Planting a 75gal Plans & Questions

[J-Aqua]

I've been wanting to transfer my Electric Blue Jack Dempsey show tank to planted tank. However, im extremely new when coming to lighting (watts per gallon), plants, possible CO2, and other nutrients needed (flourish).

Current Items
Ligthing: Coralife 48" Single Linear Strip Two 65watt 50/50 straight pin base compact fluorescent lamps.
Substrate: Small gravel
CO2: NONE
pH: 7.5
Temp: 80-82

The plans:
I'll be switching over the gravel with pool filter sand. However, I do NOT want to plant any plants in the sand. Since my fish WILL uproot them I wanted to plant them in pots. I was thinking of using flourite in the pots as a "soil" for the plants would this work? The plants that I want are really nothing speacial. Some crypts (dont know what type), Ferns and other amazonial plants that will survive in my pH. I was thinking 2 small potted plants, and the rest 4 medium sized potted plants with a total of 6 pots w/ plants in them. Now onto the questions...

Ligthing? I am unsure how many watts per gallon I would need?
CO2? Needed, or just suffecient lighting will do the trick?
Other Nutrients? Would I need to dose the tank with any flourish to get them going on the right track?

Hoping you guys can put me on the right track. If I do this with no knowledge of what i am doing, I'll be running around like a chicken with its head cut off. Thanks in advance!!!

J

 

[theotheragentm]

You will need to be specific about what type of plants you want so people can make recommendations. Depending on the plant, you will need different amounts of lighting. If you have high amounts of light, you will more than likely need CO2 and fertilizers for the plants. If not, you will get algae. There are some plants that need little care, but select which plants you want first before figuring out the equipment and dosing.

http://www.plantgeek.net

 

[travis simonson]

The lighting you've got (~1.7 wpg) should be sufficient to grow a nice range of Cryptocoryne species as well as many Central and South American plant genera such as Echinodorus (swords), Myriophyllum (parrot's feather, foxtail, water milfoil, et al), Egeria (hornwort) and a handful of other types like Potamogeton gayi and some of the Cabomba species.

Using Flourite in pots should work well but for there are some other substrates that are a bit easier to work with and not so messy: ADA Aquasoil (if you can find it), and Caribsea's Eco-Complete are two very popular alternatives which are at least as good as Flourite, if not better, and priced similarly. You should also consider plant/root growth when choosing the pots. Many sword plants can grow massive root systems so you will want to pick pots which will allow them to grow or to be easily replanted into something larger should they outgrow their original homes.

CO2 is not necessary with your lighting level but is always helpful. It's not something you need to concern yourself with at this point.

I would recommend using Flourish Comprehensive two to three times per week as directed on the bottle to provide your plants with supplementary trace elements and iron that will help their growth and color. If you decide to keep any sword plants you may also consider placing a root tab in their pots (they are heavy root feeders) to improve their health. That is likely all that will be required to grow good plants with your current setup.