# CaribSea Eco Complete Planted Black Fine



## Reis (Nov 15, 2011)

Hey everyone 
I purchased CaribSea Eco Complete Planted Black Fine for my tank. Set it all up today I'll be taking some updated pictures soon. I'm fairly new to planted tanks. I was wondering if I'd still have to use Nutrients or supplements in my tank like Flourish Excel, Etc. Or is everything in the soil. 
Thanks for everyone's Help!
Cheers


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Reis said:


> Hey everyone
> I purchased CaribSea Eco Complete Planted Black Fine for my tank. Set it all up today I'll be taking some updated pictures soon. I'm fairly new to planted tanks. I was wondering if I'd still have to use Nutrients or supplements in my tank like Flourish Excel, Etc. Or is everything in the soil.
> Thanks for everyone's Help!
> Cheers


Welcome to the planted side, you will most likely need fertilizers with that substrate, but first questions:
-What lights are you using? And what is your tank size?
-Excel is a organic co2 supplement, but are you planning to do any other source; DIY or pressurized?
These answer will normally decide whether it's low or high tech and we can help you with fertilizer details after that.


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

yup, need tank size, height if not standard, lights used and plant selection desired


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## Reis (Nov 15, 2011)

default said:


> Welcome to the planted side, you will most likely need fertilizers with that substrate, but first questions:
> -What lights are you using? And what is your tank size?
> -Excel is a organic co2 supplement, but are you planning to do any other source; DIY or pressurized?
> These answer will normally decide whether it's low or high tech and we can help you with fertilizer details after that.


Thanks for your help!!!!!
It's a 35 Gallon. I wanna go with a low tech set up. I'll post up some pictures as soon as I can. 
I'm using an Glo - Aqua Glo 30" Bulb. 
Supplements that I have at home are Flourish Excel and Flourish Iron. 
I have plecos and a group of Pseudomugil furcatus that I just got. 
There are no plants in it right now. I wanted to go with some anubias and I have no idea what else I'd go with. I want to accommodate the furcatus group but I'm not sure what floating plants would be best.
Thanks!!!!!


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## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

sounds like its a single t8? that is very low light but still lots of options such as java fern.


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Reis said:


> Thanks for your help!!!!!
> It's a 35 Gallon. I wanna go with a low tech set up. I'll post up some pictures as soon as I can.
> I'm using an Glo - Aqua Glo 30" Bulb.
> Supplements that I have at home are Flourish Excel and Flourish Iron.
> ...


Yep, you're on the low tech path. If Anubias are what you are interested in, no fertilizers are really needed, since they grow so slow. What you could aim towards are other species of Anubias, crypt species, different ferns, water sprites, and hygro difformis - which are all great for low tech. A better investment would be root taps for crypts.
What species of plecos are these? Would they consume plants?

Also in regards to the supplements you already have on hand, the only one you would be dosing would be excel, iron is used more often in medium to high light tanks (in my high tech I rarely even touch my iron supplements.) but if you do end up getting stem plants, you would want to get the flourish comprehensive supplement, which include both the macro and micro nutrients.


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## Reis (Nov 15, 2011)

I have L134's and L345's they're carnivorous.

I'm gonna search up different Anubias and crypts! 
What are good floating plants for my furcatus? 

Also thanks again for the help. Hopefully once I get some extra cash I'll invest in a better light. 


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


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## default (May 28, 2011)

Reis said:


> I have L134's and L345's they're carnivorous.
> 
> I'm gonna search up different Anubias and crypts!
> What are good floating plants for my furcatus?
> ...


Good floaters would most likely be amazon frogbit. They have larger leaves and they do well I'm low light situations.
Also, becareful if you plan to get a new light - it can end up being too much light


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## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

You can also grow water sprite as a floater, and it makes baby plantlets in the leaf margins, so as the large ones get too big, you toss them and grow the small ones on.

Duckweed, while it can get annoying, is a good nitrate sucker too. If you get giant duckweed, Lemna major, it is a bit less annoying to control then Lemna minor, which can be next to impossible to get rid of once it's in a tank. It hides so well, and one leaf can restart a population while you aren't paying attention. 

A pretty and less common floater that is also a great nitrate sucker is Azolla. But it may well need more light than you have going now. Given sufficient light, it will turn bright red and looks like lichen floating on the water, though it is in fact a tiny fern.

You may also see floating bamboo on offer now and then. Hygroriza aristata. It is very pretty, but it needs more light than you have right now to grow well.


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