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Beginner on planted tanks, need some advice

Jack Trafford

Seedling
Joined
14 Mar 2014
Messages
9
Hi, im new to having a planted tank, and before i rush out to buy all the items i thought i would need after reading articles off the internet, i wondered if you could give me some advice.
Id really like to grow carpeting plants aswell as red plants, so according to numerous guides i will need high light intensity. First of all, how do i achieve this?
I was thinking of starting out on a 60 litre tank to make it more manage. It has one T8 tube in at the moment. Its the tank i first started with about 7 years ago. Im thinking of moving the planted tank onto a rio 125 later on, unless you have different advice.
Cheers for any help given,
jack
 
There is a lot of valid information here in the tutorial section.
There is a lot of misinformation on the almighty interweb.
The biggest mistake people make is to much light (especialy at the start)
Testkits lie
Read up and choose between high energy or low energy tank before buying anything.

So, that will keep you this weekend;)
 
notes from a beginner(ish):

One of the great things about this hobby is that you can start with very simple equipment and 'upgrade' as you and your knowledge develop. You can honestly have a stunning tank with the equipment you have got right now. There are great tutorials around on light, co2, substrates, fertilisation etc. However...... human nature dictates that we want that amano'esque tank now!! Some people manage to pull it off first time but most of us bumble along for a while making mistakes. Mistakes are cool though. I think overcoming mistakes give you a deeper sense of what is happening.
 
Im a newby to keeping plants properly in an aquariums, but not not totally new to the fish keeping aspect of it. I previously kept all sorts of community fish until i moved onto keeping discus for 2 years and eventually breeding them. But have since set my eyes on a planted tank (not for the dsicus). Im a big fan of carpeting plants on the bottom i think they look amazing and thats why im favouring the high tech side of things. Just reading now learnt loads already!!!
Cheers,
Jack
 
Go for it!

reading the journals is also a fantastic way of learning and seeing how other people overcame problems.
 
Can anyone help out on the lighting side of things, this is still the thing i am most confused over? How to work out what lighting i need,
Cheers,
jack
 
My plan is to start with a low tech tank for the 60litre, to get used to keeping plants on a larger scale to what i usually do. Then get a Rio 125 with the outlook of useing it as a high tech planted tank.
Jack
 
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Im a newby to keeping plants properly in an aquariums, but not not totally new to the fish keeping aspect of it. I previously kept all sorts of community fish until i moved onto keeping discus for 2 years and eventually breeding them. But have since set my eyes on a planted tank (not for the dsicus). Im a big fan of carpeting plants on the bottom i think they look amazing and thats why im favouring the high tech side of things. Just reading now learnt loads already!!!
Cheers,
Jack

Hi Jack,

I too started with virtually fish only systems, freshwater, marines, coldwater and even Koi Carp in outdoor ponds. In other words totally addicted. But the real challenge is to set up a beautiful natural looking aquarium with healthy live plants.
All at once fish become secondary.:)

Personally I would take Edvet's advice and keep the lighting down to start with. So many people run into massive algae problems and melting plants because they had bright lights and they did not get the CO2, Ferts and distribution right. High lighting means the plants demands are much greater and trying to achieve this is difficult even for the more experienced.

I suggest you read through as many threads and tutorials on here as you can and if possible search out Clive's (ceg4048) posts as these touch heavily on what you are trying to do. You will find that it is far more important to get CO2 and Ferts right from the off along with the all important water movement for distribution of these elements.

I suspect if you want really red plants you may have to up your lighting considerably but most carpet plants respond well to good CO2 and ferts practices even in lower lighting.

Good luck, looking forward to seeing how you get on:thumbup:.

Harry
 
Ok thanks for the advice. Its a 60 litre fluval elite tank. What filter should i run on it? Should i buy a canister and should i use a fertile substrate?
Cheers,
jack
 
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