Stocking a new planted tank

[Anonymous]

I changed my 38G over to a freshy yesterday.

Right now it is just water with a substrate (laterite/peat in the first layer then a very fine black gravel on top).

I am using a magnum 350 canister for filtration.

I have an Icecap 430 ballast driving some 20W cool white lamps. A kid at my local LFS said that it would work and it looks really good and bright.

Now I want to know how fast can I stock it?

I am sure the LFS would sell me 50 plants and 100 fish if I were willing.

Do these type tanks need to be stocked slowly like a reef tank does?

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

One other thing. Should I run carbon in the magnum filter? Right now I am just using the micron filter.

Louey

 

[danmhippo]

Louey,

I recently started a 10G planted tank. I finished stocking in 3 days, modified equipment 2 weeks later.

First is to decide the look of the tank, Do you want bog wood? Do you want bog wood with moss on it?

Go through the books and see which plant you want, take note to their height and color, and figure out which plant goes to the back, which goes to the front. Also, decide on which plant you want as ground cover.

Before the fish goes in, you need to make sure plants gets a head start. Plants would do much better if you are using CO2. I would also recomment heating cable under the subtrate, but since you've already finished the sand layer, then forget it.

You will definetly need carbon in the magnum, especially if you are going to use bogwood. Bog wood need to be pre-boiled and be left in a bucket of water for a week with daily water change. But even so, the tank water will be slightly browned, an d thus the carbon is required.

I dump the fish in at day 3, so far all are fine. ammonia 0, nitrite 0. I did use almost a full bottle of bacteria as booster. Water change 25% weekly

 

[Anonymous]

I have petrified wood in the tank already.

I don't think I'll even use a heater at all. Just like my reef, since the cimate here is warm and I keep the house temperature realitivley stable, the tank temp shouldn't fluctuate by more than a few degrees.

I checked the temp this morning and it was 77.

I'll have to look into the CO2 thing.

Now if I could just figure out how to get the carbon in the carbon container that come with the Magnum. What a POS that thing is with the screen and all. There must be a trick to it.

I'm gonna pick of some plants at the LFS tomorrow after work.

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I wonder if putting some water from my outdoor pond in the planted tank would be a good idea?

Louey

 

[Anonymous]

I haven't seen to many dosing systems for CO2.

Does something like this, connected to a CO2 regulater do the trick?

How do you determine how much CO2 do dose?

Any good links to CO2 dosing information?

Louey

 

[danmhippo]

There are CO2 test kits on the market. Try this link: http://www.azgardens.com/newtestkits2.php

In asia, where planted tank is more popular, they have this continuous monitoring kit which is essentially an inverted viewing glass cone that shows color indicating CO2 level.

CO2 bottle with regulator is not it for the Planted tank. You need to use one of many diffuser designed for CO2, that will allow time for CO2 to dissove into water, instead of just blow in as big bubbles and escape into the air at the surface.

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/Product/N ... =All&Nty=1
This is the link to Dr. Foster and Smith, just to give you idea of what you need.

For my 10G tank, I did not use CO2 bottles. Thera are several options of how you want to add CO2 into your tank. They sell small CO2 bottles that will last up to 3 months, There are also CO2 tablets which is more expensive, but is very easy to use. There are also yeast base DIY project that you could do yourself that are available on the internet.

But, since you've already has CO2 bottles, getting a diffuser and a CO2 test kit is all you need.

 

[danmhippo]

I wonder if putting some water from my outdoor pond in the planted tank would be a good idea?

Louey

Perfect. get some rocks from there as well and put in a nylong stocking to seed your tank with bacteria.

 

[danmhippo]

The diffuser that you've seen is exactly what you need. There are several diffusers on the market.

 

[danmhippo]

BTW, don't use magnum carbon that comes with magnum. I would get other carbon at your LFS that is slightly larger in grain size. The larger grain size minimized chances of carbon grinding up in the pump.

 

[Anonymous]

Check this puppy out.

No CO2 tank, no sugar or yeast.

If that thing works it might be the best deal. It's not too expensive and not to much hassel like the sugar and yeast method.

Louey

 

[fishfanatic2]

I've seen that thing in catelogues, looked really good and like a good value but I never bought it.

 

[DongShenYin]

THe most successful planted tank I have is 5+ years old. They key is to have 90% plants and water, and 10% biomass (including snalis and shrimp if you have them). I have on a light that gives 2.5 watts per gallon, a heater, and a powerhead. No filter. No CO2. No messing around with anything except water changes and replacing the bulb every 9 months. Maybe you can try that?

 

[danmhippo]

Louey, that's the system I am using right now. It's using electrical current and a carbon block to make CO2. However, I see 2 problems:

1. You will have problem finding the replacement carbon block. The unit I have is not made by ZAC, in fact, I don't know who made it. There is no manufacturer's name on the box. All I know it's model number is HX-01. With these unit, you can adjust the current going through the carbon block for how much CO2 you want it to generate. Very easy to use. and no messy bottles and solenids. Unless you can secure a US distributor for the unit you are purchasing, otherwise, you can't find the replacement carbon block.

2. A big draw back of this system is there isn't a trap device that will catch CO2 being generated. As soon as it's generated, CO2 rise up and most escape out of the tank via the surface. My tank is very small, 10G, if I build a plexi shield on it to catch the escaping CO2 would be very ugly. But you may want to consider building one for your tank since you have a larger tank. Right now I am setting the electrical current very small, with current blowing the CO2 bubbles towards the center of the tank hoping it will lengthen the contact time of the bubbles with tank water allowing them to dissolve in water before escaping.

 

[danmhippo]

Mine is German made BTW, because it has German all over the box and the instruction. Funny thing is this unit is quite popular in Asia, and obviously it's very easy to use that even if you can't read German can still use it with ease.

 

[danmhippo]

AFter reading the instruction on the ebay, now I am confused if the bubbles that I see is CO2 or H2 gas. I am wondering if CO2 is really that readily dissolved in water?

Maybe I should turn the unit way up, and light a cigarette to check what color of the flame the bubble generates.................

 

[danmhippo]

Louey, I found this place selling the Carbo-Plus in the states:

http://www.belowwater.com/products/carbo-plus/

 

[doublette]

If your lighting is under 2.5 watts per gallon, don't even bother with the CO2. It's not worth the hassle and the plants won't use it much anyway. CO2 really comes into play when you have lighting that starts running at 3 or 4 watts per gallon. If you get plants that do well in lower light levels you will be fine. I've got 3 planted tanks and don't use CO2 on any of them.

 

[Anonymous]

I have a VHO Ballast that drives 3=75 watt lamps. That's closer to 6 WPG.

I am actually using standard flourescent bulbs instead of the expensive VHO bulbs. The light output looks even brighter than the URI 75 watt lamps that I was using before I converted this tank to a freshy.

We'll see how it goes with thise N.O. Lamps.

Louey

 

[danmhippo]

I am using 2x13W PC for the 10G. which is about 2.5WPG.

But compared to before and after installation of CO2, I do find foliage of the plants are thicker and brighter. I installed CO2 about 2-3 weeks after initial setup of the tank.

My previous planted tank was like 15 years ago. I forgot what kind of light I was using back then, but I also noticed better growth of plants after CO2. I forgot where I read it, but most planted tanks does not have enough fish/bioload to produce adequate CO2 for a typical planted tank, and CO2 is a required element for photosynthesis.