# Plant grow tank.



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

I want to start my first "plant grow" tank. That is to say, the only purpose of the tank is to grow plants. I might stick fry in there if I have a big bunch of them. But basically, what do I do? It is not a "planted show" tank. Do I need substrate? There are no fish planned as yet, so no oxygen bubbler, right? As far as I know, adding an air-bubbler will decrease the CO2 in the water which is the opposite of what i want. Or what do I want? I dunno.

I have a coralife dual T9 plant-grow light fixture, a bare 30gal tank full of water, dechlorinated, and I've added some plant-growth additives. I stuck some floating snippets of stuff from my tanks to see if they (a) die, or (b) stay the same, or (c) get bigger. 

I guess I need to go buy some gobs of starter plants from somewhere. I suppose I need CO2. I need fertilizers. Do I need to buy a book on growing aquatic plants? My end goal is to use this one grow tank to provide enough plants to keep my other tanks somewhat planted.


----------



## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

humm ive also had this idea... im kind of a noob at plant growing but i would think for most plants you would need a substrate. *nods* prolly for ones with roots unless you get the lil plater pot thingies but they are super lame. and 20 years a go you would need a book but now you got the kwnolage of 100000 books crammed into your computer . althogh books are cool... i migh tget some for the can. co2 is a must i think ive wonderd but.. if there are no fish in it you could prolly pump a crap load of co2 into there. ummmmm you dont want any surface agiation that will loose co2... and maybe (just an idea) take some of the filter grime and put it in your grow tank? help boost up the ferts and stuff... if yoru liek rich,. you can toss out that light and go to a pot growing store and get one of those bas ass lights. imagine that.... cops breaking dwon your door to find nothing but a bunch of hornwart and java moss . ive allways kind of though about getting a lil kids pool to do that with.. well GL man let me know how it goes. if my advice is crap dont balme me. im sure there will be 100 posts telling me how WRONG i am haha.


----------



## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

sawman88 said:


> if my advice is crap dont balme me. im sure there will be 100 posts telling me how WRONG i am haha.


Actually you were right on the money. 

KhuliLoachFan, Before we go any further did you want to buy the expensive stuff or budget conscious?


----------



## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

sawman88 said:


> im sure there will be 100 posts telling me how WRONG i am haha.


I second Calmer, you're pretty much bnan on what you covered. Including the pot shop and police raids


----------



## sawman88 (Sep 29, 2008)

ameekplec. said:


> I second Calmer, you're pretty much bnan on what you covered. Including the pot shop and police raids


(Bnan)????????????????????????


----------



## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

Bnan is pleco speak for bang. It's the way bang sounds underwater.


----------



## sucker4plecos (May 30, 2008)

IMO..... for a grow out tank you should get yourself some substrata..... easiet would be the same as you are keeping in any show tank so the plants are given a consistent environment .... most people do not realize that plants can be shocked and need time to acclimate going from one tank to another....some plants also want to be in a heated tank.... some don't really care.... I recently talked to a friend who pretty much lost 20 Amazon swords because the temp drop overnight when their furnace wasn't working and no heater.... light is very important as you are trying to grow plants as quickly and strongly as possible....

When you float plants, stems plants often start shooting little roots and shoots in all directions, and when you want to plant something instead of nice long flowing stems you have a haphazard mess or growth in all directions.... a lot of hygros will do this, for example.... I would say only use CO2 if you are going to use it in your show tank...... you will get a strong vigorous growth with CO2... stronger stems and leaves, and maybe even more colour.... and then you put it in your show tank and in a few weeks you are very disappointed as the plant looks like it has withered a bit without its CO2 fix..... 

A small filter is a good thing too... or do water changes each week..... if not your substrata can start to go a bit stale and the roots and lower stems will suffer..... a bit of water flow will help your plants strengthen their stems and leaves as well..... will also circulate any ferts you add..... 

I would keep fry out of a plant grow out tank... although it sounds like a great use of space - sort of killing two birds with one tank, fry in a heavily planted tank are a major PITA to catch, and you end up ripping up half your plants..... I speak from experience on that.....


----------



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

All my tanks so far have been gravel or sand. Should I do a sand substrate, or should I go get a plant-substrate? I've read from some people that budget kitty litter (non-clumping, non-perfumed, pre-washed) makes a good planted tank substrate. But I suspect it just makes a mess.

What would be a "my first plant substrate"? 

Money wise, I'm trying to do this all on the Cheap Cheap. I've been thinking a DIY or cheap commercial non-pressurized CO2, unless a used deal-of-the-century comes up on a CO2 tank, regulator, reactor, etc. I have a pretty good light already. I have a spare filter I can use to circulate the water. I think I'd run it with just a sponge and no carbon. I don't want anything taking the plant additives out.

I have a few feeder guppies that I don't feel like putting in my show tank and I haven't the heart to feed to my puffers, and I think I might stick them in my plant tank as ammonia-generators. 

W


----------



## KhuliLoachFan (Mar 8, 2008)

*Re: Bnan!*

By the way, you guys are TOO funny.

W


----------



## sucker4plecos (May 30, 2008)

I have some kitty litter in a couple of my tanks...... no more messy than flourite.... but I don't use if by itself......in my 2 show tanks I have peat moss, the some kitty litter, and then a healthy layer of flourite.... the peat helps condition, and soften the water as I am keeping South Americans....it also gives a natural tanin look ...... even crystal clean, my water will look like tea..... 

The better you go with substrata, in theory the better you plants will do..... the easiest to find choices would be flourite (either red, brown or black) flourite sand in black or Eco-Complete, which is black.... there are nutrients and iron traces that the plants will absorb...... that said, I recently set up a 75 gal that I was going to keep Africans or geophagus in.... and it's turned into a plant and fry grow out ... It has low tech lighting and white sand.... and the plants and algae are going nuts in there...... even with out ferts.... I am thinking that the light is reflecting off the sand and bringing more light to the plants....

If going with a good "new age" substrata, do not get anything too chunky and coarse as the roots and stems will have more difficulty getting a hold in the soil....


----------



## Calmer (Mar 9, 2008)

KhuliLoachFan, what is the wattage of the lights you are using in the 30 gal.?
This will determine whether you need co2 added if over 2 watts/gal.

There are two extremes and they are the Natural method and the Estimated Index method with every other method falling in between.
There is the natural method of fertilizer added in below the substrate with low light plants http://thegab.org/Articles/WalstadTank.html . Also there is the Estimated Index with high tech, high light plants and high fertilizing with weekly water changes. http://www.barrreport.com/estimative-index/62-estimative-index-dosing-no-need-test-kits.html . 
Here is a discussion about the different methods http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/el-natural/19819-high-tech-vs-low-tech-el.html
Hopefully this will help you with what way you want to go and what is right for you. Most people are in between the two extremes.


----------

