New to plants, could really use advice!

[elinore]

Hello, I've got a 55 gal corner bowfront tank that's been running since December. I would really like to set it up as a low-tech planted tank, partly for looks and partly because I would love to give the rampant algae some competition. My house gets a LOT of natural light (windows everywhere), so even though the lights on the tank are only on from noon till 9pm, it gets quite a bit of indirect sunlight throughout the day, which makes the algae go wild. I've got quite a few clumps of little java ferns growing in the sand substrate, which I've kept in several tanks for many years without any special care whatsoever. The lights I have say: Coralife 6,700K 31W T5 HO, and Coralife 10,000K 31W T5 HO. I'm trying to understand exactly what all the numbers mean, but in all honesty I'm confused. I can't figure out if these are ok, good, or bad for growing plants.

What I'm hoping to achieve in the future is a well-balanced tank with lots of plants. The algae I've got isn't horrible, but it would be nice if some plants could kick its butt a little. I'd like to keep it as low-tech as possible, so no CO2 or complicated fert schedules (this tank is in my parents' house, so as a college student, it's really only "my" house for summers and breaks, and I'm looking at another year for undergrad plus 3 years of law school so It'll be awhile before I can have a full-time tank to do fun, more complex stuff). I'm thinking root tabs and maybe some easy add-in ferts that they can't mess up while I'm in school. They love the tank, and are more than happy keeping it up, but I'd like to avoid anything complicated. I've been hanging around this area of the forum and on The Planted Tank trying to soak up information, but mostly I've just confused myself regarding the hardware I have or should get. Are my current lights even remotely ok, or do I need to get new ones? I'm aiming for a low to mid-light setup in the long-run. I'm a huge gardener (out of water, lol) so I'm very excited to try tank plants!

Anyway, sorry for the long story there, but really I just would love any and all advice on how to set this up! Even links to old threads that contain relevent info would be appreciated. I've searched the old threads and found some good help, but I am very open to suggestions from those who have real experience!

 

[spencerguy1]

your wattage is good for java moss, java ferns, and anubias. everything else i know of would do ok in that tank. maybe try getting a Co2 system, but run it lightly, as you said there was lots of algae. as for the ferns and anubias, keep the ryzome(or however you spell it) above the gravel. the rhyzome is the place where the stems and roots meet. keeping it under the gravel will cause the plant to rot. other plants should be fine. a good tip i learned from dustinsfishtanks on youtube is to spread out the individual plants on a bunch of java fern. you should check out his vids, especially if you need advice on a planted tank. watching a few of his vids will teach you all you really need to know about a basic planted tank. with the moss, ferns, and anubias, you can attach them to driftwood by tying their roots to the driftwood. unlike other plants, they will be perfectly healthy with this.

so, if you get fertilizer and root tabs, you will complete your low-tech system. your light is already pretty low tech, not that its a bad thing. you dont even need a co2 system. just consider what i said and check out dustins videos on youtube and youll be pretty good.

 

[oo7genie]

Coralife is the brand name.

6,700k & 10,000k are the kelvin rating, or "color temperature". Both are fine for growing plants (generally anywhere from 5,000k - 10,000k is where you want to be), and using the two temps you have in combination is my favorite light setup for a planted tank personally.

31W is the number of watts for each bulb.

T5HO is the kind of bulb they are. T5 tells you what size the bulb is in diameter, T12 being standard fluorescent, T8 slightly smaller, and T5 smaller yet. The smaller the number, the higher the light intensity of the bulb. The HO = High Output.

You've got really good lighting going, maybe even just a bit much for a low tech setup, which is likely contributing to your algae. If you have a lot of natural lighting, you may want to cut back on the photoperiod (length of time you leave the tank lights on). I think you're on the right track with the root tabs, though java fern grows much better when attached to driftwood, rocks, or other decor, and wouldn't benefit much from the tabs. I think if you got a nice sword plant and some sag or vals for planting in the sand towards the background (using root tabs for all of them), and then some anubias and java fern for attaching to various pieces of your decor, you'd be happy with the result. I've also had a lot of luck with ludwigia repens in tanks with about the same lighting you have. It doesn't get it's nice signature red coloring, but it grows very well and still looks great.

One thing to keep in mind, is not to trust any of the "bottled plants" at the big pet stores. Most of them aren't aquatic, and will just look nice for a while as they slowly die in your tank.

