halibut
Seedling
Hi all,
I’m about to set up a new planted “jungle” aquarium (plants + fish) and some hardscape items like wood, rocks and roots. I’ve kept fish for decades but my one brush with a small planted tank ended years ago in algal disaster so this time I want to get things right.
I’m doing my best to get up to speed on modern thinking and approaches to planted tank but would really appreciate some guidance from the more experienced members of the forum to help get me started.
My current plans are:
Plants. I want to start out with some beginner plants for that set up. Easy to keep and fairly rewarding. They need to be hardy enough to survive my initial mistakes, and share a tank with small placid fish and a few substrate routers like loaches once the plants are well established, so good roots are probably a must. Some suggestions for larger background plants to ‘fill’ the background water column (swords?) middle ground mid sized plants and a few smaller foreground species and “carpet” type plants greatly appreciated. Something that looks visually appealing that any numpty can keep in that setup
Lights. I know the old watts per gallon has gone out of the window now. I also know that lighting is considered by many to be the most critical aspect to get right. So what should I be installing for that water column? I don’t think I have the budget to go as far as LED, but T5 should be affordable. I’m not looking for cheap, just a sound return on the investment. Also, this is going to have fish in it so I don’t want it so overpoweringly bright that it leaves them half blind. Is there a happy medium I could shoot for, given I want to grow easy, hardy plants to begin with? Both the Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite + Osram Lumilux 840 combo and The Sylvania Grolux + Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite combo results look very nice in Cheap HO T5 fluorescent tubes - Update with photos | UK Aquatic Plant Society but which tubes would you advise and how many for that water column. Also, advice on sizing of suitable ballasts would be great.
Dosing. I’m thinking of dosing liquid C02 along with the injected C02 to try to limit algae, but is this really beneficial? Also would I be looking at needing water column dosing with that substrate, or just some root tabs as it matures?
Any advice you could give me to get me up and running would be fantastic. I bungled it last time and the only thing I grew successfully was algae. I really would like to get it right this time.
Cheers in advance,
H.
I’m about to set up a new planted “jungle” aquarium (plants + fish) and some hardscape items like wood, rocks and roots. I’ve kept fish for decades but my one brush with a small planted tank ended years ago in algal disaster so this time I want to get things right.
I’m doing my best to get up to speed on modern thinking and approaches to planted tank but would really appreciate some guidance from the more experienced members of the forum to help get me started.
My current plans are:
- 91cmX38cm (36"x15") tank foot print, 51cm(20") water depth. I make that roughly 176 litres (39 imperial gallons) without hardscape. It’s a deep tank and I’m stuck with it.
- Fitted hood with about 10cm (4”) headroom above the cover glass, 89cm(35") wide for tubes, etc.
- Eheim 350T Pro 3 Thermofilter (1050 litres per hour) + possible additional pump/powerhead (not sure yet. I know about the high flow requirement, but I’m trying not to pin the fish to the glass…)
- C02 injection if advised to (I still have the reg from last time).
- ADA Aqua Soil Powder Amazonia + Either Tropica AquaCare substrate or some ADA Power Sand.
Plants. I want to start out with some beginner plants for that set up. Easy to keep and fairly rewarding. They need to be hardy enough to survive my initial mistakes, and share a tank with small placid fish and a few substrate routers like loaches once the plants are well established, so good roots are probably a must. Some suggestions for larger background plants to ‘fill’ the background water column (swords?) middle ground mid sized plants and a few smaller foreground species and “carpet” type plants greatly appreciated. Something that looks visually appealing that any numpty can keep in that setup
Lights. I know the old watts per gallon has gone out of the window now. I also know that lighting is considered by many to be the most critical aspect to get right. So what should I be installing for that water column? I don’t think I have the budget to go as far as LED, but T5 should be affordable. I’m not looking for cheap, just a sound return on the investment. Also, this is going to have fish in it so I don’t want it so overpoweringly bright that it leaves them half blind. Is there a happy medium I could shoot for, given I want to grow easy, hardy plants to begin with? Both the Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite + Osram Lumilux 840 combo and The Sylvania Grolux + Osram Lumilux 880 Skywhite combo results look very nice in Cheap HO T5 fluorescent tubes - Update with photos | UK Aquatic Plant Society but which tubes would you advise and how many for that water column. Also, advice on sizing of suitable ballasts would be great.
Dosing. I’m thinking of dosing liquid C02 along with the injected C02 to try to limit algae, but is this really beneficial? Also would I be looking at needing water column dosing with that substrate, or just some root tabs as it matures?
Any advice you could give me to get me up and running would be fantastic. I bungled it last time and the only thing I grew successfully was algae. I really would like to get it right this time.
Cheers in advance,
H.