# Interested in doing a planted tank



## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

Do I have good enough lighting for it?
125g tank with
a 4x 96 power compact light
10k I believe.
It was reef lighting for soft corals at one point.
good enough for plants?


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

That gives you about 3 WPG -- a good amount. I believe the spectrum you have is plant-friendly. You can plant medium light to most high-light plants. Just a bit of a recommendation -- do pressurized CO2 right from the beginning. With that much light and that big of a tank, you will end up with algae-city unless you do it right from the start. (And you need to go with pressurized not DIY.) I'd also recommend Eco-Complete plant substrate. It will cut down on how much fertilization you need to do in the water column. You can mix it with regular gravel as it's expensive. Also, plant very heavily right from the beginning -- also to defeat the algae.

Good luck. That sounds like a very fun project.

Nice big swords, crinium (onion plants) and vals would look great!


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

I also am considering doing my 40g tank a planted instead. I'm not quite sure what I want to do yet.
I had all reef tanks but it is getting too costly so I am maintaining just a 125g reef atm.
What do you think about a 40g planted tank with a Nova extreme Pro
6 x 39 Watt T-5 lighting
Would put me at 5.5 ish WPG
or if thats to much I can turn off one section and it would be about 3 WPG of T-5.

Would I need a pressurized CO2 system for this as well?
and where can I purchase eco-complete, pref. not online.. but online works as well.
Thanks!


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Eco complete is readily available online and at LFS. Do a google and see what you get. The price is better than LFS, but then you have shipping issues as the stuff is heavy.

I would, personally, not do more than 3 WPG on a tank. That's plenty for the vast majority of plants, gives you good growth and is manageable. Higher amounts of light bring more growth and a greater exhaustion of nutrients and more difficulty in keeping everything balanced.

Yes, personally I'd do pressurized C02 in your 40 gallon. I tried getting away without it in a 30-gallon planted tank with 3WPG and I'm still trying to get rid of the BBA that resulted. My second 30 gallon, with Eco complete, heavily planted and C02 from the start, has virtually NO algae and is fab! So live and learn.


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## MidNightCowBoy (May 7, 2007)

Take a look at this site bro.

http://www.plantedtank.net/


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## cc_woman (Jan 31, 2008)

For substrate you can also use laterite or fluorite. Even using a layer of peat underneath a layer of gravel will be excellent for substrate. I would also not go more than 3-3.5 WPG for lighting, then you will only be able to put mostly high light plants in, and as stated will use up more nutrients quicker. Plants usually do well with 6700-10000 spectrum. With that much light you will want to go with pressurized, or a ton of yeast method. But pressurized will be much more efficient. Choose different plants that you like, and try to find out the best spots for placement in the tank. Like other things you should also research some plants and find out their requirements. Put tall plants in the back and shorter ones in the front, just like what you would do if landscaping your garden. If some plants hide some of the light below, this is where you will put your lower light plants. A couple great sites for finding plant profiles is planted tank above, and http://plantgeek.net/plantguide_all_gal ... filterby=B


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

I got the substrate today. No LFs had eco-complete , so I went with a black flourite sand.
Waiting for the tank to clear up and then I'll start a fish-less cycle 
Also the CO2 systems I saw at the LFs were really high priced, so i guess I will order online. If I enjoy doing the 40g planted tank and it looks good, I will invest in a full 125g mega planted tank. thanks for the help


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

As for a stock list I'm thinking
2 Bolv Rams
2 Guppies
4 Neon Tetras
4 Rhasbora tetras (I think thats what they are called)
3 cory cats
at 2.9 WPG i think im going to go with
java fern/swords/and some other stuff
pics will come when the tank clears

hows that sound?
also can someone explain these co2 systems to me?
I've been reading about them but I have no idea what is going on.

At the LFS there was a paintball Co2.. 175$.
how will this work?
will it be sufficient? im confused ><


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## Chris2500DK (Feb 15, 2006)

I wouldn't keep tetras in groups of less than 10 or cories in groups of less than 5.

