AquaVitamins Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Heya, I have a few plants in my tank. But i have heard muiltaple points of views on growing them.. I want to know the full out story with planting an aquarium: Lighting, substrate(Gravel?),Co2, Which plants and how they can help make my life easier in terms of cleaning? All of it!! :bounce: All you help would be much appreciated Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 well 10,000K is sufficient enough if you're wanting a well planted tank, with this lighting my Tiger Lotus and Ozelot Sword have been sprouting new leaves like mad. C02 - not that essential...depends on HOW dense you want your tank Fert - JBS fert balls are brilliant around heavy root plants cleaning - just siphon around the plant if need be (depends on the fish you keep, some fish need cleaner water) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 i want to plant my tank out, but how dense can i plant it out?? i have bettas who would love to hide out in the plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 well 10,000K is sufficient enough if you're wanting a well planted tank, with this lighting my Tiger Lotus and Ozelot Sword have been sprouting new leaves like mad. C02 - not that essential...depends on HOW dense you want your tank Fert - JBS fert balls are brilliant around heavy root plants cleaning - just siphon around the plant if need be (depends on the fish you keep, some fish need cleaner water) How do you find the K on the light? I just gave my light a good look over, And its 24Ws. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 your bettas I reckon would love Indian Fern..if you don't prune it will grow to semi-cover the top of your tank, when I had Indian Fern they hung out at the floating part all the time plus side being they grew like wild fire in my tank. or various hygro's (the stargrass type) or even big tiger lotuses. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 How do you find the K on the light? It says on the package, you can get 18,000K bulbs from petstores but they're quite a bit darer - from memory I got my 10,000K bulb for $15 from the local lighting+lamp wholesaler. How long is your tank? I have a 5foot tank and I'm using 4foot lighting Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 It says on the package, you can get 18,000K bulbs from petstores but they're quite a bit darer - from memory I got my 10,000K bulb for $15 from the local lighting+lamp wholesaler. How long is your tank? I have a 5foot tank and I'm using 4foot lighting Its 60Ls, i think its 2 foot? 60x30x37cm ish. The light covers the length. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Do you think it would be a good idea to cut the taller plants i have currently growing and replant them to cover the gravel? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 what part of welly you from? We go to a place in Petone on Nelson St (some lamp specialist cannot remember name)... So you've already got the light fittings too? (reflector or case) I don't see why not - you might want to plant tall plants near the back for a backdrop and opt for shorter and shorter plants as it gets nearer to the front of the tank. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 what part of welly you from? We go to a place in Petone on Nelson St (some lamp specialist cannot remember name)... So you've already got the light fittings too? (reflector or case) I don't see why not - you might want to plant tall plants near the back for a backdrop and opt for shorter and shorter plants as it gets nearer to the front of the tank. I live in Strathmore. The light is built into this case thing. It has a reflector inside it. I can move it around ( its not attached) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 that's good cos that part of the lighting unit would be the most expensive part make sure you put up a pic of your completed tank for all of us to have a nosey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 all you wanted to know about growing plants in the aquarium can be found in the plants and technical section of this forum. its amazing :lol: :bounce: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 your bettas I reckon would love Indian Fern..if you don't prune it will grow to semi-cover the top of your tank, when I had Indian Fern they hung out at the floating part all the time plus side being they grew like wild fire in my tank. or various hygro's (the stargrass type) or even big tiger lotuses. ive got three tiger lotus plants, they are just babies tho. going to get some indian fern. do you have your floating or planted. im going to turn my tank into a sand substrate tank with lots of plants. the local fish shop has some nice plants that have HUGE leaves and long stems and some that are bushes made out of long leaves. lovely. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 one thing about sand being plants get uprooted easily and you can't siphon sand like you can with gravel. Sorry couldn't help you there I gave the last of all my Indian Ferns to MJ a couple of months ago I've only got bunches of Anubias nanas propagating Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 any of those gonna be for sale?? :bounce: i dont like gravel coz the stuf goes between it and its hard to get out without siphoning up kuhli loach! i was gonna plant in pots put ontop of sand for effect! