# New 55g Planted Tank Setup - Help!



## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

Hello everyone - my first post on these forums as it has been years since I have been in the freshwater tank hobby and I am eager to make a return!

What I "plan" on doing is creating a 55g medium to heavily planted aquarium. I have been doing alot of research, learned alot, and have confused myself even further. I plan on doing the Walstad Method, though I am not sure if it is applicable to what I want to do. (Ie. a heavily planted, Amazon-style tank).

Equipment:

55g Glass Aquarium
TMC V2 Fluidized Sandbed Filter
- powered by a RIO 1000 with a #3 sponge prefilter
SEIO 530 Prop Pump for water movement

Substrate:

Miracle Grow Organic Choice Potting Mix
Black Beauty Blasting Sand as a cap

Lighting:

I have a 6x55W PC unit - obviously will probably be too much light?

So, assuming the above is too much, what would be sufficient options/lighting?

I want to eventually have the tank heavily planted with red and green plants, a moss carpet of some sort, etc.

T5HO? How many?
Regular T8? How many?


-- Questions --

1.) Lighting - suggestions? Again, my goal is a medium to heavily planted aquarium.

2.) CO2 injection? From what I have read with the Walstad Method, Co2 injection is not necessary - but does this hold true for heavy planted tanks with medium to high light?

3.) Substrate ferts? Tabs, ecocomplete? etc. - I am assuming I won't need any because of the MGOCPM

Please feel free to suggest anything I may or may not have missed...I am eager to set this tank up, but I want to do it right the first time. I am on "somewhat" of a budget as well.

Thanks for the help!


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Start by reading this and this.

1. When in doubt, go low on lighting. If it's not enough, add more.

2. Walstad only works with low light, so if you want to have medium or high light, you will need supplemental CO2.

3. You probably won't need extra ferts in the substrate, but you might need to do some water column dosing at some point. Watch your plants for deficiencies, and then add ferts as needed.

Be warned: 55g tanks are hard to aquascape because they are so thin.


Why are you using a fluidized sand filter? A cannister filter would probably work just as well.


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks for the reply and the terrific links. There is so much information on these forums that I was having trouble locating the pertinent info., so thank you very much!

Your post has also given me much to think about. If I understand the links and your suggestions correctly, I could always start with a dual T8 strip and see what that gives me. If the plants don't do well, I can upgrade to a T5HO light.

- I am trying to steer clear of having to purchase a pressurized Co2 system, mainly for financial reasons (wife already thinks I spend too much on hobbies lol).

- That being said, A dual T8 fixture would still be considered "low-light" and thus I could probably sneak away with no Co2? (I realize that alot of these answers are tank-dependant and there are no clear-cut answers, I am just trying to avoid a disaster from the get go).

- I haven't bought the FSF yet...it is just something that I ran across and it seems to be far more beneficial to a planted tank than a canister (no loss of Co2, more bacteria colonization, etc.). Also, economically speaking, the FSF is less expensive than most canister filters. Thoughts?

Thanks again for the comments...I am trying to be a sponge and absorb as much info as I can, so anything else you can think of will be greatly appreciated.

P.S. - I know the 55g will be a pain to aquascape. Unfortunately my 75g is tied up with a school of Frontosa cichlids and I don't feel like purchasing another $200 tank, so I'm gonna see what I can make of the 55g.


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

I think the people who enjoy having a tank done per the Walstad method follow the Walstad method, and don't try to "make it better" by doing things differently. Once you deviate from that method you really have to understand the method very well to figure out the effect of your changes. You can do low light, non-CO2 tanks without following the Walstad method, for example you can follow Tom Barr's non-CO2 method.


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

- I don't believe that I was in any way intending to "make it better" - if anything I was looking to further understand the method, or at least "check" my understanding of it as a whole.

That being said, I guess I am concerned with the amount of light that is proper for the Walstad Method. I understand it is low light, but that seems to be a pretty subjective statement. Are we basing the "low light" assumption on par values? watts? etc. And in turn - is a 48" two light NO setup sufficient? or still too much light?

Conversely, if I use a soil substrate with a sand cap with moderate to high lighting (HO bulbs), I will need to invest in a Co2 system correct?

