"Aquarium Driftwood" - Online Plant Retailer

[Captain Hook]

It's good to hear you are doing it the proper way of research and planning before setting it all up. Many people don't do this and regret it later.

Don't worry, it wasn't long ago that I was exactly like you. I read a lot of information around the net and asked lots of questions on forums like this one.

Do you what you want for lighting and gravel (substrate)? The substrate is probably the most difficult thing to change once the tank is set up. Lighting is a tremendous factor in the tank.

You want to get many fast growing plants in the tank at the beginning. As many and as much as possible.

 

[hforney]

Captain Hook,

I ordered 4 - 7kg bags of SeaChem Flourite when I ordered the stand. The stand, a Perfecto Sedona comes with a canopy. Right now I am trying to determine if I should go with a 2 lamp VHO retrofit kit providing 220 watts of light or if I should select the Coralife 4 x 65 watt compact flourescents. One of the links you sent me had an article that if I have too much light I might have to introduce CO2. I really don't think I am ready for CO2 right now. Maybe next year after I get a little experience under my belt.

I also found a site (thanks to you) thank will select the plants for me. Some of the questions you asked me in a prior email are the same ones the website asks prior to their selection. They want to know, how much light, if I will be adding CO2, my experience level, how much pruning I want to do. So this seems like the right place for me. Sure I want the most beautiful plants there are, but if I don't know how to take care of them they sure will be some ugly plants in the tank.

I made up my mind a month ago I wanted to get an aquarium. So far a month of research, and I won't start getting any equipment until next week.

I will order my driftwood from AquariumDriftwood tomorrow. I searched the net on driftwood. Wow can that stuff get expensive!

I sent an email to Freshwater Aquarium Plants for more info on the plant selection package.

You are really a great help!

 

[Captain Hook]

Glad I can help. Good choice on the Flourite, it's a great substrate. 4 bags might be a little thin. If it is you can add some similar looking gravel for pretty cheap. It can be a pain not having a deep enough substrate.

As for lighting, 4 x 65 watts will be a very high light tank in my opinion. At this level of light you will need to fertilize often and have CO2 running. Otherwise you will have terrible algae problems.

For a 55 gallon, I suggest you start low. Somewhere in the 1.5 - 2 watt per gallon range. On my 72 gallon I have 135 watts of light and it's enough for me. Here's a big pic of it, about a month old and things have changed alot but gives you an idea for light.

http://pna.pricenetwork.ca/gallery/albums/userpics/13267/IMG_6482~0.JPG

 

[hforney]

I am sure glad to get some sound advice! Since I didn't order the light fixture yet would a 3-tube NO flourescent light fixture be better. The 4 bags of flourite should give me a little over 2 inches of substrate. Should I increase that to 3 inches? If so I can order additional bags from Big Al's. They have it on sale for $9.99, even with the additional shipping charge it is cheaper than my LFS. With the money I will save on the light fixture I can spend it on flourite and who knows what else.

I was kind of worried about that 4 x 65 watt fixture. I kept thinking the fish might need sun glasses.

 

[hforney]

Coralife 48" Aqualight Power Compact Strip Light- 2X65Watt might be another option.

Are you familiar with this book "Aquarium Designs: Inspired by Nature" Peter Hiscock; Hardcover? I ordered this book and it is way too advanced for me. Check on the net to see if it would be beneficial to you. It deals with "biotope" designs. If you want to pay postage to ship to Canada I wll give it to you free, it is brand new. I also purchased The Simple Guide to Fresh Water Aquariums by David E. Boruchowitz. This book is great for the beginner! I learned a lot about the 3 N's, cycling, compatable fish, water changes, etc. I had a 29 gallon set-up 7 years ago. Looking back I knew absolutely nothing. I remember doing water changes but I did not even own a test kit. Some of the fish I had were 3 angels, a pleco, and kissing gouramis. Everything was fine in the beginning. The fish began to grow, a big outbreak of algae and all hell broke loose. Looking back I can see numerous mistakes I made. I was asking for trouble. I know a lot more now and believe I will be successful. Plus I had some live plants with regular incandescent bulbs <G>.

Let me know about the book, you have helped save me more money than the cost of the book!

 

[hforney]

Captain Hook,

This is a response I recieved today from a plant expert working for an online vendor. It sure sounds like what you told me a few messages ago LOL.

"I would advise that you use some form of CO2 with that much light. Then I can put togehter a low maintenance package but you would need some fast growing stem plants to help utilize nutrients to keep algae down."

 

[Captain Hook]

hforney that email does sound a lot like my replies. Thanks for the generous book offer but I think you should hold onto it. In a year or two you will be probably be saying why'd I give that book away? Who knows, maybe in a little while you want to set it up a biotope tank for a specific region.

Both of your new light plans are much better decisions in my opinion. If you definitely want to stay away from CO2 I would probably go with the normal fluorescents. Although honestly CO2 is not really that complicated. It can seem it at first but really isn't. I just set up my first pressurized system and managed to do it without spending a lot of money.

Re your 29 gallon, many plecos get big (a foot+) and uproot plants. Kissing gouramies also get big.

Have you thought about fish that want in this tank? For algae eaters my recommendations are amano and cherry shrimp if you have small fish. Bristlenose plecos are great too. They stay under 5 inches in length.

 

[hforney]

Captain Hook,

I am going to name my first fish "Captain Hook" LOL.

My goal is to have my tank set up with 4 hardy fish for cycling by the first of the year. I am not rushing things because haste makes waste. Stocking the tank has been simplified from info on the net. I have found stocking schemes from reputable places and the book I purchased. Basically it boils down to what I would liike. I think Angel Fish are so graceful but they limit my choices of other fish. Plus from my 29g experience they grow big. I think I will start with a group of live bearing fish.

I have started to look into the CO2 thing. Choices, choices, choices!

BTW by name is Herb, New Jersey, USA.

 

[plantbrain]

He's right about the CO2, many really flip on that for some reason.
Not sure why, folks have no trouble adding things likemFe which is 0.06% of a plant's dry weight, Carbon which we add for the plants in the form of CO2, is 40+% of the plant's dry weight.
Now I'll ask you this:

Which makes more sense to add to you? Which do you think will influence and help the plant's growth more?

All you do is measure your KH, then look on this table to figure out what pH you need to get 20-30ppm of CO2.

Add only enough CO2 to get that pH. Do not monkey with other ways to reduce the pH, add CO2, that is what the plants, nothing else.

So if you test your tap water and say it's got a KH of 3, add enough CO2 to reduce the pH to 6.4 to 6.5 and keep it there.

That's it.
Otherwise, do not mess with all that light.
CO2, aquaticeco has a nice little Azoo regulator/solenoid/needle valve for 69$, check the local Fire extingusher supply places or beverage places for CO2 tanks/refills. I got a 20lb tank for 50$ filled.

I have a super DIY internal 2$ CO2 reactor that takes 10 minutes to make that will really make any CO2 dissolving very easy and controllable.
Works better than anyone else's and cost far less and still looks good.

Regards,
Tom Barr

 

[Captain Hook]

Good advice from Tom. He's one of the most knowledgeable plant folks around and has given me some great info.

Herb I like that quote about haste making waste. It's definitely true when it comes to aquariums. I think your plan for having fish in by the new year is makeable. Try to give the plants a few days in the tank before you start adding fish though. That way they will be ready to absorb the fish waste. Although livebearers are generally very hardy fish so this probably won't be a problem.

Run the lights as soon as you have plants in the tank. I suggest getting a timer to make it easier. Most people run lights for about 8-12 hours a day.

My name is Chris, from Toronto Canada