# Need advice on a planted tank



## Pleconomous (Mar 7, 2008)

Well, I am currently debating on setting up a few plants in my 20 gallon long tank. I have never had plants before, but I've seen so many tanks with them in it, and they look great! Currently the inhabitants are some peppered cory's and some cardinal tetras/guppies. I have a T8 light running on the tank and a HOB filter recommended for up to a 50 gallon tank. I am looking at preferably a low- medium maintenance tank. 

With that said, I would prefer to avoid using presurized CO2 and lean towards using the seachem (or other brand) products to add nutrients and some form of CO2 to the tank. Current substrate is just some medium sized gravel. Since I'm a student, I'm looking for something that would look nice but not empty my wallet lol. 

My questions are:
Is there any other information you need me to provide you to help?
Would this setup be possible?
Which plants would you experts recommend I look at that might survive in this tank?
Is my lighting too much/too little? I generally run 12 hours on and off each day.

Anyways, thanks for any help that you can provide


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

Java fern should be fine that stuff is almost impossible to kill. You might be able to keep some crypts and Anbias without having to upgrade anything either. Just keep in mind that these plants will grow slow... real slow. You can't get moderate growth with low light.

Here are a few more low light plants. You may want to consider upgrading the lights for some of these though.

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2

Hope this helps


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

My 20g low tech set up: http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?t=4235

It requires cutting back maybe every 6 to 8 weeks for the stem plants (especially the hygrophila, which likes to spread over the whole tank). The rest of it really requires no work, some thinning out once in a while, and picking up a few dead leaves here and there (the anubiases don't get eaten by the plecs and snails fast enough, so they linger a bit).

All low- mid light plants, no CO2, no daily fert dosing regimen.

The key I think is finding the right balance between fauna (bioload: fish, etc) and the flora. When you get to this point, there is so little maintenance required that pretty much the only thing you have to do is water changes. And I think at this point, I could probably get away with every third week, but I do a WC every week anyways.

12hr light cycle will be fine. I am running a 12h cycle. I'm sure using flourite or eco-complete or something would help, but my tank does not have either of these.

My advice would be to stick to slow growing low/mid light plants to keep prunings down, and also keep the need for ferts and supplements down, which keeps maintenance at minimum.


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

Oh I forgot to mention one thing... What's worked for me was to buy as many plants as you can and plant them all at once. I have always had problem with trying to grow a fews plants here and there for some reason.


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## Pleconomous (Mar 7, 2008)

Thanks a lot for the replies planter and ameek. I'll look into some of those plants and links you've provided. Thanks for the help


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

What is the wattage of your lighting?

I'd suggest that adding flourite or eco-complete as a substrate will allow you to grow a much wider variety of plants.

Start with your idea, using Seachem products. You can add a carbon source via Excel, and then dose the others as you see fit (Flourish, Potassium, Nitrogen, etc.).

Easiest plants to start with: Anubias sp., Java fern, most types of hygrophila and crytocoryne. Try any plants that are not demanding though, you may have good luck with certain types.

Good luck.


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

You've gotten some good advice already ... but here's a few more points and one awesome link that will help a lot ...

I'm assuming you have a single T8 bulb running across the tank so chances are it's a 20W bulb, this would fall into the very low light category ... not impossible though. It helps a lot if you have a good reflector in that hood. The other thing that you have going against you is the gravel. If you can upgrade to a substrate made for growing plants that would help greatly.

You also have to decide what you objective is ... if all you want is to have a plant or two here or there, then an anubia or java fern will serve the purpose just fine ... however, if your goal is to reach for a tank like you see in tons of pictures that looks beautiful then keep reading.

Personally I think the best way for a beginner to start is to follow exactly what someone else did and had success with ... the downfall usually comes when someone changes things just a little thinking they will have only slightly worse results when in reality a small change can mean the difference between a success and a complete failure.

If you're looking for low maintenance then I have the perfect solution for you. There's actually two ways to approach a low maintenance planted tank, but here's the one that's worked for me and I personally prefer:

http://www.barrreport.com/articles/433-non-co2-methods.html

It's super easy, decently cheap, and best of all ... it's actually better not to do water changes in such a tank. Here's a link to what my tank looks like by following the above instructions:

http://www.stonyx.googlepages.com/tankpictures.html

The last water change was about a month or two ago and I keep shrimp and other sensitive fish without any issues.

If you follow Tom Barr's method try to stick to it as closely as possible. You might be OK with the light you have, but it definately is very low. The gravel though is where you will probably run into trouble ... if at all possible change it. Breaking my rule above (about not changing someone else's method  ) you can use flourite instead of the onyx sand mentioned in his article since flourite is cheaper but everything else he mentions I would suggest sticking to otherwise you risk a complete failure.