I apologize if I sound naive or am asking some redundant questions, I think the past few weeks of researching has fried my brain!


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

The amount of light determines how quickly the plants grow. Since plants "breathe" CO2, the faster they grow, the more they need. Under low light, plants grow so slowly that they can get by with just the normal amount of CO2 in the water, but under high light, they need more. So, yes; if you get high light, you will need pressurized CO2.


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## Soujirou (Jun 16, 2008)

If you want a point of reference, I started at ~45 PAR in my Walstad tank but I noticed holes in the leaves of my crypts. I kept raising my light until it stopped, which was at ~35 PAR. When you are figuring out your lighting, you definitely need to allow for some wiggle room.


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

I am going to attach some pictures soon of my tank setup, but I basically ended up making a custom top for my tank. I will probably make a thread in the tank journals section complete with pics.

At the moment I have 4 T832W NO tubes broken into two sets (ie. 2 sets of 2). I am going to start with running just 2 tubes (probably a 6500K and a 10,000K). Depending on my lighting situation, I will be able to add more light if necessary by turning on the additional set of bulbs.

My lid is a wooden enclosure with the ballasts and tubes mounted inside, so raising the lights is not an option. Hopefully it'll be ok


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

If you need to, you can put some window screen under the bulbs to block some of the light.


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

Yeah, I will keep that in mind. I think the safest bet is to try it out and see how the plants react. I do have a question though...

From what I have read, it is best to fully stock the tank with plants then fill the tank and cycle, etc. Is it ill-advised then to partially plant the tank then introduce new plants at a later date?

The reasoning behind my question is that I am trying to pinch some pennies, and if I could lower my initial start-up cost and add plants over time, it would be more economically feasible for me. However, if this will be detrimental to the tank, I could simply hold off until I can afford ALL of the plants for the tank and plant at once? Suggestions?


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## Hoppy (Dec 24, 2005)

It is best to start any tank with lots of fast growing plants, but it isn't essential to do so. The common technique is to get lots of free or nearly free cuttings of fast, easy to grow stem plants and start the tank with them. Then, as you get more money and see how things are going, you replace more and more of the cheap stem plants with the plants you really want. Unfortunately that is harder to do with soil substrates than with sandy substrates.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Cycling is a little complicated for planted tanks. According to Tom Barr, ammonia is one of the major causes of algae blooms. So, in order to cycle the tank, you need either enough plants to absorb the ammonia or enough beneficial bacteria to consume it before the algae gets to it. Personally, I use a bacterial aid to seed my tank, that way the tank cycles before the algae gets a foothold.

I suggest you get the plants you want over time starting with the slowest growers and foreground plants. Get your fish when your first few plants have settled in and either put the tank's filter on their quarantine tank to cycle, or seed the main tank the day they are ready to move into it. That way the bacteria don't have to compete with anything while they are getting established.

If you want, you can get one or two fast-growing plants to suck up extra nutrients while your main plants are getting established. Whatever you do, *do not *get duckweed or salvinia. They will take over your tank and you will be fighting them forever. Frogbit, water sprite, and guppy grass are much easier to remove and still get the job done.


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

I feel like you two are my personal tank consultants  ... Thank you very much for the replies!

Fishly - I was considering using a bacterial aid to cycle the tank...that being said, is it ill-advised to use that in conjunction with the plants so that they aren't "competing"? or is it ok to use both?

Hoppy - That is exactly the answer I wanted. I'll have to look on the forums and see if anyone has any fast-growing stuff they want to sell, which will also give me time to practice with the lighting as well. One last question - is there a rule of thumb that applies to what constitutes a heavy planted tank vs medium vs lightly? Ie. plants/gallon or something along those lines? What may seem like alot to me may not seem like much to someone else, and vice-versa.


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## seanski21 (Mar 4, 2012)

You're going to want both bacteria and plants; it will happen eventually anyway but if can add both at the start it can only help. 

