# Low tech, low buget, 65g? Need advice!



## Matt0matic (Jun 4, 2010)

This is my first post here, but I have already read a ton of the information you guys have provided. I'm going to try to do my first large planted tank. I have kept fish for quite some time but never have been truly successful with a planted tank. At the moment I’m working on a 6.6 bookshelf planted tank to get 'warmed up' and it has turned out decent. *So far my end goal for the large tank it a low maintenance low light planted tank. So what do I need?*

Here is what I have to start with:
I recently picked up a 65 gallon with a Aquion 55 filter, 250watt heater, and Coralife T5 light and stand all for the grand total of $100; got it home cleaned it up and I'm ready to start planning this project out and get it done *right*.

Here is what I think I'll need:
1) Filter: So far I figure I will need to upgrade the filter or run two HOB's, I was looking a picking up either the Emperor 400 or AquaClear 110 and run it in conjuncture with the Aquion I currently have. Please correct me if I'm going about this wrong. 

2) Lighting: _*I have no idea *_on what lighting I would need for this 24" tall tank. I assume that the small Coralife light that came with it would not be enough. ATM, the local fish store has a GLO fixture for a 36" tank for about $60, would these provide enough light? If not what will?

3) Substrate: What substrate/gravel should I use? I have read that the name brand gravel is a no-no for any serious planted tank. What should I look for given what I want to accomplish.

4) Plants: What plants should I look at? Currently the 6.6 has some wisteria, Amazon swords, and an Anubis and it working well. So there is the extent of my aquarium plant experience.

5) CO2: At Petco I saw a boxed CO2 kit for around $50, would something like this be sufficient for the 65g; if not what should I look at? Do I really need a CO2 system?

6) Fertilizers: Again, I’m completely lost on what do to regarding fertilizing an aquarium

For now that is all I can think of; I look forward to reading up some more and figuring out how to get this tank set up right! I’m looking for any input!

Thanks for your time,
Matthew


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## Matt0matic (Jun 4, 2010)

Well after a few hours in the Substrate part of the forum I'm going to get a 50lb bag of Turface Pro League, and probably some black sand or possibly some Eco-Complete to help weigh the substrate down.


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

If you want low tech low light then you won't really need c02. Low - medium lighting would be around 1-2 watts per gallon and you would want it to cover the full length of the tank. Are you using a glass top? 

In my low tech tank I use swords, java ferns, anubias, hygro, and sag. I also use duckweed as a floater, but it can be a pain cause it reproduces so quickly. Mosses do well too. I'm sure there are other great low light plants as well that I'm not familiar with. I can't help with ferts cause I don't use them. I used Eco when I set up my tank and I'm very pleased with it.

Here's a link to my tank so you can get an idea of what low tech low light can look like. 

http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/low-tech-forum/109449-my-low-tech-tanks.html

I think I have about 1.5 watts of light at 6700K, no c02, no ferts. Low tech is really subjective I think, it means different things to different people. Me - I'm lazy and just want the tank to sustain itself as much as possible. Some people enjoy caring for the plants, but I prefer to enjoy watching the tank


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

Oh and I would also suggest you get most, if not all, of your hardscaping set up before you start planting so that you can use the plants and decor together for a pleasing effect.


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## Ariel301 (Sep 7, 2009)

That Petco CO2 system will not be sufficient for a tank of more than 20 gallons or so. It's basically a fancy version of the DIY yeast CO2 systems some people use. You'd need to go pressurized for your tank, but then you wouldn't be very low-tech anymore. So I'd skip that boxed kit. 

How many watts is the t5 light that came with your tank? It may or may not be sufficient. 

It won't hurt to run a second filter on the tank just to be safe, or at least add a powerhead for some more current. I'm not familiar with the aqueon filter, so I don't know if it is sufficient--that will also depend on how many fish you have and how much current you want. The more fish, the more filtering you will have to do. 

