Questions On Planted Tanks

[Rhykiru]

Ok, i have a few questions about planted tanks. I plan on doing one with my 20 gallon as soon as i can get my turtle out of there and into a bigger tank.

questions:

1) I am going to be using the nutrafin c02 system. I hear that if you are adding c02, then you should not add an air pump because the oxygen will take out the c02, is this true?

2) I want to have cories (5) so i was going to put play sand as a substrate, but will corys uproot my plants? i would think so since sand can be to easily shifted and cories are known to dig in the sand.

3) I want to use plants like water wisteria and red ludwigia (sp?). But wouldnt it be hard to make it stick in the sand because it is pretty much just a stem? help from anyone who has experience with stem plants in sand would be appreciated xD

i know i had one more question but i forgot it D:

i plan to make this tank with one big fake plant, those giant plant bamboo thingies, so that i can put it in the corner and it will slow down my flow from my powerfilters since i will have one aquaclear 30 and one penguin 100. The other plants that i plan to have are onion plants(i love those xD), water wisteria, red ludwigia, and a plant called ruffled sword (i cant really find any info on this plant, ruffled sword is that it is named at my lfs) I might be using anubias too. I will also have driftwood so i will maybe buy some java fern if i can find any healthy ones and if i can find java moss, i will try to make a carpet :3

anyhelp will be appreciated. In the meanwhile, if i have time, i will try to do those over head tank planning diagrams so i can show the layout of the way i want my tank lol

thanks

 

[nry]

1) Correct, the surface agitation from the airstone/pump will allow CO2 to leave the water very quickly, often as quick as you can add it back in!

2) Difficult to know but providing the plants have a good enough root system they should be fine

3) Again, they will root, and these roots will keep them where you want them

 

[Rhykiru]

ok, thanks for the reply.

hm, do you think that with the two filters i want to have, the current will cause to much aggitation and so will take out the c02? maybe the long fake plant i want to use will help break up the current.

also, i remembered my question xD. Does the place of the c02 ladder inside the tank affect the plants? like if i keep it far away, will it affect the plants the same way as if it was right next to it?

 

[nry]

Providing the filter is the right size for the tank you won't need two - it is surface agitiation which is the worst culprit for driving off CO2 so this is best minimised it possible. The ladder is best placed near the filter outlet or somewhere with good water flow past it as this ensures the CO2 laden water is pushed around the tank and therefore benefit all plants.

 

[Rhykiru]

Well the thing is, i already have an aquaclear filter 30 (150gph) in my goldfish tank so that i can seed it with good bacteria so that my fishless cycle will be faster. I was thinking of getting a penguin too because it has a biowheel. Also, the reason i wanted two filters is becuase my tank is going to be overstocked (or going to be) since i will have guppies in there.

just a quick question, what filter is better? penguin bio-wheel filter vs Aquaclear 30 filter? If penguin is better, i can always keep the aquaclear in my goldfish and just get a bigger rated penguin ( i was gonna get a 100)