I’ve decided to make the leap into having a planted tank. I’ve asked a few questions in the past when I was still mulling it over and now I ready. I’m going to plant my 55. I have Cichlids and I know they like to rip up plants so I have to anchor them down. I would like to get rid of my gravel and go for a sand or substrate but I don’t know what kind to get. I just picked up a 6500K light because the light I have now is too low to have anything more than moss. I would like to do a foreground, a center, and a background. I don’t have a CO2 injector and would like to know if I really need one. I am new to this so any suggestions would be welcomed! If you think I should stick with beginner plants before I get in over my head I will do that too. Thanks for all the help
Planting tank help.
- Thread starter MIKE D
- Start date
pool sand will prob be your best bet. play sand can work to you just have to wash it really well. depending on light and plants you get you may or may not need co2.
if you stick with low light plants you can get away without co2.
if you stick with low light plants you can get away without co2.
I don't use CO2. Have many varieties of crypts, some shorter java fern, some hygro - both narrow leaf and broad leaf, some water wisteria, a couple of anubias and red tiger lotus. I have a 9325K bulb on both the 29 and 72. Plants grow faster in the 29H. The crypt luteas and hygro are growing to the top of the tank. Slower growth in the 72, but that's what I want, I need room for the discus. I've killed many plants along the way
and am real pleased with what I've got now.
and am real pleased with what I've got now.
What you have to do and what you should do are two different things. You don't have to wash it before you put it in the tank. But if you don't, your water will be cloudy and there will be fine sand particles floating in the water column that will clog your filter.
So if you don't want to clean your your filter every couple days, and potentially have to replace it because of worn parts from fine sand particles
, you should wash it.
Which is why pool sand is recommended over play sand. It's a larger sand particle so you get less of the above mentioned problems.
So if you don't want to clean your your filter every couple days, and potentially have to replace it because of worn parts from fine sand particles
, you should wash it.
Which is why pool sand is recommended over play sand. It's a larger sand particle so you get less of the above mentioned problems.
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Yes, you can usually get a 50 pound bag for ~$5 at any home improvement or pool supply store. You will still want to rinse it a bit though, there are dust particles. Put some in the bottom of a bucket with a running hose, the ligher sand-dust should flow out as the water overflows.
Interesting, the amount of dust may have something to do with how many times the bag has been moved. It is probably created by the sand particles rubbing against eachother in the packaging. My home depot doesn't go through a whole lot of the stuff, so it had probably been shifted a bunch.
I didn't expect a whole lot of dust as I was putting it in, but the first water I added to the tank was nearly opaque in the 10 gallon.
I didn't expect a whole lot of dust as I was putting it in, but the first water I added to the tank was nearly opaque in the 10 gallon.