Newbie Alert! Advice required please!

[utahfish]

Brilliant advice thanks so much! The only light i have on the tank is a low voltage LED 12V 1.5W consumption. That came with the tank and is attached to the lid! Will this be ok or!?? . I want to get a water sprite and a anacharis plant will 1 of each be enough for the tank as iv read Neons like heavily planted tanks.

When dealing with LED lights wattage isnt an effective measurement. What you want to pay attention to is Lumens. Low light plants like ferns anubius require around 20 lumens/liter. So if one had a 20 gallon tank which is about 75 liters 20 watts × 75 =1500 lumens. Also when needs to take into acount color spectrum of bulb 5000K-6500 K is best with a CRI of 90 or higher. CRI takes into account the range of colors. Plants need mostly red and blue with some white and a little green. Bulbs with high CRI ratings have alot of reds and blues. Lastly one needs to take into account PAR which is the lights ability to penetrate the water to reach your plants. Floating plants are generally easier to grow because the light source is closer than say a plant at the bottom of the tank. For lowlight plants one wants at least 30 PAR at the bottom of the tank. Sometimes it can be difficult to find all the specs of a light and im guessing the light that came with the tank probably isnt strong enough to grow anything but algae. Theres a website called rotolabutterfly.com, they have a lighting calculator id recommend checking it out and if one really wants to grow plants instead of slowly kill them get the correct lighting.
As far as ferts go depends on the plants you have. Plants absorb nutrients two ways, through their roots and through leaves in the water column. A plant like a sword is a heavy root feeder about 75% through roots so while a comprehensive liquid fert will help for the sword to live and grow itll need root tabs or a nutrient rich substrate. Where as root tabs will be useless for a floating plant as it gets the majority of its nutrients through water column. Id recommend getting both rooted plants and floating plants or even rhizome plants like java ferns and anubius which attach to woods and rocks. I get this seems like alot if info because it is. Growing plants in a box of water in your house is something that requires balancing light and nutrients and if either is off problems occur.
Also of note if you are going to attempt plants be sure to remove the carbon from the filter as it will just absorb all the nutrients for the plants

 

[Neon1977]

When dealing with LED lights wattage isnt an effective measurement. What you want to pay attention to is Lumens. Low light plants like ferns anubius require around 20 lumens/liter. So if one had a 20 gallon tank which is about 75 liters 20 watts × 75 =1500 lumens. Also when needs to take into acount color spectrum of bulb 5000K-6500 K is best with a CRI of 90 or higher. CRI takes into account the range of colors. Plants need mostly red and blue with some white and a little green. Bulbs with high CRI ratings have alot of reds and blues. Lastly one needs to take into account PAR which is the lights ability to penetrate the water to reach your plants. Floating plants are generally easier to grow because the light source is closer than say a plant at the bottom of the tank. For lowlight plants one wants at least 30 PAR at the bottom of the tank. Sometimes it can be difficult to find all the specs of a light and im guessing the light that came with the tank probably isnt strong enough to grow anything but algae. Theres a website called rotolabutterfly.com, they have a lighting calculator id recommend checking it out and if one really wants to grow plants instead of slowly kill them get the correct lighting.
As far as ferts go depends on the plants you have. Plants absorb nutrients two ways, through their roots and through leaves in the water column. A plant like a sword is a heavy root feeder about 75% through roots so while a comprehensive liquid fert will help for the sword to live and grow itll need root tabs or a nutrient rich substrate. Where as root tabs will be useless for a floating plant as it gets the majority of its nutrients through water column. Id recommend getting both rooted plants and floating plants or even rhizome plants like java ferns and anubius which attach to woods and rocks. I get this seems like alot if info because it is. Growing plants in a box of water in your house is something that requires balancing light and nutrients and if either is off problems occur.
Also of note if you are going to attempt plants be sure to remove the carbon from the filter as it will just absorb all the nutrients for the plants

Oh no see this is the exact reason I didn’t get live plants as I did not have a clue what I needed. At the minute I was going to purchase just water sprite and hygrophila polysperma to start with! I will wait until I have removed the carbon cartridge though from what you have said so going to be another month before I purchase the plants now. Want to get everything right so what conditions do I need for these two plants please and how to maintain them/keep them at their best?

 

[Barry Tetra]

The #1 rule in this hobby is "never believe what the employees at the LFS say, always research it before you buy it" 6 neon tetra is the minimum number. You have a very small tank like @utahfish said. Really only good for a Betta. I have neon tetra and they need more room to swim. I have them in a 55 gallon tank with other tetra.

Agree, They always lies to sell fish. Most LFS are okay but the chain one is ughhh.

 

[Neon1977]

Agree, They always lies to sell fish. Most LFS are okay but the chain one is ughhh.

Even my genuine LFS (not a chain) seemed so genuine and seemed to really care for the fish and had big tanks etc on display, clean shop, healthy fish etc but still assured me I can have up to 12 Neons in my 25L tank! What the hell! The fish aren’t even suited to my tank based on research and what people have said on the forum! Going to do my best by them though and obviously not add anymore to the 6 Neons I have! Will just be adding cherry shrimp once the tank has cycled and matured this forum has been amazing for advice and people actually know what they are talking about!!

