# trying to start and learn about planted tanks



## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

so i have a 75 gallon tank and i am stating to replace my fake plants with real plants. so far i have 4 plants. i have three "wonder bulbs" as my lfs calls them and another plant that i bought friday that i think is called oriental sword. i am wanting some nice plants but im not really sure what kind i should get. the light i have for my tank is a dual-lamp T5 HO light fixture. is this light ok for live plants? i have sand substrate in my tank. i dont use co2 because i dont know what is does or hoow to use it lol im just curious on what you guys think.
Thanks!


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## [email protected] (Apr 27, 2011)

Hi Thomas, welcome to The Planted Tank. Sorry but I'm not a light expert so I dont know what plants will grow with your lights. I would, however, suggest looking in the plant profiles and just picking a few plants you like and go from there. Maybe try starting with easy to grow or medium and maybe work yourself up from there.

I would also suggest you provide more info about your tank so that we can get a better understanding of what you got, i.e; water and additives, substrate, inhabitants. Even a pic or 2 would help. 

Congrats on getting rid of the fake plants, it was the best decision I made as live plants are just so much more beautiful and natural looking.


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## BBradbury (Nov 8, 2010)

*Tank Lighting*

Good morning thomas...

My understanding of tank lighting is somewhat limited, but I believe I'm right that your T5 High Output is a lot of light, but will shine over a small area in your tank. 

A 75 G will need more bulbs to cover the entire tank area. I agree with tony and recommend you research the plants you want and buy your lighting after that.

Peter Hiscock's "Mini Encyclopedia of Aquaurium Plants" is a good source.

B


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## bpb (Mar 8, 2011)

You have PLENTY of light if you have a 48" dual bulb t5ho unit. Some would even suggest suspending it higher over the tank to have more uniform light coverage and limit algae. I would start by reading the sticky threads at the top of the lighting and the substrate forums to help get a good base knowledge of those two areas. What is your fish stock comprised of?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

You'll definitely need to suspend your fixture up off the tank (6-12") to moderate the light some if you don't want to get a pressurized CO2 setup going on it- otherwise you'll have way too much light with 3 T5HO bulbs.

Do you have the option of running only 2 bulbs at a time vs all 3?

I run only 2 T5HOs over my own 90gal, and it's still on the edge of needing CO2; I have to limit my photoperiod to about 6-7 hours/day and still occasionally dose some Excel to kick back algae that grows on the taller plants when they grow up closer to the light.

You should be able to grow a good variety of "low tech" plants, however- including any of the "low tech" carpeting plants.


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## freddy5 (May 27, 2011)

Hey there Thomas,I just set up a 75 a couple of months ago,use 2 bulb T5HO,don't have pressurized co2 dose excell,my plants are various sword and crypt plants,they are doing good,added root tabs,which seem to be helping alot,if you want to dose excell,I got a 2 litre from fosterand smith,free shipping over 49,if I could afford it and if my wife would let me I would get a nice co2 system,but so far everything is doing great.


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## Aphotic Phoenix (Apr 5, 2010)

Hi Thomas. 

Do you have any specific goals for your 75 gallon? I'd suggest looking through lots of pictures of tanks to try and find exactly what sort of "look" really appeals to you, and just as important, what methods appeal to you. Might want to read: http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/2889-Step-1-Define-your-goals and http://www.barrreport.com/showthread.php/2890-Step-2-chose-a-method-and-learn-it-well

In the mean time...when you're new to planted tanks the instinct is to start slow, and just buying a few plants here and there. Unfortunately that's not like tilling your lawn, throwing a few random plants around, and calling it a garden: you're likely to end up with more weeds (or in our case algae), than the plants you want. If you can, get a hold of a variety of "easy", and fast growing stem plants, and over time get rid of the ones that don't work for you. Don't be discouraged if some "easy" plants don't work for you, others will. Since fast growing stems tend to be easy to propagate via trimmings, you might be able to pick up a variety of the weedier ones for cheap while you learn.

Lighting is tricky. If you read: http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/lighting/105774-par-vs-distance-t5-t12-pc.html you'll see that two t5HO bulbs *should* be more than enough light for the depth of your tank, but we also need to understand that there are some other factors involved. These measurements are taken directly under the fixture, so areas to the front and back won't get the same intensity of light. Also, some fixtures have better quality reflectors than others, different brands of bulbs vary in par value, use of covers and how clean they are, how high the fixture is placed (as evidenced by the charts) etc all have an impact on how much light the plants will receive. This isn't necessarily a bad thing however. Unless you want to invest in pressurized CO2, you do NOT want high light.


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

So should I get another t5 or no? I have it on the mounts that it came with but can't really go higher than that because I have a wooden canopy on top of my tank. The fish I have in it are 1 firemouth, 1 krib, 7 tiger barbs, 1 roseline shark, 2 poctus cats, 1 aisian fourlined cat, 1 clown pleco, 1 rubber pleco, 3 nerite snail, and 3 temapary goldfish. I have a 60 gallon that I am cycling right now that I'm planning on moving the firemouth, pictus cats and aisian four lined to. Im going to put tetras and barbs and corys in my 75. How much does a co2 system cost? What kind would you guys recommend?


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## Aphotic Phoenix (Apr 5, 2010)

I would say stick with the 2x T5HO fixture you've got unless you're absolutely certain you need more. 

