Would this setup work?

[blackwolfXKAV]

I am planning to try and establish a planted tank. It will most likely be a thirty Gallon tank.
After intense research, I still have q's about the substrate, lighting, CO2, and suppliments.

Substrate
I have narrowed it down to:
Flourite
Eco-Complete
ADA Aqua Soil

CO2
Perhaps this:http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/Prod_Display.cfm?pcatid=8981&N=2004+113779 ?

I am looking for the most efficient form of CO2 products without having to pay an arm and a leg for it.

Suppliments
What is recommended?

Lighting
Any advice?

Thanks all. Black_Wolf :dive2:

[sarcare]

Well you might as well do DIY co2--that is pretty much what that system is. It is much cheeper--a soda pop bottle, some yeast, sugar, jello, and baking powder, airline tubing and some sillicone, and a airstone of some sort.

For lighting, if you are going to the effort of getting a special plant substrate and co2 you probably want to aim for 2.5wpg or so. So maybe a 36 inch 95w cf would give you what you need for medium light plants. I have a 4x 36w 36in unit on my 38g, but on a 30 that would be crazy high.

For supplements, I go with greg watson dry ferts, because frankly a batch of them that will last for a year costs the same as a month's supply of the liquid ferts. Think about 8-10$ a pop for a bottle of liquid ferts for N, P, K, Trace, CA, MG and your looking at 50-60$ worth of ferts, but all of those from greg that will last longer cost me less then 30$ shipped! Plus I use a pil counter and can divide the dry ferts between each compartment, which makes dosing a breeze!

What plants are you thinking of? What fish?

[blackwolfXKAV]

possibly thinking about some of these plants:
Ammania Gracilis
Cabomba furcata
Cyperus helferi
Bacopa monnieri

will add more as i think of them.

Thanks all. BlacK_Wolf :dive2:

[sarcare]

Those are plants of very varying degrees of avalibility and ease of growth. If this is your first tank I'd watch out for getting over your head or spending a lot of money on plants that will turn out to be hard to grow once you spend the money on them. I'd get good at growing some of the basic types of plants and then once you have that down you can work on adding some more complicated or demanding plants. This doesn't mean limiting yourself to low light plants--I just think that starting with bacopa, some hygro sp, some easy rotala, some swords, and maybe some myro or easy camboba (though I don't think it is really a beginners plant) would be easier (and cheaper) then going out and finding cyprus helfari or Ammania Gracalis. You can find enough of these to fill up your tank without spending a ton, and once you master those you can start adding the others as accents.

[blackwolfXKAV]

thanks madame. looks like i'll go with the basic plants first, and it will be a live bearer tank only (breeding, so i need the plants)

[blackwolfXKAV]

is this a reliable source of info as far as the cycling etc.?
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_newtank.htm

[blackwolfXKAV]

and which substrate (or combination?) would be best?

also, i cannot find the dry ferts you mentioned.

[sarcare]

I'm actually a gal, but the thanks are appreciated.

Yes that article looks about on--many plant people don't cycle fishlessly with ammoina and stuff. Frankly for some planted tank people fish are a very late addition once the scape has all grown in and is ready. I plant cycled my 55g, and it works great!

But there are cautions:
Plant cycling requires you to have sufficient mass of plants--if you want an idea of just how much plant mass I'm talking about look at the links to the first picture of my 55g. If you don't have enough plants it doesn't work.

Plant cycling depends upon plant growth--if your plants don't do well or even die then your tank wont cycle.

Plant cycling requires LOTS of patience in adding fish--I went for two weeks with only one fish in a 55g tank, and it was a small fish.

[sarcare]

www.gregwatson.com Greg Watson (http://www.gregwatson.com)

Substrate depends on what plants you intend to grow. I'm poor and lazy so I used one bag of eco-complete mixed with one bag of sand and one bag of gravel for my 55g. For root feeders you want a richer substrate, stem plants depend more on nutrents from the water column.

[blackwolfXKAV]

darn pc.... :pc:

everytime i try to access the final pages for the individual products in the "dry ferts" section, it shuts down my internet widows including this one.

:pc: :pc:!!

do you know if they are availible in petco/petsmart?

thanks madame sarcare.

[blackwolfXKAV]

bump

[Sammie7]

Dry ferts at Petco, I'd doubt it.

[cichlidkeeper91]

I personally dont have co2 going into the tank. They just grow like weeds. I just put Florish excel in every couple of days. Then just florish once or twice a week. Depends if I remember.

[misopeenut]

just go with aqua soil, theyre really easy to use, plants grow like crazy.
little trivia here, you can do a fishless cycle just using ADA Amazonia(type of Aquasoil) and plants.

ill give you a little advice, when first starting a planted tank, get as much plant as possible and dont expect the tank to look perfect the moment you plant, it takes time to get the plants to grow the way you want them to.

substrate:
Aqua soil, Amazonia have the most nutrients.
you could also get ADA Power sand for extra nutrients

lighting:
Metal halide is good if you dont mind the extra buck.

co2:
if thats what youre planning to get id suggest using DIY or the flourish excel.
the one you mention above are so bulky and it draws too much attention in the tank.

ferts:
if youre using ADA aquasoil and power sand, dont really hve to use them, just put throw some in when youre setting up the tank in the substrate.