I'm not sure this is the right spot for this post but, I'm still hoping for help. I'm setting up a 54 gallon corner tank. I have a standard twin bulb striplight with one marine glo bulb and one power glo bulb, and a glass canopy.
Lighting is without a doubt the most important place to start with a planted tank. I would need to know a little more about your lights. You said standard, I am guessing they are T8 florescents? How many watts each are they?
A MarineGlo light is an actinic bulb. It will not benefit FW plants. It is for simulating deep water light over coral reef systems. It won't provide any usable light to plants.
A PowerGlo bulb is 18000K in color temp. It is too high to benefit FW Planted systems.
Both of your bulbs need to be replaced with a bulb suitable for growing plants... something that is 6500K-10000K will be suitable. The closer to 6500K, the better.
Also need to know the size and wattage of the bulbs your fixture holds. This will help identify the type of plants you can grow if you keep this fixture, once you replace the bulbs.
My filter is a fluval 305. The plants I want to put in it are: Bamboo (live prefered), stargrass, Ludwigia (red star, repens), Myrio (red and green), Hydrocotyle spp (sibthorpioides), Cobomba (yellow, green, red), Water lettuce, Bushy plants (java moss, *pellia, java fern, onion plant, Japanese rush). My questions right now are:
The plants you have chosen are an interesting mix. You have chosen some more difficult plants to grow, especially for a beginner. Most of the plants you have chosen require medium light. I think with your current lighting (After you replace the bulbs), you would have some trouble with several of them. Water lettuce could present a problem as well... it is a floating plant and will block the light to your plants below... it also means no top (Which is ok...). The bamboo needs to grow emersed or it will die (the top/leaves have to be out of the water). Pellia can be extremely difficult (depending on the species), and many would require the addition of CO2 and high light. The Japanese Rush is not a true aquatic plant. It won't survive long submerged.
1. What substrate would be best and how much?
It depends on your budget and the look you want. Really just about any substrate will work for a planted tank. The best substrates in my opinion are substrates designed for planted tanks like eco complete and my favorite, ADA Aquasoil. But, these substrates tend to be very costly. A lot of folks have beautiful planted tanks and use pool filter sand, which is extremely economical. Regular aquarium gravel can work as well. It basically comes down to what you like. Plants will benefit from plant substrates, but this benefit can be made up by using things like root tabs under heavy root feeders to add nutrients to the substrate.
2. Should I have a heating cable, if so what size?
The consensus is these really aren't worth the money or the hassle. It wouldn't hurt anything, but it is doubtful you would see much advantage either.
3. What kind of lighting should I have or should I just keep my current lighting?
It depends... if you want to inject CO2 and plan to dose fertilizer, you could go with a higher light setup. T5HO fixtures work amazingly well over planted tanks. If you keep your current lighting, the bulbs would have to be replaced, and it would limit the plant choices you can make.
4. Is my filter good enough for what I want in the tank?
I think it is a little underpowered, especially with the multitude of fish you want to keep. If the tank is heavily planted, it could work just fine. Personally, I like to take the manufacture's recommendation for tank size and cut it in half... a fluval 305 is rated up to 70 gals... I would want something rated up to a 100 gals or so for a 55 gal tank.
5. How many fish should I have in my tank?
It depends on how many of each you get. There is no hard and fast rule that will give you a number of fish to get. \
The fish I would like to keep in this tank are: Gouramis (pearl, moonlight, snakeskin, Pygmy, croaking, chocolate, dwarf), Catfish (Cory), Loaches (kuhlii, clown), Barbs (no nippy barbs), Rasboras (harlequin, Pygmy), Bettas. Would like to have appropriate male/female ratios.
*Any help and suggestions would be appreciated. This is my first big aquarium that i've put live plants in, not counting my terrarium, and I'd rather set myself up for sucess rather than failure. Thanks.
