plant grow out tank.

Ballyhoo

Ballyhoo

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Jun 27, 2010
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Fairfield, CA
I wanted to set up a tank that was strictly for plants being grown out and if possible supporting a large group of pond snails. My eventual goal is to plant my 72 gal bowfront and make a large dwarf puffer tank.

I have an empty 10 gal with the hood that comes with it and I planned on going to get a light bulb that was designed for plant growth.

Fert wise, I plan on using excel until I get a good group of plants and the money to purchase dry ferts.
Is it possible to over fertilize a tank of plants. I understand that if anything is going to be living in this tank that the levels have to be monitored. If the tank is strictly plants is it as important to monitor levels to avoid upper level toxicity. At the moment there is no CO2, but I'm planning on getting a system

I planned on getting substrate that was intended for plants, unless I could get away with play sand or something similar.

I don't plan on scaping this tank at all, I was just going to toss in clippings and plant anything that is rooted.
Thoughts would be appreciated :)
 
Thats a good idea. You dont need a special plant bulb though. Does the fixture have two screw in sockets? if so just put two daylight bulbs in it. Anything in the 5500-6700k range should be just fine. i would probably use two 9w bulbs if i were you.

As for substrate, you can get a good plant substrate for cheap since you wont need too much. if you want to go the cheaper route, you can get a 25lb bag of Special Kitty litter from Wal-Mart for around $3. All it is is fired clay; which is what a lot of plant substrates are. I would also recommend adding a little Osmocote (not Osmocote+) or Jobes Plant Sticks to the bottom first. that should help the roots of any of the plants you put in there.

Hope that helps :)
 
jasonG75 said:
Playsand or PFS will be FINE, suppliment with root tabs. Yes you can over Fert with will lead to algae (of all forms) I would however recommend a 20 wide for this method.
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I only have a 10 gal, found it in storage in the crawlspace and figured I might as well use it as something. Good to know about the algae, thank you!

WeedCali said:
Thats a good idea. You dont need a special plant bulb though. Does the fixture have two screw in sockets? if so just put two daylight bulbs in it. Anything in the 5500-6700k range should be just fine. i would probably use two 9w bulbs if i were you.

As for substrate, you can get a good plant substrate for cheap since you wont need too much. if you want to go the cheaper route, you can get a 25lb bag of Special Kitty litter from Wal-Mart for around $3. All it is is fired clay; which is what a lot of plant substrates are. I would also recommend adding a little Osmocote (not Osmocote+) or Jobes Plant Sticks to the bottom first. that should help the roots of any of the plants you put in there.

Hope that helps :)
Click to expand...

the lighting is just this standard thing that came with the tank when i bought it. It takes the one long florescent bulb.
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If I can get away without having to pay for the very expensive substrates it'd be ideal. I'll look into the kitty litter.

the Osmocote/plant sticks would go on the bottom of the tank before the substrate?
 
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