 

[utahfish]

Oh no see this is the exact reason I didn’t get live plants as I did not have a clue what I needed. At the minute I was going to purchase just water sprite and hygrophila polysperma to start with! I will wait until I have removed the carbon cartridge though from what you have said so going to be another month before I purchase the plants now. Want to get everything right so what conditions do I need for these two plants please and how to maintain them/keep them at their best?

Well give those 2 floating plants a try with your current light, since theyre floating plants theyll need nutrients from the water, get a bottle of comprehensive liquid fert. Either API or seachem. Personally i use something called , Easy Green, sold by aquarium co op. Its as the title suggest easy, come with a squirt pump bottle one pump per 10 gallons a week treats up to 25000 gallons. If the plants are struggling after that then one will need a better light but try that first.

 

[Neon1977]

Well give those 2 floating plants a try with your current light, since theyre floating plants theyll need nutrients from the water, get a bottle of comprehensive liquid fert. Either API or seachem. Personally i use something called , Easy Green, sold by aquarium co op. Its as the title suggest easy, come with a squirt pump bottle one pump per 10 gallons a week treats up to 25000 gallons. If the plants are struggling after that then one will need a better light but try that first.

Thanks a lot for your honestly and recommending those products to me I do prefer the idea of the pump bottles totally so will get that first! I will just try and see how I go that’s all’s I can do! Will they be ok with a carbon cartridge in the filter still though? And how many hours would you recommend the LED to be on for??

 

[utahfish]

Thanks a lot for your honestly and recommending those products to me I do prefer the idea of the pump bottles totally so will get that first! I will just try and see how I go that’s all’s I can do! Will they be ok with a carbon cartridge in the filter still though? And how many hours would you recommend the LED to be on for??

You will want to get rid of the carbon with live plants. The function of carbon is to filter out excess nutrients so essentially the catbon would absorb the ferts your dosing for your plants which defeats the point of fertilizing. Just cut open the pack dump the carbon out and use the floss.

 

[Essjay]

The Ciano filter uses something a bit different from the usual flat carbon cartridge but it can still be cut open and the carbon taken out .

Ciano CF Water Clear Filter Media | from Aquacadabra

Ciano Water Clear filter media helps with coloured or stained water. This helps remove odour from your aquarium by using activated carbon.

www.aquacadabra.com

 

[Neon1977]

You will want to get rid of the carbon with live plants. The function of carbon is to filter out excess nutrients so essentially the catbon would absorb the ferts your dosing for your plants which defeats the point of fertilizing. Just cut open the pack dump the carbon out and use the floss.

Oh damn I can’t do this ya see as it’s a small little cartridge thing it’s off the Ciano cf40 filter, the only way to get eid

The Ciano filter uses something a bit different from the usual flat carbon cartridge but it can still be cut open and the carbon taken out .

Ciano CF Water Clear Filter Media | from Aquacadabra

Ciano Water Clear filter media helps with coloured or stained water. This helps remove odour from your aquarium by using activated carbon.

www.aquacadabra.com

Thanks so much for this as I was gutted I wouldn’t be able to get my tanks straight away! What does the carbon look like exactly!? Just so i know what il be taking out of there! Don’t want to go messing with it when I don’t know what I’m doing.

 

[Neon1977]

You will want to get rid of the carbon with live plants. The function of carbon is to filter out excess nutrients so essentially the catbon would absorb the ferts your dosing for your plants which defeats the point of fertilizing. Just cut open the pack dump the carbon out and use the floss.

Sorry utahfish I don’t know what happened with my reply before, I was meant to say I don’t think I can remove the carbon from the cartridge that I have but essjay has just assured me that I can so will do this soon as I know what it is exactly I’m removing/what it looks like as I still have no idea.

 

[Retired Viking]

The carbon is like charcoal depending on your filer it will be in a mesh bag or plastic cartridge usually.

 

[Neon1977]

The carbon is like charcoal depending on your filer it will be in a mesh bag or plastic cartridge usually.

essjay has posted a pic of what cartridge it is if you can see, just unsure how to cut it cuz I don’t want to be wrecking the cartridge and will I be getting rid of all the good bacteria by emptying out the carbon!? Don’t want to do anything to mess it up while it’s still cycling :s

 

[Retired Viking]

There should also be a sponge filter too, if so that is where the good bacteria is also. I do not have this brand of filter but have all sponge filters in my HOB filters. The carbon is really only needed to remove medication, I have a box full of carbon cartridges band new in the plastic

 

[Neon1977]

There should also be a sponge filter too, if so that is where the good bacteria is also. I do not have this brand of filter but have all sponge filters in my HOB filters. The carbon is really only needed to remove medication, I have a box full of carbon cartridges band new in the plastic

It has foam at the bottom yeah where the water comes in but no sponge anywhere! Just the cartridge at the top. So don’t want to break it else there’s going to be nothing cleaning my water at the top of the filter! I know iv been told this since having the tank! I never would of used this cartridge if I’d of known and would of bought filter sponge to pop in the top!

 

[Neon1977]

It has foam at the bottom yeah where the water comes in but no sponge anywhere! Just the cartridge at the top. So don’t want to break it else there’s going to be nothing cleaning my water at the top of the filter! I know iv been told this since having the tank! I never would of used this cartridge if I’d of known and would of bought filter sponge to pop in the top!

If I knew exactly how to cut and remove the carbon in it I’d be fine! Just don’t want to break the bloody thing and mess up my cycling process!