A Few planted aquaria questions!!

[CatzWITHfish]

Hello to all you F/W guys! I recently broke down my reef after losing almost all of my livestock. But did not want to give up my hobby, so I decided after long sleepless nights on what to do with my tank I will give a go at some simple life plants.

I have a 29 gallon biocube, with the stock top removed, sporting a 4x24w t5 (one reflector, not SLR :tears: ) its been up and going for a few weeks now, picked up a heater and some driftwood pieces, some of which still soaking.

My main questions are:

Not how the Co2 systems work, but which would suffice just for a small tank like mine, nothing too crazy, somewhere along the budget of $0-$60? is there such thing? I have been looking around and finding, Reactors, and systems and my head is spinning! LOL. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Eric]

There is no cheap answer to co2 if you want a pressurized system.

There is a liquid Co2 such as excel that you can dose daily, for a small tank like that I'd say that would be the best option.

What type of plants are you planning to keep that have you considering co2? Co2 is like plant steroids and you will need constant trimming, I think if you keep the basic plants a good all around supplement dosed once a week would be all you need.

Hope that helps.

 

[Luukosian]

You could do the sugar/yeast option but I don't recommend it because its hard to get a stable output from them. A pressurized system won't fit your budget so I agree above...excel works good but it will melt certain species(vallisneria, anacharis and a few others).

With the lights on that tank you are going to see significant algae growth without some carbon source.....unless you have a really good algae cleanin crew. I've used excel in a few of my systems over the years and only noticed results if it is added daily on a regular basis.

 

[PEMfish]

You will need to replace the actinic bulbs with either 10 or 7k bulbs.

As for CO2 any bottled system is not going to be cheap. I paid 3 to 4 hundred for mine. I strongly recomend against the yeast method. Try keeping a lower tek tank with only easier species.

 

[CatzWITHfish]

how do I go about setting up this low tek tank? Only certain species or certain numbers, lighting, co2 in a low tek?

 

[Val]

I would start with a good substrate, Flourite is a good one. I do 50/50 on the substrate and gravel. Be sure to rinse it alot and then rinse it some more. Once you start rinsing you'll understand. I agree with the lighting suggestion above. Set up your tank like you would for fish and I don't use fertilizers or
co2. The substrate should have what your plants need and I trim plants enough without co2.

The more knowledge you have about a plant the better. Some pet stores sell plants that aren't aquatic plants so research before you buy. Good luck with the new tank.

 

[Eric]

+1 Val Research the plants I took a few home and then researched, they went right back to the petshop.

Eco complete is a better substrate than flourlite IMHO, I agree with val on all points really, a good low tech is going to grow out just fine without co2. You'll need to do plenty of trimming without it

 

[PEMfish]

Low tek as in not not fancy, limited equipment type beginner set up.

 

[wm23oh]

There is many websites out there but I recommend reading the barr report. He has many great ideas and many people including me know what he says actually works. Doesn't mean it's the only way but it does work. Lots of research will help just like it did with SW.

Best wishes,

James