Want To Go Planted

[CAC]

Hi, ive seen lots of people doing planted tank recently, and im really interested in doing a reasonably small tank, no more than 24" in lenght. So im just kinda wondering, whats the best place to start? I just need a few things that i will need to read up on, like C02, which i have heard of, but need to know more about. Will i need C02, what about ferts etc?
What sort of plants should i go for, and what about lighting etc.
I know im being a little vague, but im just open to ideas and stuff.

Thanks alot, Mikey

 

[RadaR]

Hey dude.
Good to see you're interested in starting a planted tank.
The pinned topics are a great place to start.
If you have 2 Watts per Gallon then CO2 would be needed to be injected.
Ferts would also be a good idea.

 

[dasmall1]

Reading the pinned articles on lighting, CO2, and the estimative index will really help. The first thing you need to figure out is what kind of plants you want. If you want a lot of fast growers and red plants, you will need higher lighting. If you just want some java ferns, anubias, and maybe some java moss, then you will need less light. If you have high light, you will need CO2. If you have high light and CO2, you need to fertilize a lot. The easiest way to fertilize a tank with a lot of light (hi-tech) is with the EI method. A low light tank just needs someting like Flourish.

^ Don't read that if you don't want to, just read the pinned articles


-Sean

 

[CAC]

Ok thanks for the advice, ill read the pinned topics, and see what im interested in

Where can you buy plants off the internet in the UK? Cos my LFS' are crap plantwise...

Thanks alot, Mikey

 

[George Farmer]

Hi there,

Glad to hear you're thinking of taking the planted route.

As mentioned you need to determine what type of set up you want, can afford and have the spare time to maintain.

In very basic terms there are three types of planted tank.

Low-tech - low light, no CO2, minimal ferts, plain gravel (nutrient-rich recommended). Limited to low light tolerant, very easy plants. Less cost and maintenance.

Mid-tech - Medium light (2 tubes or so), DIY CO2, some ferts, nutrient-rich substrate recommended. Greater range in plants. More cost and maintenance but affordable for most.

High-tech - High light (3+ tubes), pressurized CO2, daily ferts, nutrient-rich substrate recommended. Grow any plant you wish. High cost and maintenance.

As suggested the pinned threads are a good place to start. If there's any more info you need then just ask.

As for buying plants online - I recommend Greenline for starter plants i.e. cheap stems etc. Aqua Essentials for quality potted plants.

 

[CAC]

Hi, well ive read the articals on CO2 and some of the other pinned topics, and ive come up with getting:
Glass, 24x12x12" tank (14 US gallons)
Over tank luninaire, 3 T5 tubes, 14w each, so i would have 3wpg
Eheim liberty hang on back filter, 38olph, so good turnover
100w heater
Nutrafin CO2, the one with the ladder type thing


Then the things im still kinda unsure of are the ferts and things....What would be a good fert product, that i could buy all in one and add with minimal effort? Also, what about a substrate and gravel?
How many plants would you imagine would be sufficient? Ive seenthis, but i think that 100 plants would be far too many, but i could be compleatly wrong...As far as aquascaping goes, im thinking of slate mainly, as i have some very thin pieces, and also some pretty large "lumps" of it lying arround. I plan on covering one or more pieces of it in java moss or something (can anyone reccomend one?) and having that piece vertical, as a centre piece. Failing that, id go for a piece of wood covered in it. With the open top, i could go outside the tank so thats a possability. Thanks for all the answers guy.

Mikey

 

[RadaR]

Id advise getting 2 Nutrafin CO2 kits because with 3WPG you cant not afford to fail on your CO2 and with two kits you can get twice the power and be able to keep a constant output by changing the mixture of one 3 days after the other.
Dry ferts are good. You have to add them to water to make a mixture that can then be dosed to your tank. Trace elements are things like iron and the other minerals that plants need. With the light you have over this tank then i think you'd have to go with EI fertilisation too. These ferts (nitrate, potassium and phosphate) aswell as the trace elements can be found on aquaessentials.
As for substrate you could go with complete substrates like Eco-complete, ADA soil, flourite, Florabase. Or you could go with a substrate that goes underneath fine grain gravel. These are things like laterite, tropica, TetraPlant and JBL. A depth of 2-4" is good.
Generally when starting a planted tank you should cover 75% of the tank with fast growers (hygrophila, ludwigia, ambulia) to combat algae at an early start. I think 100 is a bit to much in that there are alot of plant types there. 50 stems of about 4 different plants would be ok though.
There are a few mosses out there. Christmas moss and Weeping moss would be good editions.

 

[CAC]

Ok cool, so youd reccomend getting two of those nutrafin kits then? Would i put one on each side of the tank, or both on one side?

I can get some of that Eco-complete stuff, but would i need gravel on top of that???

Can you reccomend a particular brand of fert, as i dont really know which companys do/dont do them.

Ive seen this person who is selling 50 plants, and i may ask him/her to just have 4 plants (can you reccomend any form the list on the advert?) and then the java ferns, so i can attatch them to some of the slate. Here is a link.

Thnaks alot


MIkey

 

[RadaR]

You put them on the sme side.
Eco-complete should be used on its own.
Leafzone is good, thats what Im using.


HYGROPHILLA POLYSPERMA
LUDWIGIA
WATER WISTERIA
ELODEA DENSA
INDIAN FERN

 

[George Farmer]

Now read the pinned algae thread.

It has some good tips for starting up a planted tank and keeping it algae free. Prevention is better than cure and algae is the bane of the planted tank keeper.

 

[CAC]

Cheers
Ive defineately got the go ahead for the tank, so it should be quite interesting...

What would you stock it with fish-wise?
I have 4 amano shrimp which can go into the tank, but the ammount that they crap...I dont know if id want them in there....

Thanks alot, and ill start a journal, when i get some of the things ill be ordering

Mikey

EDIT: Fert brands anyone?

 

[MoreCoffee]

Ok cool, so youd reccomend getting two of those nutrafin kits then? Would i put one on each side of the tank, or both on one side?

With some air-line tubing 'T' connector you can feed both Nutrafin canisters into the same bubble ladder without any problems. It saves on the amount of equipment in the tank and is easier to hide behind the plants.

I'd also recommend throwing out the sachets of 'Activator' (yeast) and 'Stabiliser' (bicarb of soda) that come with the Nutrafin sets and go straight for a DIY yeast mix (see pinned threads).

I have 4 amano shrimp which can go into the tank, but the ammount that they crap...I dont know if id want them in there....

I'd put your Amano shrimp in the tank .... maybe add a few more. They actually produce less waste than most fish.

Looking forward to the journal !

 

[CAC]

Would i really need two???
I was hoping to buy just one of those kits, if i would need that ammount of CO2, then are there any other kits that i could get, but just the one, even if it was more expensive?
Also, how would i measure the ammount of CO2 entering the tank, and with that kit, how would i control the ammount entering the tank?

Thanks alot

Mikey