Multiple plant questions

[Tommy10]

I am new to plants and have committed to converting my 26 gallon Bowfront to plants. I have a couple new question.

I am going to buy 1 or 2 20lbs bags of Carib sea Eco complete- I'm wondering if its the right stuff and all I need, also if 1 or 2 bags are necessary?

I am going to buy a Hagen 15 watt flora glo fluorescent- is this enough? If not what do u suggest- without replacing the hood.

-what type of plants specifically would work for this set up? And for a beginner- I also am hoping to purchase some Malaysian driftwood to tie plants to or as decoration? Is this the right wood? If not what would you recommend?

-what chemicals or general maintenance items will I need? That are completely necessary?

Sorry for the hassle, hope I can receive some quality answers thanks in advance


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[Brian_Nano12g]

Hi Tommy,

We have a 26g bow front at my parent's house. I'd say at least 2 bags of eco complete. You'd want at least 2 to 3" of substrate depth. Eco Complete is somewhat inert with only trace elements. So I'd recommend placing some flourish tabs throughout the substrate during initial setup. After a while, the highly porous nature of EC will absorb nutrients via fertilizer dosing and fish waste. EC has a high CEC (cation exchange capacity) which allows it to become more fertile overtime.

As for lighting, I don't think that light is capable for anything other than fish viewing. You can switch out the stock light for a Finnex Planted+. It will fit right on that glass on the stock hood and provide enough light (PAR) for at least low light to low-medium light tolerant plants. The 26g BF is fairly tall, so light penetration is somewhat challenging. But if you want medium light, a Finnex Ray 2 would work but you'd need CO2 or heavy glut dosing. So for beginners, I'd go with the less powerful but better spectrum color, Finnex planted+.

You can start with plants like crypts, Amazon sword, red tiger lotus, mosses, anubias, vals, dwarf sag, marislea crenata or minuta, java fern, narrow leaf microsword, water wisteria, etc. Many more low to medium-low plants available.

You can start with a dosing regimen of liquid ferts to get comfortable. Seachem flourish and excel is a good start. Eventually switch to dry ferts PPS-Pro method as it's more comprehensive and cheaper.

Hope this helps!

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Oh to answer your other questions..

Yes, Malaysian DW is very good. It just needs a good boiling to help get rid of the tannins. Manzanita is another good DW if you like the branchy look.

They sell an aquascaping kit in Amazon and eBay. Comes with long scissors and tweezers. It's a great starter kit and comes in handy for shaping the substrate, trimming the plants, and planting them. Looks like this, but you can shop around and find a better deal probably.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00DU...200_QL40&qid=1405407327&sr=8-1#ref=mp_s_a_1_1


And here's how the Finnex looks in the stock hood of the 26g bf. Fits perfectly.

 

[Tommy10]

Hi Tommy,

We have a 26g bow front at my parent's house. I'd say at least 2 bags of eco complete. You'd want at least 2 to 3" of substrate depth. Eco Complete is somewhat inert with only trace elements. So I'd recommend placing some flourish tabs throughout the substrate during initial setup. After a while, the highly porous nature of EC will absorb nutrients via fertilizer dosing and fish waste. EC has a high CEC (cation exchange capacity) which allows it to become more fertile overtime.

As for lighting, I don't think that light is capable for anything other than fish viewing. You can switch out the stock light for a Finnex Planted+. It will fit right on that glass on the stock hood and provide enough light (PAR) for at least low light to low-medium light tolerant plants. The 26g BF is fairly tall, so light penetration is somewhat challenging. But if you want medium light, a Finnex Ray 2 would work but you'd need CO2 or heavy glut dosing. So for beginners, I'd go with the less powerful but better spectrum color, Finnex planted+.

You can start with plants like crypts, Amazon sword, red tiger lotus, mosses, anubias, vals, dwarf sag, marislea crenata or minuta, java fern, narrow leaf microsword, water wisteria, etc. Many more low to medium-low plants available.

You can start with a dosing regimen of liquid ferts to get comfortable. Seachem flourish and excel is a good start. Eventually switch to dry ferts PPS-Pro method as it's more comprehensive and cheaper.

Hope this helps!

Awesome! Thanks for all ur help. But I am having second thoughts about changing my substrate... Is there any way at all to run a succesful planted tank with gravel?


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[Brookster123]

Before I knew any better.. 1.5" of small pea gravel..

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[Brian_Nano12g]

I started with gravel at first when I transitioned from fake plants to real ones. IMO, it's so worth it to change it now as opposed to later. Gravel is okay for low light plants I suppose. But it's really tough for plants to root in. Probably the only exception would be like Brookster's pea gravel due to its smaller size. But standard gravel was a pain IME.

 

[Brookster123]

I would definitely recommend switching now, once it all grows in it makes that much more of a process.. that tank of mine is long over due for a substrate swap, any runners that fly out have to be manually buried which is a pita in the gravel, i also can't use the good mebbid root tabs s because they'd pollute the water..

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[Tommy10]

I would definitely recommend switching now, once it all grows in it makes that much more of a process.. that tank of mine is long over due for a substrate swap, any runners that fly out have to be manually buried which is a pita in the gravel, i also can't use the good mebbid root tabs s because they'd pollute the water..

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I decided against switching... My gravel is like brooks years though so hopefully I can turn out like his. What kind of plants are those?


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[Brookster123]

From back left to right.. rotala rotundifolia, bacopa coralina, Ludwiga repens, middle is ar cardinales and narrow leaf chain sword everywhere, front right is vesuvias. .

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