critter_crazy Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Hey guys, so after having a nose around the forum I am officially very jealous of all your tanks! As I'm still pretty new to this I've never attempted to try a planted tank before (I have a bit of a brown thumb ) but now I'm feeling very inspired to do so. Just wondering what you guys would recommend for a first timer? Gravel or sand? Also whats a couple of good begginers plants? I was thinking I'd try small first in my 34L as it's already got the right lighting etc. and wouldn't cost too much if I screw up! :happy2: Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
phoenix44 Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 You can start with a smaller tank, but they are usually harder to maintain (and not often cheaper to setup!); so I would recommend starting with a 80L+ tank to start off with. At that size, flourite makes for a good substrate, and is fantastic for plants. Apart from that have a look at the plant section of this forum, and have a read through some of the posts there (especially the ones that talk about light and CO2). Once you have the light sorted, we can tell you what plants are a good match. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted May 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 You can start with a smaller tank, but they are usually harder to maintain (and not often cheaper to setup!); so I would recommend starting with a 80L+ tank to start off with. My largest tank is 60L Like I say, very new with a very small budget lol I'll have a look in the plants section Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
breakaway Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 If it's only a 34L Tank I suggest paying ~$70 for a bag of flourish "nutrient rich" substrate from the shop, filling the tank to ~2inches, plant it well, then follow up with weekly water 50% changes and dry fertilizers (using Flourish liquid ferts = ridiculously expensive). Dry fertilizers = powered form, you take a bit of tank water, mix up the appropriate amount and dump it back in the tank. There are calculators available freely on the internet that tell you how many t-spoons of powder to put in depending on water volume. I would also invest in CO² (try DIY at first, google for instructions), and if you're serious buy a pressurised system. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 18, 2011 Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Welcome to the forum. When you are first starting out it is good to master the basics. Another option to the suggestions above is to start off simple with something like: Light: aim for an 11 watt tube and start with a 4 hour photoperiod that you increase by one hour each week until you have a 6 hour photoperiod Substrate: anything you like, sand is better scale for that size tank IMO Plants: start with easy plants like ambulia and java fern to start, they will grow fast in those conditions. Start off with a lot of low light/fast growing plants to increase your chances of success (and minimal algae) Fertilisation: for that size tank you can afford to buy some of the easy liquid ferts to try out. Start with Flourish Comprehensive and Flourish Excel. They will last ages with such a small tank. Dosing regime: dose Flourish Excel once every other day and Flourish Comprehensive once a week. In the second week, increase the Comprehensive dose to twice a week. Fish: stock it with very small fish like sparkling gourami and dwarf danios. A good amount of them will help to boost the nutrient levels (nitrate and phosphate) in the tank to feed the plants. Make sure your filter is cycled first though. Give that setup a good three months to mature. Once you get it down then you can experiment with increasing the phtoperiod, changing ferts, injected CO2 and adding different plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted May 18, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 18, 2011 Thanks heaps I think I'll try that out. The tank I just bought is a second hand (already cycled) aqua one aquastyle AR380 including the 11watt tube, wet and dry trickle filter and very fine gravel so hopefully will be good for a first go at plants! :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the-obstacle Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 the AR380 will be a great first time planted tank. I grew heaps of ambulia and crypts under that light and even had success with a smaller amazon sword. They're great tanks. Enjoy! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ice222 Posted May 19, 2011 Report Share Posted May 19, 2011 the AR380 will be a great first time planted tank. I grew heaps of ambulia and crypts under that light and even had success with a smaller amazon sword. They're great tanks. Enjoy! I don't really agree that AR380 is a great first time planted tank. I certainly did not enjoy it! First and upmost, it's a tall tank, not a wide one this is not idea for a number of reasons. Yes plants like ambulia, some crypts, Java moss, anubias, and Java Fern grow nicely in it. But the AR380 is quite a tall tank, and out of those plants ambulia seems to be the only one that grows relatively quick and tall for me. So you end up with a huge chunk of empty space at the top or you will have to wait quite a while before the scape will look decent. The width of the tank leaves little room for planting. Plus that flap in front of the lights is infuriatingly small. If you want to prune or rearrange anything, you have to remove the filter cover and the whole lighthood, which make it hard to see in the tank (at least for me since that room is fairly dark even with the lights on). Plus if you use the standard filter cartridges that come with the tank, I think the carbon will remove the ferts you dose. As soon as I had the money I ended up getting two 30L tanks ($40 each), 450x280x300hmm. I run them without lids, sharing a 3ft light ($115), with sponge filters ($10 each) and eheim heaters (around $60 each). I'm just using inert gravel with jbl balls, excel and comprehensive so nothing fancy in terms of ferts either but can grow a much larger variety of plants much more easily. Now I know you're not trying to start up 2 tanks, but just to give you idea of what you could get for not that much more than a AR380 (around $200 for a kit last I looked?). As everything I got was purchased new, you could get something decent for even less off trademe or some such, especially if you're setting up for just one tank and not splurging on eheim heaters like me . If you already have a AR380 by all means, plant it if you like, but if you're hoping to start out a planted tank, it would not be the first one I'd recommend. If you have about $200 you would get a pretty nice kit new, like this or less than $100 for a full setup 2nd hand off trademe. For a planted tank I'd say a 2ft/600mm+ wide is best, simply because they usually either come with pretty decent lights in a kit or it's simply easier to buy/upgrade lights if you choose to do so in the future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted May 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 Unfortunately I'm an intern and student with no pay or allowances or I probably would have brought something bigger :tears: I got the AR380 for $65 off trademe so It'll have to do for now. I do have a 60L glass tank that I could plant but I can't afford proper lighting for it. I'll see how this goes and hopefully by the time I can afford a proper tank I'll know how to set it all up :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jennifer Posted May 20, 2011 Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 Here's my 380: http://www.fnzas.org.nz/?p=1114 It does have some downsides, but it is also a good tiny contained tank perfect for my desk. Have fun! Planning new tanks is always one of the most fun parts of keeping planted tanks. :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
critter_crazy Posted May 20, 2011 Author Report Share Posted May 20, 2011 Wow that's stunning! Can't wait to get started! :happy2: Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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