# 55 gallon



## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

I'm going to be turning my 55 african into a planted south american

-I don't want to use co2
-i'd like to not have to use fertilizer, but i will if there is no way around it
-substrate is pool filter sand
- I would like a lighting suggestion for this tank
- i plan on low light plants like java moss, anubias, and maybe one sword
- I may add some more later on depending on how this goes

i assume i don't need very high wattage of lights, so maybe just two 48" t8's will suffice? maybe 6 hours a day to start

thanks everyone


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

2x T8s will probably work given your plant choices. I'd probably start off with a 10 hour photoperiod since your lighting is so low.

A Coralife T5NO is what I'd put over the tank personally, and would allow you a few more plant options. http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsU...7/cl0/coralifefwt5aqualightdoublestriplight48

I run the 36" version of this fixture over my own 46gal and "low light" plants are doing quite well:


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

see i was worried that 80 watts would be too much and too bright for the fish, i was almost just considering keeping the current 30 watts and upgrading to 6500k lights, or just going with a single 48" 40 watt t8

some of the fish i want seem to do better with lower lights

I already own a uv light so i'm probably going to run that from the get-go just to cut off any potential green water

if i use lower watt lights would i just have to leave them on longer, or would i need to up the wattage if the plants don't do well?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

80 watts of T8 is still *extremely* low light over a 55gal tank.

I don't think you'll get much if any plant growth at all running either a 30 or 40 watt fixture.

IME most fish can adapt quite well to bright plant lighting as long as they've got places to go to get out of the light when they want to- such as under plants with large leaves.

What fish species are you considering?


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

either neons or cardinals, maybe some lemon tetras or rummy nose

and some gymnogeophagus


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

so i need to try for over 100 watts? will that not cause algae problems?


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

oooh, do cardinals, i have a 92 corner at the shop that i set up a few months ago..i have about 200 or so of them, they look awesome... i also have 4 discus in the tank.. the only reason i am posting this boring story is because i have a 150W HWI pendant halide over the tank and the fish have no issues at all.


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Oh all of those should be just fine as long as they've got places to hide when they want to.

You'll probably need to plan your aquascape around the Geos' digging, though. Wall off or pot the plants, or stick with plants that can be tied down to the hardscape like Java ferns and Anubias...


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

cjacob316 said:


> so i need to try for over 100 watts? will that not cause algae problems?


No, I wouldn't go much over 100 watts if you don't want to have to also add CO2 and dose ferts. Depends on what KIND of fixture (T5, T8, MH all are pretty different) and how high you put the fixture up over the tank, though.

I'd stick with a dual bulb either T8 or T5No fixture, that should put you right where you want to be.


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

well i have a rock pile on one end i planned to keep and stick some anubias in the cracks, then add a big piece of drift wood for the moss, so should i just stick to this? do these still need more than 80 watts of t8?


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

yeah i was going to lay the fixture right on top if i was using the t8 since they don't get as hot as the others, and the fixture i want has enough space on the edges for air to pass (i already have one on another tank)


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

80 watts of T8 would probably work for a plan like that. You could probably also add some swords or crypts as long as you give them time to get rooted before adding the Geos and also place some rocks around their bases to keep the Geos from digging them up.


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

that could be done, was planning on taking my time to find some good geos anyways and i figured it would be best to let the plants root down

i have tons of rock between all the african set-ups i have haha

my goal is mostly to avoid co2 , fertilizers and expensive lights, as still get a nice little south american set-up, so i have no problem just sticking to the low low light plants, and i can get moss really cheap (probably free) around here


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

just make sure the rock from your cichlid tanks won't spike the PH


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

nope all inert


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Get some root tabs if you get any swords and/or crypts; IME even under low light you can see a dramatic improvement in growth when you give them some nutrients to work with, especially since you're using an inert substrate.


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

the calcite/aragonite based rocks are expensive, i get my rocks from landscape yards for about 15cents a pound.


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

ok i'll give that a try, any specific brand of root tab?

by the way i do have hard water with a pH of 8.2 but i know people here who grow plants in this water, and i had some before, but i think i left my light on too long and has some plants that aren't supposed to be in aquariums (like mondo grass) and eventually gave up and switched it to africans, but now i want to try a larger tank and actually try to get this to work

but the plants like the anubias and sword did well in the water, just has to run a uv 24/7 and since it was a small tank and a large uv, i didn't like having to run it in the tank


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## cjacob316 (Jan 20, 2010)

i know a little more about balancing light with available nutrients now.

also someone mentioned that they minimize surface agitation in their low tech aquariums to minimize co2 loss, is this a good idea?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

If you're not injecting CO2 into a tank in the first place, then surface agitation is NOT an issue.

I like the WonderGro root tabs. I recently got and am going to try some RootMedic tabs, though I haven't gotten around to putting any in my tanks just yet to have any personal feedback on them... :hihi: I like that they have the full complement of NPK, though. I've also heard good things about the Flourish tabs.

You can run a UV if you want. Personally I don't care for them (I don't like that they kill off the good along with the bad) so I don't use them. I think you should be able to get by without it if you don't want to run it.

I've got pretty hard water, too. The vast majority of plants and livestock can adapt just fine, though your water is possibly on the extreme. Vals usually do well in hard water and are also very low-light tolerant, so those are definitely some plants to try. Hygrophila species are also pretty tolerant, especially H. difformis.


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