I think I'm ready..

[Dr. Scroggins..]

Well, after 4+ months of research and purchasing equipment, i'm about to begin setting up my first planted tank.. Medium to High light plants, tetras/cory habrosus, and hopefully some shrimps down the road. Before i start looking for plants i would like to know if there are any other areas or issues i may need to address before moving on to flora and eventually fauna.

SPECS
55 gal tank - 48"x12"x21"
Fluval 305 Canister Filter
Fluval Heater
Current Sundial 48" Light Fixture - 4x54w
Aqua Clear Powerhead (50)
New 15lb CO2 Cylinder
Cal Aqua Drop Checker (Double or the Oracle.. Input Please)
Regulator/Bubble Counter/Tubing/etc.

3x9L Bags ADA Aquasoil Amazonia (Reg)
2x2L Bags Power Sand M
O.S.I. Fake Stumps (1XL, 2MED) pretty money looking actually.
Master Test Kit (AP)

Ferts-KN03, K2S04, KH2P04, MGS04, to be ordered down the road a bit.

The Lights will be on timer, along with the CO2. I'll probably run an air stone for a portion of the time the lights & CO2 are off.

I plan on doing a fishless cycle.


So...

I want to plant while filling up the tank right? i want to have a bunch of plants in the tank to eat up the ammonia and what not???

Do i need any tops? or will i be okay with an open top, and the light on legs?

I gave a friend with a bunch of guppys, the two medium stumps to put in his tank, will these provide enough bacteria to accomplish a decent cycle, or do i need something more (Dr. Tim's?)??

I plan on starting with only 2 of the bulbs at first, and working my way up as the tank becomes established.

Should i run ANY lights during the cycle? will the plants be okay?

Can't Think of anything else at the moment, let me know what else i should be looking at or anything i might want to change.

Thanks to everyone in advance!

 

[Purrbox]

I would recommend going with a different aquarium if you haven't bought it yet. The footprint of a standard 55 gallon is not the best for aquascaping. You'll be much happier with something that has more room front to back so that you have space for a midground.

I would recommend planting heavily with fast growing stem plants to start. You can replace these with the plants that you actually want down the road when things are better established. Go ahead and run your lights at full, inject CO2, and start your dosing routine as soon as you plant. You want to get the plants growing right away, so cutting back on the nutrients (including light) doesn't help with that goal. If your plants were shipped you can delay dosing for a few days while the plants recover from the stress of shipping, but that's it.

If you plant heavily from the start you can do what's known as a silent cycle. By stocking slowly you may never see a spike in Ammonia or Nitrite. Plant heavily and get the plants growing well for a few weeks. The stock lightly and give it another 1-2 weeks. If no sign of Ammonia or Nitrite add a little more stock. Repeat process until completely stocked.

If you really want shrimp your best bet would be to get them established before adding the fish. This gives the shrimp a better chance to survive the attentions of the fish.

Whether or not you run open top or with a canopy is completely up to you. I prefer canopies since it slows down evaporation and keeps cats and small children out.

 

[Craigthor]

I would recommend going with a different aquarium if you haven't bought it yet. The footprint of a standard 55 gallon is not the best for aquascaping. You'll be much happier with something that has more room front to back so that you have space for a midground.

I would recommend planting heavily with fast growing stem plants to start. You can replace these with the plants that you actually want down the road when things are better established. Go ahead and run your lights at full, inject CO2, and start your dosing routine as soon as you plant. You want to get the plants growing right away, so cutting back on the nutrients (including light) doesn't help with that goal. If your plants were shipped you can delay dosing for a few days while the plants recover from the stress of shipping, but that's it.

If you plant heavily from the start you can do what's known as a silent cycle. By stocking slowly you may never see a spike in Ammonia or Nitrite. Plant heavily and get the plants growing well for a few weeks. The stock lightly and give it another 1-2 weeks. If no sign of Ammonia or Nitrite add a little more stock. Repeat process until completely stocked.

If you really want shrimp your best bet would be to get them established before adding the fish. This gives the shrimp a better chance to survive the attentions of the fish.

Whether or not you run open top or with a canopy is completely up to you. I prefer canopies since it slows down evaporation and keeps cats and small children out.

Cats and small children huh? If you can find a bunch of hornwort and just float it in the tank it will suck up alot of nutrients. If you haven't purchased the filter yet you should consider bigger as once the plants fill it that will greatly hamper flow in the tank, that or consider a couple fo power heads.

Also a 55 is a hard tank to aquascape based on its height to depth ratio. A good ratio for a planted tank is 2:1:1 which is 2x width:1x Height:1x Depth. The 40 breeders fits this well. As does the 4' 120g. Also any tank with atleast 18" front to back is much easier to scape as you can create a nice depth perception in the tank. This tank is only 18" front to back:

You can make a 55g work with the 12" depth but you need to conisder steep slopes, terraces, or a dtuch style aquascape where you can layer the plants once trimmed.

Craig

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

Thanks for the reply.

I had read and been advised that with ADA Aquasoil you don't need to add any extra nutrients right away (for the most part), that the substrate would be ample, for a quite a while..??

 

[Craigthor]

Thanks for the reply.

I had read and been advised that with ADA Aquasoil you don't need to add any extra nutrients right away (for the most part), that the substrate would be ample, for a quite a while..??

ADA AS will leach nutirents out but the longer you wait to start dosing the fast the AS will exhaust itself. I've used AS in the past and its great stuff. I do recommend starting dosing on the second week at the latest and depending on your dosing style only dose 1/2 of what your planning again it really depends on what dosing style you choose as tehre are alot of options.

Craig

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

I would recommend going with a different aquarium if you haven't bought it yet. The footprint of a standard 55 gallon is not the best for aquascaping. You'll be much happier with something that has more room front to back so that you have space for a midground.

yeah this is a tank from a few years ago i'm bringing back. i know it's not ideal but i've got it so...

 

[Dr. Scroggins..]

ADA AS will leach nutirents out but the longer you wait to start dosing the fast the AS will exhaust itself. I've used AS in the past and its great stuff. I do recommend starting dosing on the second week at the latest and depending on your dosing style only dose 1/2 of what your planning again it really depends on what dosing style you choose as tehre are alot of options.

Craig

Great info here, thanks. i'm thinking of going with the PPS Pro Method.

 

[Craigthor]

Great info here, thanks. i'm thinking of going with the PPS Pro Method.

With PPS pro I would dose full strength as you will be limiting the nutrients you are putting in the tank anyways. Also I would start dosing right away with that method. I prefer EI dosing as it takes alot of the testing out of the equation and provides you with few limiting factors where PPS Pro is pretty limited in the long run IMO.

aquariumfertilizer.com is a great place to find dry ferts for dosing.

Craig

 

[Craigthor]

Here are some good 55g pics, not the original thread I was looking for but should give you soem ideas.

55gal journal. Big changes. New photos 6/10/08.

Craig