# 29 Gallon Planted Tank



## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

I re-arranged my tank today. Here are a few pics.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

NIce. I should re-dig mine up and do it up agian


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## gucci17 (Oct 11, 2007)

Nice, I like it.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

Nice result. Especially impressive when you look at before/after of the first pic vs. the end!


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

Thanks for the comments. I am happy with it for my first attempt at a planted tank. I'm just getting back into this hobby. I used to have a 10 gallon years ago but at that time planted tanks weren't as popular because 
T5 lighting and c02 weren't really used or available. (so plants died quickly).
I think I need a focal point in the tank though. Maybe some higher driftwood.


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## bluekrissyspikes (Apr 16, 2009)

that scape's looking good. i especially like the tall rippled plant and the red one.


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## Red (Aug 20, 2009)

What kind of lighting are you using? I'm just starting this hobby but I think your setup looks great.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

what a great collection of plants


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

Red said:


> What kind of lighting are you using? I'm just starting this hobby but I think your setup looks great.


Thanks for all the comments.

My current setup:

29 Gallon
AquaticLife Dual 24W T5 HO Lights
RENA XP Cannister Filter
DIY C02
Eco-Complete Substrate (3 Bags)

I am now just looking to add some sort of carpet plant (Dwarf Baby Tears or Riccia) to cover the bottom and eventually all the plants will grow and fill out the tank. Thinking about adding a black background as well.


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

There have been some studies (non-scientific) on lighting and reflection of ligght back into a tank, and apparently uncovered/unpainted tanks will reflect more of the light back into the tank that painted/covered. Mind you the studies were on saltwater tanks but I would assume that the premise would be the same for freshwater.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

KnaveTO said:


> ...apparently uncovered/unpainted tanks will reflect more of the light back into the tank that painted/covered.


Sort of...if the background film was wet adhered to surface of the tank glass it was just like painting. If the background film was just taped in place dry and not physically stuck to the glass surface there was no detectable difference.


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

If I do put a black background on the tank, it will be taped on rather than painted as my tastes change quite often. (need to be able to change it once I become bored with it).

Plant/Light Question:

I have noticed that many of my plants grow straight up rather than becoming bushy or full. The stalks of the plants seem to get longer quickly but only produce leaves near the top. Is this an indication that I need more adequate lighting?
I have a dual 24W T5 HO light (48 Watts Total) on a 29 Gallon. 

Thanks.


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## trfjason (Sep 25, 2006)

Evans11 said:


> If I do put a black background on the tank, it will be taped on rather than painted as my tastes change quite often. (need to be able to change it once I become bored with it).
> 
> Plant/Light Question:
> 
> ...


48W is definately not enough for a 29G. I have a 31G with 2x65W Power Compact and the plants do very well.

You might want to consider a 65W Power Compact and use it with your existing unit.

Make sure you have adequate fertilizers and stronger CO2 to keep up with the additional lighting.


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

trfjason said:


> 48W is definately not enough for a 29G...
> <SNIP>
> Make sure you have adequate fertilizers and stronger CO2 to keep up with the additional lighting.


Why do you say that is not enough light? Especially considering he's using T5 which is watt for watt the best most efficient lighting going at the moment (save disgracefully expensive LED fixtures etc). If he is happy with growth the moment, adding light is only going to accelerate growth, meaning more trimming, more maintenance, more likelihood of algae bursts and yes...in order to fuel all the extra growth, more requirement for CO2 and ferts.

Yes, plants need light to use CO2 and nutrient to grow, but CO2 and fert uptake is a direct result of how much light they get. IME finding a balance for CO2 & ferts vs. light regardless of wattage is the key to having healthy plants and tank with any type/wattage of light. _Less light = a more stable tanks requiring less work to maintain._

You're kind of telling him he needs to drive faster...and BTW, now that he's driving faster, he needs to burn more fuel and install bigger brakes to safe. Or, he could always go the speed he usually does...and it costs him no more in additional gear (and electricity).

There's a good post on this at the Barr Report on a trip to ADA's North American HQ/distributor and the low light tanks they have full of plants that will "only grow in high light".

@Evans11:

If stem plants are growing straight towards the surface that can be addressed with trimming. Unless you trim/nip a stem plant off and induce branching it will almost always grow, like a vine, in a straight line until it hits the surface curls over horizontal and starts sending out adventitious branches and roots. Just like flowering pants in a garden, If you want bushy full plants at lower levels in your tank, you need to be a bit ruthless and be prepared to trim them low to force them to spread.

Trim a stem plant back to a inche or two above the gravel, you will get 2-3 or more new stems growing out from the cut point...then you trim the new growth after it's an inch or two long...you've got 4-9 stems from one...get it? It takes time, a bit of knowledge of how the specific plant you are trimming behaves, so practice is the only way to "get there from here".


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

Thanks for your answer and your advice. I guess I wasn't trimming them low enough to allow them to spread outward.......this makes sense to me now. 

In terms of lighting, I find it hard to believe that you can go by wattage alone nowadays. If your going by wattage alone, then what you're saying is that an incandescent light bulb with 60 watts would be better than my T5 HO with 48 watts. Not true. The type of bulb has a huge impact on the amount of light intensity given off. 

If this is the case then how do you calculate WPG with a T5HO?


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

Evans11 said:


> Thanks for your answer and your advice. I guess I wasn't trimming them low enough to allow them to spread outward.......this makes sense to me now.


You're welcome. There's a link to an excellent video, in Polish, but with a text translation thanks to a forum member, on Planted Tank of a guy trimming a really lush, bushy aquarium. It was the first time I'd seen it done "live" by anyone other than myself, it's an eye opener and a neat learning example.

Until I saw the hacking and cutting in that vid, I thought _*I*_ was being ruthless... not anymore.



Evans11 said:


> If this is the case then how do you calculate WPG with a T5HO?


That's the issue, WPG rules date back to normal output T12 (1.5 inch) tubes and does nothing to account for T10, T8, T5...CF etc. Plus, the quality of the tube, the reflector, the distance above a tank, dirty or clean glass top/no glass top, depth of aquarium can all have an effect.

http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4559

The only true method of checking it is with a meter, under water, where the plants are, at at that point, you're not using WPG you're measuring lumen or even better PAR - which is measuring light that is actually conducive to plant growth. Not much good for the hobbyist, unless you have a PAR meter laying around...I don't want to spend a couple hundred dollars on a PAR meter to check my 1 main tank's light.

I decided a long time ago that unless I can actually get my hands on the gear to test for real how much light hits my plants, I would base my decisions on what the plants do. Yes, it's an exercise in patience, but only when you have accurate gear or observe your tank closely can you get an accurate handle on things...


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## Evans11 (Aug 7, 2009)

Thanks again for the trimming techniques. I need to start doing that immediatley or i'll have a tank full of vines soon.

Here are some recent pics. I've just rearranged a little to make an HC carpet section. As you can see I just kinda stuffed it into the substrate in clumps so hopefully it'll spread.


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