Thinking of going planted? read here....

[evilknieval69]

Hi guys. i chucked this together in quite literaly 40 minutes. can people please add to what i have written, and correct things i may have said wrong etc? I want to make this a nice article that plant beginners can read, so dont want to put them wrong. Any help is apreciated

Thinking of going planted? Read here...

It seems that a lot of people have been wanting to start planted tanks lately, so I’m going to run through what sort of equipment you will need to have a successful planted tank.

The tank

The size of your planted tank isn’t a major factor, but the smaller you go, the less plants you can easily fit into the tank. Your not going to have a huge amazon sword in a 20L tank are you. I would suggest starting out with around a 4 foot, 200L tank. This article will be based on using a tank about that size.

Substrate

Plants like to have a small-medium sized substrate around their roots, as they can dig in better and feel more secure. Substrates such as 2-5mm gravel are perfect for plants. I recommend using an under gravel fertiliser under the top substrate as well, so heavy root feeders like swords can feed. These aren’t a necessity but do help with the growing of the plants. Plants like swords and crypts will need a deep substrate as they have alot of heavy roots, so 4-5cm's deep would be a good start.

Heating

Two 100w heaters will be best for heating in a tank this size if you live in a warmish area; if you live in a cold area, two 150w heaters would be better. if your using two heaters have one set at a couple degrees lower than the other to prevent both heaters heating at the same time which could overcompensate resulting in a constant rise and fall in temperature. If you want to get really fussy with your plants, you can also use an under gravel heating cable. These keep the plant roots nice and warm. Once again, these are not a necessity in growing healthy plants, but do help a little bit. Under gravel heaters can usually be picked up for around $150.

Filtration

Filtration in a planted tank should not be hugely gushing, as plants will easily become up-rooted. In a 200L tank I would recommend a 1000 lph canister filter such as the Aqua one CF1000, which can usually be found for around $100. Canister filters are great as they have a large area for media, and are not visible in the tank. Smaller internal filters could also be used, but take up valuable tank space. There are lots of filters on the market, but as a general rule, you want a filter that will run 4 to 6 times your tank volume per hour.

Lighting

The most important part in a planted aquarium is the lighting. Lighting should not be skimped on, as it is what keeps your plants alive and healthy. For a 200L tank there are many different options for light. 1-1.5 Watt per litre is the recommended amount of light for a planted tank. Four 4 foot t8 tubes (t8 tubes are standard flouros found in commercial fittings) would be a good amount of light in a 200L tank. T5 lighting is another, more expensive option. T5’s are thinner tubes, which are higher wattage than the corresponding t8’s. Metal halide is the even more expensive option. For a 4 foot tank, you would need two Metal Halides to get the correct spread of light, so wouldn’t be the cheapest option. For now we will go with the 4 t8 tubes as they will give you 152w’s of light.

Carbon dioxide supplement

Plants grow using a process called photosynthesis. For plants to do this process, they need light, CO2 and fertilisers. CO2 is the second most important part of the process, with lighting being first. CO2 is a readily available form of carbon, plants expire CO2 and Oxygen. CO2 will also change the hardness and the Ph of the water. However plants are benefited by the nitrification process in the nitrogen cycle and the initial mineralisation in which plants play a major part, along with anaerobic and aerobic bacteria. CO2 can be provided in different ways. I will run through 3 ways. The best way is through CO2 injection. CO2 injection can be done two different ways; pressurised CO2 injection, and DIY CO2 injection. A Pressurised CO2 setup consists of a CO2 bottle, CO2 regulator, Needle valve, and a CO2 diffuser or reactor. This is the bare minimum for a pressurised CO2 setup. A professional system can consist of the above components, a solenoid valve, a bubble counter and/or a manifold to pump CO2 into more than one tank. A small pressurised system could cost as small as $200, and a larger, more professional setup could cost up to $1000. Pressurised CO2 is the most accurate way of injecting CO2 into a planted aquarium. DIY CO2 injection consists of mixing water, yeast and sugar together. The solution reacts together, and gives off CO2 gas. This gas can then be directed into the aquarium. Mixtures need to be replaced every 2-4 weeks, depending on quantities used. DIY mixtures are hard to control, and can bump the CO2 rate up and down, depending on the mixture, temperature and the age of the mixture. DIY setups are very cheap to use though, and more than one mixture can be used at once to get a higher CO2 rate. The third way of putting CO2 into the tank is via fish waste. Fish create waste, which partially turns into CO2. A tank of 200L’s with 15-20 small-medium sized fish will create an average amount of CO2, which the plants can thrive off. This way, not only do your fish look good, but they also help the plants. Using fish is the easiest way to get CO2 into your aquarium, and can give just as good results as a DIY setup can. CO2 injection is not a necessity if you have a good fish load.

