View Full Version : new to plants
meandthetanks
06-13-2008, 7:55 AM
i have a 48 x 12 x 18 inch cold water tank with 4 fancy goldies and 2 dojo loaches in,and have recently swapped from plastic plants to all real,i think i have elodea and hornwort, they are just weighted down so they dont float about the tank. anyway,im wanting to know what kind of lighting i would need for adding anymore different plants. they have a small gravel substrate,and im not wanting to use co2, but i am thinking of adding some plant food as they dont seem to be growing much. the light i have is a 36inch tropical classica natural tropical sunlight tube (i think,i cant quite remember the full name,and cant check as im not home right now) how often should i feed the plants in the tank without causing a huge algae bloom(which is what im guessing will happen if i add too much?) any help/ideas more than welcome :help:
Won't your goldfish eat the elodeas and most plants?:confused: Hornworts though are often avoided.
rich311k
06-13-2008, 8:20 AM
That sounds like 30 watts over 45 gallons. You wont get much else to grow.
meandthetanks
06-13-2008, 11:24 AM
i thought they would eat the plants too,but they dont,and even if they did they are there for them to use for whatever they want,be it eating or swimming around. i dont mind really,they are easily replaced as i have a friend with a pond who lets me have it for free. i was just wondering about any different plants i may be able to get. what type of light would you recommend for me to buy to be able to have different plants? i dont have anyone i know who i can ask about it as everyone i know has fake plants and doesnt know about different lighting for live ones. i can squeeze a 48inch tube into my hood on my tank,if its just the length of the tube thats the issue-sorry if i got that wrong,but i dont remember seeing different types of light tubes at the pet store. thanks for the replys so far x
Ozymandias
06-13-2008, 12:25 PM
well you might need a hew light fixture or you could DIY something. your probably wanting to stay low tech and that still provides a good assortment of plants. if you go with llow tech then your going to want some thing that provide more than 1 wpg (watt per gallon) but less then 2 wpg, i'd say around 1.4 is ideal for low tech. i know there have been planted gold fish tanks before and i will need to look around TPT (the Planted tank) to find the thread that it was in. but it was really a nice tank. so ether way good luck with this project
meandthetanks
06-13-2008, 3:28 PM
ok thank you,ive talked to hubby,would it work if i was to put in a second tube of the same type i have now? the tube i have now is a 42inch tropica sunlight tube,38watts.if we could somehow diy the lid to hold 2 tubes instead of the 1,would it work that way? we have a 2nd starter unit laying around so it would just be the tube we need to buy,or would there be a better different type of tube to put with the existing one we have-lol does it show i have no idea what im talking about!!! oh and will it be ok if the tubes are very close together or do they need to be a certain distance apart? thanks for the help so far x
rich311k
06-13-2008, 3:31 PM
That would do the job for low light plants.
Ozymandias
06-13-2008, 4:54 PM
should be fine as long as it is in the light range plants use (this is something like 5500K to 10000K)
mavisky
06-13-2008, 5:27 PM
Agreed with others I've got 4watts over my 55 right now and it's not growing much at all. I've got a DIY hood that's almost finished that I'll be posting a writeup of later on. Probably about $200 or so total cost for the cabinet, lighting, tops, and accessories. I'll try to include a cost sheet with mine when it's all done.
Ozymandias
06-13-2008, 5:55 PM
by the way meandthetanks (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/member.php?u=85239) what are the specs of the tank (that can make a difference) also after you deal with lighting your going to have to look at plants that don't mind lower temps. also here is a list over at TPT (the planted tank) of alot of low light plants to give you some starting point. just be warned you will really have to look at the temps thay survive at though.
excellent list low light plants (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/56042-excellent-list-low-light-plants.html)
4 watts over a 55!!! that really is way to little light i'm surprised your plants are doing ok so far, good to hear that your getting the hood up and running
mavisky
06-13-2008, 6:20 PM
by the way meandthetanks (http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/member.php?u=85239) what are the specs of the tank (that can make a difference) also after you deal with lighting your going to have to look at plants that don't mind lower temps. also here is a list over at TPT (the planted tank) of alot of low light plants to give you some starting point. just be warned you will really have to look at the temps thay survive at though.