Something like

1-2 Bolv ram pair
20 neon tetras
5-10 cory cats

would be fine in a 40 gal and look a lot better than more species in smaller groups


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

I don't have a paintball system. I got a regular pressurized Co2 canister from a local company. (I think they are usually used by bars for sodas, etc.). I think it was about $100, inlcuding the deposit for the tank. I bought a regulator online that cost about $100. (Milwaukee, I think.) It had a bubble counter. For a diffuser in the tank, I use a diffuser that I'd gotten with a store-bought DIY, which works great. Tubing connects the top of the bubble counter through the tank and onto the top of the diffuser. I have mine set about about 2 bubbles per second. Some people put their C02 directly into their intake pipe, but I personally like to see the bubbles in the water as it helped me monitor the levels. Co2 will drop your pH, so test regularly at first to make sure you're well enough buffered not to have it drop too much. I have my C02 and light on a timer set for 9 hours a day.

As for stocking, I'd not do guppies, but I would do two schools of 6-8 tetras. My favorites are black phantoms, rummynose, pristella and von rios. I agree with the 5 cory cats. You also need a bristlenose pleco -- my preference is the albino version.

Good luck!


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

You'll want to start out with a lot of fast growing plants, you can do java fern and amazon swords too, but you'll need some fast growing stem plants like ludwigia, rotala or cabomba to suck up nutrients and prevent algae. Watersprite and hornwort are popular floating plants that can help you out while slower growing plants are getting established, the nice thing about floating plants is you can just pull them out when you are ready to without disturbing anything in the substrate.

Plants are very efficient at removing ammonia, nitirite and nitrate. It isn't really necessary to cycle a planted tank although I would wait a week or two before adding fish just to let things settle down a bit and let the plants rather than bacteria get established. I've done some testing in one of my planted tanks and found that a few weeks after adding plants the bacteria culture in my filter had almost completely starved. I'm convinced that circulation is more important than filtration in a heavily planted tank, but to keep from getting lynched by the mob I'll reccomend you use a good filter (although it's not necessary to have 10X turnover.)

CO2 is really something you don't want to jump into unless you understand it very well, paint ball systems are very expensive to set up and expensive to refill compared to industrial gasses for welding or beverage dispensing. I suggest you do some research before making a purchase. www.plantedtank.net or www.aquaticplantcentral.com are both good sites but for a general description and solid advice start with www.bestaquariumregulator.com (no joke it's a real url.) You can probably find better prices than bestaquariumregulator.com has but his equipment is supposed to be some of the highest quality available. Personally I'd buy a less expensive regulator but I wouldn't discourage anybody from buying from bestaquariumregulator.com. You could also consider the use of Seachem's Flourish *Excel* it is a liquid that mysteriously provides carbon dioxide to plants (nobody is really sure how or why,) it can be expensive if you buy it in smaller quantities but a 2L bottle is something like $20 if you buy online. You just add 1 ml per 10 gallons each day and that's all you have to do for CO2. In the long run pressurized CO2 is going to be less expensive especially for your 125G, but it would keep your 40G going for quite a while until you can figure out what to do with the pressurized CO2.[/b]


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

You're getting some good advice on type of plants, etc. Wisteria is another good, fast grower. Although I personally wouldn't expect plants to take care of all the ammonia and nitrite in the early stages of a tank (but that's just me.) Maybe if it were heavily planted with very light bioload initially, but I'd recommend Bio spira (or whatever is now replacing that) for making a quick cycle. I've used it quite successfully several times.

My experience is that Excel alone does not provide enough carbon (or whatever it's providing!) with higher light, like 3 WPG. However, I do use Excel in both of my planted tanks in addition to the C02 because it has anti-algae properties that I like . . .


