Im setting up a 90 gallon tank. I want live plants in it. i have enough light cause im using the same light i used on my salt tank. Do i really have to have CO2? do i need to cycle the tank before adding my plants.?
new tank
- Thread starter stephenray75
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The Short Form:
CO2 will prolly depend on how much light and what kind of plants you have.
-How much light do you have?
-Do you know what kind of plants you want yet?
Cycling a plant tank is different than most other tanks, usually we use a "silent cycle," letting the plants do the cycling work. So, no, you don't have to cycle first.
CO2 will prolly depend on how much light and what kind of plants you have.
-How much light do you have?
-Do you know what kind of plants you want yet?
Cycling a plant tank is different than most other tanks, usually we use a "silent cycle," letting the plants do the cycling work. So, no, you don't have to cycle first.
10K bulbs aren't ideal for a planted FW tank, but I'll leave it to others to tell you if they have any actual experience. I prefer 6.5k lights personnally.
stephenray75 said:
Sorry, I meant to ask how much wattage is going over the tank.
And Kelvin rating truly doesn't mean much. Wattage is the big question, Kelvin really only makes a difference to what we see ( and what we like, lower Kelvin is yellow, higher gets into blue/white). Half my tanks are at 6500 Kelvin and the other half are at 10k Kelvin. All are growing well.
Well, including rich substrate and "decos" like drifttwood and stones, you're prolly only going to get about 75 gallons of water. Which would net you about 1.5 watts per gallon, so you'd do well with lower-light plants (ferns, sagittaria, etc.). CO2 benefits most every tank, but with low-light conditions, it's not totally necessary. Go with a light fish load and you should be in good shape. And IMHO, starting off with low-light is an excellent path for a beginner in plants. It gets you in the frame of mind that you'll need when/if you decide to ramp up.
You also might try looking around at other tank images on the 'Net, and find some low-light tanks to get inspiration from. I'll post a couple of links to my lower-light tanks so you can get started.
3 WPG, Carbon-added 12 gallon NanoCube (not really low light, but fun to look at)
Left and right halves of a 55 gallon, 1.3 WPG tank.
You also might try looking around at other tank images on the 'Net, and find some low-light tanks to get inspiration from. I'll post a couple of links to my lower-light tanks so you can get started.
3 WPG, Carbon-added 12 gallon NanoCube (not really low light, but fun to look at)
Left and right halves of a 55 gallon, 1.3 WPG tank.