Making the transition...

[JoWooD]

Please, anyone who can offer their help would be greatly appreciated. I've finally cycled my 55g with river pebbles as a substrate. I have a Penguin 330 BioWheel Filter that uses matrix stones instead of carbon.

I really want to try to make this one a planted tank, so I'll explain the situation. I was thinking of buying new lighting and probably making a DIY CO2 system(OR buying one).

Should I buy the proper lighting for my tank and then get a CO2 later? I here that the light change can promote algae growth but I really don't care about that, as long as the plants can live. I was going to get some of those liquid nutrients to put in the tank to hold until I can afford my CO2. Couldn't this wait anyway since the fish produce a little CO2 anyway? Good idea or not?

I was thinking about going with these plants(some probably spelled worng):
-Anachris
-Java Fern
-Hornwort
-Amazon Sword
-Java Moss
-Anubis Nana
-Micro Sword

Questions:
-I need to know how to plant in a river pebble susbstrate.
- So, should I go ahead and get the lighting?
-Would a DIY or store brought CO2 work better? Which is cheaper?
-I would like to know how to anchor a hornwort to a driftwood.

Any suggestions, comments and answers would be appreciated. Thanks.

[malkore]

Don't even try to exceed 2 watts per gallon without having your pressurized CO2 system ready to roll.
You'll have to ditch the BioWheel as it's gonna force your CO2 right back out of the water.

55gal is no fun to maintain DIY on. I strongly suggest a pressurized system..probably run you around $150 for regulator, needle valve, and 5lb cylinder.

How large are these river pebbles? You really don't want pebbles..you need gravel sized substrate. Pebbles are likely too heavy and the plants won't spread, will have problems rooting, and the weight of the pebbles may pinch stems, causing them to rot.

[Jchillin]

Welcome to AA!

You came to the right place and I hope to help answer your questions. One question:

How large are the pebbles? If they are too large (over 2mm) it will not hold rooted plants. If you want, you could change this out now for Eco-Complete.

Lighting and CO2 go hand in hand. If you do one without the other from the start, you will deprive your plants of need nutrieints or successfully cultivate a very lush algae tank. This is indeed a fact once you go over 2wpg.

What you could do is prepare for the future. If you're going to invest in the lights now, you can start at @ 1.5wpg. You can upgrade the lighting in the future if you should decided to go over 2 wpg.

Liquid nutrients are not a substitute for CO2. There are CO2 tabs however, they make things a lot worse than much better.

[JoWooD]

I'm not buying a new filter nor am I buying a new substrate(I just changed it from sand) or a $150 thinggy. Thanks everyone but I now see live plants is not my cup of tea, the silk ones look just as real.

Thanks for your suggestions and answers.

[travis simonson]

There is a considerable time investment to keeping a planted tank, that's for sure, but you can keep plants in a low-light environment without a large expenditure. There are several low-light species that would work well in your tank as long as you can provide them with a minimum 1.0-1.5 watts per gallon of lighting. You won't need to invest in CO2 or new substrate. Java ferns and Anubias species can all do well without needing to root in the substrate so, even if your river pebbles are too coarse for many rooted plants, these guys won't care. HTH

[Yuri]

I agree with travis's low light suggestion. Plants are really attractive and fun to mess with, don't give up on them yet! I've got a penguin 330 filter with only 0.69 wpg and I've still got a variety of low lights that are doing just fine.
The only plant that hasn't done well for me was hornwort. Turned into a mess. But the anachries are growing like weeds.

[malkore]

I only meant that you'd have to take the bio wheel off, not buy a new filter, and that's only if you run CO2.

Silk plants look good when viewed from 5 feet away...but they tend to get real dirty, real fast, eventually just have to be replaced as they fray. They are also MORE expensive than real plants. $5-$6 around here for a single 'bunched' 12" tall silk plant. You've got a 55gallon, if you want even a 'moderately planted' look, you'll have to spend at least $100 in silk plants to get the kind of coverage that's gonna look 'good' IMO.