Some easy plants that will be fine in a low-tech tank are hygro, corkscrew valisneria, amazon sword, aponogetons, cryptocorynes, anubias, ludwigia repens, anacharis, and java ferns. Those are all pretty good beginner plants too.


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

I love anacharis but keep an eye on it at first cause if it starts to die it will make a HUGE mess in the tank.


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## Matt0matic (Jun 4, 2010)

Well the light bulbs have this stamped on them :
blue has on it = coralife actinic f21-t5-bp 
white has on it = coralife 10,000k f21-t5-bp

Assuming it means 21 watts?


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

The actinic won't do any good in a planted tank - it's for saltwater. So basically you have only 21 watts right now, which is really nothing. If it was me I'd just invest in a new light and get rid of that one or hold onto it in case you ever get a smaller tank. Even if you switched the actinic for another white bulb (if you even can in that fixture) you'd still only have 42 watts, which is still way less than 1 watt per gallon. 

I bought a light that has dual bulbs - an actinic along with a 60 watt white. For my needs the 60 watt is sufficient, but if I ever want to try higher light plants I can switch out the actinic for another 60 (or less, of course) watt and have a total of 120 watts over 40 or so gallons if I need it. The light cost me a bit of money but at least this way I won't need to replace it if I ever do need more light.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

IMO the dual bulb Coralife T5NO fixture you have is perfect for a low tech tank setup. Don't worry about "wpg guidelines" when you work with T5 or T5HO fixtures. You won't need CO2 with that light, but it will be enough to grow most low tech plants. I'm running the same 36" version of that fixture over my own 46gal and have absolutely no issues growing plants:









You just need to swap out the actinic bulb for a different bulb. Anything in the 5000-10,000k range will work. (Personally I'd get a pink Colormax to go along with the 10k bulb you've already got, but that's just personal preference).

Due to the height of your tank you might find that stem plants tend to get leggy at the bottom. You could either just stay away from them (in favor of swords, crypts, mosses, anubias, bolbitus, etc) or get a 2nd fixture (either T5 or T8 would work) to run along with the one you already have.


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## Matt0matic (Jun 4, 2010)

Great advice! Thanks!

As far as additional lighting, would the FishNeedIt T5HO 2 bulb work okay with the 24" height? For the price it seems hard to pass up. But I would rather have value that some cheap light. And could use it solo or in conjunture with what I already have?


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## wendyjo (Feb 20, 2009)

That's true - I just have regular bulbs and not T5.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

No, if you put T5HO over this tank rather than T5NO youll be in the "high light" range- and also need to get a pressurized CO2 setup going.


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## The Plantman (May 5, 2010)

lauraleellbp said:


> IMO the dual bulb Coralife T5NO fixture you have is perfect for a low tech tank setup. Don't worry about "wpg guidelines" when you work with T5 or T5HO fixtures. You won't need CO2 with that light, but it will be enough to grow most low tech plants. I'm running the same 36" version of that fixture over my own 46gal and have absolutely no issues growing plants:
> 
> 
> 
> ...


 
I have this exact same tank and am running 2 T-5 NOs on it. I have been fighting BBA for months (it comes it goes) I think I will try running just the one light and see what happens.

what bulbs are you running? I have 1) 10,000 and 1) 7,600 in each one.

a pic,


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I"m running the bulbs that come standard with the fixture, which I believe are a Colormax and a 10k?


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## Matt0matic (Jun 4, 2010)

Well I ordered an ample amount of Flourite Black Sand and FishNeedIt T5 lighting. Look forward to setting it all up!

Any ideas on how large the driftwood should be in the tank? [tank: 36"Wx18"Lx24"H]


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Wait- did you get a T5NO fixture or a T5HO fixture? B/c if you got a dual bulb T5HO fixture you got a "high light" fixture and this won't be a low tech tank.

As far as driftwood size, you can do whatever size you want, depends on the type of 'scape you're envisioning... If you want big stumps or tree "trunks," or a branchy look, or driftwood that sticks up out of the water...


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