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted May 6, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 well 10,000K is sufficient enough if you're wanting a well planted tank, with this lighting my Tiger Lotus and Ozelot Sword have been sprouting new leaves like mad. C02 - not that essential...depends on HOW dense you want your tank Fert - JBS fert balls are brilliant around heavy root plants cleaning - just siphon around the plant if need be (depends on the fish you keep, some fish need cleaner water) Im keen on the Co2. I have seen a good diy design on the Internet. What amount do i allow into the tank? Do i need to regulate it? or do it in shots? And can it kill the fish? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 if you are very keen on the DIY CO2 idea, and are sure you will make one - PM me your details if you like, and ill send you a bottle cap with the tube attached to it, that you will need to screw onto a pepsi bottle or similar and then presto! DIY CO2 ready to go! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 any of those gonna be for sale?? :bounce: i dont like gravel coz the stuf goes between it and its hard to get out without siphoning up kuhli loach! i was gonna plant in pots put ontop of sand for effect! just going to wait for them to get a bit bigger before I list them for sale...they're at around 5-7 leaves stage so quite small That sounds interesting! you've got to take a pic once that's done for us to have a look at Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Lighting is probably the most important part of planted tanks. If you get this wrong then nothing else will go right. 2700k (Warm White) is hopeless as it is to far into the red range and causes algae and 10,000k is on the upper limit for planted tanks. You should be aiming for 6000. The bluer lights look better to our eyes and appear brighter because the our eyes are adjusted to see it but the plants 'see' colour differently to us and best growth is got through 5500 - 6500k which is about as close as we can get to what midday sun looks like. The 10000k is about the light colour you would expect to see from the midday sun at 4 - 5 metres deep under water because the red colour has been filtered out. Plants need the red spectrum to grow so that is why very few plants grow at that depth. It is also why 10 -20,000 is good for coral and marine tanks because naturally sea water is better at filtering out the red and corals thrive in the bluer range. CO2 is probably good if added to good lighting and sufficient amounts of fertilizers and good numbers of plants to begin with otherwise is is a good investment in green water development. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishbreeder Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 just going to wait for them to get a bit bigger before I list them for sale...they're at around 5-7 leaves stage so quite small That sounds interesting! you've got to take a pic once that's done for us to have a look at im getting the pots today or tomorrow. just gota get some nice white silica sand. reason i am planting in pots is coz i want to be able to move them round and if they are in the sand then ill be upsetting them if i want to rearrange or move to other tanks. i need to get some for my fry tank too. looking forward to getting a tank taht has partitions and all planted up for my boys Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted May 6, 2009 Report Share Posted May 6, 2009 Growlux type tubes are designed to grow plants and are 10000k. It is not only blue and red light that is required but those colours need to concentrate at the right frequencies, which is what the tubes are designed to do. They are not called growlux or plantgrow or similar for nothing. Thats why I use lumiflor---secret squirel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bilbo Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Fair comment :-) I was really only making comment about the standard tubes and not the specility plant tubes. Although the higher kelvin means more light in the blue range and lower means more red the K range is really only what the light appears to be as compaired to the sun light and is down to what you prefer the colour to look like. More important is the wavelength of the light output because this is what the plant uses for photosynthesis. It does this more effectively with red than with blue but does need both. For example Gro Lux (arent these 8500K?) They peak usually at both 430nm (Blue) and 660nm (Red) so they are made to peak at exactly where the plant needs them to but they have very low output at 550nm (green) because the plants cant use green light. Unfortunately our eyes see best at this wavelength. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave+Amy Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 the GlowLux we have is 10,000K and gives out a purple glow Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 7, 2009 Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 18000K pinky-purple glow. its a power glo tube. AMAZING STUFF :bounce: I swear by it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AquaVitamins Posted May 7, 2009 Author Report Share Posted May 7, 2009 Whats the deal with Sand? Sand vs Gravel, Which is better for plants? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.