But this is your tank, so you decorate it however you want. Not everyone has a budget that allows for 3wpg, pressurized CO2, and a perfect substrate. Maybe down the road though

[Xzap]

Hi JoWood,
I'm fairly new to fish keeping myself and I started out with plastic plants.
Once I made the transition to live plants, I realized what I'd been missing.
Get you some anubias, anacharis, jungle val and 1 - 2 wpg and you'll be fine.
Don't give up on planted, you'll be glad you didn't

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_...as&type=Search
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_viewer.php?id=110
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_...is&type=Search

Dave

[jrp1588]

Just found out that my substrate is way too big No wonder my plants' roots aren't doing well. On average I'd say each pebble is roughly 1cm in diameter...Guess I have to go out an buy ANOTHER new thing. *glares at plants* you all are a money hole. lol

[Xzap]

40 lbs. of Eco Complete will cost you about $36. You'll need about 30 lbs. to do your 30 gal.

Or you can go with the small pebbles, I forget what they cost per 20 lbs., but it's not much.
Trust me, it will be well worth the money spent.

Dave

[jrp1588]

I'll look into that.

[JoWooD]

Ok, how about this...

How about I buy some eco-complete or some of that flourite stuff. (Its the same stuff right except flourite is cloudy for a while right?) Maybe 20 pounds of flourite or eco-complete(OR should I do 40?) (Don't the nutrients eventually run out after a time or no?) After I do that I get lighting(moderate probably) and I just won't do CO2. I don't want a moderately planted look, so plastic will hold me until I can do all that.

Would the plants be able to survive with that kind of substrate, can the fish as well? If not, can somebody tell me which plants from my list can?

And can somebody tell me how to plant and anchor plants?

Thanks everyone for the suggestions and answers.

[Jchillin]

No problem...it's understandable. I've managed to have a lightly planted low-light tank. I have regular gravel and no CO2. I've kept tons of java ferns (both broad and narrow leaf), 2 amazon swords, two crypt wendetti, a recent java moss addition (that is really creeping all along the bottom) and riccia.

That being said, if you mix the Eco-Complete with regular gravel, do at least 60% or more. I've never heard of anyone mixing flourite and Eco-Complete so I cannot comment on that.

Eco-Complete does not diminish.

Ferns and other plants that are not planted can be tied down with either sewing thread (black is better) or fishing line.

Rooted plants should be pushed into the substrate. Make a large enough hole with your fingers, insert the plant and cover with substrate.

Glad you have reconsidered it.

[JoWooD]

No, I'm mixing either Eco-Complete or Flourite with my river pebbles. I'm not mixing them together. Hopefully by doing this I can have plants with roots and then I could add lighting for more plants other than low-light.

I just wanted to know could the fish & plants survive in this substrate because you guys said that it couldn't in river pebbles. (If I add the stuff will it sink to the bottom or will it be like dirt & I have to drain the tank to put it in?)

[cplawrence]

Flourite makes quite a mess so I imagine you would have to drain the tank to set that up. However, Eco-complete is much easier to deal with and you should be able to add it without disturbing the tank too much. You may want to take a look at the article about changing your substrate to give you some idea of how to proceed.
Also keep in mind that this is only necessary for plants that need to be rooted. As Travis mentioned before, there are plenty of plants that won't care.

[greenmaji]

Eco-Complete is a porus substrate were florite is a fired clay material..

[TomK2]

Yes, it takes some time to come around to the planted tank thing. If you are not ready now, no problem. Later, you could do a low tech, low light (1.5 wpg) in your current set up and substrate. Then if you like it and have some success, you can always consider a high light, co2 system later. Yes, it is a little easier to do a low light tank with a plant substrate, but not essential. Maybe you will never use plants, the silk and plastic ones these days are really nice.

for now, enjoy your tank, and to each his own!

[crazycat]

i've combined flourite with eco-complete--looks really nice--but flourite is cloudy for a LONG time, and gets the water all cloudy after every water change for months! my 125g is has eco-complete with natural river stones (the small ones) in 2 colors (dark and light) and looks really nice. my plants haven't had any problems rooting and seem to do fine with the gravel on top of the eco-complete.