Setting Up A Planted Tank

[fish.com1]

hi everyone.

setting up a planted tank. My other tank i set up was with plastic plants and i later switched over to real plants, so just have a few questions.

firstly i have found out that i should run the tank with gravel/decor in the tank and the filter heater on for 24 hours before adding plants. Shouild i add the water conditioners and liquid ferts when adding the decor/gravel then leaving for 24 hours OR after the tank has ran for 24 hours when i add the plants?

Also i have asked this before but want to make sure... would riccia be ok as a carpet and floating in my tank that will have no c02 and 1.5 WPG. If need be i can upgrade my lighting to 3 WPG.

On a completely different subject what is aquarium foam? I think thats what its called. I think you put your tank on it. Is this to stop the glass from fracturing(not being level) or to protect the cabinet it's sat on?

thanks guys

 

[fish.com1]

Anyone?

 

[guppy_man]

Question1:

Add the gravel, water, filter, heater and plants on the same day, including the plant food and declorinator.

Question 2:

Riccia needs as much light penitrating it as possible, so i wouldn't suggest having any floating on the surface aswell as on the bottom. no CO2 and 3WPG would be fine for riccia. But if you just had 1.5WPG, it would not grow very fast. On the other hand... if you had 3WPG and CO2, you would get very good riccia growth and even pearling.

Question3:

The foam stuff your talking about just prevents the tank base from cracking as you said.

 

[SuperColey1]

I don't understand question 1. You can add tropical plants to cold water and they will be OK for a lot longer than 24 hours. They are not supplied with heatpacks when they take 10 days to come from Malaysia/Singapore to the UK!!! Plants don't care if you use dechlor or not, it is for the fish. If you have no fish then don't waste your money. If you do have fish add the dechlor. Add it before or when you add the fish. Add the liquid ferts when you add the plants otherwise you are feeding algae.

Riccia is OK as a carpet and as a 'floater' but if both then the floater needs thinning out regularly and the 'floaters' will grow at a much faster rate than the carpet. It will grow under 1WPG. If you are wanting Riccia for it's pearling cpabilities then you need CO2. If you add 3WPG you will need CO2 full stop, no getting around it.

Question 3 already answered by yourself.

AC

 

[fish.com1]

Thanks for repyling.

Ok. I'm setting up the tank today but my lfs doesn't have many live plants, so would it be ok to add the live plants at a later date? With the wpg i was lying, sorry it's actually 1.2 wpg. Would 2.4 wpg(not 3 wpg) be ok for riccia without having to use any c02? Bewcause i'm not adding live plants today i don't add any ferts do i? Shouyld i just add some when i add the plants? Think i'll just use the riccia as a carpet.

Thanks aqain.

 

[fish.com1]

Just read (and aaronnorth said something about it in one of my other posts) that riccia will struggle without c02 if used as acarpet. My new tank is 33cm high and will have 2.4 wpg no c02 and the riccia will be attached to small pieces of slate as a carpet with mesh. Is this ok for the riccia to survive?

 

[aaronnorth]

Just read (and aaronnorth said something about it in one of my other posts) that riccia will struggle without c02 if used as acarpet. My new tank is 33cm high and will have 2.4 wpg no c02 and the riccia will be attached to small pieces of slate as a carpet with mesh. Is this ok for the riccia to survive?

yes, but without CO2 at that level the plants may die, and algae can become a problem. You could dose easycarbo as an alternative.

1.2wpg with riccia as a carpet will be difficult but you may be able to do it.

 

[fish.com1]

So.If i kept my lighting to 1.2 wpg and added that easycarbo daily (does that stuff come with some form of a dropper or pipette because i would have to add less than 1ml a day to my tank and that would be quite hard!) and had the riccia as a carpet with no floating plants it might survive? I could try and have a high level of gravel to raise the riccia to the light a bit more.

Can you tell me some other plants that would be ok with this setup? Low growing ones.

Thanks.

 

[SuperColey1]

1.2WPG will grow Riccia perfectly well!!!

Pictures below are Riccia with DIY CO2:

2 x T8 18W tubes but the ballast was for 30W so this is actually 0.9WPG (T8 actual)

1 x 55W PC and 1 x T8 = 2.21WPG

I can't see much difference in the growth between the 2.

I would suggest that CO2 of some sort is definately beneficial but not compulsory. Decent filtration would be best so that there is decent flow down at the substrate. Carpets are very susceptible to algae in poor circulation.

AC

 

[aaronnorth]

it doesnt come with a pippette, and dont overdose it either as riccia reacts badly when overdosed! I would give it a go.

you can us hairgrass then trim right down to the substrate, it produces a nice lawn

 

[SuperColey1]

Buy some 3ml syringes. there is someone selling some on UKAPS because they bought a pack of 100. Then you can use them for any other dosing as well.

AC

 

[fish.com1]

can you suggest any other plants(preferably low growing - about 20cm) that will be ok in this tank?

thanks for repyling

 

[aaronnorth]

look here:

http/www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php