New to planted and need advice

[cyris69]

Hi everyone, just wanted to get some advice before I go all Gung-ho with my new tank.

I have a 40 gallon breeder with a Whisper 40 just for flow and biological growth and a AquaClear 70 for filtration and biological.

My plans are for a heavily planted schooling tank. Consisting of tetras, danios, barbs, some shrimp, and a few angel fish.

I want to know what is the best starting substrate (less maintenance) for a beginner. I've had a 29gal planted but that was years ago and don't remember much. I will also be making the co2 2liter chambers for the tank.

I was going to go with just 40lbs of Eco Complete Planted Black Aquarium Substrate. But do I need to add sand or something else for a top layer? How deep should it be? I mainly want java moss and some tall growing plants that are more fernlike in leaves not thick or big leaves. I do plan on adding a center drift wood piece but trying to budget this out for a long term tank. I have some starter fish for cycling and wanted to add the sub and plants first.
I have a Glo 30" dual bulb plant light with the proper lights can't remember the exact types but they are for planted tanks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I currently have 2 guppies, 4 zebra danios, 1 gold gourami.

 

[cyris69]

Hi everyone, just wanted to get some advice before I go all Gung-ho with my new tank.

I have a 40 gallon breeder with a Whisper 40 just for flow and biological growth and a AquaClear 70 for filtration and biological.

My plans are for a heavily planted schooling tank. Consisting of tetras, danios, barbs, some shrimp, and a few angel fish.

I want to know what is the best starting substrate (less maintenance) for a beginner. I've had a 29gal planted but that was years ago and don't remember much.

I was going to go with just 40lbs of Eco Complete Planted Black Aquarium Substrate. But do I need to add sand or something else for a top layer? How deep should it be? I mainly want java moss and some tall growing plants that are more fernlike in leaves not thick or big leaves. I do plan on adding a center drift wood piece but trying to budget this out for a long term tank. I have some starter fish for cycling and wanted to add the sub and plants first.
I have a Glo 30" dual bulb plant light with the proper lights can't remember the exact types but they are for planted tanks.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I currently have 2 guppies, 4 zebra danios, 1 gold gourami.

 

[bettaowner]

The best substrate would be seachem's flourite sand or substrate.

 

[jetajockey]

Ecocomplete is great and easier to work with than fluorite. They both serve the same basic purpose in that they are both high cec substrates.

The best part is you don't have to pre-rinse it.


40lbs is enough to plant in but you may want to add more later if you decide it's not deep enough for your liking.

 

[cyris69]

Thanks, how many bags would I need for this tank?

After reading the reviews it looks to be a lifetime substrate and feeds plants for years. I also see people saying you need to rinse it thoroughly but wouldn't that reduce the nutrients if you remove the muddy part?

 

[cyris69]

So if I go for the eco, I will go ahead and add 60lbs just to be safe. Also will it last for the lifetime of the tank the way the Flourite will?

 

[DoublEntendre]

For a more DIY approach, you could do a thin layer of crushed up Vermiculate (for aeration) with a thicker layer of loam (for nutrients), topped with as much as an inch of gravel (to hold the plants in place). The very thick layer of substrate allows a huge, healthy root system to develop.

If you don't have any good loamy soil nearby, there are other alternatives, some of which you can buy at the fish store. ADA makes a fancy dirt-like substrate.

And then you can always supplement with iron additives, etc if you want the best growth possible.

 

[cyris69]

I was wanting to stick with inert substrates I guess I should have specified. I do like the added benefit of not needing to rinse the eco and is has more lb for the $ over fluorite.

Would it be safe to add cherry shrimp into a starter cycle if well planted? Also, is a 6 hour on and 18 hr off cycle ok for planted tanks are should I do a 12/12

 

[jetajockey]

Thanks, how many bags would I need for this tank?

After reading the reviews it looks to be a lifetime substrate and feeds plants for years. I also see people saying you need to rinse it thoroughly but wouldn't that reduce the nutrients if you remove the muddy part?

ecocomplete is meant to be added without rinsing. It comes with a packet of biomagnet clarifier to clear the water.

Ecocomplete doesn't have a ton of nutrients in it, maybe a smathering of micros at the most, so you'll still need to dose ferts. The important aspect of it (and other similar planted tank substrates) is it's ability to retain and make available the nutrients to the plants roots.

I prefer using mineralized soil capped with sand in my tanks because it is cheap, but there is a ton of work involved in it.

Ecocomplete is simple, add the bags and start planting.

