But you still need to do some form of fertilizing.

I checked the link for the bunch of plants you said,since it does not say wich plants its hard to know if you can keep them. I would go for handpicking the right plants myself.
The wrong ones will just not grow.

Hope it helps

 

[eli3000]

i agree^, you need to add a few fertilizer tablets when you put them in and wait a few weeks for fish to let the water cycle with the plants and bogwood.

 

[minnnt]

The plants will slow down a cycle usually, so just be patient and wait for it to finish properly before adding plants.

Algae issues are usually related to light and co2 issues rather than fertiliser.

 

[Livewire88]

Thanks everyone for the adviced given

Could anyone recommend a good fertilizer to use?

 

[ian]

i'll just add to this as well...

That lighting in your tank will grow anything, you'll just need to be a little more experienced with certain plants. We use the term 'highlight' very loosely now. IME it's more about getting things like C02 and fert distribution right. Ensure there enough flow around the tank to disperse the ferts and C02.

You have bought some Excel, so theres your CO2 supplement, you will need something containing some nitrate and phosphate to keep up with the demands on the plants.

this fert is probably the best you can use

http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tropica-plant-nutrition-250ml-p-1037.html

 

[Livewire88]

i'll just add to this as well...

That lighting in your tank will grow anything, you'll just need to be a little more experienced with certain plants. We use the term 'highlight' very loosely now. IME it's more about getting things like C02 and fert distribution right. Ensure there enough flow around the tank to disperse the ferts and C02.

You have bought some Excel, so theres your CO2 supplement, you will need something containing some nitrate and phosphate to keep up with the demands on the plants.

this fert is probably the best you can use

http/www.aquaessentials.co.uk/tropica-plant-nutrition-250ml-p-1037.html

Thank you, I have just ordered 500mill of TPN+,

I have also ordered a Hydor Koralia NANO 900 powerhead which should help with the circulation
Could someone please provide me with a list of plants I should order? I dont care what they look like, just need to be easy to keep and suitable to fill the tank.

All the advice given so far is much appreaciated, I would not have a clue and this is why I ask.

 

[minnnt]

Most plants will grow in a tank with co2 and ferts.

Cryptocoryne
Java fern
Anubias
Amazon sword
Amazon frogbit
Vallis
Water sprite
Water wisteria
Java moss
Christmas moss
Weeping moss

All of the above seem to do well with very little attention.

 

[Livewire88]

Thanks for all your help minnnt

The only problem is I dont know what plants will work eith what, and what plants are used for back, middle or front of tank, learning more all the time!!

I will just go for the 25 bunched plants that I linked in the first post and take it from there.

Still have more questions im afraid

How much of Excel/TPN+ should I be dosing, (shall I just follow stated amounts on each bottle?) should I dose each day or once a week when changing water?
When planting plants should I get them as deep as possible in the substrate?
When vacing the substrate should I be carefull not to damage the plant roots?

Thanks again everyone

 

[minnnt]

Yep, work it out from the amounts stated on the bottle. Dosing each day helps to keep the amount more stable which means the plants get a similar amount of nutrients all the time. This also helps with algae issues that are related to fluctuating nutrient/co2 amounts. Also do water changes twice a week for the same reasons mentioned above rather than one big one. Each should be 25% of your tanks volume.

You will soon get to know what plants do what and where they should go. I have experimented with them though and mix them up so its not too uniform. More of a jungle feel, but it all depends on what you want for your tank.