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Fishcraze

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Jul 4, 2016
Messages
31
Ah, full circle once again lol. I have been a long time saltwater aquarist but I was seriously burnt out and gave it up several years ago. I have convinced the wife though that maybe it's time to try a smaller freshwater tank and see how it goes.

So the fun part begins......buying equipment lol! I don't think it's going to cost anywhere near what my saltwater equipment cost me. In fact, I was just looking over lights and I'm relieved to not be spending thousands this go around. I w bought a 45 gallon tank from a seller online. It's 24" deep and I'm planning on keeping live plants so yea, just looking over the LED options. I think I'm going to pull the trigger on a Finnex Ray2 36" fixture. Hoping that it will provide the light I need while still being aesthetically pleasing.


I guess I will ask my first question while I'm here. I did look over the various substrates for live plants but it seems that there is no perfect answer. Some have even opted to mix substrate types. In any case, I don't know exactly what I'm going to plant yet. I thought I would start with some hearty plants I saw in tubes at Petsmart. Any suggestions on a good general substrate would be appreciated as well as thickness.


Thanks again and I'll see ya around,


John
 
Hi John, welcome to the forum :)

55 gallon elephant nose tank.
30 gallon boraras ,bamboo shrimp, crs,rcs and different snails.
 
I guess I will ask my first question while I'm here. I did look over the various substrates for live plants but it seems that there is no perfect answer. Some have even opted to mix substrate types. In any case, I don't know exactly what I'm going to plant yet. I thought I would start with some hearty plants I saw in tubes at Petsmart. Any suggestions on a good general substrate would be appreciated as well as thickness.

:welcome:

Glad you could join us here and that it's on the "green" side of the hobby. :)

I think you like the Finnex lights. I have a "Planted+" on my 20g-long and I'm very happy with it. The kind of plants you can grow with yours depends a lot on the distance from the lights to the substrate -- what are the dimensions of the tank?

Since you're just getting into plants, you'll probably do best to start with the low to medium-light plants that don't need added CO2, plants such as anubias, java fern and java moss, and the various cryptocorynes. Look for videos by a user named "Pecktec" on YouTube: he's done some great things with these plants.

There is a wealth of substrates on the market, aren't there? With the plants I described above, you really won't need a dedicated-to-plants substrate, though you'll want to get some root tabs for the crypts and Amazon swords, if you get one of those. I like about 1.5-2" of substrate in a tank.

And be sure to start a "build" thread (with pics) for this tank. :)
 
:welcome:

what are the dimensions of the tank?

Hi Barliman and thanks for taking the time to reply. It's a busy world out there and it's nice to know there are helpful people around. The dimensions of my tank are 13"L x 36"W x 24"H. I realize this is not ideal. I remember having a similar shape in the past and hated the depth fron to back. Also, with this depth, it makes it a little harder to work on. Nonetheless, I got the tank, stand and equipment for $100 so I can't really complain. It's an Aqueon brand from Petsmart. I guess I can't really count the equipment since it's all going in the trash. I want the tank as close to the wall as possible so I will not be using the HoB filter. There is a canister made by Cascade that seems popular. It is said to pump 100g an hour so I think that will work good for this 45g. But I won't bore everyone with the details here.

Regarding the substrate, I was asking because there are four that I have narrowed it down to but can't decide beyond that. The four are:

EcoComplete
Fluorite
Laterite
Aquasoil

Thanks for the advice on starting a tank thread. I will take my ramblings over there. Peace! ?
 
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