There are a few things to consider when thinking about a planted aquarium. I will cover these things in depth, and look at a few things that have worked for me and have not worked for me. There are three primary factors to having a healthy planted aquarium.
Lighting is one of the most important factors in the growth and development of your plants. The lighting can effect the growth of a plant dramatically. Different plants will need different amounts of light. If you have accessibility to the lumen output this will be a better gauge of how much light is being put out by the lights that you have. However if you do not know the lumen rating of your lights, then the wattage can give a basic level known as watts per gallon (WPG). When choosing your plants, make sure they are for the proper lighting level. These levels can be broken up into three sections.
The first section of lighting is low light. These plants will grow with a minimal amount of light. Approximately 1-2.5 WPG will do. These plants include some cryptocoryne, anubia, echinodorus (swords), bolbitis, microsorium (java ferns), and vesicularia (java moss) species. The second section of lighting is medium light, which will need approximately 2.5-4 WPG. Plants included are several aponogeton, crinum, echinodorus, hydrocotyle, riccia, and vallisneria species. Finally, high lighting, which will be 4+ WPG. Plants included are sagittaria, salvinia, ludwigia, limnophila, lemna, hygrophila, eichhornia, echinodorus, cabomba, bacopa, aponogeton, and alternanthera species. Many plants can go up to higher lighting, but none can go down.
There are several types of lighting available that are not going to have a high enough lumen rating to do much good. Incandescent and florescent bulbs will be very ineffective for most plants. The watts used to lumens put out will be a waste of energy. Compact florescent, metal halide, LED, and high output T5 will all be good choices depending on the size of the tank. Compact florescent lights are very commonly used, as are the high output (HO) T5 lights. Metal halides can be a great light to use, and are often used in very serious setups. The spectrum of the bulb is very important as well, as you cannot buy a standard florescent twist bulb and use it on your planted tank. There are new light bulbs popping up everyday, and some are useable for planted tanks. One final option for lighting is the natural approach. Having the tank is a place where it can receive sunlight all day long. With this method your nutrient and carbon dioxide levels will have to be very precise.
How long do I keep my lights on? Well for plants lighting can be anywhere from eight to fourteen hours. The amount of light will vary by keeper, however, much less will result in slower, and sometimes stunted growth. Beyond fourteen hours you will again be wasting electricity, as the plants will stop growing. Lighting can also be the bane of your planted tanks existence if your nutrients are not balanced to the lighting.
Nutrients are needed in order to keep your plants growing well. The three primary nutrients for your aquatic garden are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Other important nutrients are iron and magnesium. There are several types of fertilizers that can be used in your aquarium. Dry fertilizers are a common occurrence as they are cheap, and often give the keeper more control over specific nutrients. Next is the liquid fertilizer is the easiest to find in your local fish store. However, these can be very expensive, and often have lower amounts of nutrients, and are a clump deal. Finally there is the root tab. These are ideal for plants that draw most of their nutrients through their roots. IT IS CRITICAL that these nutrients be chelated. If they are not they can bind to other elements, and become too large for you plants to use.
Substrates can also supply a large amount of nutrients, and a high quality substrate is very important. Many manufacturers make a plant substrate now, and are readily available at many local fish stores. Your substrate needs to be a medium to small grain. If the substrate is too large you will often have trouble rooting plants to the substrate. Sand is a very good choice for a substrate medium. Layering substrates is a very good method. Using different substrates to supply different nutrients, will be very beneficial for use, but not required. Be very careful if you do choose to layer your substrate though. It is essential to have the grain size get larger the closer to the surface you get. If you have sand on top of a medium grain substrate you can trap very harmful gasses in you substrate to accumulate.
The final part to the triad is carbon dioxide. There are a few things to look at when looking at carbon dioxide. The first is the rate of loss. Surface agitation will cause much of the CO2 to be exchanged, and therefore lost. Fish will be a natural source of CO2. This however is often not enough, and supplementing CO2 can become necessary. CO2 can be supplemented in a few ways, including pressurized tanks, chemical reaction, and biological reaction. CO2 is often a very big inconvenience, but the results can be very satisfying.
Pressurized tanks can be very costly. The primary method is the use of a CO2 regulator, bubble counter, solenoid and reactor or diffuser. This can quickly have your head spinning. Relax this method is not as difficult as you might think. A more detailed post about regulator sets will follow later.
Chemical reaction is often just as expensive for initial setup as a pressurized aquarium, and for larger tanks, can be much more costly. I have little experience with this system, and am not willing to put up the money to learn about it.
Biological reaction is the cheapest and easiest to use. This system can be purchased in most LFS, or manufactured at home using a few simple items. The most common method is a small canister with yeast, and sugar. This is a closed system that supplies CO2 to a diffuser.
Most plants used in the hobby will be tropical, and need warmer climates. The same is true about your substrate. Keeping your substrate warm, will help with growth, but is not required. Root cables are very effective at keeping the substrate warm, however this is another electrical source in your tank.
