Hi all. New member

[chris521957]

Hi everyone. Joined the forum last week but have only just had the time to post. My name is Chris and i live in Preston Lancs. My partner , Maggie and me are just in the process of finishing the refurbishment of our flat. We have decided to have a fish tank in the living room and we are looking for advice. I have plenty of experience with fish, i used to breed Malawi Cichlids( very successfully), but have no idea about planted tanks. The tank we have been looking at is 36"x15"x18". We would like it quite well planted with just a few fish. I am also looking at using Unipac Aquasand(Limpopo black) as my substrate. Possibly a Fluval 405 ext filter. I really need help with which plants, lighting, keeping the plants well fed and thriving, can it be done without Co2 or is this essential for the health of the plants?. I have read a few articles about the diy co2 systems and will be attempting to make one of these this weekend. Not sure if my water will affect which plants i can have but i am sure someone here can help with that. The fish i am looking at are a few Rams, cardinal tetras, corys and a couple of other small high water swimmers.
My water perams are:

PH 6.4
KH <3deg
GH <4deg
No2 0
No3 0
Chlorine 0.8
This is straight from the tap, i know things will change during the cycle, but i can cope with that. My 1st question is, should i cycle with or without plants?
Thanks in advance for any advice. Chri/Maggie.

 

[Bobtastic]

Hello! and welcome!

As you're probably aware from your research and reading this site there are basically 2 different ways to go with planted tanks. Low-tech and High-tech, the main differences between the 2 is the amount of light and the addition of Co2. Low light (2x18w T8s) and no Co2 is low-tech and means that most plant grow slowly and there is a bit of a limit on plants that you can choose. High lights (2x 49w T5s), added Co2 and added ferts is high-tech and means plant will grow a lot faster but you have to get the balance between light/Co2/ferts/flow right or u can end up with algae.

So you can either decide on which approach you want to start off with and that will dictate light levels and therefore plants available. Or you can decide on what plants you really want to have in and that will dictate the approach that you'll need to take.

 

[chris521957]

Thanks for that Bob. Think i will probably try the high tech way, not sure which plants to use yet, but i want anice balance, tall at the back of the tank, medium in the middle and small, carpet like at the front with a small unplanted area too. Is this a viable way to do it with fish in the tank too?. Cheers. Chris/Maggie.

 

[Bobtastic]

I think most fish don't really care about the plants and such, just as long as the water chem is right for them (there are exceptions obviously).

Have a look in the Planted Tank Gallery section to get an idea of what others have done and the plants they've used. You can then put together a few types of plants and see if ppl think they'll work well.

After the low/high tech "approaches" you have different types of aquascaping "styles" certain types of plants lend themselves better to different styles. It can get quite complicated... I am definitely no expert and I hope someone comes along that is and correct my errors. But here are a couple of styles

Dutch

Natural Aquariam
Iwagumi
Jungle

 

[chris521957]

Just been reading your journal "iwagumi". Very interesting and i can see that it takes time to get the best aquascaping for your project. I dont intend to get the tank up and running before Xmas, but will be buying one in the next month. I have already purchased a 1300lph filter and want to get this running asap. Could i use a storage box(watertight, of course) to do this. Also will i need my substrate in the box to cycle properly?. I know it seems silly, but i have never cycled a tank before, even when i was breeding Malawis, none of my tanks were cycled, just been very lucky i suppose, but i want to do this correctly. Thanks. Chris/Maggie.