I have a saltwater tank that I watn to convert in into a freshwater community tank with a few real plants here and there( ihate fake plastic plants). Im doing this because i dont have much luck with saltwater and has cost more tha I initially figured, so I want to go back to freshwater since I know it a lot more and have kept freshwater fish for about 15 years. All my equipment I can keep, I just need to clean it all really good. MY question is about lighting. I have a dual compact flourescent fixture that has a dual 10,000 kelvin and 6,500 kelvin 65 watt bulb, and a 65 watt actinic bulb. Is this lighting overkill for plants? Not enough? If it is ok what kinds of plants would be good? And can I get away with just a cheap CO2 injector like the 29$ one from red sea?
converting a saltwater tank into a sort of planted tank
- Thread starter bchbm2022
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oh and if you need to know it is a 36 gallon tank. The filter I have is a rena filstar XP1. I have 2 265 gph powerheads I plan to use with an undergravel filter to get some better biological filtration, which if that it too much flow will be directed to the top and back of the tank.
I am not the planted tank guru that some on this site are, which became very apparent after looking through some TOTM photos. I have done a similar conversion however with a 75. Your lights should be sufficient, you will have about 3.6 wpg which puts you in the midrange and will support quite a variety of plants. I would ditch the UG however and go with either a small in tank filter or a sponge filter. A moderately stocked planted tank has much less need of biological filtration than a fish only tank. CO2 is entirely up to you, very few plants actually need additional CO2 but all will grow faster with its addition. This actually ends up causing more maintenance, especially in a smaller tank. As far as plant varieties, many of the swords make great centerpieces and are easy to keep, Anubias, Java moss, Java fern and any of the smaller vals would all be good choices.
thanx a lot. I dont really know a lot about planted tanks. I have some time before I start this so Im looking all over to get as much info as I can. I love saltwater but my problem is marine ick and velvet. I quarantine, treat, make sure water parameters are ok, but it never seems to go away. So I decided to cut my losses and go back to freshwater. I have to wait about 6-8 weeks for any remaining parasites in my tank die off before I can bring my live rock back to the store.
Sorry to hear about your Marine woes. Marine has always been my first love untill the plant bug bit about 2 years ago. Taking your time and researching is always the safest way to do it and will lead to much more long term enjoyment. On a side note a 36 is smaller than I would reccomend for a first Marine tank, I always tried to steer people towards at least a 55 and preferably a 75 as the extra gallons make them more stable and forgiving.
First of all, sorry about your Saltwater woes. If this is your first time jumping into a planted aquarium, I would start off with low-light plants, such as Anubias, Crytpocorynes, Vals, Java Fern/Moss. Second I would only run half your lights, either the 10k or 6.7k bulbs, to keep your WPG under 2, this will prevent the need for CO2 or Ferts, cause high light without the latter will give you alot of problems with algae.
But if you want to go the DIY CO2 route, read this awesome primer: http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html. There is even a liquid/chemical route for providing a carbon source, Seachem Excel :http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/FlourishExcel.html.
But if you want to go the DIY CO2 route, read this awesome primer: http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html. There is even a liquid/chemical route for providing a carbon source, Seachem Excel :http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/FlourishExcel.html.
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DAVIDFBT
Extinct? Since when?
3.6 WPG is enough to grow basically any plant you want underwater. But if you supply all that high light without CO2, you will get more algea than you can handle.
yea i knew i was taking a risk with a smaller marine tank and while others have much success with small tanks, not me. Believe me I would have definately gone with a bigger tank, but I just didnt have the space since my dad's 100 sumthin gallon tank takes up a lot of room. I kind figured that I would need CO2 with that much lighting. Im gonna go with a DIY one. I have seen some good designs online. Oh and DAVIDFBT, awesome avatar.
hey I have a question. I currently have an eclipse hex 5. Would I be able to get some small foreground plants for it? I plan on moving everything from that little tank to my 36 gallon when I convert it. If I am able to to this, should I use Excel to supplement CO2 for them since I have the stock lighting? Or should I just wait until i convert my 36 gallon tank into a planted aquarium.
I also plan to use the Red Sea turbo CO2 system on my 36 gallon tank because it is cheaper than making some DIY CO2 injectors and it works the same way. I might make my own reaction chamber and add a check valve to it because to disperse the CO2 it uses a venturi powerhead.