OT - Anybody into Planted FW Tanks?

[goodfortune]

Hey everyone:

I am getting ready to set up a 38g Planted FW in the next week weeks. I've been doing some reading/research, and I posted my proposed setup, along with a few questions over in the FW forum:

http://www.thereeftank.com/forums/sh...ad.php?t=66719

If anyone one else on the reefing side keeps/has experience with planted tanks, I'd like to get some input and/or advice from you; thanks in advance!

- Michael

[ASpec]

I did a FW planted tank for a couple years. Just broke it down about 3 months ago. I would look into going with Eco Complete of Seachem Fluorite 100%. It costs a tad more in startup but it well worth it in the long run Sam over at Aquabuys carries Eco Complete for $20 per bag. Best price I found in Atlanta. You can get away with doing stright gravel or a mixture but you'll end up having to add root tabs later down the road.

Also, with that much lighting you'll need to stay on top of your C02 injection otherwise you'll be growing more alage than plants. I used Greg Watson for many of my fert's... Once I fould the right dose my tank was a breeze to maintain. I tried many of the commercial off the shelf all in one solutions and nothing even comes close to Greg Watson's PMD mixture. Tropica Mastergrow was decent but still no as good as mixing/rolling your own solution.

[GLXTRIX]

I had a 10g planted, loved it! But then i went saltwater. Algea is no issue really, because there are fish that eat nothing but algea, small ones are otocinclus they only get about 2 or so inches, and the large ones if you have a great big tank would be a Plecostomus, amazing algea eaters, will clean your tank out in 1 night, hmmm if they were only able to be acclimated to saltwater I used seachem chemicles, which included flourish phosphourus, potassium, excel, nitrogen and iron. CO2 injection, is pretty much a must if you want a nice green tank, and the best part, you can do a DIY of those with water, yeast and sugar, biproduct is CO2, obviously in the right measurments. You dont necessarly need special substraight, but it is recommended, I used some kind of vitamin enriched stuff that I found at my lfs.

[petlands'great]

i had a 10 gallon dutch style planted tank, that i traded for frags. it was easy to care for.

[goodfortune]

It's quite interesting...what is considered high light for FW planted tanks is considered low light for reef tanks, but then comparing the two is like comparing apples and oranges .

Did you use compressed CO2 with a bottle/regulator, or did you use the yeast method? I'm think of using a yeast-based DIY set up like the one in this link:

http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

Let me know what you think of it; thanks for your input!!!

- Michael

Originally Posted by ASpec

...Also, with that much lighting you'll need to stay on top of your C02 injection otherwise you'll be growing more alage than plants...

[mycorize]

I used to have 4 or 5 fish tanks with plants and it was really happening with growing babies of all types Blue Gouramies by the thousands and feed them to my dwarf lion and sell some of them...I liked the small pots you can buy for 50 cents to a buck and used them bare bottom,if I did have a problem in my discus tanks I could tank them out and treat my discus fish in a nano second....All the other tanks just let the stuff grow and watch how many babies you will have from the egg layers or nest builders and live barers..I have never used a co2 tank just normal lights and the rest balanced out... I still have five discus but no plants now...That and six saltwater tanks .....Way to much work but I enjoy it all..Good luck and post some pictures...okdoky
Cheers
Dana

[ASpec]

Michael, I was using pressurized C02. Bottle, regulator, controller. I was able to keep my C02 in the target range of 30-35 ppm by doing this. I don't know if DIY yeast based injection will get you into the higher ppm range, but I've read many people were able to get good results with yeast based solution.

You have to check out the upcoming AAAA auction if your serious about doing a planted tank. It's coming up pretty quick (March if I recall) and there will be hundreds of plants/fish up for auction at rock bottom prices. It's an excllent way to get started.

I checked out the link above... your on the right track. That's a good DIY system from everything I read when I was starting out. The two bottle approach is the way to go. What are you planing to use as your reactor? I'm not nuts about the Pythoon built reactor. I opt'ed for the in-line PVC type, similar to this one: http://www.aquaticscape.com/articles/co2reactor.htm. I think I still have mine. This worked great for me since I was running a canister filter, I just plumbed it in-line with my return line giving the CO2 even more time to disolve.

Also check out Chuck's Planted Aquarium Articles. Great information and his dosage caluclators are fantastic. http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/articles.htm

HTH

[Flipturn88]

Hey Micheal,

We have spoken about this before, and you have seen my planted tank. For starter plants, try to get some fast growers, such as Wysteria and Hygro. They will decrease the chance of algae.

If you're looking for good growth, running CO2 is definitely the answer. I also still advocate T5s for lighting due to the bulb life and heat. Plus, they come in such a variety of colors, you could try an endless combination to acheive the look you desire (65K and 10K being the best for planteds). HTH