Help me create my planted tank setup

Jag1980

Jag1980

Got Plants?
Aug 18, 2008
1,236
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Marysville, Wa
I'm tired of messing with Yeast CO2 and do not want to use it anymore and some of my fish don't like it either and I do not have over $200 to spend of a CO2 Injection setup.

Here's what I have to work with:
pH 6.5
KH 2 - 3
GH 2 - 3
29gallon - Fluval 1 Plus - 100% fluorite substrate - 65watt Coralife Lighting

The plants I have now:
Anubis Nana
Brazilian pennywart
Italian Vallisneria
Hornswort
Water sprite
Amazon Narrow leaf
Life in my aquarium:
Malaysian Trumpet Snails
5 Badis
4 gold Tetra
2 Otocinclus Catfish


The goal is to fit as many healthy plants in my tank as I can with NO CO2
Please list names of plants I should get for my setup
Should I add more fish to balance my plant to fish ratio for nutrients? If so, how many more fish?
What should I add to my tank for nutrients?
The less amount of fertilizers the better to keep cost low, but I need to know what I would need to add with my setup I have going on.
If I do need to add Excel I have heard that some plants do not do well with Excel, does anyone know what plants do not do well with Excel?
How long of light cycle? 8 - 10 - 12 hours ?
I will post pictures of my progress as this thread gets going.

I have read threads on this and that, but it always come down to certain things not working with certain setups, so I figure I would ask for step by step help here and see what I can do with the help of the knowledgeable people who come to this forum.
Maybe this will work and maybe it wont, I would like to try this and see what me and you can create :)
This will also help me learn the nature of the planted aquarium by researching the plant types that are recommended and the additives needed.
 
KarlTh said:
I would add a relatively inexpensive fert and see what plants work. That's what I've done.

http://www.tropicalfish.site5.com/tfc/showthread.php?t=97536&page=4 for pics
Click to expand...


That's pretty much the look I'm going for is what you have.
What fertilizers do you use and how do you know how much to use and when?

The problem I have on choosing what I can and can't have is knowing what to look for on the specific plants I like. I have read at other places and been told that certain plants wont work with the setup I have, I need to know how they know that so I know what to look for when choosing my plants.

Would also like to know how many fish I can stock in my tank and not have to much waste from what my plants can consume.

I'm trying to learn on my 29 gallon before I start on my 75 gallon heavily planted wild Beta tank, with that I can not use CO2 as these fish are sensitive and expensive at $100 to $300 per fish.

I really just need a book that can teach me all these things about plants in the aquarium that is newer, not a 15 year old boring book with no pictures.
Every time I ask about these types of books I get no answers from anyone. I got 5 books from the local library and they don't tell me anything I need to know... I hate to ask on forums all the time, I need to educate myself on this so I can rely on myself for answers.
 
Why would wild Betta's be sensitive to CO2, they are anabantoids, they breathe air.

Here is a list of plants that would work in your light setup, and without the addition of CO2. But your are running the edge of needing an additional Carbon source with the light you have atm.
http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2

Also make sure to read the sticky put together by Mgamer, should help alot.
 
Jag1980 said:
That's pretty much the look I'm going for is what you have.
What fertilizers do you use and how do you know how much to use and when?
Click to expand...

Precise brands probably aren't helpful because they are different in different countries, but actually I'm using a pond plant fertiliser for reasons of economy.

The problem I have on choosing what I can and can't have is knowing what to look for on the specific plants I like. I have read at other places and been told that certain plants wont work with the setup I have, I need to know how they know that so I know what to look for when choosing my plants.
Click to expand...

It's suck it and see, I'm afraid. Different plants grow in different circumstances and sometimes you just can't figure out why a given plant works which shouldn't or vice versa. Make the mainstays some sure fire certs, like Dwarf Sag (if you can get it), Ceratopteris, Java Fern, then use other experimental plants to fill in the gaps, being willing to jettison them if they're not going to work. Sure, it could be argued that you can end up chucking a value in plants which would have bought you the CO2 setup in time, but at least it's not all in one go and you have some fun in the process.

Would also like to know how many fish I can stock in my tank and not have to much waste from what my plants can consume.
Click to expand...

Again, there's no hard and fast rules on this. It's noticeable, for example, that US stocking levels are often a lot lower than UK ones (probably for no better reason than that you have bigger houses on average than us and therefore bigger tanks), but it seems to work in both countries ;)

I'm trying to learn on my 29 gallon before I start on my 75 gallon heavily planted wild Beta tank, with that I can not use CO2 as these fish are sensitive and expensive at $100 to $300 per fish.
Click to expand...

I agree with other posters that CO2 won't be an issue, especially with a fish which breathes atmospheric oxygen.

I really just need a book that can teach me all these things about plants in the aquarium that is newer, not a 15 year old boring book with no pictures.
Every time I ask about these types of books I get no answers from anyone. I got 5 books from the local library and they don't tell me anything I need to know... I hate to ask on forums all the time, I need to educate myself on this so I can rely on myself for answers.
Click to expand...

Ack. There's no such book. As the Mikado would say "There should be. But there isn't." Unfortunately in this field experience is the only decent text book.
 
I have a no ferts, no CO2 setup. My substrate is Fluorite. Lighting is about 1.4 wpg.

My lights are on for a total of 10 hours, broken up into two 5 hour blocks. That way I can see the fish before work and also after work.

These are the plants that are working for me.

Java moss
Java ferns
Corkscrew vals
Dwarf Sag.
Ludwigia repens
Anubias
Anacharis
Frogbit (floater)

I also have a foxtail (myriophyllum) which does OK, but not great. I recently also got a melon sword but I can't tell yet how well it's going to do. Have a few dwarf chain swords but they're not doing great either.


Hope that helps.
 
I like Nick's list although I had no success with Ludwigia repens under 2.1 watts of lighting. You could add the Hygro species to the list.
You might start off with the lights on about 9 hours a day and see how it goes.
Flourish excell can hurt vals. I had some Italian Val that became stunted after dosing a while with excell. It did send out runners and now resembles dwarf sag as it is only couple of inches tall but otherwise doing well. I stopped using excell months ago but it is still stunted. I now have it in the foreground and use it as a groundcover plant.
 
gmh said:
I like Nick's list although I had no success with Ludwigia repens under 2.1 watts of lighting.
Click to expand...

When I first got the ludwigia they were just cut stems with no roots. The original leaves were nice and red on top and bottom. They've grown quite well in my tank except for the fact that the new growth is not red like the original stems were. The bottoms of the leaves are redish but the tops are green. I attribute the lack of red coloring to my low lights. I'd say they double in height every month or two.

I also want to try some crypts but just haven't found them (cheap) yet.
 
IMHO - all plants listed will do OK w/o CO2. At your lighting levels, you may be seeing some algae w/o CO2, so keep any ferts additions VERY lean.

I'd look into the EI dosing routine and run it at about 1/10th the recommended amounts (more if you're already pretty heavily loaded w/ plants), still doing the water changes weekly. As the plant mass increases in the tank, increase the ferts dosing a bit.

You may also want to consider using Excel (at low doses so it won't hurt your Vals).
 
With most stems that exhibit reds, lighting levels are key. As your green stems get up toward the top of the tank, you should start to see more and more color.

Crypts - I sell some nice C. wendtii plants pretty regularly around here (green in low light, bronze in med/high light). Watch for my posts in the classified section. Others sell different Crypt species too. There are lots of good sellers here.

Another thing to do is keep an eye on the RAOK & other related plant threads.
 
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