I have a 55 gallon tank that currently has plastic plants in it. I've been thinking about switching to live plants for a while, but haven't really done too much research on the subject. For substrate in my tank, I just have regular aquarium rocks that you buy in a bag at Walmart. I guess they're more like pebbles, not the really tiny colored rocks you can buy. If I go with live plants, am I going to have to replace my substrate, or are there any type of plants that can grow in what I have? Or is it possible just to plant them in little pots or whatever, and then cover the pots with rocks? As far as lighting goes, I just have the two single lamps that came with the kit when I got it. I'm not really sure what wattage they are or anything, the bulb just says "Eclipse Natural Daylight" or something like that. I can get better bulbs, that's not a problem. I really don't want to have to buy a CO2 unit, either. So is it going to be possible to have live plants in my tank or not?
Could I grow plants?
- Thread starter vaheelsfan
- Start date
Seaman
Shrimp gumbo, shrimp salad etc...
you will probbably need another light housing, because the one that came with the tank wont support the bulbs you need for a 55 gal. it also depends on how deep it is...the deeper the more light is going to be lost. Just get low light plants like java fern....and you should be ok with 2 40w 6500k bulbs that would be almost 1.5 watts per gallon and that did fine with my java fern. I wouldnt worry about C02 injection, when you start doing that you have to make sure your lights are up to par...because the plants are going to get one thing they need (C02) and they will try and grow but if the light is crap then they will have a hard time. As far as substrate im using just small pebbles with a DIY C02 injection and 2 watts per gallon...and I have a buncha stuff growing in my 55 gal, its growing slow albeit but its growing.
also if you dont do flourite in your substrate you will have to stay
up on dosing suppliments iron, molyblednm etc...
ideally you would want about 200 watts give or take (depending on what youre trying to do) for a 4 ft long 55gal tank. Im planning to do 2 6500k 55 watt, 1 10,000k 55 watt, and one 55w actinct (sp) which is relatively 200 watts (just a little more)
also if you dont do flourite in your substrate you will have to stay
up on dosing suppliments iron, molyblednm etc...
ideally you would want about 200 watts give or take (depending on what youre trying to do) for a 4 ft long 55gal tank. Im planning to do 2 6500k 55 watt, 1 10,000k 55 watt, and one 55w actinct (sp) which is relatively 200 watts (just a little more)
So how do you use flourite? Does it go under the gravel, or is it just there by itself? Can you just put it where you want put plants, or should it be spread through the whole aquarium?
Seaman
Shrimp gumbo, shrimp salad etc...
you can do it different ways...I just have mine mixed in with the gravel (its about the same color as my gravel) on half of my tank, because only half of it is planted
I recently switched from plastic/silk to live plants in a 55G high tank. I had gravel (med. blue color and black) and just added eco-complete to it...pushed 1/2 of top gravel layer over to side, put 1/2 eco then covered back up w/gravel; repeated! I bought a PC 110W from FosterSmith. And yes, I've had a lot of success with low/medium light requirement plants! No co2 injection, just Florish Exel.
I didn't realize I'd enjoy having live plants so much! Instead of just checking out my fish every day now I love to look for new plant growth! It's a feeling of accomplishment to actually see the plants and fish thrive together! And I think my fish might be a little happier, too. AND all this with 2 silver dollars in the tank!! They actually like to eat the Amazon Sword that I have but I just cut back the chomped leaves and let them be. I just bought seaweed salad for them so maybe they'll be happy with that.
I started with lights on for just 8 hrs (going from 30W I didn't want to upset balance too much), then 9 and now about 10. No algae problem at all.
So good luck...with new lights at 1.5-2 WPG you should be successful w/o stress of co2 injection!
I didn't realize I'd enjoy having live plants so much! Instead of just checking out my fish every day now I love to look for new plant growth! It's a feeling of accomplishment to actually see the plants and fish thrive together! And I think my fish might be a little happier, too. AND all this with 2 silver dollars in the tank!! They actually like to eat the Amazon Sword that I have but I just cut back the chomped leaves and let them be. I just bought seaweed salad for them so maybe they'll be happy with that.
I started with lights on for just 8 hrs (going from 30W I didn't want to upset balance too much), then 9 and now about 10. No algae problem at all.
So good luck...with new lights at 1.5-2 WPG you should be successful w/o stress of co2 injection!