What is needed for a planted tank?

[bobby3]

A quick introduction. My name is Bobby. I'm from Illinois. I have been into reefs for a few years and could tell you anything you want to know about them, however, I can't tell you the first thing about a planted tank which is why I'm here. I decided to tare down one of my reefs a try a planted tank.

My question is what is need equipment wise for a planted tank? What kind of light? would a 2 bulb t5 for fish need it dot com work? Do I need the whole co2 set up or anyother chemicals?

If you could refer me to some links to that would great.


TIA, Bobby

 

[bobby3]

Also will any substrate work? I bought pea pebbles from HD is that ok?

 

[grannylvsfish]

Light, water and you have plants. I have gravel on the bottom, 2 Watts per gallon of light and I grown all low light plants with ease. Once in a while I add some ferts like excel nopthing more. my plants look awesome

 

[bobby3]

OK thanks! So is it 2 watts per gal of any light? Would even t-12 work?

I have a 30 gal just filled it up with water and rocks. Were do you get the fertilizer? Do you make it yourself or buy it? Sorry for all the questions never tried a planted tank before.

 

[jpappy789]

A good starting point is about 1.5-2 watts per gallon (WPG). This will let you grow a lot of low light plants such as java moss, java fern, cryptocorynes, anubias, hornwort, anacharis, vallisneria, and a few others. Lighting will depend on your tank size however, larger tanks will need more light to compensate for depth. I wouldn't go with anything more than this. It would be very difficult to keep algae under control in a tank that is using a light rated for say a salt water setup.

With this type of set up you will not need Co2 or any other chemicals except the possibility of dosing Seachem's flourish excel for a source of carbon. One thing to keep in mind is that certain plants (anacharis and vallisneria in particular) don't always react well to excel and may melt as a result. I've never experienced this but I've always used a lower than recommended dose. Low light plants are slow growers and therefore don't need an abundance of nutrients. The levels in tap water are probably going to be more than enough. Once you get comfortable with plants there is always the opportunity to jump to DIY (or even pressurized) Co2 and heavier fert dosing. Best advice I've been given is to start slow.

For substrate you can go with regular old gravel. Plants like anubias and java fern are best tied to solid objects such as large rocks and driftwood, although they will do just fine buried in the gravel as long as the rhizomes are not covered.

 

[bobby3]

Great this sounds like it might be easier than I though. My tank is a 30L or maybe a 38 gal. The dimentions are 36"Long 17"tall and 12 wide. Should I get the 2*39 watt t5 or just a plain light that is atleast 1.5 to 2 watts per gal?

 

[jpappy789]

That's probably a 30 gallon long (~36"x12"x16")...on mine I am using the AGA twin tube fluorescent light strip. It's usually sold for around $90-100 but I got it used from an AC member at a much cheaper price. I'm unfamiliar with a lot of the brands and fixtures so I'll let someone else step in with some recommendations.

 

[ebola]

The pebbles from HD should work. Just drop one or two into a cup of vinegar to see if they bubble. If they bubble they're limestone and no good. I used peat moss under my pebbles. After you plant you'll have peat moss in the water, but it will settle pretty quickly. If cost is an issue, you can use CO2 from yeast. I had two 1 gallon wine jugs on a thirty and it seemed to make things better, but now I just use Excel. Does the same thing, just a little easier to handle. Good luck, and lets see some pics when you get it up and running!

 

[bobby3]

Lime stone is a no go? I did add some flag stone from arizona I'll have to check that to, because I though some of it was lime stone.

I'll get some pics up in a minute.

So will a t12 light work just as good to?

 

[jpappy789]

Limestone shouldn't be an issue IMO. It will raise your GH and KH, but unless you are keeping very sensitive fish you won't see any adverse affects on the tank, plants included.