55 Gallon Planted Tank Ideas/Adventure

[BfishLpond78]

Ok so I have this idea for down the road starting a planted tank and wanted to start my research now before I do anything.

What is a good substrate, i've read about flourite and eco-complete can you mix this with regular substrate or does it have to be just straight Eco or Flourite?

I was thinking of getting the fishneedit 4ft 2 bulb fixture with 2 10,000k bulbs and getting some blue LED strips to mount on there for a lunar effect (i love this effect). Will these suffice for medium light plants?

I was just thinking of doing a community tank with some peaceful fish, and alot of varieties of shrimps.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated.

 

[jsmith24]

You should consider using dirt for substrate. Not only is it much cheaper than Eco complete and all of that other stuff, but it also works just as well. As for the lighting question I would go visit fishtanktv.com. Once you get to the site click on the forum link at the top and find the equipment forum. It has a great forum about lighting that should be useful to you. This site would also be very helpful to you if you went with the dirt. Good luck!

 

[Rosenweiss]

What watts are those bulbs?

 

[BfishLpond78]

Ok this is a dumb question, i'm not just using any old dirt am I? Should i mix it with like PFS or some other type of sand? The fishneedit lights are 2x54w, not sure if you went and saw them or not. A lot of people recommend them.

 

[rich311k]

If you go with Flourite or eco you can mix it 50/50 with regular gravel and still get a benefit from it. You will probably only have enough light for low light plants.

 

[BfishLpond78]

If I go any higher will I have to start dosing with ferts and CO2?

 

[jsmith24]

No you just out dirt in first and then cap it with gravel or sand (whatever you wanna use). Seriously if your thinking about doing a dirt tank go to www.fishtanktv.com there's a forum dedicated specifically to whole process.

 

[Rosenweiss]

You can do low-medium light plants. There are quite a few that you'll be able to manage.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Thanks everyone, so i have 30lbs of black moon sand, you're saying i can mix that with the Eco or the fluorite and it will be OK?

I'll def check out that website and see how it works.

 

[rich311k]

Yes you can mix it, the sand may all go to the bottom though.

 

[BfishLpond78]

What would you recommend mixing it with?

I just read the fishtanktv dirt setup, it seems fairly simple. I have a question though, when cleaning the bottom with a gravel vac, how does that differ from regular gravel sand? I hear people just leave debris for the plants to use as food, is this correct?

 

[rich311k]

I would not mix it simple because the sand would get wasted with a low light tank, just sand with a few fert tabs will do just fine.

 

[BfishLpond78]

OK, if I am only doing a low light tank, will the dirt style tank not be worth it?

Also, if I go the dirt route and sand on top, when i actually plant the plants do i plant them all the way into the dirt? or just in the sand and let them root themselves into the dirt?

 

[Marconis]

Actually, the dirt style setup works extremely well under low light. A lot of dirt enthusiasts, myself included, do not dose any CO2 and grow low-medium light plants wonderfully. When planting in dirt, you have to go all the way down so that the roots (especially if the plant is a heavy root feeder) can take up the nutrients already present in the soil.

 

[Marconis]

Ok this is a dumb question, i'm not just using any old dirt am I? Should i mix it with like PFS or some other type of sand? The fishneedit lights are 2x54w, not sure if you went and saw them or not. A lot of people recommend them.

I am running these lights on my 55, with MiracleGro Organic Choice Potting Mix as a soil underlayer.

 

[BfishLpond78]

Marconis, are you using just dirt or do you have a layer on top of that as well? What is the best way to plant without stirring up all the soil? What is the best type of soil to use, i heard soaking it is good as well, what do you soak it in?

 

[BfishLpond78]

Wow...are you reading my mind?

 

[Marconis]

You cannot go just dirt, it will just float up. I have it capped with Quikrete All-Purpose Sand. The best way to plant without stirring up the soil is to just be careful. In this tank, I haven't made much of a mess at all, but in my 10g I made some mistakes. Whatever you do, once your fingers and plant are pinched into the substrate, DO NOT remove it, as you'll have a hole for the dirt to escape.

There are so many opinions on soil types. You want to avoid anything with fertilizers/chemicals, so that is why a lot of organic stuff is recommended. I never soaked mine...I have the MiracleGro as stated above, which is very popular. You can mineralize your soil, but that's a whole different process that I know nothing about. I've never had any algae issues due to not soaking and stuff like that.

 

[BfishLpond78]

OK, so with planting. Once i have my fingers pinched around the plant and i put it in the dirt how do i not remove it. Are you saying once the Plant is planted don't remove it? Sorry i may be reading this wrong.

 

[Marconis]

Say you decide you actually didn't want to plant there, and remove it before covering the roots with surrounding substrate...then you'll have a huge hole. When you dig a plant into the substrate, usually surrounding substrate will move into the hole upon release, but you'll also have to move a little over manually. You can also use tweezers to plant.