Fertiliser

Fertilisers are the third part of growing healthy plants. Plants need micro nutrients, and macro nutrients to grow. A lot of these come from fish waste also, but dosing them ups the amount available to the plants, making them grow faster and nicer. All in one products like Seachems ‘flourish’ are often used, but more specialised dosing needs to be done in order to have the best plants. A good dosing formula to use is the ‘poor mans dupla drops’ formula, also known as PMDD. PMDD consists of many different compounds. The ingredients are listed below.

PMDD

2 Teaspoons (~14g) K2SO4 (potassium sulfate)

1 Teaspoon (~6g) KNO3 (potassium nitrate)

2.5 Tablespoons (~33g) MgSO4-7H2O (fully hydrated magnesium sulfate, aka epsom salts; omit if present in trace element mix)

1 Tablespoon (~9g) Chelated Trace Element Mix

(7% Fe, 1.3% B, 2% Mn, 0.06% Mo, 0.4% Zn, 0.1% Cu, EDTA, DTPA)

300 ml (1.5 cups) distilled H2O

This is the basic mix for PMDD, but more specialised options can be made to suit your plant needs. Another way to add fertilisers to your tank are through special 'plant balls' or 'tablets'. These are especially good for heavy root feeders like most of the Echinodorus sp. Jbl 7's balls are recommended by a lot of people. these contain 7 important ingredients in plant growth. other root feeders are available as well.

This way has worked for me, but there is no guarantee it will work for you. This is a basic outline of what sort of equipment and materials you need to have a successful planted aquarium

Rogan Donaldson

Sources: http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/pmdd.htm

Forum members on www.fnzas.org.nz/fishroom

[SpidersWeb]

Love it.

Good work Rogan.

Only one thing, as a rule 1.5W per litre (always been how I've done it, and on the back of a heater box last week it said that, when using less than that I've found the temp to dip a bit on really cold winter nights). I use 2 x 150W in my 200L tanks. Guess it depends on where you live etc a fair bit.

[quack]

PMDD

2 Teaspoons (~14g) K2SO4 (potassium sulfate)

1 Teaspoon (~6g) KNO3 (potassium nitrate)

2.5 Tablespoons (~33g) MgSO4-7H2O (fully hydrated magnesium sulfate, aka epsom salts; omit if present in trace element mix)

1 Tablespoon (~9g) Chelated Trace Element Mix

(7% Fe, 1.3% B, 2% Mn, 0.06% Mo, 0.4% Zn, 0.1% Cu, EDTA, DTPA)

300 ml (1.5 cups) distilled H2O

This is the basic mix for PMDD, but more specialised options can be made to suit your plant needs.

what is the dosage of this??

[quack]

oh yeah and nice artical

[antwan]

CO2 also gets into the tank from the fish breathing it out (not sure if that's counted as "waste" above.

[dogmatix]

If its the same as dupla 1 drop per 50L daily

[smidey]

thanks evil, very thorough

[fishboi]

nice article, only thing i would do different is substrate and IMO if its ur first time setting up a proper planted tank 4 foot seems a bit big i would go for something a bit smaller.

