Help with lo tech planted office tank

Hi everyone. Not new to fish keeping, or this site, but I've been away from both for a good many years, but I'M BACK!
So, I just got the OK from my manager to put an aquarium in my cubicle, as long as it doesn't bother any of my neighboring cube mates. Also, I'm told that the cubes how power limits, sooo, gonna probably have to keep away from power hungry lights, pumps, etc.
I also don't want to have to deal with CO2, or dosing any chemicals, etc. I need to keep costs down, and I will be away on weekends, and the occasional week vacation, etc. So, I don't want to be putting anything in the tank other than fish food. I'll get an auto feeder for the weekends.

Anyways, here's my plan, and my questions will follow:

20 long planted. I want to do a little bonsai tree next to a stream look, kind of like these pics I stole from the interwebs



In the 20 long, I'm thinking something like the top pic, with maybe a plantless Iwagumi landscape on the side of the stream opposite of the tree.

Plants:
From the research I've done, it looks like I'm going to go with Christmas moss for the tree, and Marsilea Minuta for the "grassy knoll" under the tree.

Substrate:
Will be a thin layer of peat moss topped with play sand, then a dark(or black) sand/fine gravel will be built up on either side of the "stream" and be the base for the carpeting plant.

Fish:
Will be reletively simple, neon tetras, dwarf guorami, cherry shrimp, an oto, maybe a german blue ram or two.

Filtration:
This is going to be an ornamental aquaponics system. In other words, this system will be pumping water up to my office plants in an eb and flow system. If you are unfamiliar, google aquaponics, except I won't be eating the fish or plants in my case.

Lights:
Not really planning anything special. Typical over head office lighting, plus I have 2 under cabinet lights that will be over this tank that have a total of 28 LEDs (2 strips of 12 and 16 each). No idea of how much light that is in terms of plant needs. Here is a link to them http://www.workriteergo.com/products/task-lighting/verano/

My big questions are mostly around plants and substrates. I did have a planted tank before, but it was easy plants, and didn't have a theme, just whatever I could grow, I would.

*What substrate would you recomend if I'm not running CO2 or dosing nutrients/etc.? I'm talking about the stuff I plan to build up on either side of the "stream" that the plants will actually be rooted in. Is there any benefit to using something like eco complet, flourite, etc.? Or should I just try to find some black sand? Keep in mind, I don't want something that breaks down and needs replaced, ever!

*What do you think about the Marsilea Minuta and Xmas moss? I might try some dwarf baby tears, but it sounds like they won't do well in my set up. Any other suggestions for ground cover plants and moss that would better accomplish my goals? I need to the ground cover plants to stay really low without me having to mow them. I expect to trim the tree, and to keep the ground cover from growing into my "stream".

*What do you guys use to trim aqua plants? Just regular scissors?

*Opinions on my lights? They are two seperate strips, so if it's too much, I can turn one off, but from the sound of it, they probably are barely enough.

*Any suggestions for a low wattage in line pump? That is also quiet? I need to pump up 2 feet from the tank to reach my office plants/filters in a gravel bed. I think I want an in line pump so all I have in the tank is two tubes, so I don't detract from the aquascape. I might also hide these behind a single tall growing plant on the Iwagumi side, but not sure yet.

Sooo, it looks like I can't edit my orginal post?! Kinda lame, oh well.

Anyways, I was going to add in that I'm open to any suggestions on ground cover plant that has more of a grassy look to it, like the pictures I posted. BUT, I haven't found any that stay short like that. Is there a really short growing grassy looking plant that carpets? I was looking at Dwarf baby tears and M. Minuta simply because they seem to be the only plants that stay low to the substrate.

ManEatingShrimp said:

Marsilea minuta may not grow well. I tried it in two tanks. In my 90 gallon tank the plants did not get very good light since its such a deep tank, and even with dirt as the substrate they did not grow. In my 20 gallon long with 2 cfl bulbs over the tank maybe 3-4 new leaves have grown over a year. They are still alive in the 20g but grow extremely slowly.

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Well, then, I just might still try Marsilea Minuta. I don't really want something that is going to grow out of control anyways, as long as it lives and survives. Maybe I'll just get a lot of it, and try to get a somewhat filled in look from the beginning knowing that it will take a long time to grow in
Tell me about your CFLs. Brand, watts, color temp, etc. This might be something I can do, because all the other "aquarium" lighting is cost prohibitive!

Turbosaurus said:

Just looked back at your lighting... your LEDs are really cool looking-
unfortunately, they are the wrong color temp for growing plants- so you will basically have absolutely no light on this tank from a planted tank standpoint. ambient lighting doesn't count. You will need lights for this tank if you want anything at all to grow.

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I don't like you very much, you don't tell me what I wanna hear. :silly:
Wrong color temp? These stupid plants need specific color temps? No wonder aquarium lighting is so dang expensive. Lighting is cheap in EVERY OTHER industry, but change the color temp and market is at a specific industry, and cha-ching!:rant2:

Hypothetically speaking, if I were to get everything I would need to do this tank right, lets say with utricularia graminifolia or dwarf baby tears. What would be the minimum I would need in your opinion regarding light and CO2, and how much would that cost me?
I'm not likely to do it for this office tank, but it might be good to know if I decide to do something similar at home.

Turbosaurus said:

Tell me about this becasue I dont understand: Any suggestions for a low wattage in line pump? That is also quiet? I need to pump up 2 feet from the tank to reach my office plants/filters in a gravel bed.

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Just looking for an inline pump, as my planned aquascape isn't going to allow me to hide a submersible pump very well.
If you're asking about the second part, it would be easier if you just looked up "aquaponics". Basically it's a gardening/fish farming technique that I'm going to try to incorporate into an ornamental fish and office plant variation. Basically, you put terestrial plants in a gravel bed with no soil. Then you pump water from your fish tank(s) to the gravel bed so that it floods until a bell syphon kicks in and drains the bed dry, and back into the fish tank, then it repeats. The idea being that the plants/gravel filter the water for the fish, and the fish fertilize and provide nitrates for the plants.

ManEatingShrimp said:

Based on what I have read and seen in my own tanks, low tech ground cover is extremely difficult to achieve. The only success I have had, or see as a possibility, is using moss as a ground cover. I like mini pellia a lot and it seems to grow pretty well in low/medium light without CO2. the only downside is it grows slow and for me it is being attacked by BBA. A lot of moss can be clipped to stay short and still provide cover. Fissidens might actually be the best choice for ground cover. It stays under an inch long and grows very thick, but is a very slow grower in low tech. With fissidens you can use the dry start method too, which allows the fissidens to root and begin growing faster. Basically just grind up some fissidens, dust it over the substrate, and mist it for a few weeks.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/82384/one-way-to-attach-mini-fissidens-on-the-rock-or-carpet

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Eureka! This just might be what I need to accomplish my goals. Thanks!
Now just to decide between fissidens and mini pellia. Which do you think will stay shorter and grow slower?

Please spell out BBA so I can look it up. Thanks!

Turbosaurus said:

Just looked back at your lighting... your LEDs are really cool looking-
unfortunately, they are the wrong color temp for growing plants- so you will basically have absolutely no light on this tank from a planted tank standpoint. ambient lighting doesn't count. You will need lights for this tank if you want anything at all to grow.

Click to expand...

Sooo, will I even be able to keep moss in my tank with these lights? Or will I need lights anyway, just for the moss since these lights are useless to plants?