low maintenence plants for 55g (no CO2, noob)

[cbk.o4]

well im going to be starting my 55g tank here in a week or so. I want to have some live plants in the tank. for the fish im going to be gettin in think it would be beneficial to them to have some live plants and i love the look of the live plants.

So, im lookin for some guidance here..i need some plants that are pretty low maintenece. I dont want to go co2 right now. Specs of the tank: im going with pool filter sand for my bed. and then a layer of eco under that (about how many inches of each would u say i would need...and about how many pounds does that equal), im going to be using an xp3 with an inline 300w heater, and for the lighting, just using my normal hood with a upgraded bulb.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Eventually, the PFS will mix in with the Eco Complete, so you might think of the black sand to be the top level. PFS in my opinion will not look good after a while, especially if you have to do some replanting, moving ornaments, etc.

As for Eco, a couple inches is good, with maybe an inch of the sand on top. For plants, you can go with Java ferns and moss on driftwood, anubias, L. repens seem to do ok in lower lighting that some members have, some crypts I believe will work, and a few others. Clover seems to do good in lower lighting as a foreground cover. I got some in my 26G, and where it's under my driftwood and java moss in the shade, is spreading rather fast. When looking at the lighting, since you don't want CO2, stay under 2w/g (Under 110W total for 55G).

 

[cbk.o4]

is this the sand you were talkin about? i think they have this at petsmart up the block, i know i saw the pure white version of it, but didnt notice if they had the black version.

about how many inches of each would u do? (the sand, and the eco)


EDIT:Planted Driftwood are those real plants? and if so will they continue to grow on the driftwood after being shipped and put into my tank? if so i might look into gettin a couple pieces of this to startup everything.

 

[Japola44]

PFS comes in a lot of colors you might want to go to a pool supply store and see if they have it in black. The sand you found on bigals is really fine. I have it in my 55gal and its impossible to gravel vac it. I end up sucking up more sand than crud.
I would do 50/50 of sand and eco. 1 inch eco and 1" sand. So get about 30lbs of each. PFS coms in 50lb bags so you will have some left over.
As or plants...
In my 55gal that only has 2 T12 bulbs, I have java fern, horn wort, and ancharis. These are all plants you should be able to get at petsmart, if they have aquatic plants there.
Also, the planted driftwood is real plants.

 

[cbk.o4]

sweet, ill look at my LFS to see if they have it, i imagine they would i think i passed by a plant tank when i was there the other day...im also going to upgrade just the bulbs in the hood that comes with my tank, ill let you all know the wattage and lumens and spectrum when i get them.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

Yup, that's the sand I was referring to. If you don't want something that fine, then I recommend just going with Eco alone. That's what I have and I like the look.

 

[cbk.o4]

so im probably going to order some eco tonight anyone have a place they like to get it from? also how much will i need to use it alone in a 55g for a future planted tank? thanks.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

www.bigalsonline.com

Be prepared, shipping is expensive. I got 10 bags for my tank and was spendy. I only used 8 bags on my 75G and looking at doing a smaller tank with the rest, maybe a 20G.

 

[cbk.o4]

about how deep was it on your 75g? i want it to be about 2" or so deep maybe 2 1/2".


HMM 26 dollars a bag is pretty pricey, i may check to see if my lfs or petsmart has it, if it is less than 26 ill just get it there.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

3 inches up front, 4 inches in the back.

 

[Lonewolfblue]

If you can find it locally, that would probably be best.

 

[cbk.o4]

could i use this, Carib Sea Flora Max instead of eco complete? i mean really im only going to be doing the moss on the driftwood and then a few very low maintenance (sp?) plants through out the tank, i dont want it to be very heavily planted at all...so do i really need to get the eco complete for the tank? or can i just use a liquid fert or something like that..

 

[Lonewolfblue]

With the planting you are planning, I don't think you really need to invest in a plant substrate. A lot of the easy plants can be done just fine in regular gravel. My 26G only has aquarium gravel, and the plants in it are thriving.

 

[cbk.o4]

hmm i think i may go with an inch or so of plant substrate just incase, and then do silica sand, or pfs on top of that. i was thinking about doing the lil rocky substrate that looks like the bottom of a creek, but i think too much poo and food would get stuck down in there and throw my levels off...

EDIT: so ive been lookin at alot of plants, can i get some feedback on if these will grow in a tank with a normal hood and upgraded lights?

do some java moss on driftwood im gettin from florida driftwood.

some hornwort in the front corners and sides.

and some anacharis in the back corners..

can i even grow all of those with low light, and no co2? i read the anacharis will inhibit algea growth and the add alot of oxygen to the water, along with the hornwort.

TIA

these are the bulbs i was talkin about upgrading too"

One of these with the dual tubes (why is that too? ..that they have to two different colored tubes? also will they fit in a normal hood??)

or one of these

sorry for the bad quality i was using the cam on my razr. good but not great.

 

[cbk.o4]

took the plunge, just got 100 pounds of eco complete from aquariumplants.com

 

[Purrbox]

The bulbs in your first picture are compact flourescents and require a compact flourescent fixture. The bulbs in your second picture are NO flourescents and would fit in a NO flourescent fixture, which is the standard fixture that comes with most tanks. You'll need to make sure that you buy the correct length for your fixture.

 

[cbk.o4]

thanks.

 

[Thebluyak]

wow a 100 lbs! now that I think about it that sounds about right, but I bet shipping was a PITA

 

[Lonewolfblue]

I believe you will get about a good 2.5 inches, maybe a little more with that. That's 5 bags. I used 8 bags and have 3 inches up front and 4 in the back.

If you are planning on putting sand on top, then put the eco in first, then the sand on top. Then put a plate upside down in the middle and run the water over the plate. That will keep the cloudyness to a minimum, and will clear a little faster.

Edit:

Is it the 55G? Or 75G? If it's 55G, then you will probably have over 3 inches.

 

[cbk.o4]

it is a 55. was going to go get it today from lfs but when i got there they only had a floor model, which was aight it was in good condition, but the hood had ALOT of scratches on the top, so i made him get me a new one. i pick it up either tomorrow night or thursday.

yeah i plan on going with all the eco, then about a 1/2" to an 1" of black sand if it isnt deep enough for me, i might just leave it with the eco alone.

shippin actually was free lol. aquariumplants.com was being awesome. it was like 22 a bag or something, which is four dollars cheaper than bigals. so im ok with it, and im in no real hurry so shippin can take as long as it wants. (within reason of course. )