# help with new setup



## wcraske (18 Jan 2010)

Hi there, 
First, great site been reading loads of great info already.

need help with new 40gallon setup. will be running a eheim 2215, 2x 39w t5's with no co2 and playsand substrate.
Hoping to have some success with plants in this setup as previous attempts have not gone so well   
Main concerns are, best plants for the setup and what ferts should i be adding and how much?

all advice and tips gratefully recieved.


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## Garuf (18 Jan 2010)

Have you read our guides? 
For that much light you'd pressuriesed co2. You also need more flow minimum of 10x an hour (I aim for 20 myself, the more the better). If you want a painless setup a fert system such as EI with dry chemicals and clay substrate like those from our sponsor plantedbox would best suit your needs.
http://www.plantedbox.com/shop/index.ph ... cts_id=220
A good all rounder substrate, cheaper than ADA and you can get your plants at the same time.


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## dw1305 (19 Jan 2010)

Hi all,
Have a look at these posts <http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8592> & <http://ukaps.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=19&t=8834>, it should explain quite a bit about what people want from their planted tanks and how they get there.
cheers Darrel


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## Brenmuk (20 Jan 2010)

Playsand on its own will not provide any source of CO2 or any other plant nutrients. This means that you will need to add ferts, either liquid or dry ferts as Garuf has said above. To avoid adding extra CO2 you need to ensure that CO2 demand is low from your plants - you can control this by keeping light intensity and photoperiod low, you can also grow floating plants which get their CO2 from the atmosphere and provides further shade for the submerged plants. The submerged plants I would use would be hardy shade tolerant plants like java fern, cryptocornes, anubias etc.

Adding CO2 increases your options greatly, as well as pressurised CO2 you can add CO2 to your tank by having a soil/compost layer beneath a layer of gravel, the decaying organic matter provides CO2 and the rich soil/compost provides a range of plant nutrients. This may not be what you want so it all depends on whether you want to try a particular scape or go for very low maintenance or something in between. 

As to how much/how often to add ferts ask in the aquarium fert dosing section.


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