New To Plants, Several Questions

[indir-emir]

Hi everyone,
Have finally took the plunge and decided to plant my tank
So im sorry for long post in advance

I got a nice bunch of what was laballed Giant Ambulia and Contortionist Val. (cant remember wat Val is short for hehe).

Atm i have gravel but am going to switch over to play sand within a few days or so (darn uni gets hectic around exam time).

Im going overseas in 2 weeks for 1month. Tank is staying with my girlfriend while im overseas. So im setting all landscaping now, and fish when i get back (lost a few unfortunately, but have fixed the problem).

Anyway wondering about lighting, i am currently running a 20w light bulb (came with my tank, bought second hand) but im not sure if this will be sufficient for a 20g tank. Any suggestions on a new light, or if its even necessary? Want to plant real nice plants when im back.

Thinking about doing a complete change of the tank to be honest. Sand, nice piece of drift wood, few rocks around the tank, lots of plants, and a pot or two for caves with a few rock caves too

Any suggestions on any other plants i can look at when i get home?

Also what sort of stuff should i be looking into for the plants. Fertilisers? Etc etc..

Thanks everyone.

Regards,
Indir

P.S Sorry again for the largeeeeee post

 

[jonnyf84]

Hey mate, val will probably stand for vallis - a stallwort in planted tanks, undemanding, grows well and spreads runners easily.

First i've got to say, from personal experience (others disagree) that heavily planted tanks rarely do well without co2 and ferts so if your budget allows then a pressurised co2 kit will be well worth it. First time round stick to the easy, undemanding plants and see how it goes, plants such as vallis, echindorus, java fern, java moss, some anubias, ludwiga, crypts etc.

your lighting is at 1WPG which is the bare minimum for planted tanks, depending on plant species and there demands i would aim for around 2 WPG but remember the more light you have the more ferts and co2 you will need. As you probably know there a few types of tubes and unless your planning on a carpeted tank then T8 and T10 should be fine, otherwise opt for the slightly more expensive T5 (well worth it IMO) which has much deeper water penetration - if your interested but don't want to spend much then try the Hagen HO T5GLO, cheap, effective and it's a luminaire which looks much nicer than standard hoods.

Ferts- I, and most others use TPN or/and TPN+ (Tropica Plant Nutrition), the picture below is a similar sized tank to yours and i use 3ml TPN and 2ml TPN+ each day. You should be able to get this in OZ.

Sand - fine and many people use it but you will get much better growth if you use a nutrient rich substrate such as eco-complete or the very popular ADA aqua soil. If you end up using plain sand (It does have a very nice look about it aye) then be sure to place root tabs underneath heavy root feeders.

Welcome to the world of planted tanks, it can be hard work and it can be expensive but i couldn't imagine ever having a tank that isn't heavily planted anymore.

 

[indir-emir]

Thank for the reply. I was going to get a few ferts for the plants for sure just didnt know what was good

Around about what watts per gallon would i begin needing more CO2?

Might have to make a DIY CO2

Regards,
Indir

 

[jonnyf84]

DIY co2 can work but it is also very unstable and the amount of co2 that dissolves in the water can vary greatly from hour to hour, its fine for smaller tanks but still worth a go as its cheap enough to set up.

Around about what watts per gallon would i begin needing more CO2?

Try not to think of it like that, simply put - the more of one nutrient (ferts, light, co2) you have the more of the others the plant will need to thrive, there are quite a few plants that will do ok with 1WPG and in general these plants are easier to grow so will therefore survive with minimal co2 and ferts - but its always best to go all the way and purchase everything you need to have a heavily planted tank because although you might start off small i can almost guarantee that you will up-scale sooner rather than later.


Here's a few links for you to get started

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=212550"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=212550[/URL] - This is a link that shows you how to set up a pressurized co2 system (far better) for cheap by using a fire extinguisher

[URL="http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=268972"]http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=268972[/URL] - This is a link explaining drop checkers, very simple but invaluable if using co2 - without these you would literally be working in the dark

[URL="http/www.fishforever.co.uk/carbondioxide.html"]http/www.fishforever.co.uk/carbondioxide.html[/URL] - This is a very good step by step guide that shows you how to make a very basic DIY co2 kit

 

[indir-emir]

THank you very much mate. Will take al ook at the links in a minute.

Any ideas on other nice plant? Maye a few that arnt green for a bit o variety maybe?

Also any idea if corys can live with a carpet type plant (maybe later down the track i may try this)?
Or should i ask over in corys section.

Regards,
Indir

 

[jonnyf84]

with such low light it wont be possible to grow red or brown leaved plants as these require much ligher light to survive, the only one i can think of that might grow are crypts or red ludwiga which can develope a browny red tinge and generally these plants will grow in most conditions so you could try them.

corys will be fine as long as you go for a smaller species like the pygmy, julli, peppered or panda corys but make sure your carpet is well in place/rooted before you add them otherwise they will rip it up.

 

[indir-emir]

Thanks alot for hte help mate. Will take a look into those plants suggested. Ill have to try and find a way to add another 20w bulb, that will bring it to 2wpg. Will that be ok?

Regards,
Indir

 

[indir-emir]

Thanks alot for hte help mate. Will take a look into those plants suggested. Ill have to try and find a way to add another 20w bulb, that will bring it to 2wpg. Will that be ok?

Regards,
Indir

 

[jonnyf84]

2wpg will be fine for most plants, can't remember if i mentioned it but if not try looking at the Hagen GLO T5HO, very cheap for what it is, T5 lighting will greatly benefit carpet plants as it penetrates deeper water, + the hagen is a luminaire which IMO looks much nicer.

Good luck

 

[indir-emir]

Thanks mate, nothing like that in the LFS ive checked out unfortunately. Will give ebay a look if i decide to get some carpet plants. Now to figure out the best way to change to sand without ot much stress and find some nice plants.

Would a java fern look nice coming of a nice piece of drift wood?
Or are there any other nice plants that look nice on drift wood?

Regards,
Indir

 

[lljdma06]

Thanks mate, nothing like that in the LFS ive checked out unfortunately. Will give ebay a look if i decide to get some carpet plants. Now to figure out the best way to change to sand without ot much stress and find some nice plants.

Would a java fern look nice coming of a nice piece of drift wood?
Or are there any other nice plants that look nice on drift wood?

Regards,
Indir

Anubias look fantastic on driftwood, as do mosses and Bolbitis (African fern). All of these will grow extremely well in a 20g with less than 2WPG. I've grown all of these with 1.4WPG with both T5s and T8s, though the T5 growth was better and I like the lights better. 2WPG of good quality T5s is going to be quite high light, and in my opinion, not necessary to grow the lower light species well. You'll be fine with significantly less. I have found that people tend to overkill on lighting.

Oh, and you most certainly can have a red-leafed plant in a low-light aquarium. Three species for you to look at.

Nymphaea lotus var. zenkerii
Cryptocoryne wendtii var. red (or more rather brownish with purple undersides)
Alternantera reineckii the plant pictured in my avitar. Grown in 1.4WPG, no ferts, no CO2. If that isn't red, then I don't know what it.

 

[indir-emir]

Thank you for that lljdma. Will have to get my hands on some plants you noted for me The red should give the tank a nicer look then just a large amount of green hehe.

Going to change to sand today, gonna be fun. Stupid mopani wood seems to leach tannins to the extreme lol.

Im going to try and find a way to add a 2nd bulb to my tank (no idea how though). Any suggestion on somehow building onto the hood to get another light on for more WPG lol.

Regards,
Indir