kriben
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
I am setting up a 40 breeder soon, and it will be a planted tank. I have a 46 gallon bow which is meeting wear and tear(silicone seams are losing strength) so I am switching to the 40 breeder. I am going to be using the equipment I have on the 46 gallon on the 40. I have a Emporer 400 filter, 100 watt Marineland heater, and a 36" Coral Life Dual bulb fixture(2x 96watt power compact bulbs). I do not have any way of adding CO2 to my tank. When the 46 was set up, I went to the lfs and asked what I needed to get a planted tank going. For substrate they had me put down a thin layer of dirt gold or something like that. Over it they said lay down some paper towels to keep it from going into the water coulumn then came a 3" layer of finer gravel. It worked in a way, but I don't think it is doing much for the plants being down at the very bottom of the tank and all. So on the 40 breeder I was thinking of mixing EcoComplete and some pool filter sand to allow the plants to get nutrients from other places besides the bottom of the tank. I currently have 3 amazon swords(1 has two runners growing on it) and 8 crypt plants which are all fairly small. I also have 2 clumps of java moss, which one was torn apart by my pair of kribs so it is in maybe 5 different places. I will add a CO2 system to the tank. How many pounds of the EcoComplete should I get to mix with the pool filter sand? And is there anything I should be adding or consider for the tank? My last question would be, should I run both lights or just one? I do plan on adding a purple flowering plant and some of the red colored plants so it isn't all green.