For the plants try water sprite, tiger lotus, hygro polysperma, bacopa monnieri, and maybe a something like an amazon sword. Floating plants are good for this too. The list really depends on what lighting you do end up getting, but the ones I listed will pretty much grow in anything. I'm pretty sure the rule of thumb for low tech tanks is to cover at least 75% of the substrate with plants when you start; yes I know that's expensive but it's worth it!


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

Thanks everyone! Replies are very informative. Still working on pics of the tank setup. Will post pics in the journal section soon.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

ProndFarms said:


> I feel like you two are my personal tank consultants  ... Thank you very much for the replies!
> 
> Fishly - I was considering using a bacterial aid to cycle the tank...that being said, is it ill-advised to use that in conjunction with the plants so that they aren't "competing"? or is it ok to use both?


No problem. We're here to help. 

There are two bacteria required to cycled an aquarium: those that turn ammonia into nitrite, and those that turn nitrite into nitrate. Both of them are slow growers. Algae, on the other hand, grows quickly and has no need to turn ammonia into anything else. You want to add a lot of bacteria in the beginning so that they can turn the ammonia into nitrate (which algae doesn't like as much, but plants can use) before the algae can get to it.



ProndFarms said:


> One last question - is there a rule of thumb that applies to what constitutes a heavy planted tank vs medium vs lightly? Ie. plants/gallon or something along those lines? What may seem like alot to me may not seem like much to someone else, and vice-versa.


It depends on the plants, the light, and the nutrients being added to the tank. While a tank covered in anubias will not be able to absorb enough nutrients to prevent algae blooms, a few handfulls of guppy grass and java moss could clear up a tank of pea soup. 

The nutrients added to the tank will also affect how much you need to plant. Twenty shrimp in a 55g are not going to produce as much waste as twenty swordtails. This is where the bacteria come in. Say you add three swordtails to your tank, and you only have a 6-leaf java fern and some HC. You do a test before a water change and it says that your ammonia and nitrite are zero and your nitrate is 5ppm (let's assume you're not adding any nitrogen ferts). That means your tank is sufficiently cycled to handle the fishload, even though you don't have many plants. 

Your swordtails then have 40 fry. At first, the fry are too small to affect the bioload, but after they grow to about an inch, the nitrate is regularly at 20ppm, your java fern now has 10 leaves, and your HC has doubled. However, you haven't had an algae bloom. Why? Because 1: your plants absorbed some of the ammonia, and 2: what they didn't absorb was turned into nitrate by the bacteria before any algae could get to it.

So the bacteria and plants work together to out-compete the algae. If the plants aren't fast growers, then you need a lot of bacteria in the beginning. If you don't want to seed the tank, then you'll need to start with a lot of fast growing plants. Slow growing plants + slow growing bacteria + high fish load = fast growing algae.


Be careful in choosing your fast-growing plants. Anything that grows quickly can become as much of a nuisance as algae. Floating plants may block light in the tank, and rooted plants may take over your substrate. If you choose to use rooted plants as your fast growers, you might want to try putting them in 4" flower pots so they can be removed without disturbing the substrate once the rest of your plants grow in.


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

Fishly, low and behold I think I have it! Thanks for clearing that up for me. 

I believe I am going to do a combination of everything (a few fast growers, some slow-growers, and a bacteria "bump" to help get things moving). I intend to add a few fish at the beginning and add a few more fish here and there as time passes and the plants become more established. 

Thanks again for all the help guys....now off to the WTB forums to browse for some plants to add


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

That's how most people end up doing it. Remember that a bit of mulm/filter squeezings from a clean tank will work just as well as a store-bought bacterial aid. And don't forget to quarantine your fish; most medicines will kill your plants. Believe me, you do not want to deal with ich in your main planted tank.

Good luck with your plant hunt!


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

Ok...the tank is up and running, plants are planted, and I have even included some pics over in the Tank Journals section. Now just a few more questions.

1. How long do I leave the lights on for during the first few days, weeks, etc.? I do not have any fish yet, so I am hoping the ammonia from the MGOCPM will be enough.

2. When should I begin fert dosing? (Ie. Excel)

3. When should I begin Co2 dosing?

Thanks for the help!


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Do you mind if I answer in your journal?


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## ProndFarms (Sep 3, 2012)

Not at all!


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