Talked me into it!

[Ericwm]

Well I have been looking at this forum and once I finish my reef tank upgrade I am gonna start a planted tank. I will be sticking to a 30 gallon because I have one and a stand. What all will I need and what are my initial costs and purchases to expect?

Thanks.

 

[ezy33]

There's a end to a reef upgrade? I used my 30 gallon as a refugium/Mandarin tank. I would like to add a pair of Seahorses if I could afford it.

 

[tamtam]

Well part of it depends on how high tech you want your planted tank and what fish you plan to keep

Basic low tech/low light fresh water planted tank you will need your

filter - depends on the brand you go with and what type of fish you keep but going new I'd expect to spend about 30-40 bucks. - this could vary depending on where you live too

heater - 20 bucks

substrate - depends on what you want. You could go sand which is really cheap. Regular gravel or upgrade to something like eco complete which has lots of nutrients for your plants. If you go with gravel or sand then you will most likely need to add some ferts you can get a mag of sand for as cheap as 10 bucks and it will more than do your tank. Eco complete is about 20 or so bucks a bag I think but I'm not sure if you need more than 1 for your tank.. I want to say they are 25lb bags but I'm not certain.

lighting - depends largely on what you want to keep for plants. Low tech plants can get buy with about 2 watts per gallon roughly. Watts isn't the best lighting measurement but if you have a standard hood with florescent and 2 wpg it's pretty safe bet you will be fine. Depending on what you have to work with and whether you go used or new I think 100 bucks is a good bet. There really are a lot of options for lighting so it could be more, a lot more or even less.

If you are going more high tech with higher light plants than you are going to need some CO2. I can't give advice on this as I really have no clue. lol.

30 gallons is a nice nice. Gives you some options for stock. Do you have any ideas right now on stock?

 

[Ericwm]

I haven't looked into it much, I decided last night. I like inverts and I saw some little frogs that looked cool. Are there any brightly colored fish I could keep in a 30 gallon? As for plants I know Very little, but they look cool.

I am moving my 30 gallon reef to a 40 breeder or 50 gallon in ~6 months then I will start this project, I know my reef will never be done but the new tank will be.

Would 1 watt LEDs be ok on a planted tank, I know they don't work on a reef but would it be enough for plants?

 

[tamtam]

I haven't looked into it much, I decided last night. I like inverts and I saw some little frogs that looked cool. Are there any brightly colored fish I could keep in a 30 gallon? As for plants I know Very little, but they look cool.

I am moving my 30 gallon reef to a 40 breeder or 50 gallon in ~6 months then I will start this project, I know my reef will never be done but the new tank will be.

Would 1 watt LEDs be ok on a planted tank, I know they don't work on a reef but would it be enough for plants?

I don't think it will. I do not know a lot about LED lighting but I think you would need an awful lot of LEDs to maintain plants.

If you are looking at African dwarf frogs they may not work in a 30 gallon. They do best in something with a water depth of about 12 inches. You would not want to go any deeper than 14-16 at the most. They need to get to the surface to breath and too deep can be challenging for them.

You have TONS of options for colorful fish. I have a 30 gallon set up right now. It's not my end stock, I've got to get off my butt and clean and set up my 20 and move some over there to complete my stocking on both but as it stands I have
1 Koi angel - 30 gallons can hold a single. He's black, white and yellow
4 platy - these are great little fish. Livebearers and come it a ton of colors and patterns. Mine are oranges, yellows, whites and blacks.
1 Sunset gourami - yellow and orange
neon tetras - the popular blue and red stripes.
lambchop rasboras.. they are actually pretty boring looking. silver/peachy with a black triangle type stripe.

Some fish I am thinking about working into my set up that would be fine for a 30 are Bolivian Rams and hatchet fish. I'm gonna remove the yellow platies and replace them with some other colrs in this tank. I got a whole lot of yellow right now.

Live bearers are always a nice colorful choice. Very hardy and any pet store will have them. Guppies, platy, mollies and swordtails are the most popular.

I would suggest that you hit up your local store and write down anything that interest you and come back and research them and post ideas here. I'm sure members here can help you work out a good stock that will work. 30 gallons is a great size and really gives you a lot of options. I could list and list them. lol.

Some low light plants that will be easy to grow are Anubias, Crypts, Java fern/moss, water sprite and water wisteria and amazon sword. These are all pretty common and most stores will sell them. With proper lighting and a bit of fert dosing they can do awesome. You would only need CO2 when you get into higher light plants and have a lot more growth happening. I would personally start low tech and then from there if you want to upgrade go for it.

 

[pjb_1986]

I don't think it will. I do not know a lot about LED lighting but I think you would need an awful lot of LEDs to maintain plants.

I disagree.

I have a 20g long which is about 14 inches deep with sunstrate + water and I grow low light plants very easily.

I have a Beamswork 78 LED (0.6 watts each) and the fixture is 16 inches total from the substrate.

I grow Elodea/Egeria Densa, Java Fern, Water Sprite, Twisted Vallis and Marimo Moss balls with no problems at all. Admittedly the growth isn't explosive but they are healthy and growing steadily.

I dose API leaf zone sparingly, no co2.

