Substrate

[SierraReef]

I'm going to be starting up a planted tank, but I'm somewhat nervous. I got bad advice starting a reef tank and it is progressing but not without trials and tribulations. I will proceed much slower with a planted tank and hopefully avoid some mistakes.

I'll be using a 50G glass aquarium. Here are some of my thoughts and any advice would be appreciated.

1. Are there any good, thourough books regarding planted aquariums? I've got a couple but both are vague and more into showing pictures of particular tanks.

2. Substrate. I have 2 boxes of laterite - the box says use 1 ounce for every gallon and it's a 50G box so I intend to use it all. Then it says to mix it with gravel. I've read some good things about Onyx sand. Would combining the 2 be over-kill or would it be real good for the plants? If Onyx is a good choice, how many pounds should I get? If it's not a good choice, what is?

3. I'm interested in a lighting system from hellolights.com. It's 48" long with some fans, two 65W compact florescents and two 65W blue actinic compact florescents for a total of 260W's. The store claims they can sell other bulbs at 50% with this package because planted tank people often don't want or need the blue actinic, but I read somewhere the blue will be good for bringing out the color of the fish. Advice here will be greatly appreciated as it's not a cheap system.

4. Any suggestions on filtration - specific recommendations on what's readily available.

5. I'm trying some CO2 tablet thing from Nutrafin. I've got 2 and each one is good for 20G's so I may need to supplement with something else - again, any ideas.

6. Last item (for today) is stocking. I want to do a school of Neon Tetras and a school of something else, then maybe a couple Angel fish. Of course I'll also have some janitors cleaning up the place. Input on all of this is needed.

I know this is long-winded but I'm desparate not to jump in and then have to constantly tweak things to make up for the beginnings mistakes. Thanks.

[djlen]

I like Cardinals better than neons, and another fish that schools well is the Rummy Nose Tetra.
You are going to need a whole bunch of CO2 for that tank with that lighting, and tons of plants. Unless I miscalculated you have 5watts/gal. going into that tank. You're going to need 25-30 ppm CO2 and I may be wrong, but I don't believe that Nutrafin thing is going to do the job for you. Too much water volume and too many lights for even DIY CO2. You're going to need a good fertilization and nutrient program. http://www.sfbaaps.com/reference/barr_02_01.shtml
When it comes to nutrients you'll get a lot of advise from a lot of people. My advise is to consider everything you hear and then check it against what Tom Barr(Plantbrain) says.
If you are going to get into this heavily I would consider taking the laterite back to the LFS and getting either Fluorite or Onyx. Basically because they are complete and will last virtually forever.
You could mix and match stuff, but IMO either of the above two are complete and all you and your plants will need.
Len

[SierraReef]

If that's too much light I can cut back - believe me I don't mind saving money.

As to the laterite - I can't return it. It came in a damaged box so I got it at half-price. Unless you think different I'll mix it with the Onyx. Can you approximate how many pounds I'll need?

With regard to the fish - how many are appropriate for this size tank. I'll be following a guideline for a 50G tank I read in a booklet I picked up that calls for 50 plants - then I'll have some driftwood & rocks. Are we talking 15 fish total - 20 - 25?

I also found a thread on this forum for a CO2 kit I'll use if I can find a place to fill the bottles in this area. I'll put those Nutrafin things in a smaller tank I'll be working on in the future.

Thanks for your help.

[djlen]

You can mix laterite with Onyx or Flourite. The amount of substrate really depends on your personal preference. Many people use a lb. per gallon. I like a bit more. For a 50 I would use at least 60-70 lbs.
As to fish, there is a rule of thumb that says 1 inch of fish per gallon, but I think it's much too general. I would not put 50" of fish in a 50 gallon tank. Especially if they are large fish.
I have a 55 with 3 large angels, 2 dwarf gouramis, and a school of 20 cardinals, plus 4 Otocinclas(algae eaters), and 4 dwarf corys(catfish). I'm comfortable with that stocking arrangement. Your comfort level may be different.
No, that is not too much light IF YOU HAVE THE TANK LOADED WITH PLANTS(very important) and good CO2(25-30ppm). I would have all your stuff(plants,CO2,light) ready to set up at the same time. Plant HEAVILY, add floating plants, turn on the CO2 and set for 30ppm saturation(check pH and kH and adjust). Give the plants 2 weeks, at least, to establish themselves. Then add a few fish at a time.
One last thing about CO2. Your not going to be happy,IMO, with DIY CO2 with a 50 gal. tank and that wattage. If you can afford it, go with a pressurized system. If you can't afford it, cut down on the lights to 2 - 2.5 watts/gallon.
Len

[superjohnny]

I wouldn't mix onyx sand. It is dark gray and wouldn't look right with anything else IMO. How much substrate you need depends on the dimensions of your tank. Tanks with a smaller footprint need less substrate. For example, my 45g High needs less substrate than a 45g long.

