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[madjoker14]

Hi all, i want to make a planted tank.i already have some basic terms of having a plantd tank so i was wondering if any members are willing to post,point in the right direction or even work with me 1on1 through privet messages, sorta a step by step kinda of thing but a little info on my tank first

I have a 20 gallon tank with about 7 mollies, the lighting is 20w but the light is very dull compared to my 10gallion 15w bulb (very bright), i have a masterkit for freshwater (ph,amm,nitrite,nitrate test), i do reg water change of 25% and fill back up with salt and dechlorine. have a few plants but seem to grow poorly with the dull light but i have java moss and a stem plant that looks like Micranthemum umbrosum.

Basically what im asking the member if you could teach me how to step by step from what test kit i should buy first befor seting up a planted tank to what type of bulb i should install,and type of fertilizers.

Sorry again if this seems like a lot but i am willing to learn lots, like i sayd i have read lots but dont even know where to start

Thanks again for reading and any help is more the greatfull.

 

[aaronnorth]

Lighting - levels of lighting is worked out in wats per gallon (WPG) it is the toal wattage of the lights, dividedd by the toal US gallond of your tank, in your case 30w/ 30g = 1WPG

1WPG is the minimum light you can have that is needed to grow plants succesfully like mosses, java ferns, anubias, crypts, hygrophilia, vallis...

1-2WPG low light,
2-3WPG medium - high light
3WPG+ High

the colour spectrum is measured in kelvins (K) plants photosynthesize in with a K in between 5500k - 11 000k, the spectrum doesn't matter to much, as long as you have enough light then dont worry to much. Have your lights on for 10-12hours a day.


CO2 - Carbon dioxide (co2) is where plants use the carbon © for starch which is used for energy, if the plants take in enough (along with other factors), they will start pearling and give off oxygen (O2). CO2 is only needed when you have 2WPG+ because the high light drives plant to use more ferts & co2 so if you dont have co2, then there is no point in having high light, you will just get algae, you can use co2 under 2WPG but there is no real need.

co2 can be measured by measuring your kh then refering to a co2 table (in my sig) or you can use a drop checker for a constant more accurate result.

the water will contain a small amount of co2, usually about 6ppm (parts per million) but it isnt enough for plants.

0-25ppm low BLUE
25 - 35ppm GREEN
35ppm+ high YELLOW


fertilisation - there are various types of fertilisers and methods, you can use an off the shelf product which will be ok for what you need at the moment, then you can get better ones like TPN+ (tropica plant nutrition+) it contains NPK (nitrate, phosphate, pottasium) then there is EI dosing which is used in hi tec set ups (high light, co2) i wont go into EI as i dont think you will e needing it but ask if you want to know or there is the pinned thread.

To sum it up -

you have low lighting which will grow mosses, java ferns, anubias, crypts, hygrophilia, vallis, elodea/ egeria densa, echindouros species

CO2 - not needed for the above plants or your lighting levels

Ferts - an off the shelf product will suffice for your levels of equipment, root tabs can be dosed near the plants roots to help if necassary


Hope this helps as a basic starter guide

Thanks, Aaron

PM me if you want any infoor just post on this topic

 

[Colin_T]

buy a new globe with a Kelvin (K) rating between 5,000 & 10,000K. Also try and get a second light for the tank. It will make a big difference to the plants.
Have the lights on for 10-12 hours per day as suggested by Aaron.

get some fertiliser tablets that go in the gravel (available from any fish shop) and put one in the gravel and put a plant on top. If you have plants in the tank you can push them into the gravel near the base of the plant. Standard aquarium gravel is fine.
Add a liquid iron fertiliser (Sera Florena is pretty good). Use an iron test kit to monitor the iron levels.

The rest of the water test kits you have are fine as plants are fine in tanks with high levels of ammonia, nitrite and nitrate. They actually feed on them and are not stressed like fish are.

By adding salt to the water some plants will not grow. Try different plants and see what does grow in your tank with the salt.

Some good plants to try include, Ambulia, Elodia, Hygrophilla sp, Swordplants, Ludwigia & Vallis

 

[Themuleous]

Plants wont like the salt addition, you are going to struggle unless you can change the fish over and stop adding the salt.

Sam

 

[madjoker14]

wow the replies are great, so i agree that i need higher lighting, so i went to my local lowes and i saw the aquarium 24'' 20wT12 fluor. and i was thinking of getting 2 of those lights so i can have 2wpg (or do u guys think 3wpg is the way to go)but now how would i power those lights up, i was looking through there selection of ballast but the guy didnt seem like he knew to much..

So i was wondering if any of the members know how to power them up, i saw these

-starters for- 15w or 20w flu. lamps, that was for 2.00$
-ballast T12 (didnt get full info),that was 38.99$

how would i connect these if these are what i need to adapt and make the 2 flu.lights run??

and by the way thanks for all that are helping me here, thanks

 

[Colin_T]

unless you are a qualified electrician just buy a light unit that is already built. You should be able to buy a 2ft light unit for about the same price as that ballast
and go for T8 or T5 globes instead of T12.

 

[Luketendo]

T5 > T8 > T12

Although smaller, T5 have more Watt output and more lumens.

 

[Themuleous]

FYI - avoid T12 lighting, its old scholl and is hugely inefficient. As a min get T8's, T5's are better.

Sam

 

[lljdma06]

Is this a truely brackish tank or do you just add salt? What type of salt do you add? Do you have a hydrometer, which is a device used to measure specific gravity, often used in Brackish systems? You can have a planted brackish aquarium, but you have to be careful with the lighting intensity, as adding CO2 present a problem in Brackish systems, since it drives down the pH. Sorry for the questions, but I'd like you to enjoy a planted tank without having to turn out your mollies, I'm sure they'd love the plants too.

llj