Steps to turn around a 29 gal high planted tank

[ciph3ro]

Hello all,

I have visited this forum many times over the years but just signed up for some help and advice.

I'm an engineer and have a busy work schedule but also love fishtanks, especially planted. I have always used the type of bulbs and filters that come with those kits at the pet stores and I want to go beyond that and get a great tank.

This is my 3rd tank, as I had to move away for my career far away and could not take my original 2 with me.

29gal high
Fluval C3 filter, 6500K tube (24W I think?)
lots of fish, maybe too many (list coming soon. right after I get home from work)
some big pieces of driftwood. they release tannins
Many-a-plants (some brought over from Ontario to Alberta)
have a backup in-the-box Aquaclear 50 just in case
2 heaters for less heat fluctuations when room gets cold in the winter.
timers with about 14 hours a day of light.
air pump set up but not used often.
plain black gravel

I attached a picture with more coming.

I'm basically looking for some advice on re-stocking (it is a community tank), lighting, maybe even CO2 (which I've never used) and other substrate (only ever used gravel)

I will post more info and better pictures today but please help

 

[candymancan]

Well if you have big enough driftwood and don't like the yellow water I would get 1 or 2 pouches of Purigen.. I use 2 in my 55G and its driftwood is 3 feet long and nearly as tall as the tank.. So it releases a crazy amount of tannins... Those bags get brown in like 3 days.. And I noticed they really do keep the water clearer longer so I don't have to constantly do water changes... I might get 2 more though because mine cant keep up with the tannins. They are renewable using bleach so you don't have to buy new ones..

As for plants.... I have to say my favorites are what I have in my 27g Hex.. I love red neseae (it does turn green or yellow or orange depending on the lighting and nutrients) but even when green they still look really nice specially once they settle in and start growing... Another of my favorite is Telenthara cardinalis (petsmart sells them in the little closed bags where the plants are in tubes) Its a red plant that doesn't need high lighting or anything like most color plants do... I got mine from petsmart like 2 months ago and it was only half an inch tall... Now its at least 5-6 inches tall and really bushy and deep ruby red.

I also like water sprite for obvious reasons it grows fast and just makes the tank look really natural and bright green.. Another I like are Limnophila hippuroides .. They can be red/pink/purple under the leaves if you have high lighting... But if you have lower lighting they stay mostly green but that's ok for me because the leaves are really pretty and when its green its a nice bright green..

My Substrate is Floramax, its the same thing as eco complete... its gravel but tiny pieces of gravel looks a lot like lava rock, I have the midnight black... I like this stuff way better then normal black gravel

Here are some pics of my tank first pic is my jungle of red neseae, second pics if of the telenthara cardinalis

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

What's your budget on lighting, co2, and substrate? There's too many options within those three aspects.. it's easy to recommend the best or very good, but if it exceeds budget constraints than there's no need, and recommendations would need to be appropriate.

For lighting, you want to go LED or T5HO?

What's your goal for planted? Low, moderate, or high tech? The higher you go involves more co2 and ferts, but also opens the door to more species of plants (or algae if co2, ferts, and photoperiod aren't balanced).

 

[ciph3ro]

online ordering?

Nice; thank you. I will look for those pouches online.

I'm mainly restricted to online ordering as there is only one small local pet shop here and everything is marked up even ten-fold. I'm not joking. A german blue ram is 20-26 dollars. Same with the equipment.

Their selection of plants is almost zero so I brought some from a different province. Is there somewhere to get fish and plants online?

Keep in mind that it gets very cold here and they tend to lose luggage often.
I worry about buying plants and fish online.

I think that my picture didn't attach the first time so I will try again.
This picture is about 3 months old. SO many plants by now. I will repost today.

I want to clean it up and make it look decent.

I was also thinking of restocking with only a few kinds of fish instead of too many kinds.

 

[ciph3ro]

Brian_Nano12g There are some concerns with job security coming January but chances are it will be fine.