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

I went out and bought 2 packets of biospira, put them in. I also picked up few neon tetras
I bought a red sea paintball co2 system. It is very easy to use and easy to adjust and setup, and it gives you a tester to show you how much co2 is in your tank.
annnndddd I bought some plants. I know its way too early but I couldn't resist... cause the LFS is pretty far from me

bought 2 med. amazon swords
some grass (not sure what its name is)
some red plant and anubis.
for 12$
once the tank is to my liking I will post pics up


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## cc_woman (Jan 31, 2008)

You have to be careful when using Excel though, it has been known to melt some plants. I had accidently used too much one time and ended up melting all my vals. Some plants are very sensitive to it. But otherwise I definitely recommend using it.

When keeping bolivian rams, keep either a male and female, or 2 males and 2 females. Males will fight with each other. I would go without the guppies too. They are too slow moving for the tankmates you will have. I would even recommend going with the otocinclus instead of a bristle nose in your tank. But a BN will do fine if you decide you want a clean up fish.


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

It's not too early to do the plants. Ideally, you plant heavily from the very start along with your Co2. That way you have a jump on the algae. So I'd say, go back to the LFS and get MORE plants or order them online. There are a number of good plant e-tailers, and the sites have information about the plants, how tall, how much light they need, etc.

Even Petsmart usually has some decent plants.


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

Ok. I will go to my LFS and get more plants, they have a really nice selection of plants, so I should really load up on the plants?


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Yup. Planting heavily early is the way to go. Talk to the knowledgeable plant person at the LFS, tell them your set up and your WPG and let them advise you. Remember -- get the tall ones for the back, medium for the sides and small for the front. Higher light/fast growing will be good to keep algae at bay. I personally am also fond of swords, crypts, java fern and anubias (never too many of these). Good luck and have fun!

I should add, you WILL most likely get a brown algae on your plants and tank early in the process. Don't panic. This is normal. A BN pleco will take care of it in one night.

Two packets of biospira for a few neon tetras was probably overkill . . . If the fish you have don't produce enough ammonia, the bacteria in the biospira won't have enough to "eat" and will die off. Which is fine, but then it means you have to build up your stock more slowly. If that makes sense . . .


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

I'll pick up a BN today also thank you


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## kornphlake (Feb 12, 2004)

You don't *need* a pleco, two of my planted tanks have been set up for well over 6 months without a pleco, SAE, otocinclus or other algae eating fish. I do get algae on the glass that I scrub off once a month or so, but I get the same amount of algae in my tank that has a pleco as well. I won't say a pleco is a bad idea, but it's not something you have to keep in every aquarium. If it's between spending $5 on a pleco or spending $5 on some more plants, I'd buy more plants.

To start out I'd stay away from plants that look grassy or have very thin leaves, these tend to be the most difficult to grow. Look for plants like cryptocorynes, aponogetons, java fern, anubias, mosses, val, crinium, etc. These will be much easier to get started and won't turn you off of the idea of a planted tank completely. You'll also want to do some research on fertilizing your plants. With CO2 you're going to deplete the nutrients in your tank quickly and your plants will die or you will have trouble with algae.


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

heres waht I got so far
what do you guys think?


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Oh, every planted tank needs a BN!! :wink: They are mahvelous . . . Although, I wouldn't get one until you are certain your tank is cycled as he's not one of the fishies you want to put at risk (they can be a bit expensive around here).

If the OP is using flourite, I don't think he'll exhaust the nutrients too quickly. In the tank where I have Eco-complete, I only supplement with potassium and excel. In my other tank, without the good substrate, I use Flourish plant tabs in the substrate and also add potassium and excel to the tank, with the occasional dose of iron. I do use the Seachem fert line.

I can't quite see your photo well, but it looks like you have got large/tall plants toward the front of your tank. It's all in your opinion, but generally, large/tall plants go in the back, with medium plants to the sides and foreground/low plants to the front. But again, it's your preference . . .


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## johnjamieson (Jan 22, 2008)

I cloudied my tank up again. Put all the big plants in the back like you said. Will see how it looks!


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## 3569Ryan (Jul 8, 2008)

I use Olive Nerite snails in my planted aquarium they won't reproduce unless they are in brackish water and they keep it real clean of algae. Plus they are tough.


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