# Setting up a Community Planted Tank - Help pretty please



## Angel123 (Feb 9, 2017)

Hi All! 

Just going to say in advance, sorry if I get terms wrong. 

I am currently in control of my family's 400L or 100ish gal fish tank. Yay me!.... Maybe, we'll see 

For the last 18 years it's been a salt water tank however 8 months back it was decommissioned (last fish living died). I've recently come into some spare time and in my great wisdom have decided to get it back up and going! I'm still yet to decided whether this is a good idea.

So why I'm here? I want to convert this system over to a freshwater planted aquarium. I'd love to have a low-tech planted tank with tropical fish. So if you think you could help with that please keep reading! 

Some more in-depth info into what I'd like to do: 
- My tank is 1200mm long x 550mm high x 600mm deep/wide
- To start I want to get a planted set-up growing with the aim to introduce tropical fish later into the mix
- I'm stressing the low-tech side of this; I don't want to be injecting CO2 into the system and if possible minimal ferts and root tabs etc
- The tank isn't going to be densely planted (7-9 low-mid lighting plants), in the end it will centre around the fish but I want the plants and fish to complement each other (does that make sense?)
- Side Note: I live in NSW Australia if that changes anything

1. First question - LIGHTING - Okay folks, I can find sooooo many sources that give me lists of plants for low lighting fish tanks but I'm struggling with finding the 'Lights' part of this equation! First off what is considered low lighting? I've read somewhere something like 1 watt to every 0.3 litres??? Is this right? Also another thing - is it wattage that I'm looking for in lights? Some websites talk about the colour spectrum RBG in lighting, is this another thing to look for?
Currently from the previous set-up I have a 12 month old Aqua One 90cm LED - would this work for what I wish to do? If it wouldn't what is a good suggestion for the set-up I want? Also I've talked to a local pet shop and the guy there said that the lights don't really last longer than 12 months. Is this true? 

2. SUBSTRATE - Suggestion on what is good to use and what is a good set-up. Cause I don't want to be adding CO2 and ferts etc I should be picking a high nutrient base right? Also I've read somewhere about tanks with the nutrient mix on the bottom and a gravel/pebble mix on top? What is the purpose of this and would it be cheaper to do this? At the moment I'm thinking of having Anubias plants which normally grows on driftwood and not in the substrate? I also would like Java Moss and Java Fern both again aren't in substrate. The two plants I'm looking at that are in substrate is Guppy Grass and Pennywort. Now as far as I can research the aforementioned plants can all survive with low lighting and no CO2? But yeah just thoughts and opinions on different substrate set-ups would be great  I saw that you can crush coral into some substrates to help with nutrients? I have coral is this worth doing? And how much?

So this leads to question 3. - PLANTS - There are two plants that I think look absolutely awesome Dwarf Baby Tears(DBT) and Dwarf Sagittaria(DS) however DS requires mod lighting and DBT needs CO2? Does anyone have experience with these and can tell me if they'd live in the system I want? Also any opinions on the other plants I mentioned in SUBSTRATE would be welcome. 

A tentative 4th question? Fertilisers? If I'm keeping only one or two buried? plants is it worth looking at Root Tabs? What are they and how expensive? How often do you have to insert? them? What are good brands? 



I've just spent the better half of the afternoon writing but no doubt I've forgotten something! No matter. If you have any advice at all or any more questions as to my plans comment comment comment  My main concern with using information found on some websites is the size of the tanks. I feel like mine is so much bigger so I don't know if the same rules apply. 


Thankyou for all your help in advance! Really, THANKYOU SO MUCH. I'm a little lost but I'm sure I'll eventually get there!


----------



## redavalanche (Dec 7, 2014)

First question - LIGHTING

Believe most people are looking at PAR values rather than watts per gallon.
Pet shop guy was probably speaking about fluorescent lights. Some people replace the bulbs every year. 

Your Aqua One LED would probably work if it is a TropiGlo or a PlantGro cause they are probably in the 6000K-7000K spectrum. Dont know for sure cause I did not find any info on the color spectrum of that brand. The MariGlo for Marine fish is probably what you have and it would have a higher spectrum, perhaps 10000K-20000K. This would not work well for planted tanks, IMO.
If you are on a budget a shop light could work with the correct daylight bulbs. But not sure how you would feel about that. Many people have used a suspended light above the tank.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/10-lighting/184634-lighting-articles-faq.html

SUBSTRATE

Sounds like you may have seen some of the "dirted" tanks where there is nutrient rich soil on the bottom and a cap of sand on top. I would not suggest this for a beginner, IMO. Think Eco Complete is very popular, have not used it myself. I have been using PFS or pool filter sand, no nutrients but is cheap and looks decent. Do not use crushed coral in a freshwater setup. Least not until you know the water parameters of the tank.
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/29-substrate/184631-substrate-articles-faq.html

PLANTS 

Dwarf Baby Tears are usually for higher light so I would not bother with it. You should be able to find others you like. I have Dwarf Sagittaria in a low light shrimp tank and it looks good and really took off recently. 
All Plants - Plant Profiles
http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/100-low-tech-forum/56042-excellent-list-low-light-plants.html

Fertilisers?

API and Seachem make root tabs. Some people sell DIY tabs they make with Osmocote Plus. Tabs may be a good start, the plants will need nutrients. Different brands probably have different rates of breakdown but would imagine every 8 weeks they would need replaced. 


Just some random info for you. Hopefully it is useful.


----------



## Bananableps (Nov 6, 2013)

Hi, welcome!



Ecocomplete does not provide your aquarium with nutrients. It holds on to nutrients provided by fish waste for your plant roots to use later. In my opinion, not worth the money. I've never heard of any situation in which someone accomplished something with ecocomplete that they could not have done with completely inert substrate. If you want real nutrient rich substrate, you either have to get aquasoil (crazy expensive) or dirt (dirt). 

Guppy grass and pennywort will do just fine in inert substrate with a root tab or two, but if you are feeling seduced by the higher tech plants (and it seems you are), but don't want to shell out for pressurized CO2, your best bet is to built a dirted tank.

If you don't have pressurized CO2, dwarf baby tears will die in inert substrate (or ecocomplete). Some people manage to nurse them along with EI, but that can get pretty expensive and they will never really thrive. They can do pretty well in dirt, but it's probably not a great idea for your first tank. You're probably better off growing monte carlo or glosso - similar effect but much hardier plants.


----------