WyldFya
Lighting is one of the most important factors in the growth and development of your plants. The lighting can effect the growth of a plant dramatically. Different plants will need different amounts of light. If you have accessibility to the lumen output this will be a better gauge of how much light is being put out by the lights that you have. However if you do not know the lumen rating of your lights, then the wattage can give a basic level known as watts per gallon (WPG). When choosing your plants, make sure they are for the proper lighting level. These levels can be broken up into three sections.
The first section of lighting is low light. These plants will grow with a minimal amount of light. Approximately 1-2.5 WPG will do. These plants include some cryptocoryne, anubia, echinodorus (swords), bolbitis, microsorium (java ferns), and vesicularia (java moss) species. The second section of lighting is medium light, which will need approximately 2.5-4 WPG. Plants included are several aponogeton, crinum, echinodorus, hydrocotyle, riccia, and vallisneria species. Finally, high lighting, which will be 4+ WPG. Plants included are sagittaria, salvinia, ludwigia, limnophila, lemna, hygrophila, eichhornia, echinodorus, cabomba, bacopa, aponogeton, and alternanthera species. Many plants can go up to higher lighting, but none can go down.
There are several types of lighting available that are not going to have a high enough lumen rating to do much good. Incandescent and florescent bulbs will be very ineffective for most plants. The watts used to lumens put out will be a waste of energy. Compact florescent, metal halide, LED, and high output T5 will all be good choices depending on the size of the tank. Compact florescent lights are very commonly used, as are the high output (HO) T5 lights. Metal halides can be a great light to use, and are often used in very serious setups. The spectrum of the bulb is very important as well, as you cannot buy a standard florescent twist bulb and use it on your planted tank. There are new light bulbs popping up everyday, and some are useable for planted tanks. One final option for lighting is the natural approach. Having the tank is a place where it can receive sunlight all day long. With this method your nutrient and carbon dioxide levels will have to be very precise.
How long do I keep my lights on? Well for plants lighting can be anywhere from eight to fourteen hours. The amount of light will vary by keeper, however, much less will result in slower, and sometimes stunted growth. Beyond fourteen hours you will again be wasting electricity, as the plants will stop growing. Lighting can also be the bane of your planted tanks existence if your nutrients are not balanced to the lighting.
Nutrients are needed in order to keep your plants growing well. The three primary nutrients for your aquatic garden are nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. Other important nutrients are iron and magnesium. There are several types of fertilizers that can be used in your aquarium. Dry fertilizers are a common occurrence as they are cheap, and often give the keeper more control over specific nutrients. Next is the liquid fertilizer is the easiest to find in your local fish store. However, these can be very expensive, and often have lower amounts of nutrients, and are a clump deal. Finally there is the root tab. These are ideal for plants that draw most of their nutrients through their roots. IT IS CRITICAL that these nutrients be chelated. If they are not they can bind to other elements, and become too large for you plants to use.
Substrates can also supply a large amount of nutrients, and a high quality substrate is very important. Many manufacturers make a plant substrate now, and are readily available at many local fish stores. Your substrate needs to be a medium to small grain. If the substrate is too large you will often have trouble rooting plants to the substrate. Sand is a very good choice for a substrate medium. Layering substrates is a very good method. Using different substrates to supply different nutrients, will be very beneficial for use, but not required. Be very careful if you do choose to layer your substrate though. It is essential to have the grain size get larger the closer to the surface you get. If you have sand on top of a medium grain substrate you can trap very harmful gasses in you substrate to accumulate.
The final part to the triad is carbon dioxide. There are a few things to look at when looking at carbon dioxide. The first is the rate of loss. Surface agitation will cause much of the CO2 to be exchanged, and therefore lost. Fish will be a natural source of CO2. This however is often not enough, and supplementing CO2 can become necessary. CO2 can be supplemented in a few ways, including pressurized tanks, chemical reaction, and biological reaction. CO2 is often a very big inconvenience, but the results can be very satisfying.
Pressurized tanks can be very costly. The primary method is the use of a CO2 regulator, bubble counter, solenoid and reactor or diffuser. This can quickly have your head spinning. Relax this method is not as difficult as you might think. A more detailed post about regulator sets will follow later.
Chemical reaction is often just as expensive for initial setup as a pressurized aquarium, and for larger tanks, can be much more costly. I have little experience with this system, and am not willing to put up the money to learn about it.
Biological reaction is the cheapest and easiest to use. This system can be purchased in most LFS, or manufactured at home using a few simple items. The most common method is a small canister with yeast, and sugar. This is a closed system that supplies CO2 to a diffuser.
Most plants used in the hobby will be tropical, and need warmer climates. The same is true about your substrate. Keeping your substrate warm, will help with growth, but is not required. Root cables are very effective at keeping the substrate warm, however this is another electrical source in your tank.
WyldFya
