Looking for some advice, considering a planted tank

[tbirdie]

Oh, you guys have been so incredibly helpful. Keep it coming, i am just writing this all down!! One thing: I haven't heard much about a heater. Never needed one for my current set up. I'm guessing having one would be ideal for the larger aquarium. Any suggestions?

Er, also, how deep should my substrate be? and how much of that depth needs to be flourite of some sort. I'm guessing if I use the sand one as either the main substrate or underneath it... gravel vac would be bad lol. sand and gravel might look kind of cool though, and good for roots. I'd just have to be carefuls.

I will eventually run out of questions, thank you so much for your help and patience.

 

[SidtheMonkey]

I'm assuming that the stuff, if it became accessible... isn't like jagged enough to hurt any of the fish?

It's not that the regular Flourite was bad, it's just that some people like to cater to their bottom dwellers...I was into botia loach species, and so I preferred a more rounded substrate. Rounded gravel or course sand...so that they could root thru it and not injure their spikes. (or barbels on cories).

As for depth, at least 2 inches. For a 20 gal long, that's probably good.

Heaters....ask your fish store what the appropriate wattage is for that size aquarium. I have always used Visatherm and Tronics. But there are many out there. I wouldnt buy the cheapest one tho...malfunctions can kill your fish.

 

[tbirdie]

This is something I definitely worry about more than I prolly even should. My parents had this very $$ heater that they have had for... gosh I don't even know how long. They've had the tank since I can remember. We had a pleco in it that, of course, got huge and almost took over the tank. They loved him though. Towards the end, he was the only one left. My mom went to work, came home, walked by the tank, and felt ... heat. She felt it and it was SO HOT. It had killed the fish and was just off the charts. She is stiill beating herself up over it. and that tank is still empty. happened a month before modiggs died. But I digress...

Sounds like if I want to layer the gravel on top of flourite, I should probably ground the plants in the flourite and then slowly add the gravel or something. so it doesn't get kicked too loose in the process.

 

[SidtheMonkey]

Sounds like if I want to layer the gravel on top of flourite, I should probably ground the plants in the flourite and then slowly add the gravel or something. so it doesn't get kicked too loose in the process.

You dont have to do that. There seem to be many attractive plant substrates now, including the different Flourite ones. Unless you want a certain look or color. But dont over complicate this if you dont have to.

And then you just bury the plant roots under the substrate. You can mound it around their bases at first to keep them down. Some plants need their root bases more exposed and some like java fern and anubias, do better when just tied to bogwood or rocks so they can grow their roots around those and attach themselves. You dont want to bury their roots.

 

[tbirdie]

You dont have to do that. There seem to be many attractive plant substrates now, including the different Flourite ones. Unless you want a certain look or color. But dont over complicate this if you dont have to.

I'm a little confused. I like the gravel that I have now, and I was just going to use that... but I thought I needed Flourite because the plants would grow better in it? So i thought maybe I could just mix the two together or something... to keep the look that I have now. Am I misunderstanding?

 

[tbirdie]

LOL

What are your 'cephalopods?"


And I definitely think you'll need more than just a sponge filter. Check into the different power filters. THey are pretty simple and easy to work with.

Hey, i'm organizing all my info and I got confused when I read this. I thought earlier you said you just use several sponges that you rinse in your aquarium water and then replace. isn't that "just a sponge" filter then? If I get the aqua clear, am i putting any kind of media in there that would not be "just a sponge"? I'm avoiding carbon and charcoal.... what would I be using?

 

[SidtheMonkey]

I'm a little confused. I like the gravel that I have now, and I was just going to use that... but I thought I needed Flourite because the plants would grow better in it? So i thought maybe I could just mix the two together or something... to keep the look that I have now. Am I misunderstanding?

You dont have to have a special substrate. But you can. Basic Flourite is mostly iron and clay and plants use iron to take up nutrients (it doesnt contain nutrients itself, unless the newer varieties do).

So you can do what you want...use your gravel, use Flourite, or mix them.

 

[SidtheMonkey]

Hey, i'm organizing all my info and I got confused when I read this. I thought earlier you said you just use several sponges that you rinse in your aquarium water and then replace. isn't that "just a sponge" filter then? If I get the aqua clear, am i putting any kind of media in there that would not be "just a sponge"? I'm avoiding carbon and charcoal.... what would I be using?

Aqua Clear power filters use 2 or 3 different types of media in their filter boxes...you buy them together or separately. You can really put whatever you want in the filter box. It comes with one sponge for biofiltration I think, & carbon. I always added another sponge & left out the carbon and then sometimes used other things in there as needed, as I mentioned earlier.

Unless you want to make water quality/hardness/etc changes, you dont need anything besides sponges in there.

 

[tbirdie]

Ah, I see. That's what I thought, but I was having a hard time understanding why my current filter, albeit strange and unbranded, wouldn't just do the trick. There is enough room in the filter to add another sponge. The one that is in there now is much thicker than the fluval ones I have for my lizard's water. I don't know how often you are suppose to actually ... change out sponges (if ever). If I am able to bring the water level up to the filter (which i cannot in this current tank because for whatever reason the acrylic will leak), there isn't much surface disturbance at all. I'm not sure what kind of water flow setting would be appropriate for the larger tank, but I don't know how much that really matters.

 

[H2Ogal]

Worth mentioning... I do not have any lights or fixtures for this aquarium. It used to be reptile tank long long ago.

Just FYI, reptile tanks can have much thinner glass than aquarium tanks because they aren't meant to be filled with water. The glass on my 20g long is about 3/16" thick. If the walls are your tank are much thinner, you might want to reconsider using it as an aquarium.