Bro, do you even aquarium?

[AquariumBot3000]

So I watched this show Tanked. It pretty much got me hooked on getting an aquarium. I got a 55 Gallon long aquarium and am cycling it now. I currently have a few plants of various shapes and sizes and probably care levels as well. I dont know off the top of my head because I am at work. Ill update later if anyone really wants to know.

I was originally planning to do a low light, no CO2 and no fertilizer aquarium. After reading a lot, I discovered that doing this sort of thing is kinda like trying to put a square block through a round hole. While it is possible, the hole needs to be big enough for the square to fit through.

So I'm going to pony up and get the fertilizers and CO2 required. CO2 kit I should have running by the end of the week. Lighting I will upgrade very soon as well to match a 2WpG rule using the DIY kit from AHSupply and doing a x2 54Watt Linear kit and x2 54W 6500k bulbs.

I think I got the CO2 figured out. The only questions I have are on the fertilizers and how much to apply. Ive read about the Estimated Index and that sounds great but I still have lots of questions about it. For example:

How do you test PPM for each of the elements?
What if your tank isnt heavily planted and is lightly planted, does that affect the amount of fertilizer you apply?
Dry or liquid fertilizer? Pros and Cons of each?

Other questions I have:
Why are my my small grass like plants melting that were propogated from my friends tank? Is it because his tank has CO2 and is fully cycled and mine isn't?

Someday I will learn to embed pictures but for now, attached is my tank. Thanks for your time and if anyone reading this could direct me in the right place for the answers to my questions, that would be neat-o. If not, nice meeting you, have a great day. In the future, I am in the philly area and might be interested in trading items. Who knows?

Heres a blue man stripping on a thank you pole.

 

[AquariumBot3000]

Also, I started cycling about a week ago. Plants were introduced 3 days ago.

 

[herp_mommy]

Welcome to the forum! You seem to know a great deal already. The Freshwater- Getting Started and Freshwater- Planted Tanks categories can help you with specific questions. Only thing I can comment on is that some plants don't handle ammonia well, and can die off during the cycling process.

 

[Proflooney]

ditto herp mommy a couple guys told me to hold off on my plants til after my aquarium is cycled

 

[AquariumBot3000]

Welcome to the forum! You seem to know a great deal already. The Freshwater- Getting Started and Freshwater- Planted Tanks categories can help you with specific questions. Only thing I can comment on is that some plants don't handle ammonia well, and can die off during the cycling process.

Thanks for the heads up, I'll prepare to lose a few I guess. In the meantime I'll keep getting and setting up the missing equipment to make my plants all happy.

 

[jeh1487]

why would you go with a FW live plant tank just wondering when i got hooked it was SW all the way

 

[Proflooney]

i want a salt water tank but atm its way too costly easier to do fresh water and cheaper at least for me

 

[AquariumBot3000]

For sure its too expensive for me to be getting the SW. Plus, its kinda like gambling, only take as much money as your willing to give away. I dont wanna spend so much money, just to screw up some expensive coral, live rock and really spendy fishies. If I'm going to screw up, I'm going to screw up with 2 dollar plants and fishies.

 

[jeh1487]

i want a salt water tank but atm its way too costly easier to do fresh water and cheaper at least for me

I set up my SW tank for 200 bucks craigslist is awesome including live rock

 

[AquariumBot3000]

I set up my SW tank for 200 bucks craigslist is awesome including live rock

Its tough to find some legitimate things on craigslist though. On CL Philadelphia, I find alot of scammers. They look legit but then they email you back and say "hey sorry, just sold it, but this is the website i got them from xxxadult.com"

I wish CL was more reliable these days.

 

[Mebbid]

why would you go with a FW live plant tank just wondering when i got hooked it was SW all the way

I have both a reef and a heavily planted tank and honestly I switch back and forth between which one I like more on an almost weekly basis.


The EI standard dosing is meant for a fairly heavily planted tank. You can easily adjust the amount you are dosing to what your aquarium needs; for example I am dosing an extra 25% of the potassium my dosing schedule recommends because my plants were showing a bit of a deficiency. Once you get used to handling plants you will notice specific differences in the plants when there is a deficiency.

As for testing the ferts, you generally don't test for anything but nitrate and phosphate. Potassium is quite benign and isn't harmful and micro ferts are the same way. The weekly water change is there to "Reset" your nutrient levels back to keep them from getting too high.

Dry ferts: Cheaper and more customizable.
Liquid ferts: Often lacking certain ferts, more expensive, and easier.

The small grass like plant is likely Dwarf hair grass which needs high lighting and usually needs co2 to thrive. Plants will also go through a break in period when getting used to your tank. The plants could have also gone through temperature shock from getting too cold or too hot making some of their leaves die.

 

[Proflooney]

agreed cl is crap around herre too besides i rarely buy used i never want someone elses probs i try new as much as possible. plus its supposedly hard to keep saltwater tanks and i need to learn fresh before going salt

 

[AquariumBot3000]

Thanks Mebbid for the great advice! I appreciate it. Ill post more pictures when its established and everything.