Start Planted

[StarOrbs]

I'm thinking about getting a 40 gallon tank.. (Not totally Sure May be bigger or smaller) for uh, planted tank. heh.. Now I just need some information to start with. It's been a while so I just want to make sure I don't forgot anything.

I have an extra heater so thats not a problem. I have an emperor 400 is that alright for a planted tank?

Now lighting, I believe 3 WPG of full spectrum around 6700K is good. Correct? Now onto gravel and such... I believe its good to have a layer of some type nutrient, then some type of gravel. Please correct me if I'm wrong.

Please tell me anything you can. I want to make sure I do this properly and try to avoid any problems to my error.

Now whats better, get my tank cycled, get my fish ,then add plants or should I put plants in right away, cycle, then add fish.

Any further information would be graciously welcome.

 

[Nospherith]

3wpg is generally the deal for a dynamic planted tank.

You could go with layering flourite and gravel. Or you could do 100% flourite. Personally I think 100% Eco-Complete looks the best but to each their own right? If you do decide to use gravel use the smallest grains that you can find, it helps with rooting and such.

I would plant first then cycle.

IMO, it's best to research plants then design a layout, figure out which ones you want for your layout, get 'em and plant 'em. Everything else is secondary.

 

[StarOrbs]

I decided to plant my current 55 gallon. I came to this conclusion due to the fact my fish are now in quarantine. I accidentally caused a major filter biological crash a couple weeks back so now my fish got ich. Now I'm treating them and making sure my 55 is stable 1st. So basically it's already cycled.

So it would be best for me to design what I want it to look like then get the plants, which I was going to do anyway. Anyway, it's probally best if I have the plants in the tank for a few days before I add the fish. Sorry I'm kind of tired so that may have sound like crap. lol

Who knows how long it will be till my fish are back to normal, luckily they are strong guys and can take my stupid errors.

Right now I'm making sure my tank is stable by adding some ammonia. It turned 4ppm of ammonia to nitrate overnight so thats good. I'm doing it again for a couple more days to make sure it's alright.

Just one more question.. I've been reading thats it's best to have a lot of fast growing plants such as Amazon swords so it can out compete the algae due to the large increase in light. Is that correct? Are there any other plants that will also do that?

Sorry, one more question lol.. Any suggestions on good lighting, I was trying to figure out the best way to do it and I'm wondering if I do this:
1 Philips Plant (Full Spectrum Bulb) 3500K
2 Phillips DayLight Bulbs (Full Spectrum) 6500K
1 FLORA-GLO (that may change depending on what type of lighting system I get, but something similar) I may be able to add more, depending if I can find a fixture that will fit them.

The only problem with this cheap method is it's only around 2.47 WPG. Would that be alright? I don't mind spending some money I just don't want to spend a lot.(A lot would be around $250 I suppose)

Just give me some ideas on lighting for plants. Thanks.. I hope this thread makes sense I've been doing multiple things and being interuptted.

EDIT:
What about this setup:
--------------
All or most full spectrum: All 32W 2 or 3 would be 40W
3500K Plant Bulb or 3000K Plant Bulb
4000K
6500K Daylight
7500K
6500K Daylight
3500K Plant Bulb
-------------
This would give me about 200W. All the bulbs are from the hardware store except the 7500K.

 

[Nospherith]

Amazon sword is a good "fast-grower" I guess. Some others, but not all, are: the Ludwigias (repens), the rotalas (rotundifolia), the vallis', hygrophelias. It's best to just "over-plant" your tank. Get as many plants as you can (preferably 3 of each, it's a design thing). That way they'll absorb the nutrients faster than the algae will. It's also crucial to start with algae eaters as well.

When I first started my tank, it looked like this. It wasn't heavily planted and when I switched from .75 to 2.75wpg, and I didn't have any algae eaters, and combined with how things usually go for me, it was an algae disaster. I've since gotten more plants and algae eaters and managed to quell the algae blight.

That second lighting set is ideal. 200w over a 55g is just shy of 2wpg, but it should be enough for at least a med-light tank. You should probably add CO2 as well. But the amount of water in a 55 vs the output of DIY CO2 could yeild at most nominal benefit. But, as far as lighting and CO2 goes, I only have experience with a 20g so maybe some of the other members could help you with this issue.

This is a helpful tutorial describing the process of setting up a planted tank. It's good stuff.

 

[StarOrbs]

I don't know how you got just shy of 2WPG, even if my calculations are way off 200w/55 gallons(actually less, more about 50 gal probally) thats comes to around 3.63 WPG even if I missed it by 1 WPG thats still 2.63 WPG.

Thanks for that link, looks like it has some good information.
Anyone have any suggestions for other types of lighting.
I'm thinking about AhSupply. I'm thinking about getting 4x55W set that would give me around 220W. for $120 then $80 for the lights..