starting a planted tank, does this sound good?

Easydoesit said:
okay.
ice- that capitalized plant is a cool plant.

im ordering some guppy grass and some dwarf sag, should be coming some time next week.

about the substrate...
i really want to keep the sand. i have THE PERFECT piece of driftwood for the 20 gallon, and want the light sand for contrast. im thinking im going to stick with all green plants.
i would put some gravel under the sand, but wont the sand just sink into it? should i mix some gravel with sand for the bottom layers or would this not help with compaction at all?(doesnt seem like it would)
im gonna have to get a pic to you guys one way or another of this tank and the perfect piece of wood when it's set up
Click to expand...


My 75 gallon planted is sand. I used Quickrete Medium Grade Contractors sand. The tank is in my sig. It looks different now as I've done some rescaping but you get the idea. I'll try to get an updated pic tonight.

Adding gravel then sand eventually will leave the sand on the bottom and the gravel on top. I'd just add some Malaysian Trumpet snails, they keep it pretty well aerated. You might want to add a small school of cories to help and I'd look into some shrimp to help with algae.

I never liked guppy grass, it broke apart to easy and got everywhere.
 
nice tank.. now im torn between all green or throwing some reds in there: |
i was thinking about solely shrimp for my 10 gal, but ddnt rly wanna do that. im gonna get some for the 20. im going to have to watch my betta with them though, hes a curious little guy.
hopefully the guppy grass will work out. if not, then.. idk. good thing it's cheap?
thanks for the help
 
k, today im sending out my orders for guppy grass, dwarf sag, riccia and hopefully frogbit.
any last words of advice?
 
I think you'll be happy with the dwarf sag, I've had great luck with it. You might consider planting some broad leaf sag along with the dwarf, it looks the same, but just grows a bit taller. makes a nice addition, I have the two together in my 4g tank.

advice on the sag: plant it near where you want it to grow, but away from the light. it will send off runners seeking more light, so you'll have a lot of plants growing towards a window or the center. it travels quickly, but takes a longer to get bushy... so maybe plant your first cluster 1.5-2" apart, 3 or 4 plants, and they'll all spread. it seems they especially like the co2 when replanted, so starting up strong is what i've tried to do. in the long run, under low light at least, they don't need a ton of co2.

also, I'd keep the guppy grass away from filters and high flow areas, it's so fragile, you'll end up with broken pieces everywhere.

sounds like it's going to be a nice tank, pics are in order!
 
thanks for the info on the sag.. just the kind of info im looking for! ill keep it in mind when planting.
i hope the guppy grass will be alright. i am planning on keeping it away from the filter, on the opposite end where my betta will most likely rest and chill out after his adventures.. so i hope that works out.
i love advice, lol. im researching away in an attempt to hopefully get this right. tomorrow im going to look up DIY co2 recipes and hopefully reviews as well as get my ingredients.. im sending out the money orders for the Dwarf Sag, the Frogbit, and the Guppy Grass tomorrow, and im going to go to home depot and choose my lighting. i already have spare tubing for the co2, so thats good.
havnt heard back on the Riccia from the seller yet, but hope that works out as well. if it doesnt by the time im planting, ill just use my decent amount of java moss that i have for now as a carpet.

im going to be taking pics with my good cam, which doesnt have a hookup to my mac.. so tomorrow im also going to search the house up and down for my cheapo mac compatible camera that i got for like 70$ lol. im excited about this tank and wanna get pics out.
 
okay heres what i did today..
went to walmart, got my lighting:
2 18"(bulb size) portable under cabinet fixtures w/ bulbs included. 1 for my 55 gallon non planted O's tank, 1 for my planted. 5 ft chord.
the bulbs are 15 watt energy efficient, says "60 watt light output"
i also got 1 18" "sunshine" F15 bulb"ideal for color critical areas or where sunshine is at a minimum-full spectrum light" (F15T8)-620 lumens and 1 18" blacklight for my Os nightlight if im ever not too lazy to switch the bulbs.
the fixtures both have a plastic piece that goes over the bulb.
the fixtures with bulbs already in them says "70% more energy efficient and 80% cooler than halogen or incandescent.. dont know if i should just stick with these bulbs or the "sunshine" F15 for my planted.
light fixtures w/ bulbs- a little under $7 each
blacklight bulb and sunshine bulb- $6 each
maybe i shouldve got the "plants and aquarium" bulb for my planted tank, but i remember from when i was growing regular plants that these werent really that super duper. they were okay, but there were better choices for growing plants. the spectrum was either more toward the blue or red end in them, and whichever end of the spectrum it leaned more towards wasnt ideal for either the flowering stage or the vegetation stage, dont remember which one though.

i got my stamps and my money orders, but by the time i could get to the store, the mail already came. so i guess they will be sent out tomorrow.

so basically.. i have my lighting and my plants are on their way:) well, almost. next thing i have to do is get a mini powerhead for my co2 diffusion. probably going to cost me tops 10$. if anyone has any recommendations for that, feel free to tell me. also need to get some sponge for my filter intakes.
 
forgot.. 1 question- the plastic piece over the bulb is really not clear plastic. referred to as a "diffuser" on the back. im thinking i should take it off. ... right?

talk about ghetto, walmart.. psht..
bulb replacement instructions(exact quote):
"3. Reinstall the new bulb into the lamp holders than rotated in 90 degrees."
 
you could just buy the red sea co2 kit, it comes with a mini powerhead with venturi and a nice bottle, you can make your mix yourself. if your tank was smaller, I'd reccomend the hagen system to start with, I love the bubble ladder... but you're probably better off with a powerhead.

generally speaking, the diffuser is not great for plants.... but you also don't want your bulbs exposed to too much moisture. might consider some sort of top. (if you haven't)
 
got my plants today! well, got the sag, the guppy grass, and an extra val. its really pretty- kind of corkscrewed thing leaves that get reddish-pink where the leaves meet the stem. i need to ID this val and figure out how to plant it, lol.
waiting on my amazon frogbit, should be here any day now.
i put a sign on my fridge that says "REWARD- $5 to the person who finds the camera that hooks up to the mac"
ive looked all over, but hopefully someone will remember seeing it somewhere now lol...
so im gonna try and get pics to you guys soon.
ps- the guppy grass was a pain in the butt to plant, but not horrible
 
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