# Time to re-scape



## babysteps (Feb 9, 2009)

So, I just ordered a few caves from Kat (yay!). Looking at my tank the way it is set up now, I'm gonna have to re-scape some things to get the caves in there the way I want them. So I figured now would be a perfect time to switch this tank to a planted tank. I have never had real plants before (in an aquarium). Always just went for the fake ones. So this is gonna be a trial and error thing. What I need to know is what plants would be best? I'm not really looking to get into anything high maitenance right now. 

The tank specs are:

~20G
~Low light (1 bulb that came with the tank. Not very bright at all)
~Penguin 100 filter with bio-wheel (I know this isn't enough filtration for a 20G. It is just temporary since my other filter broke)
~Black Gravel. Just regular stuff. Nothing fancy.
~300w heater currently set at 82f. Tank temp is usually anywhere between 80-85.

Fish currently include: 3 young BN plecs, 5 guppies, 1 neon (his friends died in QT. planning on getting more) and 3 ghost shrimp.
Other fish that MAY be added are more neons (definitely) and cories (maybe).


I'm willing to spend the money to upgrade to the proper substrate, filter and light (if not too expensive). But if possible I would just like to keep it low light, low maitenace using only ferts (if needed). 

So any ideas and help would be much appreciated


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## EDGE (May 20, 2006)

I have grown Cryptocoryne and java fern in a 20 gallon with just the 15 watt hood light. They were growing, but stay really small and look frilly with the standard 15 watt bulb and 16" tall tank. 

If you upgrade anything, the lighting system is the first thing. I would get it up to 30 watt florescent but no more than 50 watt if you don't plan on add CO2. 

30 watt will allow you to grow healthy crypts, Anubias, java ferns, mosses/fissiden and saggitaria subulata.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

At 80-85F the water holds less oxygen; your fish will eat more; they will excrete more wastes into the aquarium than if the temperature is around 74-76F. Also more frequent water changes if you don't have plants. The fish wastes are food for the bacteria and plants in the tank. 
There are many planted tank type scenarios. Starting off with low light (<2watts/gal.) with only fish wastes and soil below the gravel that supplies the plant nutrients. Medium light (~2 watts/gal.) regular gravel with fish wastes and Flourish excel. All the way up to high light (>2 watts/gal.) added co2, nutrient fortified gravel, fish wastes, and high levels of added fertilizers. Then _almost_ any combination in between. Here is a plant guide divided into light requirements to give you an idea of what plants are suited to different light strengths.
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_cat.php?category=1
My low maintenance tank is a 38 gal with about 2 watts/gal lighting, 9 swordtails fertilize it, numerous cherry shrimp help clean it, flourish excel to add carbon and keep algae to a minimum. I trim the plants at least every month or longer. I scrape the small amounts of algae from the front and side glass once a month which the fish love to eat. That is about it barring the normal tank cleaning like water changes and filter cleaning.


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## babysteps (Feb 9, 2009)

Great. Thanks for the replies guys (and the link)!
So I'm thinking of upgrading my lighting to about 40/50W, which would be about even or just over 2wpg and sticking with the medium light/level plants. I was gonna just keep my low wattage light and go for the low light plants but it looks like if I upgrade my lighting at least a little, I have a bigger selection (and nicer) of plants to choose from. Question though.. since I have never upgraded my lighting, or even changed a bulb in an aquarium (they never seem to burn out on me), do I just go and buy a new bulb with a higher wattage and replace my current bulb with the new one or do I have to buy a whole new light fixture? 
I'm definitely gonna get a new filter and possibly a few airstones since I have none in there at all right now (will this help with the plants at all?). I'm gonna just stick with the flourish excel since I have no clue about anything when it comes to co2 injection or even DIY co2 and I would rather not kill my fish with my mistakes. I will probably end up changing my substrate to eco-complete. It seems to be the most recommend around here for plants, even low light ones. Will that substrate be alright for my plecos? And the cories I'm thinking about getting?

Wow, I feel like such a noob! lol
Sorry for all the questions and babbling. I'm just trying to get this all worked out so I do it right the first time and don't have to do it again.


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## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Don't worry about the questions as that is why we are all here. 
What type of aquarium lights do you have? Fluorescent or incandescent lights? With an incandescent fixture you could use the compact screw in florescent bulbs. Maybe 2 - 26 watt ones like this will do well.
http://www.canadiantire.ca/AST/brow...aylight+Compact+Fluorescent+Bulbs%2C+2-Pk.jsp
The daylight bulbs throw a nice light in the tank. Make sure that the diameter of the bulb fits in the fixture canopy.
If your light is florescent then you are basically stuck with that wattage. The wattage should be shown on the tube.
Good water circulation is appreciated by plants as it mixes and passes the nutrients to them. Also it looks nice when the plants are swaying gently in the water current. I don't know anything about eco-complete so someone else will need to answer that.
Keep the questions coming


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## BillD (Jun 5, 2006)

Some plants will not benefit from ecocomplete, such as Java fern, which doesn't rely on nutrients from the substrate. Some plants taht can be grown with low light include, Java fern. most annubias species, many Valisneria, limnophilia sessiflora, dwarf sag, and of course, java moss.If you put 40 or 50 watts of power compact flourescent light over that tank, it will be like 4 watts per gallon, equivalent. It will require CO2 injection.
I have a 48" long 30 with one T8 32 watt tube over it with no reflector ( the tube is just laying on the tank with no fixture) and I am growing V. spiralis, dwarf Sag, E. latifolius, E. tenellus. E. compacta, Java fern, L. sessiflora, and red ludwiga. The substrate has a small amount of soil mixed into the gravel in the bottom inch as well as a dusting of peat moss. There is another inch or so of the same gravel over the top. Filtration is an AC 150. The tank has been set up for about two and a half years, and I harvest plants every couple of months for sale.
It doesn't get much simpler than this.


