# Advice on Starting a Planted Tank



## margolow (Sep 2, 2010)

Hello,

I'm not sure whether to place this post here or in the General Freshwater Discussion or the Beginner's Circle.

I am planning to start a 30 Gallon Planted Tank.

I've been a hobbyist for about 20+ years now but this is my first dive into real live plants and wanna give it a try and see.

What I have so far:
24" Aqua Glo installed on a Single Light Fixture
AquaClear 50 with Foam, Bio Balls and Carbon
Undergravel Filter powered by FlowMaster 3000 Double Pump
2 X Hagen Radiant 50W heater (will be replacing with Fluval E100 once I find a good deal)
My Substarte will be white gravel (nothing Fancy) but it is 2 inches thick in my tank.

This was my old tropical tank where I had 2 corys, 2 x 3 inch common plecos, 1 Blue Gourami and 1 Male Betta (surprisingly, they all got along)

All tennants have been moved and I am ready to take this down to cycle it.
The Stock had been moved a while back so there is not Bacteria to save in this tank.

to me, CO2 is like a rocket launcher, I just don't and don't want to understand it. if I can successfully start a planted tank without having to learn it, that's the idea of this project. I am not planning to win the planted tank of the century award....you get the picture.

Any plants you suggest for carpet, foreground, midground, background that doesn't require any CO2 anything?

I can put some shrimps or snails or tetras if needed.

Also, what type of BULB do you recommend if i am to keep my 24" T5fluorescent light fixture?

I used Google Images to look for some sample set-up and I like most of them.

I don't want to go all high-tech with this...as long as it is running and plants are growing, i'll be happy.

As with my other tanks, I will do the required maintenance and water testing.

I can also set some budget aside for fertilizers if needed.

Would you be able to suggest plants that require little to no maintenance, decent growth rate, and links to pictures if possible.

As I said, I am new to this so I may not even be asking the right questions.

You're guidance is much appreciated.

Thank you in advance.


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## waj8 (Jun 30, 2010)

I think I would ditch the UG filter and the gravel and go with sand. Gravel is too coarse to make a good substrate. There are some plants like Anubius and Java Fern that will grow fine without a substrate but most others will do better with a finer substrate.


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

1) For a starter, scrap the UGF.
2) Look into the watts per gallon rule (WPG), for your 30G you'll need at least ~60 watts of lights for the kinds of scaping you're planning. Your single light won't do you justice.
3) Carpet plants don't look carpety without CO2. It will look like a small jungle.
4) From my experience, white gravels in not a good medium for plants. Sand is even worst. It's the difference of growing grass in your lawn and the desert. So good gravels goes a long way. Look into seachem flourite or eco-complete.
5) Back to CO2, the following plants goes well without the use of CO2.
Anubias, crypt, amazon sword, various types of mosses and java fern. These are the introductory almost impossible to kill plants.

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## Darkblade48 (Jan 28, 2008)

Zebrapl3co said:


> 2) Look into the watts per gallon rule (WPG), for your 30G you'll need at least ~60 watts of lights for the kinds of scaping you're planning. Your single light won't do you justice.


Be careful with this; if you are buying more efficient bulbs (i.e. T5HO), you will definitely not want 60 watts of lighting, as it will put you right at high light.


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## Tark77 (Sep 6, 2010)

Darkblade48 said:


> Be careful with this; if you are buying more efficient bulbs (i.e. T5HO), you will definitely not want 60 watts of lighting, as it will put you right at high light.


And in turn, will need CO2 and fertilizer dosing.


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## Tark77 (Sep 6, 2010)

My suggestions would be to look for about 50 watts or so of standard CFLs in the 6000-7000 kelvin rating. From there, like the earlier post, look to plants such as anibus, ferns, dwarf hair grass, and mosses. Non of these plants will explode with growth in the tanks, but you also will never be able to have a "carpet" effect either. 

Substraits in the 2-4mm range work best for plants, and in my opinion, plants look the best against a dark substrate. Eco complete is a good one, flourite is ok.

Rather than getting CO2, you can also look at getting a product called EXCELL, which is a liquid form of carbon. This is very good option for low tech aquariums, and helps keep algae under control as well.

I'll put money on it...after you get the hang of a few plants, you'll only want to go more high tech


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## Lee_D (Jun 11, 2010)

I usually replace the carbon in the filter with Biomax as well. It will increase the biological effect of the filter and the carbon may absorb some of the plant nutrients.

Is the light a standard flourescent aqua-glo? If the tank is in a well lit room you may have enough light as it is, depending on the plants you choose.

Hey Tark77, do you see that much of a difference with excell? At $50 bucks for a mid sized bottle at BA I thought it was to pricey to try.

Lee


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Darkblade48 said:


> Be careful with this; if you are buying more efficient bulbs (i.e. T5HO), you will definitely not want 60 watts of lighting, as it will put you right at high light.


Right, that does look misleading. I was thinking of carpet plants like ricca, cuba and glosso. 2 WPG is a pretty good setting for carpet plants.
But will be high for the low light plants that I have suggested.



Tark77 said:


> And in turn, will need CO2 and fertilizer dosing.


And yes to that too. Once you go with 2 WPG, you need CO2 and fertilizer dosing to keep the carpet plants healthy and low and algae free.

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## Tark77 (Sep 6, 2010)

Lee_D said:


> Hey Tark77, do you see that much of a difference with excell? At $50 bucks for a mid sized bottle at BA I thought it was to pricey to try.
> 
> Lee


Yes, I have noticed a difference with Excel. I think it depends on many other factors such as how much light, how often the water is replaced and so on. In a low tech aquarium with weekly water changes, you may not need to dose excel at all, or at a maximum every other day. This will prolong the life of the bottle (which will cost less), and the weekly changes will remove the build up of nitrates and add essential minerals for the plants.

Its all trial and error.

I would start a low tech aquarium without excell, and see how it goes. If the plants are struggleing and/or I am getting algae, I would definatly invest in excel and try half doses, or dosing every other day.


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