Planted Tank

[Angry_Platy]

I have finally bit the bullet and ordered the lighting for what will be my planted tank...I will have 3.2wpg meaning I will be able to grow everything I want (fins crossed)...

Now, I have done some reading that plants do not grow well in sand.....is this true? I am toying with the idea of changing to a sand substrate......

I currently have gravel....normal gravel.....will that be OK or do I need something finer (I have read that the substrate needs to be finer for a planted tank)?

As you can tell I have done quite a bit of reading.....

ALSO, carbon dioxide. I understand I am going to need this with the light I have...and I have found a DIY thing that even a girl like me can do. Its the one where you add yeast sugar and water to a bottle and put the airline tube into it then into the intake tube of a filter...well the making of it all makes sense....except how often do I need to top it off (with yeast and sugar) and what exactly do I add to top it off?

OK, I think thats all for now......

TIA

 

[George Farmer]

Hi,

I got your PM so here we go.

Sand is ok but will compact over time and cause all sorts of potential problems. You can get over this by using a substrate heater cable. I would recommend one of these with any type of substrate (except soil). The benefits are great; they provide warmth for the roots increasing growth rate, the action of warmer water in the substrate results in a small convection current converting the substrate into a massive biological filter and allows nutrients to be used up more effectively, it will prevent anaerobic bacteria forming (can cause cyanobacteria - blue-green slime algae and Hydrogen sulphide - toxic to most life). Another major benefit is if you plant heavily enough then you will rarely need to vacuum your substrate. I never vacuum mine. IMO substrate heating is almost a necessity for long-term plant health, some of my plants are two years old and are still very healthy.

Personally I have excellent results with fine gravel (1 to 3mm) mixed with laterite (2kg of laterite in 25kg of gravel). The laterite is mixed in the lower third of the gravel. I also have a 25W heater cable on a timer that comes on with the lights. I wouldn't use gravel much bigger than 3mm as roots will have trouble penetrating, this is the same for compacted sand. If you do use sand then a mixture of grain sizes is ideal. I've heard of good results with Seachem's Flourite and Caribsea's Eco-Complete, Dennerle also have Deponit but all these are relatively expensive. It really depends on your budget and availabilty in your area.

You're right about needing CO2 with your light, what type of lighting have you got BTW? As for DIY CO2 you don't really "top it off" but replace the whole mixture when it's slowed right down producing CO2. I have two units running simultaneously, changing them staggered to keep CO2 levels fairly constant. There's plenty of info on the net about recipes as I'm sure you're aware. You may want to invest in a pH and KH kit as well if you don't have them already, measuring these and using a CO2/pH/KH table will give you your CO2 levels, aim for 15-30 mg/l.

Hope this helps.

 

[Angry_Platy]

OMG....thanks for the reply.....SOOO much information!!!

OK.....substrate heater....not available in Australia.....would need to order from US or UK...which means currency conversion, voltage conversion...basically a lot of money. I did however find substrate heaters for terrariums but can't imagine that they'd be able to be submersed. Are there any other alternatives? Aquarium supplies are pretty hard to come by here in Australia

Substrate...I will do some ringing around today to see whats available in my area in terms of the things you mentioned. I know I can get the right size substrate but getting the laterite and fluorite is another issue. I know my LFSs don't have them so I will be getting onto a nursery or similar. I have read that they are not completely necessary provided you provide the plants the right amount of nutrients to begin with. Is this true?

LOL....Believe it or not I do have pH and KH test kits...yippee....I am choosing the CO2 method that is most user friendly to me since I am going to have to maintain it.....the BF says "I can help you" but chances are I will need to be fiddling with it when he isn't around and well, I am a girl, say no more!!!!! I also know I can get the needed supplies for this from my local hardware store.

Lighting....I have ordered compact fluorescents that will give me a total wattage of 100watts for my 30gal tank. The tubes are dual 6500k/10000K...I would have preferred all 6500K but I did a lot of ringing around/searching and once again, that was all that was available. Once it is all running, if worse comes to worse I guess I could order the 6500K bulbs from overseas (along with the substrate heater if reqd).

OK, I think thats it for now.....

I am sure I will have a lot more questions as time progresses

Thanks for your help.....