plants with no CO2??

lousybreed

lousybreed

Aquaria Central Site Controller
Sep 7, 2004
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Bay Area, CA
I am in the process of starting a 55 gallon tank. my thread can be found in the general forum, just do a search for lousybreed.

anyways i will have only 80W (one 6500K and one 5000K) of light over the tank and for starters would just like to have a live plant background. I was thinking vals or some hygros. No CO2 and the lighting is a little weak but i still want to try. I just want a nice background plant but i dont want to become obsessed with CO2 and high wattage lighting. Substrate will have a mix of gravel, eco-complete and flourite. I will be using 50/50 RO/Tap water. Peat filtration, temp 81F. 12 cardinals and 4 german rams

any suggestions?
 
1.5WPG is fine for quite a few plants. I think you would probably have success with both the Hygro and Vals that you mentioned.

I'm not sure about mixing Flourite, Eco-complete and gravel - if you're planning to layer it, keep in mind that it will mix over time (every time you pull up a plant to prune it, fish digging, etc.) and may not look nice. I'd stick with one, or two, but I don't think I'd mix all three.

As for being obsessed with high light and CO2, I actually enjoy it ;) My job can be tedious, and my tanks give me something to constantly think about.
 
You should have not problems growing the plants you mention and many others at that wattage in that tank. They will grow slower, but for your purposes they will do just fine.
I would also not mix the substrates, unless you know what they will look like when mixed together.
May I ask why you intend to mix your tap water with R/O?

Len
 
also i just might do gravel and eco-complete it will give a nice dark color substrate that will bring out the cardinals colors!
 
Eco-complete is a great substrate by itself but it looks horrible when mixed with gravel. Flourite and some of the darker natural gravels, like red flint, look good together but keep the Eco-complete by itself.
 
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