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

*eco*

try not to use eco if your going to have a mid-high light tank, as it will be too much nutrients in a tank that does not generate fast enough photosynthesis. I would stick with nisso aquasoil that is innert but u can also add root tabs. they sell that stuff at lucky over at pacific mall. if your looking for just ferns and mosses, I think that is the best way to go with your setup. I have some errect moss and taiwan moss if your looking for some better looking mosses, check out the buy/sell page.

Before any nutrients (other than fish poop) I would add co2.. a lil diy yeast combo is more than enough for your tank. if after 6 months you see lil growth then you can experiment with ferts.

msg me for more info if needed


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## Mr Fishies (Sep 21, 2007)

jimmyjam said:


> try not to use eco if your going to have a mid-high light tank, as it will be too much nutrients in a tank that does not generate fast enough photosynthesis.


I'm not sure what that theory is based on, but I have a 75G tank, Eco substrate with a 96W CF over it that contradicts that statement. Everything is humming along nicely over 1 year in, even L. aromatica is growing gangbusters - although only red at the very top.

Never really had any major issues with it from a plant growth or algae perspective - that were not of my own doing. There are a few other members on the board with lower light Eco substrate tanks who would probably agree (about Eco and low light, not that I bunged up my ferts!).

I'd suggest that any substrate that does not turn soft and disintegrate is inert. If Eco, Fluorite etc were not inert, they would not last for years in peoples tanks, they would _not_ require fertilization...etc. Now the cation exchange ability of a substrate to absorb/store/redistribute nutrients that you add to a tank is another thing all together, but that is tied to what you add, not to what is in the substrate when it leaves the bag.


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

jimmyjam said:


> try not to use eco if your going to have a mid-high light tank, as it will be too much nutrients in a tank that does not generate fast enough photosynthesis.


I would say if you are going to have a mid-high light tank, there is even more reason to use something like eco-complete as a substrate. I have no idea what you mean by the photosynthesis not being fast enough...



jimmyjam said:


> Before any nutrients (other than fish poop) I would add co2.. a lil diy yeast combo is more than enough for your tank. if after 6 months you see lil growth then you can experiment with ferts.


co2 is a great addition, but I am hard-pressed to agree that a DIY system is going to be effective for a 46g tank (unless you are going to run like 4-6 pop bottles). For that size of a tank, I would have to lean towards the addition of pressurized co2.

If it takes 6 months for you to notice a little growth from your plants, something is seriously wrong.


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

sorry i mean low-mid light... u def want high light and pressurized co2 to suck up all the nutrients.

Considering his low light option, the pressurized wont be worth the buck hes spending. If you are going to invest in better lighting then yes go for pressureized (300+ unit), but with the current lighting, stick with the diy (2 bottles at least), alt weekly. 

Lights = first investment, 
then co2
then ferts. 

trust


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## Chris S (Dec 19, 2007)

I ensure that my low-light, low-tech tanks have a good substrate (flourite or eco-complete). Why wouldn't you?

If you are going to use DIY co2 on a 46g tank, you might as well just dose with excel as at least you can somewhat control the co2 being supplied to the plants. A 46g tank is, in my opinion, useless to run DIY co2 on.


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## jimmyjam (Nov 6, 2007)

*yo*

excel would be a aight option, but organic carbon not as good as co2 (supposedly, by some threads), its not as consistent dosing. But either or, I wouldnt start a low light crappy substrate tank in the first place. All my tank have eco or aquasoil +powersand, co2 with homemade reactor inline with my diy external heater , 150 w halide light or t5s. with EI dry ferts and excel dosing. Im just saying, if I dont want to spend the money on lights, why the hell spend 30 bucks a bag for eco? and 300+ for co2, or 20 a month for excel. In a utopic wold, we obviously would opt for better everything. Considering his options for lighting and spendature, it doesnt make sense to get the other stuff. If you are changing your bottles frequently, you can drop a 46g ph from 7.5-6.9ish in a few hours no problem with a good reactor. If you have a canister filter, you can pump it into the intake, or build a reactor. There are a lot of recipes for that online. I have had 2x4 litre bottles on my 60 gallons before with amazing results. But as chris says, not as good as pressurized of course. If you want to see what you will get with pressurized, check out my journal "rockscape" I will update with some new pics soon. Otherwise, take it from my 15 yrs of scaping, diy + low-mid light plants, with mod dosing, i would get eco or any minerlized substrate if you have at least 2.5 watts per gallon of normal flour, less with t5 or halides.


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