Hope some of this info help and feel free to ask more questions.

Harry

P.S. Also make sure you follow the advice of planting all your plants at once and not a few now and a few later. Your goal is to outcompete the algae and the only way to do that is to have tons of plant mass in the tank from the beginning, otherwise you'll have constant algae issues. In my tank I started out with about $80-90 worth of plants from Menagerie ... and I only had one algae outbreak that I had to deal with ... not bad. Btw, that's a 55G tank, so you won't have to spend as much ... maybe $40 to $50 ... all depends on the plants you choose.

P.P.S. If you follow all the above advice (including switching you gravel) but are having issues with growth and/or tons of algae problems then you'll need to upgrade the lighting. Just a thought to remember for the future.


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## Pleconomous (Mar 7, 2008)

Thanks for all the help everyone


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

hope i'm not hijacking here, since we're talking about lighting and plants....

what's the general concensus on what constitutes low, medium and high lighting. I've read "low light" is consider 0-2.5 watts per gallon, with 1-2.5 wpg being preferred for low light plants. i think. i can't remember that well. so what's medium and high lighting?


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

1-2 watts per gallon are normally considered low light condition, 2-3 w/g are medium lights, and above that are high lights."

http://www.aquariumgarden.com/info.php?doc_base=info/faq/lights.php

Anything over 2 w/gal should have co2


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## twoheadedfish (May 10, 2008)

thanks, i was having google issues.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

lol no worries


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## XbrandonX (Nov 22, 2007)

This is a very useful thread. 
(No kittens were hurt in the making of this thread.)

Harry I love your tank btw.

Pleconomous: let us know how it goes, 20G long tanks make excellent planted tanks! I have a 45G long (4') and its a lot of fun.

Keep us posted with pics.


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

The WPG rule only applies to tanks ranging from 20-75 gallon tanks. for example: a 5 gallon tank with a 15W bulb will give you 3 WPG. There still really isn't enough light to grow much. 

Same thing applies for larger tanks. only less is more
A 300 gallon tank with 600W will give 2WPG. You can grow anything that you want with that kind of power.

good reflectors and multiple bulb fixtures are the best to start off with. Good reflectors will use very watt produced to be utilized. Multiple bulbs allow you add or remove light as you see fit. you can also set the lights on timers to all turn all a different times to create a sunburst effect. 

Most importantly, a good fixture with more power then you need today might also prove useful when you decide to upgrade your tank to a larger one. You won't be stuck buying a new, more expensive unit, nor will you have to sell your current lighting fixture for less then what you paid for. 

I find that you can really never go overkill in this hobby with equipment. One way or another I always find myself lacking something.....


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## Tigercga (Mar 26, 2006)

which brand or model you are currently using for 48" tank? with how many bulbs? Power compact flouresent tubes or regular T5 tubes? I would like to use it as my reference to buy a new lighting fixture. There are a lot of choices available in big Als stores.


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## Fishfinder (Feb 17, 2008)

Welcome to the planted tank hobby Pleco 
@Tigercgaa, often times your local RONA, Homehardware or Canadian Tire will have decent light fixtures for way less! I got my 80W 4' shop lights for 20$ and the 2 flourescent bulbs for another 5$, just make sure with bulbs that you pay attention to the temperature they emmit, 6000-8000k is the prefered range for plants.


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## Tigercga (Mar 26, 2006)

fishdinder, your tank looks beautiful. Do u use 2 Daylight tubes from HomeDepot, or something more? What about the lighting setup for plants at front?


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## KnaveTO (May 13, 2007)

I use only Coralife on all my tanks. Either the T5 or the compact flourscent depending on the tank type. Little pricey but like the quality.


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## planter (Jun 9, 2008)

KnaveTO said:


> I use only Coralife on all my tanks. Either the T5 or the compact flourscent depending on the tank type. Little pricey but like the quality.


I'm the same way.


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## Harry Muscle (Mar 21, 2007)

planter said:


> The WPG rule only applies to tanks ranging from 20-75 gallon tanks. for example: a 5 gallon tank with a 15W bulb will give you 3 WPG. There still really isn't enough light to grow much.
> 
> Same thing applies for larger tanks. only less is more
> A 300 gallon tank with 600W will give 2WPG. You can grow anything that you want with that kind of power.


The Watts Per Gallon rule is a simplification of the more accurate watts per square meter rule. For more info, have a look here:

http://www.thekrib.com/Plants/Tech/Lighting/

It works for all tank sizes, unlike the WPG rule which breaks down with small or large tank.

Harry


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