Plans for my first planted tank

[Pandy]

Hi guys and girls,

I shall be receiving my new tank later this week so would like to get myself prepared for setting it up for real plants, and i would appreciate it if you could look over my plans and see if you think it would work please

I dont want to go for a high maintenance tank, maybe some tall plants at the rear with some nice swords around the rockwork, and gradually reduce the size towards the front of the tank.

1. The tank itself is a Juwel Lido 120 so is 610mm (w) x 580mm (h) x 410mm (d), and comes with the newer High-Lite light unit which comprises of 2 x 24w lamps.

Do you think i will have enough light output to reach the lower foreground plants?

2. I will add a 20mm layer of Tetra Plant Complete Substrate underneath a 20-30mm layer of 2-3mm gravel.

Do i still need to dose with a fertiliser such as Tetra PlantaMin?

3. I have started to gather the parts to make a DIY Co2 kit, and would be looking at either the spiral diffuser or a forced reactor (which may also add a little to the filter capacity i believe)

Would that be too much Co2 injection? As i have read that it may be detrimental to the fish if they can't dispell their own Co2?

Thanks for the help

Andy

 

[Coursair]

If you plants Swords or Crypts I would add root tabs to substrate as both are heavy root feeders.

I use sand rather than gravel mostly these days, easier for me to plant in and my Corydoras like it. I use Malaysian Trumpet Snails to aerate the sand.

You can see pics of my tanks on my profile page.

 

[fort384]

Sounds like a good amount of light, depending on the species of plants you select.

DIY CO2 should work fine with this setup - while it is possible to overdose CO2, it is difficult to do that with a DIY system... unless the system is ridiculously over-sized. It takes a very high amount of CO2 harm your stock - higher than most people think.

As far as ferts - it all depends on your plant selections. Most likely, at some point you are going to need to dose something, whether that be N, P, K, micros, or a combination of them.

 

[Pandy]

Thanks for the input guys

I went with black sand in the end as i wasnt keen on the gravel i purchased, will this seep through the plant substrate or will i be ok?

I also purchased some root tabs and the liquid fertiliser so hopefully i can have a positive experience with live plants

Am i ok to plant whilst cycling the tank? I will look at adding the Co2 soon as well.

Thanks
Andy

 

[Coursair]

Thanks for the input guys

I went with black sand in the end as i wasnt keen on the gravel i purchased, will this seep through the plant substrate or will i be ok?

I also purchased some root tabs and the liquid fertiliser so hopefully i can have a positive experience with live plants

Am i ok to plant whilst cycling the tank? I will look at adding the Co2 soon as well.

Thanks
Andy

Plants while cycling YES !!!! Plant fairly heavily if you can.