First Planted Tank...

[Razzo]

Hey guys, I'm planning to make my first planted tank and I am looking for basic advice.

Here's what i want to accomplish: I have a 240-gallon frontosa tank. I'd like to plumb a 40 gallon tank, in line, with the main tank. I want to treat this 40, kinda, as a refugium that will remove nitrates and if I could grow some shrimp in the 40, even better.

The preliminary plan for the 40 will be to bring 240 water in on one end and pump it out on the other end and return it to the 240. I may partition the 40 similar to a sump, left section receives 240 water, then it gets pulled through the middle/plant section and then to the last section to be pumped back to the 240.

My water parameters are, approx.,... 8.0 pH and 77-degrees F.

I've been looking into EcoSystems Miracle Mud as the substrate. What would be a good plant list and possible a good invert list?

Why not have fun with the planted tank and get into this side of the hobby

Thanks a bunch!

 

[SnakeIce]

What you want to do sounds more like a veggie filter than a planted tank plumbed into your main tank. You are also limited to a smaller selection of plants with that ph and water hardness because many plants don't grow as well and some not at all in those parameters.

If you get it right it would help water quality some for your main tank, but not as much as you would think. The main limitation for export in aquatic plants is the carbon source. CO2 is in low supply in water and quickly becomes limiting. Adding it carries risks to your fish. But emersed plants that readily grow with their roots in the water don't have that limitation and will improve water quality much more easily than aquatic plants can.

Plants will need more than high nitrates and that usually involves adding more to the water, so your total dissolved solids may not be any less if you try to grow plants underwater. The other issue is that with that much water volume and that little planted space you will initially have big tank dosing to get the phosphorus and potassium levels to where they need to be.

If things go well you might improve things, but if anything goes wrong it could make things worse.

Personally I'd be inclined to use the added on tank as a veggie filter (roots wet only) and not try to combine planted and your expensive to replace fish until you have some experience with planted.

 

[Razzo]

That is really good advice! I could see pathos doing really well in this application. Ha, now I can do aquaponics jk, no desire to go there