55 gallon planted community questions!

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Fairybolt

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Apr 1, 2014
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Hello, first off, I should warn you all that this may be somewhat long. I've been doing a LOT of research, and I've collected a list of questions. This is compounded by the fact that I have raised plants and grew up fishkeeping with my dad, but I've been out of the hobby for a decade now. Things change, and things have been forgotten. Not a lot, but enough to make me trigger shy. I should also note that I'm still early in the process here. The fiancee and I are moving out of my tiny apartment and into a house next month, and we're getting married in June. I'm starting to put together a plan and pick up equipment (Yay for Petco $1 per gallon sale!) now, but my plan is to start the tank towards the end of summer. So, I have time to iron out the kinks.

That all said, my plan.

I intend to setup a 55 gallon with an Eheim 2073 canister and an Aquaclear 50 powerhead for additional water movement. Stocking is one of my questions. My current plan is for 10 emperor tetras, 8 Corydoras sp. (that being whatever my local LFS has in stock most likely), and roughly 20 slender bodied schooling characins of the same species. Again, as far as the tetra goes a lot will depend on what strikes my fancy at the LFS and falls within my criteria. When I popped this into AqAdivsor I actually adjusted the second characin upwards until I hit 78% stocked. I used Bronze Cories and Neon Tetras as stand ins for the Corydoras and unknown characin. It seems like an awfully heavy stock to me, and I thought I'd ask opinions on the matter. I know there are a lot of conditions that AqAdvisor can't take into account, so I thought I'd get the experienced perspective here.

As far as plants, I already have my lighting scheme. The old man is an electrician who has always installed his own lighting, and he has several homemade canopies laying around that were designed for 55 gallon aquariums. The one I'm going to nab has fixtures for 4 48" fluorescent bulbs, and just as stand ins (and because I used them before) I have two FloraMax and two UltraSun from Zoo Med planned. At 32w each, that's 2.33 wpg. I know wpg isn't the best measurement, but it's all I have at the moment. My plans are to almost -- if not totally -- avoid root feeders. I want to avoid specific plant substrates (and a lot of tab ferting) since I really like the look of Carib Sea's Moonlight sand, and I want to supplement it with their Snowy River gravel as built in slopes towards the back corners of the tank. As such, my plans are to focus on java moss, ricca (floating only), java ferns, and Brazilian pennywort. If I do get any root feeder it will be some type of large amazon sword that I'll install as a showpiece and tab fert on its own. I'm crossing my fingers that the java moss will take off because a mossy tank is just spiffy IMO.

Lastly, I should note that our water is generally hard and somewhat alkaline, but I have experience with mixing it with R/O water. My dad still goes to the local supermarket and fills his jugs for every water change, and I have no trouble doing the same. I imagine I'll hit around a pH of 6.5 with softish water. I'd have to mix and measure.

So, with all that in mind, would these plants do well under these conditions? In my previous tanks I used Seachem Excel to great effect, and I'm also wondering if I should fertilize the water column. Advice is very welcome on both front, including other plants and fish that may work under these conditions.
 

wesleydnunder

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Dec 11, 2005
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stocking looks ok.

Your cories will rearrange the gravel so a single component may be better for your set-up than a mix. In mixed substrates with cories, the finer grains typically wind up on bottom with the coarser gravel on top.

I think a lg amazon sword will take up a lot of room in that tank, the rest of the plants look ok. The riccia may not do too well, though, without some carbon supplement.

I wouldn't spend the money on expensive pet shop lamps. Your fiancé can undoubtedly find you some 6500K Daylight lamps that are much cheaper and do a great job. You'll have to tinker with photoperiod and possibly fert. to get the tank balanced once you get it fully planted.

All in all it sounds like a good plan. Welcome to the asylum...

Mark
 

Fairybolt

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Apr 1, 2014
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Appreciate the advice, and a few more questions as a result!

Would Seachem Excel be a good additive? I had good luck with it years ago on a similarly lighted tank, but with different plants. I'm not wedded to the Riccia anyway if it fails on me. My concern is algae, of course. I'm hoping the moss and pennywort will grow quick enough under these conditions.

I'll also drop the sword and look for cheaper lighting. I could probably nab them from my pop. Haven't asked, but I'm fairly sure he gets his lights from a supplier through work. Knowing every electrical supplier in the area has perks, I'd think. :-D

Thanks again!
 

ROYWS3

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I wouldn't spend the money on expensive pet shop lamps. Your fiancé can undoubtedly find you some 6500K Daylight lamps that are much cheaper and do a great job. You'll have to tinker with photoperiod and possibly fert. to get the tank balanced once you get it fully planted.
Agreed - you can pick up 5000k to 6500k lamps at your local Home Depot/Lowes/ Wally World for probably a quarter of what you'd pay at the local LFS
 

ZorroNet

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^^ Use what you have left over, as you said, and then replace with the cheaper ones as you need to.

I don't know much about ricca, but all of the other plants you mentioned are water column feeders. It sounds like a nice tank in the works. I would suggest that whatever you decide to float, pick something that can take the intense light. Most of these are low light plants, and you are gonna be cranking out some light when you install new bulbs! It's not a problem, but you can expect algae without some floaters in place. My friend is floating some brazilian pennywort and it looks cool. You could plant some and float some for that matter. This is a fairly tall tank we are talking about here... what about some taller plants like rotala, cabomba, scarlet temple, or golden nesaea for the background and sides? Dwarf Sag or Corkscrew Val would be nice in the midground as well as a little hardscape to break it up.
 

Byron Amazonas

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I would not add the second filter (the Aquaclear). The Eheim 2073 is more than adequate for a 55g planted tank. Filtration in planted tanks should be minimal as too much does affect things negatively.

Fish numbers are fine, well below any max limit, so I would certainly consider more. Doesn't have to be initially, you can add suitable fish as you find species that interest you and become available and are suited to the water parameters you end up with. I can't really suggest upper limit numbers for fish as it will depend upon the species.

I cdompletely agree with MArk to avoid mixing substrate types. This not only doesn't work unless they are somehow divided (water movement through the substrate will mix them, and here the sand will be on the bottom and the gravel on top) but a varying substrate draws attentio to the tank dimensions and can reduce the physical space perception. As corys are mentioned, definitely sand only. I had corys over fine gravel for years, before I switched to sand 3-4 years back, but I would never again house corys over anything but smooth sand. When I had black, I found it looked gray under the good plant lighting, plus it showed every spec of detritus. A mixed hue substrate like play sand prevents this.

On the lighting, unless you intend going high-tech with dioffused CO2 and daily nutrient fertilization, four 48-inch tubes will be way too much light. Another member here a month or so back had terrible algae issue with this same lighting. Two 48-inch T8 tubes is plenty; I have this over my 70g, 90g and 115g. And the Phill;ips, Sylvania or GE "daylight" tubes at 6500K are fine, I use these.

It's up to you about substrate plants, but in a tank this size the common Amazon Sword is ideal. Three of them spaced unevenly would be fine. Substrate tabs improve their growth (I have messed with plant substrates but in my view not worth the expense and I chucked them out and turned to play sand).

Hope this provides some assistance.

Byron.
 
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