60 lbs should be plenty in that tank, I kept about 20lbs of eco and 20 lbs of gravel mixed for one of my tanks. It worked well but only was about 1 1/2" or so deep. This substrate does break down, as do the other clay based ones do, eventually, but it takes several years.

 

[jetajockey]

I was wanting to stick with inert substrates I guess I should have specified. I do like the added benefit of not needing to rinse the eco and is has more lb for the $ over fluorite.

Would it be safe to add cherry shrimp into a starter cycle if well planted? Also, is a 6 hour on and 18 hr off cycle ok for planted tanks are should I do a 12/12

Well one thing to factor in is that ecocomplete also has liquid in it, so not all of that weight is substrate. But still, I prefer it for it's ease of installation.


I would not add RCS until the tank has had a month or two to get established, they graze on biofilm and need a good stable tank to flourish in.

 

[cyris69]

Awesome, now could I add 2 bags of eco and one bag of fluorite? Just mix them together? I bought a 5gal bucket for water changes so i could clean out the fluorite in it.

I will hold off on the shrimp until the tank is established and well planted for them to forage.

With eco how often should you fert the tank and what brand of liquid would you recommend for that. Also when adding this substrate should I turn off the filters for a while?

 

[jetajockey]

What's the reason for adding fluorite? Do you already have it on hand?

Your dosing routine depends on how high tech it is and how densely planted it is.

When you add any substrate you definitely want to let it settle for a while before running filters.

 

[cyris69]

Dunno does the fluorite need fert as well? I will just stick with DIY co2 and liquid fert plus the eco.

 

[jetajockey]

Fluorite and Ecocomplete are basically the same in purpose, so there's no sense in mixing both together unless you just happened to have some of both.

 

[cyris69]

Gotcha So what fertilizer would you recommend on a budget? Will carbon or filtration affect the absorption or remove it from the water? I'm thinking about just using just biomedia and pads. I might use some Seachem Purigen that I have. I'm not going to add it or carbon until cycled.


I also set my lights to 8 hours on 16 off.

 

[jetajockey]

I don't use carbon or purigen, no need for it. A good basic micromix is seachem flourish. You might still eventually have issues related to lacking macronutrients but I'd cross that bridge when you get there.

 

[cyris69]

Well, the place I went only had Fluorite Red & Standard(brown/black). So we got 3 bags, 2 red and 1 black. Cost 80$ I also got a huge driftwood piece and some plants and the flourish liquid.

I rinsed the crap out of the stuff and still didnt do much good. My tank is completely black. It says allow 2-12 hours to settle and is already "pre-rinsed" but thats about a lie lol

So I blindly planted everything so it would not die. I hope it clears by tomorrow.

 

[fort384]

Substrate:
Whatever you like. You can grow plants in just about anything. The nutrient rich substrates like ADA Aquasoil and Eco Complete are great, but by no means a requirement for a lush planted tank. 1 of the lushest planted tanks I have ran had plain ol' gravel in the bottom.

You do not need to cap it with sand if you go with it.

It should be 1-2" deep.

For driftwood, the site has a sponsor that sells some nice pieces: http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forum...d-buy-2-get-1-free-ship-pu-so-cal-185410.html

The most important thing for a planted tank are the lights. What kind of bulbs are they? T5HO? T8? How many watts? Are they actually 30", or 24" (T5HO 30" bulbs are rare-ish). Also, 30" is insufficient coverage for a 40b. If all you want is java moss/fern it might all be ok. But if you are looking for finer leaved stem plants, which it sounds like you are, you may need to think about upgrading your lights. fish need it;lights; food;Sponge sells some economical t5ho fixtures.

As far as running DIY CO2, I wouldn't recommend it on a 40b. You will probably not succeed in getting the concentration of CO2 to the desired levels, and unstable/lower CO2 is actually worse than just running no CO2 at all. If you are committed to frequent mixture changes, and you run probably 3-4 reactors, it can be done. That is just a lot of sugar and yeast .

You may find these articles helpful in getting started with CO2 and fertilization:
Beginner's Guide to CO2 Injection in the Planted Tank - Aquarium Advice
Introduction to Fertilizing the Planted Tank - Aquarium Advice

Best of luck!!

 

[cyris69]

Thanks for the post I guess I double threaded

Also, you are correct I just measured it and its a Glo 24" I think both are 24+ watt bulbs. I know it makes my tank light up like a spotlight is in there

 

[cyris69]

Is 1.2WPG an ok light amount for my current needs?