Ideas For A Newbie

[sid_zie]

Hi all.

I'm looking to set up a planted tank, in an Orca RA-05, but i dont really know where to start.

Some deatils about the tank:

it's an 18" cube, 80 litres (about 21 imperial gallons)
comes with a 24W light (T8)
has a 3 stage filter - sponge, activated carbon, and ceramic rings/bio balls - with a flow of 1100L/H
and i got to buy a heater seperatly

What i need some help with, is,
Would i be able to have a planted tank in this set up?
What sort of plants would be easy to keep and would tolerate the light levels (i'm no expert but it seems a little low to me - does any one know if it is easy to add more light to this tank if needed?)

I have some good peices of bogwood to put in, and having read Jimbooo's guide on Riccia and Java Moss i would like to put some java moss in the front. Otherwise i dont know where to start....i guess substrate would be a good place to start, i was thinking laterite mixed with sand, would this be suitable?

Any help would be appriciated, I'm really starting from a blank slate here, so feel free to suggest anything (i dont even have the tank if you think it wouldn't work for a planted tank)

thanks in advance

 

[Themuleous]

Right sounds like you need a lower light tank, if so you'd probably be ok with that light but would think upping it to around 30-40w would give you a better chance. There is a pinned article started by rose, but recently updated by George, that has a list of less demanding, lower light plants that would be good for your tank. Spend some time looking at the many tanks on here and in the net and work out what you like the look of and then for for it.

A few other things, I wouldn't worry about Co2 for the time being, its not vital for lower lights tanks although its beneficial if you fancy trying it add a good substrate though, it'll pay off with better plant growth. And get a decent trace, something like tropica plant nutrition (dont get the 'plus' version though) or seachem flourish is good.

Hope that hepls

Sam

 

[sid_zie]

I feel stupid at not seeing the article by Rose, I've had a quick look through just now, and will give it a more detailed read later, and try to decide on a few plants that i could use.

I'm going to set it all up and give it a go without CO2, and then if i feel brave and decide to up grade it, then i might give it a try.

If i were to increase the light, would it just be a case of getting a higher watt bulb? or would i need to get a new light fitting as well?

And looking through other tanks on here is giving me some good ideas about the substrate - everyone's tanks on here are so good, I hope I'll be able to get mine to look anywere near as good as them all.

Thanks

 

[Themuleous]

Dont feel stupid, I did exactly the same when I started

No, if your lighting has a 24w bulb in it you cant add a higher wattage one, you'll need to get a second starter and second bulb.

Good plan on the CO2, if you stick to easy plants they'll not mind not having it. But that said, dont be afraid of CO2 its not as tricky as you might think

Sam

 

[Dave Spencer]

Like Sam says, don`t be afraid of CO2. I have only been going for two months in this hobby and took the plunge with pressurised CO2. Apart from cleaning the diffuser now and again, I never touch the system.

I have a sand and laterite substrate, the same as you are proposing, but I don`t appear to be getting the root systems growth that other people on here achieve with more complete substrates. A decent substrate is not cheap, but it will be money well invested.

 

[sid_zie]

I have a sand and laterite substrate, the same as you are proposing, but I don`t appear to be getting the root systems growth that other people on here achieve with more complete substrates. A decent substrate is not cheap, but it will be money well invested.

Sorry to ask, but what do you mean by a more complete substrate? Like I said before I really dont what would be the best substrate for plant growth, but i dont mind buying something worth while if it will help.

And Sam, thanks for the heads up about needing a second light. I'll have to look more into that once i've finished decorating and get the tank, so that i can see what sort of space is in there.

Thanks

 

[Themuleous]

By complete substrate he means things like eco-complete and ADA aquasoil, they contain a vast range of nutrients that the plants can use. Laterite and others don't necessarily contain the same mix of nutrients, which can leave the plants lacking. Although supposedly tetraplant and aquabasis also contain a complete mix.

The other thing about eco-complete and Aquasoil is that you have 100% of them so immediately upon planting the plants have access to all they need. Conversely, base layer substrates like tetraplant and laterite the plants have to 'find' the nutrients. TBH if you can afford them I would always use either EC or Aquasoil. Although for the less experienced EC is probably better, Aquasoil reduces KH and pH which isn't necessarily a problem if you know what your doing. For an 18" tank you'd probably need two bags of EC, which'll be around 50quid so not cheap compared to the base layer would which would be less than half that.

All that said I've only ever used EC, but have heard good things about tetra plant and JBL aquabasis, so I could be wrong

BTW what light tube do you have at present? I'm not aware of a 24w that is under 18" long?

Sam

 

[sid_zie]

BTW what light tube do you have at present? I'm not aware of a 24w that is under 18" long?

I have no idea what tube is in there, all i'm going on the the details on the side of the box that i wrote down while at my LFS - they didn't have a clue, but where nice enough to give me a pen and paper to write it all down from the box. I think i'm going to have to take another trip down there (they'll soon be fed up of me asking all these questions about the tank haha) and see how easy it will be to get another light in there (and what is there already)

Thanks for letting me know about the substrate. It is a bit pricey, but then i was willing to pay for a much bigger tank (until i found out it wouldn't fit, and that weight is an issue on my floor) so i'll use the money to make sure this tank has some good stuff.

On a seperate note, Orca do the same tank but for a marine set up, and i think that has more lighting, but i havn't checked. It also has extra bits to the filter, a protein skimmer and some other things. If it was difficult to get another light into the FW tank, do you think it would be a problem setting up FW in the marine tank to get the extra light? I seem to be having trouble finding out information on these tanks, does any one else have one of these tanks?