# planted tanks for beginners



## cichlid (Jul 30, 2010)

I am starting to do some early research. My wife to Be, has informed me she wants to do a 90 gallon schooling tank, with rummy nose, german rams, neons, cardinals, and I am aloud to get red turquoise discus pair.

Since this tank will serve as a divider seperating the living room and dining room, I want some color and a back ground is not an option.

I am not ready for co2 yet, so don't suggest it, lol.


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

What do you plan on using for substrate, lighting and fertilizer? Do you want fast growing plants or slow growing? What is the dimension of the tank? 48 by 18 by 24?


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

you can try metricide dosing as a substitute to c02, i know ibenu has had success doing this.

If you have a nutrient rich substrate you can hold off on the dosing ferts while the plants establish their roots, but keep in mind that substrate will expire in time and you'll need to either spike the substrate or fertilize the water column anyways.

for lighting, i'll reference the old archaic form of watts per gallon, aim for 2-3 watts per gallon t5 lighting, make sure theres always room for an extra bulb in the fixture in case you want to upgrade to high light down the road.

It's easier to know what you are doing ahead of time, scape wise, get your decor set up and work from there. With a tank that size you'll want some plant mass in there to kick it off, so look for plant packages here and take whatever will work in your tank. Even if theres something in the tank you wont use, plant it if theres space. I say this because it'll balance out the tank quicker, and you can always replace plants and you'll have established plants to trade with


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## cichlid (Jul 30, 2010)

thanks. I am new to this, i havn't done anything more than buy potted plants, as for the substrate, what do you think is good for substrate and ferts. do you knwo of any good stores in the area to buy stuff?


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## jkcichlid (Apr 21, 2010)

Go see Tim at Aquaflora (Sponsor on the site) for any plants and fertilizers.
He's based in Aldergrove so he'sclose to you and very knowledgable and reasonable prices. (Call him before you show up.)

As for substrate, opinions on that will fill another thread, (check through former threads and read the discussions on them) but through sponsors here you could get any kind you wanted eg.Florabase, ADA Aquasoil, Eco-complete, etc. Only limited ny price and what you think looks good

Happy planting


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

substrate is dependent on the amount of work and experience involved 

ADA uses ammonia/ammonium and such soaked into the substrate to lower the pH level. Not very forgiving for beginner or low tech setup. the ammonia will cause a lot of algae if you do not have a well planted fast growing tank to start.

I have never used eco complete but heard they are fairly good for beginner setup. More user friendly.

I have used flourite/onyx mixed and plain gravel.

When using flourite or plain gravel, nutrient is solely from dosing and fish waste and rotting plant matter.

There is main two approach to fertilizing planted tank.

One is working with the ecosystem itself by complementing the fish waste, substrate type and etc. Such as Edward's PPS approach, Diana Walstad el'natural approach, and or similar style. Ideally, if people are into rare acid loving cryptocorynes using oak leaves, beech leaves and such, that is a natural approach as well.

The other is the EI which sort of ignore the stability and balance eco system of the tank and just dumped everything en-mass so the plants is not starved of nutrients and do a 50% water change every week to flush out the imbalance.

Edwards / Walstad usually result is a slower but consistent growth; where as, EI push for explosive lush growth.


This is all relative to the fish load, plant load, light, CO2 etc.

If you do not want to add CO2 and want something simple, then I would look into finding someone that had or is using eco-complete and ask their opinion on how simple they had their set up.


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