Moving to 40 breeder semi planted

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frute4fish

Aquarium Advice Newbie
Joined
Oct 10, 2012
Messages
3
Hi All!,

I currently have a 20g fresh water that i set up in mid july with and aquaclear 50 and plan to move to a 40g breeder that i already own, right now all i think i need is a light, some substrate, and advice.

I currently keep 8 tiger barbs, two of which are albino, one rainbow shark and two peppered corys. As you can see it is imperative that i set up my 40g soon so i can get a more balanced tank. I feel really bad that i have not set it up so far for my fish's sake and would really appreciate your advice so i can do it right.

My substrate is currently small gravel and i would like to mix some sand with it to create a better area for plants to grow. i have read a lot about PFS and flourite and would like to keep a more neutral color tone than black. I have been keeping some anacharis and started growing a couple aquatic bulb onions with success so far. I know i will need a co2 system of some kind in the future and am not sure what to do about that yet.

I would really like some more input on substrate pros and cons, plant choices, co2 needs for semi planted, and lighting requirements for a tank this size. I have been looking into t5 ho, two and four bulb fixtures. I am probably willing to spend up to $200 on lighting but no more than that right now.

I look forward to hearing your advice, thanks.
 
Hi,

I have a 40B and it's a really good size for a nice planted tank. I'm using pool
Filter sand with root tabs and my lighting is a t5 coralife light fixture that was only 55 dollars on amazon. I added DIY co2 for about a month (just switched to pressurised a few days ago) and my plants showed really good growth so I would definitely consider doing that if you're short on funds
 
Thanks. I have just started looking into diy co2 systems and am definitely going to give it a shot. I also just picked up some root tabs as well. I should have my tank up and running by mid next week. So stoked!

Do you have any good input on the types of plants you have used? I would really appreciate any ideas on good types of plants.

Thanks again
 
I've got 4 daylight cfl's on my 40b and they've been working beautifully for med. light stuff. I dose liquid co2 and ferts plus root tabs.
This is an old pic. I'll post an updated one if u like after I'm home from work. My other tanks i have bba because of to much light and low co2 but with this tank ive found a good balance.

IMG_20120829_134513.jpg



IMG_20120819_094028.jpg
 
frute4fish said:
Thanks. I have just started looking into diy co2 systems and am definitely going to give it a shot. I also just picked up some root tabs as well. I should have my tank up and running by mid next week. So stoked!

Do you have any good input on the types of plants you have used? I would really appreciate any ideas on good types of plants.

Thanks again

The plants that I've had the best luck with so far have been both green and bronze crypts and Rotala indica. I have an amazon sword as well that's growing pretty nicely
 
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