excellent list low light plants (http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/56042-excellent-list-low-light-plants.html)
4 watts over a 55!!! that really is way to little light i'm surprised your plants are doing ok so far, good to hear that your getting the hood up and running
ahahaha, oops total typo. Not even sure you can buy a 4watt bulb, but it's actually a 40 watt t8 aquaglo bulb from Hagen in mine. :grinno:
Ozymandias
06-13-2008, 6:22 PM
ha ya that better still really low light
mavisky
06-13-2008, 6:42 PM
ha ya that better still really low light
Hey I got a tank, stand, hood, bulb, and biowheel 300 for $60, it was what I had at the time :D
I was going to buy something but decided to do my own work. I've got some pics if you search for threads I've started. 160watts covering the full spectrum should be alot better for the tank. Going home in 14 minutes to try out each ballast and make sure they're lighting correctly.
Ozymandias
06-13-2008, 10:11 PM
ya should be and great deal there. be careful of CO2 loss with the bio-wheel though.
meandthetanks
06-14-2008, 4:39 AM
ozymandias im guessing by specs you want to know everything about my tank,so il just put down everything i can possibly think of and go from there, tank is 48inches long, 12 inches wide, 18inches deep, in it are 4 fancy goldfish, 2 smaller, 2 larger, and 2 dojo loaches, they are on fine gravel, and tank has been cycled for years. i run a fluval 4+ filter, with a large airpump with 2 air wands in the tank. i have (so far) got an Arcadia classica natural daylight 38 watt 42inch tube, and i am planning on getting a 2nd today to run alongside this one so i have more light for my plants. i am also going to buy some aquarium plant food while out today. my water parameters are ph 7.5, ammonia 0, nitrite 0, nitrate usually 10-30 depending on how close i am to needing a pwc, which i do 50% once a week,with gravel vac. when i add more water i use dechlorinator before adding the wate rto the tank. the temps are room temps, and usually its around 70-72*,though i dont have a thermometer in there all the time i just swipe it from my tropicals to check the temps now and again. i think thats all for now. thanks for helping out x
Ozymandias
06-14-2008, 10:25 AM
i think wit that temp you should be fine with a lot of the low light plants. you shouldn't have to worry to much about plant food, gold fish are poop machines and this will provide the main source of nutrients for you're plants. after that i'd say just look up plants that survive the temperature range you have and should be fine.
Just off the top of my head i'm relatively sure that java moss and java fern can survive those temperatere.
Ozymandias
06-14-2008, 11:20 AM
also it should be noted i could be over reacting about the temp but better safe than sorry
meandthetanks
06-15-2008, 5:01 AM
ok,so ive been out yesterday and we have hooked up a 2nd tube into the tank,its a 36inch 30watt flora-glo,so we now have both the tubes on the go,and we could see the difference within just a few minutes with the plants giving off teeny tiny bubbles which we couldnt see them doing before. we got a couple more plants,not sure what they are,i think one is a java fern. the other 2 im not sure but we were told it would be fine in a cool tank, so the worst that can happen is it will die i figure! the goldies are loving the hornwort,they are picking it to death,im happy for them to do so,its their tank after all. i will just replace them when neccessary. thanks for all your help so far. oh and will i need to dose with any type of ferts? i was thinking of seeing how they go with just the 2 tubes and the goldies poop for food,will this be ok? thanks for reading x
Ozymandias
06-15-2008, 9:26 AM
shouldn't be necessary with a your lighting.
meandthetanks
06-15-2008, 6:03 PM
ok,thanks for the quick replies ozymandias,its so great being able to ask anything and knowing i will get the help i need,huge thanks to you all x
meandthetanks
06-17-2008, 3:41 AM
my water seems to be getting a green tint to it,is this normal? and also,im just wondering,but i have a plant with roots planted in there,should i not be doing gravel vacs now so it has some fish poop to feed off or just not go too close to its roots? my fish are loving the hornwort,they are grazing it down each night,apart from that alls going well in my tank,apart from the elodea (sp?) it has a brownish hint on its leaves and doesnt seem to be growing,does this mean its dying and needs to come out,all new growth was bright green but it has only minimal new growth now. i thought this was supposed to be one of the hardiest plants to grow-does this mean i dont have green fingers lol?!