Which Plants For A Juwel Lido 120, And Which Substrate Is Best?

[Ben M]

hi, my brother has just got a new fish tank, it is a juwel lido 120, it holds 120l and is 61cm x 41cm x 58cm. it has 1.85wpg from 2 t5 tubes, and he will dose 2ml of tpn+ daily, and 2ml of AE liquid carbon. is gravel or sand best for a planted tank, possibly with corydoras, and should he use cat litter as a base layer? if so how much cat litter is needed, and where could it be purchased? he is looking for tall plants to hide the filter, such as vallis, and a carpet plant for the front, any ideas? and a few branches of bogwood for the back left corner. leaving a section at the front left without any plants, just the sand/gravel.
what do you think?

thanks

 

[Truck]

I would be dosing more like 5ml a day of TPN+ and 3ml of AE's liquid carbon with lighting like that, Cat litter makes an excellent substrate, you'll need about 2 or 3 litres for a 1cm layer, it can be bought from pets at home for a very cheap sum of money, make sure its pure clay cat litter though! I would use a layer of sand approximately 4cm at the front and work it towards 7 cm at the back.

with regards to the filter and what to hide it with, you could use vallis or cryptocoryne blansae, but personally I would rip it out and replace with an external. cryptocoryne willisii and pogosteemon helferi make very good carpet plants, they do require a bit of time and work, but the effort is worth it!

 

[Ben M]

hi, i'll let him know to use more tpn+ and liquid carbon, i'll have a look at the cat litter at p@h, changing the filter isn't really an option, so i think that he should use vallis. so with his lighting and the ferts, can he keep any plants? i'll show him the carpet plants.
oh, and just wondering, can you get adaptors, so i can change my t8 lighting to t5, but keep the ballast? and if so, any recommended shops/sites that sell them?

thanks

 

[Truck]

If he keeps the current filter he will need additional flow via a koralia one or another circulation pump of a similar spec.
Some plants do require CO2, so no not all plants will grow, but most will, because he's not running CO2 he will need to keep the lighting to a minimum, so start off at 4 hours a day.

with regards to your tank, not you cant get adapters, because they use a different type of ballast. There's no real need to switch to T5's anyway, unless you're wanting a marine tank, what size is your tank and how deep is it? and how many watts of T8 are currently over it?

 

[Ben M]

hi, i'll tell him about the koralias, but i think he's trying to keep the cost down, so it might be a future investment. and i can give him some floating plant to keep the light down aswel.

my tank is 120cm x 40cm x 45cm deep. i currently have 60w or 1.25 wpg covering it.

thanks

 

[Truck]

without the extra flow he may struggle with algae.

your lighting is fine, you could grow anything under that providing you inject CO2 and fertilize well.

 

[Ben M]

i'll tell him that, so he might have to get a koralia, in my tank i can't use pressurised co2, because my mum thinks that it's too dangerous, but i am going to use AE liquid carbon. would that make a difference?
thanks

 

[Truck]

You'll be able to grow most things, but not all, some plants cannot be grown without CO2 addition, but most of the plants available to you should be. Just ask if in doubt.

 

[Ben M]

thanks, i was thinking of getting amazon swords, cabomba, crypts, vallis,and java moss for my tank. would they all be ok without pressurised co2. and is the liquid carbon essential?

thanks

 

[Truck]

they would all be fine without liquid carbon.

 

[Ben M]

so isn't liquid carbon that beneficial? and would my brothers tank need it?

thanks

 

[Truck]

yes it is beneficial but it just isn't as good as CO2, without it your brother will really struggle with algae.

 

[Ben M]

so my brother needs it but not me?

thanks

 

[Truck]

yes, your brother needs it because the light over his tank is more intense.

 

[Ben M]

thanks, so he needs: 2 or 3 litres of 100% clay cat litter, how much sand in kg?, 5ml of TPN+ daily, and 3ml of AE liquid carbon, and a koralia. and then the plants.

thanks