 

[petluvr]

your wattage is good for java moss, java ferns, and anubias. everything else i know of would do ok in that tank. maybe try getting a Co2 system, but run it lightly, as you said there was lots of algae. as for the ferns and anubias, keep the ryzome(or however you spell it) above the gravel. the rhyzome is the place where the stems and roots meet. keeping it under the gravel will cause the plant to rot. other plants should be fine. a good tip i learned from dustinsfishtanks on youtube is to spread out the individual plants on a bunch of java fern. you should check out his vids, especially if you need advice on a planted tank. watching a few of his vids will teach you all you really need to know about a basic planted tank. with the moss, ferns, and anubias, you can attach them to driftwood by tying their roots to the driftwood. unlike other plants, they will be perfectly healthy with this.

so, if you get fertilizer and root tabs, you will complete your low-tech system. your light is already pretty low tech, not that its a bad thing. you dont even need a co2 system. just consider what i said and check out dustins videos on youtube and youll be pretty good.

I disagree those lights are a little better than low tech. 62 watts of T5HO is more than just your standard 62 watts. Quite a myriad of plants could be grown genie's posts hit what I was going to say just about on the head.

 

[spencerguy1]

I disagree those lights are a little better than low tech. 62 watts of T5HO is more than just your standard 62 watts. Quite a myriad of plants could be grown genie's posts hit what I was going to say just about on the head.

i agree with you now, i didnt see that he had 2 of those lights. oooops.

 

[ROYWS3]

you can find a lot of sellers at the marketplace here selling excellent plants for great prices. Get a "plant package" of bunch plants. Most are fast growing and out-compete algae for nutrients.

ROY

 

[elinore]

Thank you all SO much! This was exactly the information I needed and was having so much trouble finding! I've been keeping a list of plants I'd like to try, compiling it from the "easy" lists on places like The Planted Tank and from people's comments on this forum. Ludwigia repens is definitely one I'd like to try, even if it won't color up completely, and I really like the idea of vals-maybe 'corkscrew' or 'contortion'- and a nice sword plant-I like 'melon' or 'Red Rubin,' among others. I have a little 2.5 betta tank I've been using as a test run for a planted tank, and I've had great success with an Anubias nana, so I'd love to try a bigger one, maybe 'Coffeefolia'. I've loved doing that little one, and it's grown really well with the simple stuff (java fern, java moss, Anubias nana, and a moss ball). Going larger-scale should be an interesting challenge! Also, any chance a dwarf lily would work in my setup? They're so lovely, but I don't want to plant something in a place that's unsuitable.

Regarding the photoperiod and algae issue: any ideas how I should adjust the photoperiod once the plants are in? I do want to beat the algae back a bit, but I just don't know how to factor the natural sunlight into the equasion, especially once I add several plants. I don't want to starve the plants for light to hurt the algae or anything. Would cutting the aquarium light back to about 7-8 hours be better than the current 9-10 hours?

I definitely want to get some nice driftwood to attach the java fern to. I've just been gathering the bunches of it together with bits of fishing line and sticking the ends of that into the sand, so none of the little roots are actually planted in the sand, but I can't wait to add some nice driftwood. Thank goodness I did some research before I got my little Anubias, so I did know the tip about keeping the rhizome above the substrate, but thanks for pointing that out . I wonder, if the lighting is a bit much for lower-light plants like Anubias, could I grow a taller, more light-friendly plant above and plant an Anubias below so it's getting more dappled light? That's what I do in my gardens, so I was wondering if the concept applies to aquarium gardening as well.

 

[elinore]

Ok, so question of the day: how the heck would anyone recommend scaping a 55 gal corner bowfront? I don't know if my best option would be to do a big sword in the back corner, or a group of vals or something similarly tall and ribbon-y. The back corner is probably the darkest area of the tank. Anyone have any suggestions or tips or helpful advice?

Other plants on my current list are Ludwigia repens, Hygrophila difformis (Wisteria), Alternathera reineckii 'Roseafolia,' Cryptocoryne wendtii 'Red,' Nymphoides aquatica (Banana Plant), Anubias barteri 'Coffefolia,' and Red Tiger Lotus. The swords I'm looking at are the Amazon Sword, the 'Red Rubin,' and the 'Ozelot.' Any of these sound ok or scream "failure waiting to happen"?

 

[Ambidestrian]

I would recommend some root tabs like Flourish root tabs for the sword plant(s). I don't know about the Tiger lotus, but everything else should be OK.

You would see great benefit from adding CO2, but if you don't want to do that, you should have good gas exchange so the CO2 from the atmosphere can replace that taken up by the plants.

Here's an example of aquascaping in a corner tank: http://www.aquascapingworld.com/forum/aspiring-aquascapers/3386-planted-corner-190-a.html

 

[MichiganMan]

I have Brazilian pennywort that I use as floating plant, great nutrient sponge. I also have some stem plants that are insane growers - I'd send you some of both for shipping costs. I am constantly tossing the pennywort and pruning back the stems.

Pics in my album: http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/album.php?albumid=2842