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newie needs advice

quengmel

Seedling
Joined
25 Apr 2010
Messages
6
Hi all, just call me mel.
I've been searching the net for pix of planted tanks and i really adore them. i think it's better looking than a reef tank, (no offense to reefers, it's just my opinion). anyway, i've got two fish tanks at the moment. a 600 litre and a 200 litre tank. I'm thinking of converting my 200 litre to a low tech planted tank. I decided to go low tech because i want to try things first and see how it goes, second is obviously budget.
I've been searching for easy to look after plants that really don't need a lot of co2 and lighting. Just as we all know, the internet is quite confusing. So who better to ask than experienced people like you guys.
About my tank and setup,
Tank: 200 litre (20" h x 15" d x 39" l)
filtration : fluval 205 and U4 int filter
lighting: just 60 watts in total coming from a 30 watt grolux lamp and a 30 watt 10000K bulb.
SUbstrate: thinking of using eco-complete then a couple of inches of the exsiting sand that i'm using in the said tank.
ph: 7.2
Kh: 3
fish: planning to keep about 20 neons and ottos
plants:
NOW THIS IS WHERE YOU GUYS COME IN. What kind of plants can i grow with low lighting and no co2 and no ferts.
Would my system sustain itself? If not, what can you recommend I do to keep the plants healthy?
ALl comments and suggestions will be highly appreciated.
Oh and i plan to start this project in July or AUgust. So i still have a couple of months to increase my knowledge.
Thanks.
Mel :D
 
Hi Mel

Welcome to the forum :)

Not got loads of time so I'll short hand this,

Low light plants - try having a look at the journal section there are few low light tanks on there. Also, try tropica.com, they is lots of info about most plants you're likely to come across so that should give you an idea of their requirements.

Substrate - If you are thinking of adding sand on top of Eco-compelte then be warned that the two WILL mix eventually. Not a major issue, unless the 'look' of sand is important to you.

Those are my two main pieces of info at the moment. The journal section of the forum would be my first port of call.

Hope that helps

Sam

EDIT - this might also help

http://www.aquadistri.com/en/aquafleur/
 
Hey there - welcome to the forum! Nice to see you're doing things in the right order - i planted, then had probs, then asked for advice ...oops!
If you have a look at this thread
viewtopic.php?f=4&t=1057
then visit the guy's website he has a section (tabbed "Complexity" methinks) where he lists the plants that can be grown under different conditions.
Basically you'll be thinking about the Echinodorus, Anubia, Cryptocoryne species, mosses and Java fern. Loads of lovely, lovely tanks can be built around these plant families, and they're all very forgiving.
Top tip would be to increase circulation if you can - even if not adding CO2 - the plants really benefit from good flow over their leaves.
Have fun - hope this helps!
MAtt
 
tnx themoleous, i'll read up on more topics from the journal section.
 
tnx matt, i was thinking of the the plants you've mentioned actually. also thinking about sagittaria subulata and hygrophilia polysperma....any thought son these plants?
you've mentioned bout good flow??? will this be in the water column or surface circulation??? coz my U4 int filter does have 3 output options and one of them is middle output for circulation mainly in the water column.
 
Flow for planted tanks is normally discussed in terms of 10x tank volume per hour, either through filters or circulation pumps (personal preference is for big external filters - improve water clarity and quality). The other thing is to make sure the flow is distributed evenly round the tank (bearing in mind planitng and hardscape arrangement). This helkps deliver nutrients to the plants and remove waste products more efficiently, massively helping growth and minimising the chance of algae blooms
 
tnx matt, i think i've got the flow covered.
was looking at the featured scapes, particularly of andy's 60 litre tank. looks gorgeous yet simple. though he's using co2 and dosing ferts, i'd probably try to imitate his tank but go low tech. probably just use a few species but many of each.
just one question though, since i've already got a mature filter and tank, should i still have a huge bio mass initially or a few plants would do?
tnx.
 
I have a low tank 240l at the minute with 80W of light... I have a variety of plants (I bought a £15 selection from an online retailer and saw what grew and what didn't) and only add minimal dry ferts (I spent £25 with a board sponsor and now have enough ferts for a few years) once every week or two...

For substrate I spend £4 on a bag of topsoil at the local garden centre and topped it off with normal aquarium gravel (although this has now mixed up)... I'm basically folling the method listed in the book Ecology of the Planted Aquarium
by Diana Walstad (http://bit.ly/cCUQB4), but adding minimal ferts (see this thread) as I was getting deficiencies...
 
tnx kosh42, i was reading this guys site, www.sudeepmandal.com, he based his non-co2, no fert tank on barr's report as well. He clearly states there how much dry fert to use and what other factors to consider when planning and maintaining. Was reading barr report's thread as well on setting your goals and choosing a method a sticking to it.
I think i'll go low tech but add dry ferts and trace elements. I just wanna know what other type of test kits do i need aside from the usual ammo, nitrite, ph, nitrate, kh and gh.
anyway that's my goal, to keep a planted tank with low maintenance and i'd use sudeepmandal's method for low tech tank with dry ferts.
i wanna thank you guys for pointing me in the right directions, good advice and directing me to the proper literature that i need. but don't hesitate to share more knowledge, i'll be needing loads of it. cheers.
 
That looks an interesting site... Will bookmark it to read through later... Nice find...

In terms of test kits, the generally held view on the forum is that hobby grade test kits are so unreliable and prone to error they are not worth worrying about... Most people go on using the health of the flora and fauna in their tank as their guide...

More info in the bottom half of Ceg's post here: viewtopic.php?f=21&t=11312&p=120082&hilit=ceg+test+kit#p120082
 
tnx kosh, i have already read ceg's post bout a couple of days ago...so basically just observe what the plants are doing and act accordingly.
just one question though, in my current 200 litre (the tank that will be converted to the planted tank), i've got a couple of severums in there and 9 mollies. since i'll be using the same filter that's running there, when i plant all the plants, is it safe to say that i could add the fish straight away. obviously not the sevs they'll eat all the plants, lol.
so much stuff to learn and to consider. right now i'm searching online shop for best deals on all the things i will be needing.
lights, substrate, ferts, and plants.
 
I'd check out the board sponsors for supplies... Those I have used have been reasonably priced and offered great service...

I'd say the filter would be matured as long as you can keep it running (sounds odd, but the bacteria in the filter can die if they don't get a constant supply of oxygenated water) so you should be OK... If possible, I'd still leave it running without fish for a while as its easier to make adjustments to kit and parameters, do large water changes, etc...

However, there are many more experienced members on here who may have better advice :)
 
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