CO2 systems for a 75 gallon can get kinda pricey. 
- Dual Stage Regulator: ~$100 to $300+
- 10 lb CO2 Cylinder/Tank: ~$60 to $100 (You might be able to find them cheaper, this was just a quick Google shopping search)
- Your choice of diffusion method which includes Inline Diffuser/Reactor/Needle Wheel Pump: Varies from nearly free DIY options to $100+
- Plus extras like filling the tank with CO2, drop checkers, 4dkh solution, CO2 tubing, bubble counters, perma seals, etc

Kind of an investment no? Hence why you might want to start out with "low tech" first. People do manage to pull off some very lush looking set-ups without CO2, plants just grow more slowly. Seriously, look at lauraleellbp's tanks...they are low tech and very lovely!


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

Wow that is fairly expensive. So the co2 helps control algae? And I'll go to some petatore check out there prices. Do the DIY ones work well? How would I make it? Are they easy to make?


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## Aphotic Phoenix (Apr 5, 2010)

thomas1123 said:


> Wow that is fairly expensive. So the co2 helps control algae?


By itself, no. Poor distribution and/or inconsistent CO2 can even trigger some types of algae. Balance between light levels, and nutrients (including carbon) promote healthy plants which help control algae. Think of CO2 as a fertilizer, it will promote better growth in all light levels, but in a high light tank if there isn't enough of it the algae will happily grow while the plants are stuck.



thomas1123 said:


> And I'll go to some petatore check out there prices. Do the DIY ones work well? How would I make it? Are they easy to make?


Depending on the quality of your local pet stores you may or may not find much in the way of CO2 equipment. You'll most likely find more selection online. As for DIY options...I'd recommend doing plenty of your own research, and seeing what kind of things people have come up with.


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

do you know any good brand names on co2?


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

would this co2 kit be good? http://www.hagen.com/uk/aquatic/product.cfm?CAT=1&SUBCAT=118&PROD_ID=01075450030101


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

DIY CO2 isn't going to cut it on a tank this big with T5HO lighting. You'll need a pressurized setup for sure. Check out the sponsors and powersellers here on the forum- lots of them sell pressurized CO2 equipment. A decent quality setup will probably run $200-300. I wouldn't recommend cutting costs on CO2 equipment- that's a really good way to end up with a tank full of dead fish after an equipment failure.


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

can i put two of these co2 cylinders from fluval on my tank? it says they are 15-40 gallon co2 cylinders.


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## Senior Shrimpo (Dec 4, 2010)

thomas1123 said:


> can i put two of these co2 cylinders from fluval on my tank? it says they are 15-40 gallon co2 cylinders.


Well, they wouldn't last very long, and you'll find that these aren't as good as going full on pressurized co2. It can be very intimidating at first. But you can put it on a timer, which you can't do with the fluval co2.

Plus, you can put together a good co2 system for less than 2 fluval co2 kits. Check the SnS (swap n shop) here, a lot of people will sell co2 kits without the tanks.

Welcome to TPT!


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

_thanks ill check it out!_


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## Aphotic Phoenix (Apr 5, 2010)

Even on nano tanks those little CO2 carts don't last long enough to justify the cost. Even very small tanks (like 5 gallons) can burn through one cart a month, which at $13 a pop = $156 per year in refills alone...for a tank 15x smaller than yours. With those little Fluval things...lets say you managed to get a weeks worth out of two carts per week, that's $1352 a year! The average cost of refilling a 10lb CO2 tank is $15, and you'd prob only have to do that a few times a year. It is MUCH cheaper in the long run to fork out the cash for a real CO2 system up front.


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

oh wow that is better than the fluval co2. do the 10lb kits come with every thing or do i have to buy all the tubes and diffuser stuff?


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## Aphotic Phoenix (Apr 5, 2010)

CO2 tanks come in a range of sizes to chose from, but they are typically sold separately from the regulator, and if you buy a tank online it will be empty because it is illegal to ship one pre-filled. The reason I mentioned a 10 lb tank is some people have trouble fitting 20 lb tanks + regulator under their stands. Generally bigger is better because the larger it is, the less often you need to refill it.

As I mentioned previously: you will need a regulator, a CO2 tank, and a way to diffuse the gas. There really aren't a lot of cheap options for a 75 gallon tank in regards to CO2, because we're talking about a rather large volume of water. Remember though...pressurized CO2 is OPTIONAL as long as you aren't over-lighting the tank, and make the right plant choices.


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

ok thanks for the help guys. i really appreciate it! i have found a welding shop that im going to go see tomorrow and check out there co2 tanks. im probably going to get a 10lb but probably not tomorrow. im curious on how you get the co2 to diffuse with the co2 tanks. all the pictures i see look like a clothe looking tube coming out of the regulator. how would i hook a diffuser to that? and would that tube be ok going into my fish tank? also im going to be running by my lfs tomorrow to check out some plants. what kind of plants should i buy? im interested in Hornwort, java moss, anubias plants, and i might get java fern. are these plants ok for my tank and lighting?


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## thomas1123 (Jul 3, 2011)

ok so i got 1 banana plant, 1 amzon sword, java moss, 1 water lily and 1 anubias minima. will these grow well in my tank?


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