Converting existing tank into med. light planted

O

Obsidian

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Dec 13, 2004
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Pacific Northwest
My stepdaughter has a 25 gallon eclipse (which I have written about in other threads).... same thing as I have, only with cheesy teal gravel, plastic plants, a background that is vaselined to the tank, and way too many fish. As she is only over 2 weekends a month, I have decided to hijack her tank and change it to my own specifications (which would be planted).

She dabbled in plants for awhile. But with carbon filtration, 30 watts/25 gallon tall, and no added co2 or traces, the plants died. She had two big swords, frill plant, and hornwort. I just pulled out the dying swords today.

So here is what I want to do:

*get rid of the 7" black ghost knifefish and the lonely swordtail
*change the substrate into something less annoying
*add a chunk of bogwood
*add plants

Simple, yet difficult. Currently, the tank is getting daily doses of melafix because the angels have finrot. I am not sure that the fish can handle the stress of living in a bucket until I finish redoing their tank.

Here (finally) are my questions: Do I need an enriched substrate such as fluorite for a medium light tank? If I am just going to put the tank contents into buckets and add it back in after replacing the substrate, do I still need to cycle the tank? Will my rather ambitious and crazy idea end up killing off the already-stressed out fish?
 
I'd recommend against Eco-complete. It seems to be of inconsistant quality. some members have experienced ph/hardness spikes with it. How about flourite instead? That's what I'm going to do next.
 
I do not think the special substrate will be required - but it will certainly help - especially depending on which plants you want to display.

I do not know anything about eco-complete and its quality. I use fluorite and crushed coral (with cichlids and plants) and I have not had any issues.

As for the cycling - most of the beneficial bacteria will be in the filter so keep that safe and well. Also, I would keep any "sludge" (I think it is called mulm maybe) from the old gravel (the crap you pick up when siphoning) and place that under the new gravel. From what I understand, this will help the cycling and be beneficial for the plants. If that is done, I think everything should be ok - BUT I have never owned Angels and not aware of their temperaments and I have never dealt with any disease that is curable and what they do to stress out the poor fishes.

Hopefully people who own Angels can supply more information on them.

Good luck in your endeavor

Aries
 
I use eco-complete with 3 of my tanks and like it, but you do not need it. However, heavy root feeding plants will need some substrate ferts.

If you totally replace the gravel, you might have problems, but if you have established biological filter media, It might not be a problem.

The addition of plants will generally help fish out. Be carefull with Co2 injection, Flourish excel, will probably do the trick. Seeing that they will not be blasted by light.

30 watts is a little low. I do not know what kind of budget you have in mind. The first thing i would consider besides getting rid of the teal gravel would be adding more light.
 
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Thank you for the responses. First of all, I am not too concerned about the co2 or light because I have done the exact thing with my current tank without problems. Mostly, I am going to stick to java ferns, crypts, maybe a swordplant.

The filter houses a biowheel and filter floss, so I think that should be okay. Right now, my own tank has 45 watts over 25 gal tall... same sized tank as the one I will be converting. The plants did reasonably well with 30 watts. I am still debating substrate. My tank is just gravel, and I have not added anything else except substrate fert tabs. But I certainly think that I should add something better while I have the chance here.

Is it okay for the fluorite or laterite to be exposed or does it need to be completely covered with a top layer of something? I also can retrofit the lighting to pc fluorescent, and cost is not a huge issue. I think it would be only $100 for the retrokit. I have also looked at shop lights at home depot, but putting a shop light on top and possibly overdriving the ballast would mean scrapping the eclipse hood. So I might just save my money for a much bigger and more customized setup in the future. Of course, I'll probably have to build an addition to the house in order to find room to put such a tank... ;)
 
THe flourite can be exposed (not sure about laterite - not used it) - at least from what I know. If you totally do not like the color of the laterite or want to save some money, you can mix the flourite with normal similiar sized gravel.

With those plants, normal gravel most likely not hinder you so you can keep it.

WHen I get a house and become indendantly rich - I want to build a 2500+ Gallon tank. Most likely this will never happen for me - but it is always nice to dream about it.

Good luck

Aries
 
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