• You are viewing the forum as a Guest, please login (you can use your Facebook, Twitter, Google or Microsoft account to login) or register using this link: Log in or Sign Up

More questions from a beginner - help appreciated

KeyboardWarrior

KeyboardWarrior

Member
Joined
1 Aug 2012
Messages
64
Location
Portsmouth
Hi guys and girls I'd just like to say a quick thank you to everyone who has helped me up until now on either threads that I've made of commented on its all much appreciated. I've got so many questions regarding planted tanks that instead of making lots of threads on the different sections I thought I'd just put them all here and hopefully someone can help me me a bit.

I've purchased my tank a juwel rekord 700 tank, standard juwel internal filter and a 18W T8 with reflector and a volume of around 70 litres.

I'm planning on easy to keep plants and I've picked some good beginner plants using the tropica website that ill order when the time is right. I'm pretty confused about substrate, fertilisers, lighting and Co2 ( I am using the search button too and reading countless threads)

What substrate would people recommend me to use? I see lots of people use the ADA soil? Which must mean its good? I've not decided on my fish stocking plans yet but if I were to get cory's I might not be able to see them against the black substrate? Is there anything sand coloured I could use if I want cory's but equally good?

What ferts should I use I was thinking the EI ferts from aquarium plant food but using reduced ammounts and easy carbo? Also do I want high flow or low flow? Water disturbance or none?

I've been told adding co2 to a low light tank is still beneficial, are there any different rules regarding this? If I upped my lights and added co2 further down the line would this adversely affect my aquarium?

I know it's a long thread I'd really appreciate the help so I get off to the best possible start and don't waste to much money if that's possible
 
If your budget is tight why not just start with a low energy tank. ADA is good stuff but expensive, a good alternative is aquatic soil under a cap of sand of your choice. Unipac do a good range but it would be cheaper to use pool filter sand or play sand.

Soil isn't just the preserve of the low-energy it's an effective planting medium for high-energy tanks too. So as your experience and budget increases you can also add CO2 and more lighting, ferts etc without any problems.

Check these links out, everything you need to know is in the first link, the second puts much of it in to practice:
The Soil Substrate Planted Tank - A How to Guide | UK Aquatic Plant Society
High-energy soil-substrate layout - updated | UK Aquatic Plant Society
 
Thanks for the reply troi, budget isn't that low so I can get any substrate I want I just didn't want to go out buy something then find out its not that good after all and then change it. I've read lots of your articles on using a dirt substrate and while I like the idea of the plants getting all the nutrients there are something's I don't like about the walstead style approach.

I think what I want to achieve is something between low tech and high tech with the option to dabble with high tech gadgets... I just want to be able to grow nice healthy plants before I start learning how to create a nice aquascape
 
Go with ADA, there are many aquariums out there that stand testament to its effectiveness. I use Colombo Flora-Base in my high-energy tank, which is similar and also very good. Either or similar will also give you what you need to start the low-energy way if you so desire. And much of the info in my how to guide will still be relevant, e.g. nutrient dosing etc.
 
Thanks troi I'm just reading up on the links you gave me, am I right in thinking that you has a low tech tank that still used co2 injection? If so how did you find this? And what kind of flow do you go for?
 
Well...I had a soil substrate tank that used CO2. It was still a high-tech tank...in terms of lighting, flow, fertz etc. The substrate doesn't necessarily define whether a tank is high or low-energy/tech, it's a popular misconception.

Anyway it worked very well, it's a kinda belt and braces approach, and as I already mentioned it doesn't really differ that much from using Gucci substrate. In the case of a high-energy system plants can get nutrients from both the root zone and from the dosed water column.

By the way the Walstad Way is a fairly purest approach to the use of soil; it doesn't advocate the use of any other nutrient inputs and minimal water changes and lighting etc. At the other end of the spectrum is the traditional high-energy/tech tank. What I'm saying is that there are a whole load of possibilities in between...the "hybrid-energy" approach. It doesn't have to be either one or the other.
 
Ill either be adding The ADA substrate or tropica plant substrate capped with sand if I decide I want cory's in the tank. I'm finding it hard to get my heat around the relationship between plants lighting co2 and ferts... It is possible to essentially have a high tech tank but limit the lighting to slow growth a little?
 
My two journals (in signature) go from where you are now to knowing quite a bit and cover pretty much everything you've asked. What i like about them (a couple of years from the start) is that i go wrong a lot and try to explain why. They're very much 'I tried this and it didn't work so now I do this'... So hope helpful.

Basically: get CO2 high and stable and don't fiddle, lights lower and on for shorter than you think, water change lots after lights off, have an algae army of ottos and shrimp, stock heavily with plants at the start.

Also, keep a journal on here - makes you assess a lot and comments really helpful.
 
I feel you're headed in to a bit of a minefield the best approach is to keep everything stupidly simple. Corys won't mind ADA. So sand won't be necessary unless you absolutely want to use it for aesthetic reasons. I wouldn't use it as a cap to ADA, it'll end up mixing especially after planting and re-planting. You could use it in the foreground though following the Amano methodology of partitioning.

So I'd just use ADA. With your lighting I'd use ready mixed fertz - TNC complete will be economical - you just need to add 1-2ml per week. With that regime you should be able to grow most plants from the "Easy" Tropica range.

You could use CO2, but with your current lighting you would probably be just as well to use organic carbon supplement like Flourish Excel (if you do you will require 2-3x more fertz and one 25-50% water change per week.

If you want to get the best from adding CO2 you will need to up your lighting output to around 30w/g T8 and add around 2ml of TNC every day or so. Then you will be able to grow a wider range of more demanding plants, including stems.

Either way it helps to keep flow as high as a high-energy tank regardless - that is 10x the capacity of the tank.
 
I was going to use sand of I went for cory's because its a small tank so I would more than likely stock Pygmy cory and I won't be able to see them against a dark substrate. If I use ADA it'll be on its own if I use soil it'll be the tropica plant solid capped with sand using your gravel tody method.

Thanks troi ill keep reading up on things if I don't up the lighting ill more than likely use liquid carbon and then up my daily ferts it seems easy enough :) thanks for the flow tips I've just closed down my high tech reef set up so I'm ok when it comes to power heads ect
 
Sorry for lighting with CO2 that should read around 30 watts in total or around 2w/g. You'll find your own way of doing things the above is just a rough guide to get you started. For instance as your plants grow you may need to up the fertz dosing etc. Gravel tidy method should work well with Tropica substrate.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top