New planted tank

[aegisreflector]

Hi all,

I am reviving myself in the hobby but i have been away for a long time and have not done live plants. Mainly all kinds of fish. Question is after reading and reading i've decided i want a black sand tank iwugami style with dwarf hairgrass or Hemianthus callitrichoides.

I need some suggestions on lighting and what brand for sand? or where do i get black sand? its a 65g deep tank. filter suggestions?

the only fish im thinking of right now are neon tetras.

thanks

 

[Logic]

For the black sand you could use black diamond blasting sand found at lowes usually. Is this a hybrid iwagumi or a traditional? Hydors are a good filter. How deep is your tank in terms of lighting? T5 or led, info what type you want?

 

[Baker]

You say you've never done planted before?

Just want to verify that you understand that a planted iwagumi generally consists of high tech/high light plants. The dwarf hair grass will need co2 as well as good root fertilizer, if you're not going to be dosing dry ferts in the substrate then I highly recommend a good plant substrate, not just sand. Another option is to try just root tabs but I can't guarantee you will have good results without a high quality light and co2 system.
Another thing to note about sand substrates besides the fact that they are generally void of nutrients is that you may want to avoid any sand that is very fine as plants roots are not very good at penetrating the sand in my experience... something more course like a 2-3mm course sand is better.

If I'm understanding what your experience level is I think you would have a lot more success and fulfillment going with a heavily planted low tech set up. You can still get a very nice natural effect using things like Anubis, java fern and moss and some easy level stem plants.

Hope this helps and if you do pull it off with the iwagumi tank then do update with some pics because I'd love to see it.

 

[aegisreflector]

thanks for the replies. i have not done plants before. i did fish only tanks when i was younger and then moved on to reef tanks. i dont mind shelling out the money for lights or co2 system if really required.

i'm not sure what is meant by hybrid or traditional iwaguni.
here are some examples of what id like to do,

http://fish-etc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Inspiration-110.jpg

http://fish-etc.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/04/Inspiration-51.jpg

for lighting i was thinkin t5?

is black diamond blasting sand coarse enough?

 

[aegisreflector]

oh the tank is 48"x20"x18"

 

[aegisreflector]

any suggestions on dry ferts for the sand? or a good substrate to mix in with the sand?