6th tank, sage advise needed

[Brookster123]

I was referring to actual carpet plants not wisteria turned on its side lol


Caleb

~10g 7 ghost shrimp, Betta,2 ADF
~45g Rescaped! 5 White skirt tetras, 5 green Corys, 3 pandas, 1 peacock Gudgeon.
~75g NEW! dojo loach, 5 black Skirt Tetras, 5 cherry barbs, live plants

Me too!! There is a quite a few though.. technically anubias can be a carpet plant. I'm guessing op is looking into something a little more demanding though! The pursuit of a lush, healthy carpet can be maddening at times.. I'm still chasing stupid dhg..

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[Eggheadfish]

Brooks you're giving me agita with that price estimate. I was thinking more like Glossostigma elatinoides, eleocharis acicularis, or marsilea minuta. I thought about dwarf baby tears but for the cost and needs I don't want to murder them.
Others on the list for consideration:
Hygrophila pinnatifida
Cryptocoryne parva
Glossostigma
Camboba
Hornwort
Myriophyllum
Some kind of moss, flame maybe

Edit: carpet doesn't have to be pristine but I want sections of covered substrate, even sparsely is ok

 

[Brookster123]

Glosso.. how could I forget.. tried that too.. my gbr ate all of it before I could kill it!! Bahhh... you're really going for the gusto star repens are a sweet carpet start up.. you may have that already though??

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[Eggheadfish]

No I've never tried them but might be willing. I really really like the glosso though. That was my top choice. Is that gonna get my wallet in trouble too?? Seriously what if I only plant it at the higher points like five or six inches up. Heeeelp
I don't mean to be stubborn I just really wanted to try something challenging without copying any of you guys
What about the other ones mentioned, any thoughts/issues?

 

[ImACoolguy]

I got some star Repens on the way hoping I can get them growing good just just my Finnex.


Caleb

~10g 7 ghost shrimp, Betta,2 ADF
~45g Rescaped! 5 White skirt tetras, 5 green Corys, 3 pandas, 1 peacock Gudgeon.
~75g NEW! dojo loach, 5 black Skirt Tetras, 5 cherry barbs, live plants

 

[Brookster123]

Challenging is good and fine! setting yourself up for success is paramount though. I would not attempt any fine leaf carpeting plant in a tank that tall. I'd stick.with downoi and star repens..

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[Eggheadfish]

Ok Brooks. You are the expert and I will listen
What about the other stuff I mentioned? Ok for the height or no? Suggested lighting?

 

[Brookster123]

Ok Brooks. You are the expert and I will listen
What about the other stuff I mentioned? Ok for the height or no? Suggested lighting?

No way! Hack at best... I'll have to Google all those plants. All those tall stem should do.fine under med. Light.

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[Eggheadfish]

Ok cool, I won't be using them all, the ones that have similar structure I was just trying to find options, I'll also probably use cuttings from my ammania too if that would be ok. I'm thinking 4-5 different types of plants at most
Edit: I like the downoi, I'll add that on. Nix the hornwort I would rather stock with the camboba or something similar.

 

[PerfectDepth]

Have you thought about dosing glut? That would be the best way to accomplish what you're after if you don't want a co2 system, even with low to medium light.

The challenging thing about taller tanks with medium to low light is the greater difference in PAR at the substrate vs. near the surface. It can be done, but the plants near the bottom will definitely struggle more without extra carbon. With glut or co2, the plants can focus the limited amount of light energy toward photosynthesis (instead of using up a portion of it competing for carbon).

If I were to do a 40h low light build with no glut or co2, I'd do a crypt tank of various types and colors, taller ones like balansae and spiralis for the back, shorter ones in front. Maybe some driftwood with moss.. anubias attached to the wood would do well too if you want something besides just crypts.


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[Eggheadfish]

Hi Perfect,
Forgive me, I'm not anywhere near plant savvy, I assume by glut you mean a liquid carbon source? I'm happy to do so if it makes sense...I just wasn't ready to invest in pressurized CO2 and I didn't think that DIY was appropriate in this scenario based on the tank size. I know that no matter what it's about creating the right balance, but to the same point I don't want to get overly frustrated if I'm not successful. It's something I will keep in mind as I move forward. I am completely a noob to this kind of setup.
Is there some rule about light versus CO2 or liquid carbon, ferts, etc like a guideline?

 

[Fresh2o]

Glutaraldehyde is pretty cost effective by the gallon. You can use it for a daily carbon source and for spot treating various algae problems.
As for lighting, the more light, the greater the need for ferts and carbon. That's pretty high level. Hopefully others will comment on the necessity of each in terms of low, medium, and high lighting.


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[PerfectDepth]

Yeah, sorry. Glut = liquid carbon such as Flourish Excel, API CO2 Booster, and another alternative is metricide 14, which is roughly twice as concentrated and also costs less.

The general guideline is that ideally the light level should be the limiting factor. In other words, plant growth should be limited by the amount of available light energy instead of being limited by insufficient CO2 and/or nutrients.

 

[mikem691]

Another awesome thread....Following!

 

[Eggheadfish]

Thanks guys.
So do you think it's better to upgrade lighting and dose carbon or change up the planned plants and stay low tech?
I can get pretty high wpg with the CFLs I just don't know what the PAR is sufficient for in terms of plants in that depth, but no sense of cranking a bunch of them on there if it won't do much for high need plants in the long run. All in all sounds like I may need to tone it down with regards to the plants.
I just really wanted to know what the better option is before I start
The only experience I have is with a smaller tank, running about 46w CFL (equivalent to over 200w I guess?) and dosing Leaf Zone and Seachem Flourish Comp weekly. The lower light plants like the java fern got overrun with algae, but the bacopa and ammania are doing awesome. I get a decent amount of surface agitation from the sponge filter but haven't messed with any carbon dosing. I was kind of hoping to replicate or ramp that up in a bigger tank but need help on the depth versus lighting.

 

[treemanone2003]

No prob! Any info you squeeze from Brookster is valuable for me as well

I say road trip to Brooksters'. We could "gently" shake him for all the info he has and load some tanks and equipment after tying him up. After all, he's probably trapped and quite bored with 10' of snow up there. Sure he could use some beer as well !!


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[Eggheadfish]

Hahahahaha I'm in
I'll bring cookies!

 

[Brookster123]

Bring beer and a snow blower?? May actually answer the door.. heheh...

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[Eggheadfish]

Haha
I'll post some more when I have something going on. I was too lazy to work on the tank tonight. I guess I'll stick with the CFL and work out the plants as I get to it. Might be asking to buy some when the weather stops being a jerk

 

[Timber Wolf]

I haven't read the whole thread so I'm sorry if I repeat something.

Your on the right track with the MTS as part of your substrate, but don't use playground sand. Stick with pool or blasting sand. I have found that playground sand is too good of a cap for the MTS. It can become compacted and doesn't allow water to move nutrients around, and it is easily lifted by gravel vacs and filters. Worse case scenario, you get a healthy colony of anaerobic bacteria, mildew and nematodes.

Also, refrain from building up your substrate too much. With your MTS on the very bottom, your plants may not be able to grow roots down far enough for the nutrients to be of any use to them. You will need to use root tabs as a supplement in the beginning. I also use diy root tabs filled with rooting hormone when I plant new plants.

I also find lighting to be a mystery. There is the watts per gallon rule, but where I get lost is trying to figure out if the different types of lighting are equal.

I hope this is helpful.