Substrate

Plants like to have a small sized substrate around their roots, as they can dig in better and feel more secure. Substrates such as sand are perfect for plants. I recommend using an under gravel fertiliser under the top substrate as well, so heavy root feeders like swords can feed. These aren’t a necessity but do help with the growing of the plants

i personally would not use sand as its not a very good substrate for planting. Substrate should be between 3 and 8 mm as large substrate will block root growth, the smaller ones like sand can actually crush the roots or become too tense to grow.

also substrate should be in layers, mix the first layer with the solid fertilizer [only this layer has fertilizer] and then add two additional layers after that with the finest on the top layer. substrate depth should be determind by the type of plants u choose. Plants like Cryptocoryne and Echinodorus that are deep rooted would need at least couple of inches.

[lorenceo]

A 150w Metal halide would be perfectly suited for a 200L tank, and it would give a high concentration of light, but for now we will go with the 4 t8 tubes.

One 150w MH over a 4ft tank wouldn't be sufficient. The middle would be well lit and the edges would have insufficient light.

The general rule is one MH per 60cm^2 of water surface.

So if your tank is 60x60x60 you would only need one MH light, but if your tank was 180x60x60, you would need three.

[evilknieval69]

Thanks for the input guys, I shall change it around a little bit now

[Caryl]

I assume the finished article will be emailed to me for the Aquarium World?

[evilknieval69]

I assume the finished article will be emailed to me for the Aquarium World?

[Joze]

CO2 is a readily available form of carbon, plants expire CO2 and Oxygen. CO2 will also change the hardness and the Ph of the water. However plants are benefited by the nitrification process in the nitrogen cycle and the initial mineralisation in which plants play a major part, along with anaerobic and aerobic bacteria.

Good article although you have to think about the multitude of people who think "hey I really need to add CO2" even if their plants are behaving like triffids.

[evilknieval69]

woa thanks joze, i have added it to the article. Once we have the article pretty much sorted i will email it to caryl and will acknowledge the forum members for their help

[peanuts]

and from a beginners point of view they may find the description of lighting a bit difficult to understand - ie "t5 or t8" you might want to advise what these are/do.

[reef]

t5 is a thin bulb vs t8 which are bigger and t12 which are bigger yet.

The best is the t5s as they produce far more light, for example a 4ft t5 is 54w and a t8 is 36w i think.

the high watt t5s are HO for high output as you also get normal t5s which are not as good as HO.

[Joze]

yeah but hang on, have you ever walked into say zip plumbing or bunnings and said "Hey, I want a T5 8500 kelvin light". Generally about T they glaze over.

You get the same reaction as you would asking for dosing fertilizer for a 1500 litre planted tank. Personally I use soluble house plant fertiliser, the planted tank is too big for anything else.

[alanmin4304]

The heading is about starting a planted tank but your content is more about finishing a planted tank. Good content but much is not a requirement even though desirable.

[evilknieval69]

Thanks for the input guys. Alanmin, you are very right about that. I have changed the heading a bit so its not necessarily about starting

Thanks

[alanmin4304]

It is a matter of personal choice but I prefer to use sand as a media because the plants seem to do better. The plants don't grow on the sand or gravel, they grow on what is in between. I have a friend who uses fine pea gravel and has great success. One of the advantages of being in Christchurch is the easy availability of greywacke sand and gravel which is relatively inert. The others are of course the untreated artesian water and the traffic jams are in Jaffatown.

[Adrienne]

Hi, as a beginner to properly planted tanks (until a couple of years ago I just used to plant and wonder why nothing grew and then went to bb tanks), thanks a heap for this article and also all the other advice from everyone. I have planted out three tanks now with many more to go and things appear to be going well although in the early stages.

[HandS]

good to see this thread pop back up, it is really helpful. Maybe it should be made sticky???

[bOi]

good to see this thread pop back up, it is really helpful. Maybe it should be made sticky???

i second that, once all the corrections made?? or finalized etc

[me love fishy]

As a fertilizer you could also add the 7 balls. I have used them and they have helped a few of my plants grow faster and get established more quickly.

[alanmin4304]

I use the balls for Echinodorus sp. and they do well with them.