How much light you need depends on what you want to grow. Figure out what you want your tank to look like FIRST, then buy the products & materials that will make that happen. A good starting point for lights is 2watts per gallon. You may consider going with NO flourescents in the beginning because you can easily find 48" lights... that's the standard size for flourescent lights in office buildings so they're easy to find and real cheap (like $5 at Home Depot cheap).

So first things first... figure out what kind of plants you want to grow and what you want the tank to look like, then buy the parts.

[SierraReef]

Thanks for the ideas. I guess it's time to start gathering what I need and spending some money. I'll take a little of all your advise and I'll be back to let you know how it goes.

[carpguy]

Is it a 48" tank or a 36"?

Some people like the look of actinics but they're really reef bulbs. They aren't all that efficient for plants and I personally think they'll look unnatural on a plant tank -- they're meant to mimic light in deeper water. Fish are nice, but they aren't really the first thing you see in a planted tank.

5 wpg is a tremendous amount of light. You'll need to keep your ferts and CO2 similarly high to keep up. You could scale back considerably and still have a high light tank. Check out AH Supply (http://www.ahsupply.com) if you're up for a DIY solution. Put the extra money towards pressurized CO2. I'd go with the 4x36 or 2x96 kit (3 or 4 wpg -ish), assuming its a 36" 50. Lights should be in the 5000-6700k vicinity.

[SierraReef]

My tank measures 48" long, 13" wide & 18" deep. Based on what everyone here says I'llpass up on the Vita-Lite system - too many watts. I don't want to deal with a canopy - I have another hood at an LFS I'll take a look at this weekend - cheaper and less watts - hope it'll do the trick.

[DIYMatt]

I agree with Superjohnny that you should figure out what you want to do with the tank first. But, you don't want to limit yourself either. Shoplights from HD work well for lowlight plants. But, they are ugly, and from what you said it sounds like appearnace is important. Also, IME it is better to have too much light, and limit plant & algae growth with the nutrients. That way you can add in whatever you want later. How often does a tank live out its life exactly the way we planned? That being said, I would scale back on the wattage also, 3-4 watts per gallon should work well. It gives you the flexibility to grow anything you want. If things are growing to fast, you can always limit the nutreints like I do. I agree that you should also stay away from the blue (actinic) bulbs. They look strange in a plant tank.

I would return the laterite. I had it one of my tanks and I can't stand it. Every time I replant something it sends up a cloud of redish dust, clouding the tank. Its just a mess waiting to happen. I have only used regular Seachem Flourite and I love it. I like the way it looks in the tank. If the Onyx is at all similar from a micronutrient basis I would go with straight Onyx sand. Then add the Seachem root tablets under your heavy root feeders if you need it.

On the filtration, I would go with 1-2 canisters if your budget allows. Everyone has their favorite canisters. But, I am partial to the Rena Filstars. You can put any type of media you want in them and use standard size/types of tubing on it. They come in three sizes and two of the middle XP2 would be almost overkill, but I like extra water circulation. If your budget allows more expenditure, you can't go wrong with Ehiem($$$) canisters. Whatever canisters you go with I would put a peice of foam over the intake. This little thing has cut my filter maintenance in half. If you don't want to spend the money on canisters, I like the Aquaclear HOB filters. They are cheap, easy to maintain and do a good job. I run mine with foam only in them most of the time. If I want extra particle filtration I sandwich some filter floss or filter felt between the foam blocks. It works good, but clogs quickly. If your tank is well balanced, you shouldn't have problems with water clarity, though.

On the stocking issue, I would start low. More fish = more nutients. Nutreints out of balance = algae growth. But, I would heavily stock with fast growing plants from the very beginning. It did wonders for my new tanks. I like cardinals too. But, they don't deal with change and stress very well so I would wait until you know the tank is stable before you add them.

I hope all this helps!