First planted tank

[Laird-and-Dad]

Hi! I just got a thirty gallon aquarium, and was looking to do a low-medium light planted tank. This is my first planted tank, and had a couple questions to start me off.

1) I was thinking about doing a pfs substrate. I have read that if you are going to do a carpet type plant like I wanted to, you shouldn't use pfs because you can't insert root tabs. Is this true? Do I even need root tabs? If this is true, what substrates do I need?

2) I bought this tank on Craigslist, and it came with two hoods. One is 20 watts and the other is 30. To obtain the wattage necessary to grow anything but extremely low light plants, the original owner used both. The tank did not come with a top. Do I need a top? If not, how would I go about mounting the hoods to the tank? One of them is thirty inches, and the other is 36 inches. The tank is 36 in.

3) The tank came with a Fluval AquaClear HOB filter rated for 30 gallons. I intend to supplement that with a DIY sponge filter, but I was wondering in what order to stack the media (i.e. Carbon on the bottom, then two sponges, or sponges on the bottom and then the carbon)?

4) I will be dosing with Flourish and adding root tabs. Should I also add CO2? Pressurized or DIY? I see the sticky for pressurized, but could someone direct me to an article on how to set up a DIY CO2 system? What would be the advantages of doing DIY over pressurized?

5) What plants would be good in a 30 gal with 50 watts lighting? Any red plants?

Any other advice about going planted? I will definitely have more questions along the way. Thanks!

-Laird

 

[RadMax8]

I can answer no. 3 for you. I would go with a filter media mix of a sponge, Purigen, and bio max. See if you can fit the bio max from the AC 50 into the media tray.

The sponge takes out the large particles, the Purigen removes the organic stuff, and the bio max will harbor bacteria which removes ammonia.


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[Laird-and-Dad]

Thank you! I will look for biomax and purigen. So should I not use activated carbon?

 

[RadMax8]

Activated carbon has it's place, typically when trying to remove medication from the tank. The downside to carbon is it has a relatively short lifespan. As standard chemical filtration, Purigen is a better product. It is easy to see when Purigen is used up (it turns brown), and you can "recharge" it a few times before replacing it.


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[Laird-and-Dad]

Ok thank you! Here's a picture of the tank.


Filter:

 

[Laird-and-Dad]

Anyone have any ideas for substrate? Should I use that plant substrate?

 

[BTM88]

1. Pool filter sand will be fine for your needs. Root tabs can be used also without any problems, I used them myself when my planted tank had PFS as the substrate. You can also dose Seachem Flourish if you have plants that use the water column for nutrients.
2. As for the light, Watts per gallon is an outdated measurement of light for planted tanks. Par value is a better indication of the capabilities of the light. If you use the standard hood lights you will have low light which will be good if you want a lower maintenance planted set up.
3. I have a AC50 HOB filter. My filter media is sponge bottom, filter floss middle, bio media on top.
4. Like I said in #1, root tabs are a go for you and Flourish will help you a lot. CO2 will be beneficial for your plants if you want to take your planted aquarium game up a notch. DIY CO2 is very easy here is a good article for the basics DIY Yeast CO2 - The Planted Tank
5. Here is a list of 9 plants that are good for low light, low maintenance planted tanks.
9 Best Freshwater Aquarium Plants for Beginners | Home Aquaria

I personally would check into your lighting, I have a feeling the light you have will not give you the results you want. Here are 2 good articles to read for some info on lighting and what you can choose from from CFL, T5, T8, LED, and Normal Output vs High Output lighting in reference to T5 and T8 bulbs.
LED Lighting Compendium
Lighting an Aquarium with PAR instead of Watts

 

[Laird-and-Dad]

Thank you so much! Very helpful!

 

[Laird-and-Dad]

Ok. So I just put in the pfs and the water. How long should it take for the dust in the water to settle?

 

[Fresh2o]

It may take a few days. You can perform a large water change to help with the clarity. Note: when moving the sand (I was going to say "Level that sand") it's a good idea to shut off the filter. This will prevent it from picking up sand and damaging the impeller magnet/assembly.
Saw your DIY cover on another thread. Nice job with that!


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[Laird-and-Dad]

Ok. I don't have the filter running right now, I figure it can do more harm than good. I'll do the large wc today, I'll post a picture of the clarity. Also, thanks about the cover!

 

[Laird-and-Dad]

I recently got a nice piece of driftwood from a lake. Since there are no fish in the tank, can I soak it in there? I want to use it in this tank at some point.

Could I just put it in? It's too big to boil.

 

[Fresh2o]

You could put it in the tank to soak. My only concern would be the introduction of undesirable organisms. Did you find it in the water or on dry land. You could try putting it into a large trashbag and pouring in a bottle of hydrogen peroxide to kill any hitch hikers.
Really no telling how buoyant it is and how long it will float. You could get a small piece of slate and drive a stainless steel screw through it and the DW. The slate can be buried in the sand.


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[Laird-and-Dad]

I found it on dry land, so I put it in the tank to soak. I probably should have coated with peroxide, but I could probably put some in the tank? Then do lots of pwc? Or just wait and see?

Thanks!

 

[Fresh2o]

You would have to add a lot of peroxide to the tank to make it effective. I'd just go with what you got now.


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[Laird-and-Dad]

Okay. Thanks!

 

[meese-a-mew]

To answer your co2 questions. I would not put co2 in that tank (excel is ok) but not injected co2. There is really no point in having co2 when your WPG is so low. Planted tanks are really tanks that need balance. If you have high light then you need co2 because the plants want to take in more co2. If you have lower light and you inject co2, the plants won't "eat" it fast enough because the low lights don't really provoke the plants to do it.
This is my opinion so if you want to you can but I would recommend not to do injected co2


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[Laird-and-Dad]

Ok. I'll see what happens. I'll try some plants with, some without. I'd like to get some better lights in the future though. Thanks so much for all the feedback!

 

[Mattyfelts]

bowl the dw you found. you dont know what nasty chemicals it could have soaked or what could be in it you dont wanna introduce into the tank

 

[Sk3lly]

Co2 in my opinion will never hurt a tank. The introduction of pressurised co2 is only a good think for plants. It actually helps to reduce algae.

Most algae problems are caused by lighting and fert issues


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