If I get a new job or I get to keep this one the budget is basically limitless, lol, since I'm willing to invest in my hobby
If not I would keep it under $500 let's say for everything. Most of it will probably ave to be online since the pet shop here is uber expensive and limited. They don't even have some common fish and plants. I'm thankful they have a fish section at all. hehe

My only limitation is, since I don't own my own place, I have to stay with a 29 gal tank since it's easier to move and can be done by 2 people. I already moved it once.

I would prefer to go LED because of the higher optical efficiency per watt and white colour they tend to put out (wide spectrum). I've also noticed they sometimes have a couple of blue LEDs which is very aesthetically pleasing.

I am working on getting my own place but a normal house is a crazy price here (around a mil) so it'll be another year at least. Then I'm getting a massive tank and want to develop a DYI automated water change and reporting system with open source smartphone app. I'm an engineer of that sorts

 

[Tmar]

Limitless budget for fishkeeping hobby?!
.... S A L T W A T E R .... R E E F!!! lol

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

For LED... go with a full spectrum light that can be dimmed. That way it will be flexible to your lighting needs. So you can start off with low to moderate light, with ability to increase to higher intensity (depending on your plants' needs).

Check out BuildMyLED.com. I'd go with the Dutch or Iwagumi spectrum. Get the dimmer option as well.

For CO2, Green Leaf Aquariums (GLA) has very good quality regulators. However, you can save money by going with an Aquatek Premium regulator. Buy from Aquatek's eBay store to get free co2 tubing. Then go with a 5 or 10# co2 cylinder.. go with GLA if it's within budget, otherwise Aquatek is cool.

Then you'll need to choose diffusion method. For a 29g, I think a ceramic diffuser would suffice. Atomic diffusers from GLA are nice as well.

I also recommend buying a drop checker (co2 indicator) with 4dkh reference solution. There's some nice glass drop checkers to be had from eBay. They also come with the pH reagent (or you can use the low pH test solution from an API test kit, if you have this).

Substrate... ADA Aqua Soil is fantastic stuff. You can order it online at http://www.adana-usa.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=76_12_21

Only issue with ADA AS is that it leaches ammonia at first, so you'd have to temporarily house the fish somewhere for a bit. But the AS is so nutrient packed, your plants will flourish like crazy.

But a cheaper, okay option would be something like Eco Complete. You'd need some root tabs at first because it's almost inert. But due to a high CEC characteristic, it has ability to absorb nutrients and return them to the plants. I'd go with the "fine grade" variety if you go this route.

Ferts... I recommend learning dry ferts. It's effectively comprehensive and will save you a lot of money. Research the "EI vs. PPS-Pro" dosing regimen and decide which route you'd like to go. I personally use PPS-Pro. GLA sells dry ferts and dispenser bottles. You'll need to buy a gram scale to measure out the ferts if you want to premix the dry ferts to liquid solutions. I bought a cheap digital gram scale on Amazon for less than 10$. Plastic graduated Pipettes are good too.. There's like a cheap 100 pack on Amazon.

I think you can stay around your budget with these recommendations.

 

[Rivercats]

Brian it sounds like the OP is in Canada and he would have to get dry ferts there. Everyone I know in Canada have always said they get their dry ferts at local hydroponic stores. Don't know about other places shipping equipment but taxes and shipping to Canada from the states can be very costly.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh... well, I have no clue about Canada. I know this guy Tony on TPT (aka: FlyingHellFish) is from Canada and uses Seachem's new Aquavitro line. He'd be helpful if you PM on where to buy stuff.

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=316009

 

[ciph3ro]

Thanks, I'll PM him and see what he says.

Shipping from the US sometimes is ok. I get aftermarket custom car parts from the US all the time.

Here is another picture. The tank has nothing else except black gravel and no CO2, also stock aquarium kit from the store. Looks like most things still grow

I think I'm going to get LEDs first. I have many hungry algae eaters.
You can clearly see the tannins make the water orange in this picture, but I do have a small jungle going on. I figure I could put that to good use.