 

[KevinM]

Theres actually a lot of Reef LEDs out there, but your going to pay an arm and leg for them. 500+ Theres a Reef LED light bar out there right now running 2500 bucks, but it is beyond nice.

They do make LED lighting for freshwater plants. but again your going to pay for them. I saw one for my 55g for 400ish. When a t5 will run me 100 bucks for a 4 bulb system.


It just comes down to, how much money do you want to down on a lighting system.

 

[nereksnad]

greetings.

about LEDs for planted aquariums VS T5 light bulbs, it seems that LEDs cost more, produce less lumen per watt used, but last alot longer than T5 light bulbs. then there's discussion about LEDs aiming the lumen in only one direction whereas T5 light bulbs send light all over, but to fix that you can use a reflector.

imo at this point LEDs are perfect for small aquariums or as an add-in to larger aquariums where additional T5 light bulbs is not handy, and small strips of LEDs is easier.

sincerely,
nereksnad.

 

[abrinn23]

I have a 75g with plants in it and I use LEDs and they are doing great. If you stick to low light plants they should do fine. I have anubias, amazon and argentine swords in mine.

 

[Annakhil]

if you want pressurized co2 there is a guy name aqua_chem on here he is pretty much the go to guy plus brian_nano12 hes helping me set up my pressurized co2, i have a little over $200 in it so far and i am amost done. i think for fish i wouldnt do any livebearers unless you want an explosion of babies, i would do some type of corys or loaches for bottom dwellers and do a shoal of rummynose tetras, then you can always pick something else like maybe a dwarf gourami maybe some otos for help with clean up i use eco complete and had to do two 20lb bags plus a 20lb bag of sand in my 29g i also have root tabs since even though eco has nutrients most plants need more than what is given, when you have plants in sand there roots usually help with gas pockets any other questions?

 

[tamtam]

I disagree.

I have a 20g long which is about 14 inches deep with sunstrate + water and I grow low light plants very easily.

I have a Beamswork 78 LED (0.6 watts each) and the fixture is 16 inches total from the substrate.

I grow Elodea/Egeria Densa, Java Fern, Water Sprite, Twisted Vallis and Marimo Moss balls with no problems at all. Admittedly the growth isn't explosive but they are healthy and growing steadily.

I dose API leaf zone sparingly, no co2.

As I said I do not know much about LEDs I just know the ones that came with my tank are not enough to support growth in my 20 gal.

With your set up are you saying it's 78 LED lights?

 

[pjb_1986]

As I said I do not know much about LEDs I just know the ones that came with my tank are not enough to support growth in my 20 gal.

With your set up are you saying it's 78 LED lights?

Yes, 78 LEDs total. 72 white and 6 blue, all 0.6w LEDs.

I only have low light plants but they are doing great and the light set me back less than $50 including shipping.

 

[Ericwm]

I think I am gonna go that route and save my money on the bulb replacement and power. Without CO2 I don't think a ton of light will change much.

 

[pjb_1986]

I think I am gonna go that route and save my money on the bulb replacement and power. Without CO2 I don't think a ton of light will change much.

You will save money for sure, I think my LED runs a total of 6 watts and my plants are healthy.

 

[Ericwm]

You will save money for sure, I think my LED runs a total of 6 watts and my plants are healthy.

What LEDs are you running? And what size tank is it on?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Check out the Finnex Fugeray (for low to medium plants) and the Finnex Ray 2 (for medium to high) LED fixtures. Just make sure to get the daylight color temp, i believe its 7000k. Distance from light source to substrate makes a lot of difference in PAR values. I'm getting phenomenal plant growth from the Ray 2 light fixture in my high tech 6g. I'm probably going to be picking up the 36" Ray 2 for a 36g I'm planning soon. At around 20" from light to substrate, that will get me 50~60 PAR, perfect for growing even carpeting plants.. This fixture is less than $150 shipped. The 24" is even less than that. Excellent price for an excellent LED fixture. Fugerays are EVEN cheaper if your goal is a low light low tech setup.

Useful PAR data on Finnex:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=189944

PAR comparison between various LED's:
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=160396

 

[Ericwm]

What are all the options I have for fish in a 30 gallon planted tank. My wife likes sharks, are they ok? Are cichlids ok for planted tanks?

 

[pjb_1986]

What LEDs are you running? And what size tank is it on?

I have a Beamswork 400 fixture that I got from a well known auction site.

The tank is a 20g, 30 inches long and 15 inches high.

 

[emerald76]

What are all the options I have for fish in a 30 gallon planted tank. My wife likes sharks, are they ok? Are cichlids ok for planted tanks?

No 'sharks'
But you can do a pair of dwarf cichlids and some schooling fish

 

[Ericwm]

So today my wife decided she wants a fresh water tank. I talked her in to letting me do a planted tank for her and I'll let her pick the stuff out. Today is better than Christmas. Picked up a stand and a 40 breeder. I have a couple questions.

Can I add plants right away, I'm thinking of a fish in cycle to make her happy. I'm going low light plants, when I upgrade my reef I will put my t5 HO on her tank.

Can I support low light plants with a 2 bulb t5 for the next few months?

How deep does the substrate need to be and what should I use?

Thanks all.