Want to start a planted tank but don't know how!

[KaylNeko]

Sorry it took a while to reply.

If I did the gooseneck lamp lighting would a 40 watt bulb be bright enough? I've been watching the betta and he seems fairly peaceful so I don't think he'll bother shrimp.

I have heard that fluorite clouds water really easily, how would I switch my substrate without this happening, and how many 7Kg bags would I need?

Thanks for all the help so far!

For the amount of fluorite, google aquarium substrate calculator--they're all over the place. plantedtank.net has one that I usually use (I dunno if AA has one). I'm not sure you can keep it from being cloudy if it tends towards that, but not that familiar with the substrate.

40w would work. How much light the tank is actually getting depends on how far away the bulb is, so pick a height above the the water line (6 inches, maybe?) and adjust accordingly depending on how your plants are doing and how much the algae is taking over. (I personally wouldn't use the diatom bloom to determine there's too much light--I'm low light with fast growing plants and my tank still is getting taken over by diatoms fairly quickly. Since I'm as low tech as you can get, I just scrape it as needed off the front glass ).

 

[Maxkolbe]

I was asking about wats because I was trying to figure out what lamp to get, sorry. do they sell plant specific cfl bulbs, that would make the process a lot easier.

While looking at Bob's tropical plants I noticed they had their own substrate which they claim can absorb more nutrients than either fluorite or eco complete, has anyone used this before. It was fairly cheap so I'm kind of wary.

 

[KaylNeko]

The amount of nutrients that can be absorbed depends on the CEC rating, which fluorite and eco-complete are both high. Looking at the picture they had of Bob's, I wouldn't expect it to be that much higher, if it is--it looks like crushed granite or slate to me, which isn't porous. It also depends on grain size--if it's larger than eco or fluorite, I wouldn't bother. Other than that, if you want to give it a shot, you can maybe give a review.

As for the bulbs, go for daylight rating rather than worrying about plant specific cfl's.

If you get 20w, you'll probably need it right on top of the tank. 30 to 40 watts, you have more leeway, so I, personally, would go for a 40w. You can always lift it higher from the top of the tank if using a gooseneck lamp.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Maybe I'll do a mix of the two.

Saw a plant I thought would work for the foreground "carpet" would dwarf hair grass be an OK plant. If you trim it like you do terrestrial grass I thought I could keep it around an inch tall.

So here's my stock so far

Fish-
Spot the betta
10-20 RCS
1 Otto
Netrite snails (would they get out of control?)

Plants
Cambodia
Baby tears
Dwarf hair grass (maybe?)
Some floating plant like duckweed or water lettuce

I am still looking for a feature plant so ideas are needed there. I was thinking either a peace Lilly if they flower underwater or something in the red color spectrum.

I do like red tiger lotus since it would also provide shade and this will be an open top tank but I believe ten gallons is too small. Could you keep it from growing too large by removing the largest leaves? (kind of like a bonsai tree)

Once again thanks for all the help so far, I'll be sure to post some pictures once I'm done )

 

[KaylNeko]

Don't think peace lilys flower underwater--they're a terrestrial plant mostly that people use in ripariums, but not completely submerged. For the lotus, I've definitely heard of people training their lotus to grow more compactly by trimming the longer leaves as they appear.

If you want to spend the time to trim, dwarf hairgrass would probably work well. You can also take a look at glossostigma...it'll stay lower, but won't give a grass look as much as a clover field look.

 

[Maxkolbe]

I looked at glossostigma and liked the way it looked but read that it prefers soft water and ours is Very hard. By the way, could you post some pictures of your tank, I like to get some ideas for aquascaping.

 

[KaylNeko]

Everything I've read, it's a hardy plant so shouldn't be a problem. And sure.

Didn't use ground cover plants...not enough light. I have micro sword, but they've pretty much stayed in their bunches and survived but not spread any.

10 gallon Betta tank:

Anubias in the center, Amazon Sword in the back right corner by the filter. That's 3 Anubias plants, though they're trying to grow together *lol* The floating plant is hornwort.


55 gallon

Wisteria in the front left corner, Jungle Val in the back. Micro Sword in front of the cave, anacharis behind it. Anubias and Java fern on rocks, cave, and driftwood. Aponogeton grown from a bulb and Bacopa/moneywort on the right side of the driftwood, and then Amazon Swords in the back right corner. Hornwort the floating plant again.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Very nice tanks. I really like the swords. Might have to get one of those.

Looked on amazon, shipping for 20lbs of Eco-complete is only six dollars. YES! Guess I'll be using that

For ferts I was thinking flourish, flourish tabs, and Hagen Co2. Would I need anything else? I do have some API leaf zone that I've been using for Anibias but it seems to have only two different nutrients so I'll be ordering the flourish.

Gotta love the Internet, I'll be ordering this after vacation and probably save about 50 dollars!

Saw some blood red cherry shrimp, can you mix them with regular cherry shrimp? I really like the color but don't want to fork out the money for ten of them.

 

[Coursair]

For floating plants I LOVE my Amazon Frogbit. Duckweed grows so fast it's annoying.

I have a Crypt wendtii Mi Oya as my centerpiece.

Just watch out for algae, going high light you'll have to see if the Hagen CO2 will keep up with 40w

Yes you can mix Fire Reds with regular Cherries, but you may lose a lot of color when they mix. Same species so they will breed.

 

[KaylNeko]

Very nice tanks. I really like the swords. Might have to get one of those.

Looked on amazon, shipping for 20lbs of Eco-complete is only six dollars. YES! Guess I'll be using that

For ferts I was thinking flourish, flourish tabs, and Hagen Co2. Would I need anything else? I do have some API leaf zone that I've been using for Anibias but it seems to have only two different nutrients so I'll be ordering the flourish.

Gotta love the Internet, I'll be ordering this after vacation and probably save about 50 dollars!

Saw some blood red cherry shrimp, can you mix them with regular cherry shrimp? I really like the color but don't want to fork out the money for ten of them.

Thanks ^_^

Ferts sound good to me. My swords really like the flourish root tabs, and I don't dose water column ferts. Probably could, but it'd require more light and adding co2...I like my low tech. *lol* Eager to see what yours turns out to look like.

+1 on the shrimp. Blood red cherry is probably what they labeled the shrimp within the two top grades of cherry shrimp color (you'll also see Fire Red), which is why they're more expensive--folks work to produce them. You can definitely mix, but you'll lose the color in the next generation or two. You'll improve the other shrimps colors, but lose the highest quality, so depending on whether you care would decide.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Maybe I'll get about five blood red and let them breed.

What plant / shrimp dealers would you recomend? I wanted to order from Bob's tropical plants but he's in California and I'd like to order from someone closer to the Illinois area.
Took another look at the tiger lotus, apparently in open top tanks it will flower at the surface

 

[Maxkolbe]

Since this is going to be an open top tank I think I might change out the cambodia for water sprite since I read somewhere that it will grow above the surface, it also seems hardier and has the same general leaf structure. I wanted to get netrite snails for some alage control but was wondering if they would crawl out of the tank? Is there a risk of this happening?

 

[KaylNeko]

Yes, it's a risk. Folks have kept them in open tops just fine, but I've heard reports of them "committing suicide" as well.

 

[Maxkolbe]

Maybe I'll get a glass top. I just read that if the air is not warm/humid enough a betta can develop Problems from breathing the air.

 

[Coursair]

Yes, it's a risk. Folks have kept them in open tops just fine, but I've heard reports of them "committing suicide" as well.

My Nerites stay in my rimless tank just fine. But I keep the water nice.

 

[fort384]

I think you would be fine with glosso. My water was not particularly soft and it grew fine in my tank:

I found glosso to be one of the easiest ground covers to grow.

 

[Maxkolbe]

I got the API liquid hardness test and it took TWICE the max amount of drops on the chart. I do like the look of dwarf hair grass though, small leaves should help the tank look bigger.

 

[fort384]

Yes - I like the look of hair grass a little better for a small tank. Here is my other 5.5 with hair grass as a foreground.

 

[Coursair]

Maybe I'll get a glass top. I just read that if the air is not warm/humid enough a betta can develop Problems from breathing the air.

A Betta may be fine in a open topped tank. Get a heater. I had floating plants and a quiet house, so mine wasn't a jumper.

BUT Bettas will almost always EAT your Shrimp !! They are not safe tankmates.
A few Bettas have been fine so far. Mine killed all my Shrimp in one day. I only put 6 in with him, lots of plants, he ate them.

 

[Maxkolbe]

If I don't get shrimp what would be a good scavenger to keep the hair grass clean? And Are there any schooling fish that would work in a 10 gallon with hard water. I'd like some more movement in the tank. I looked at ember tetras but they, like most tetras, prefer soft acidic water.