29 Gallon Tropical Plant Aquarium

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T

Tyler Durden

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Dec 4, 2006
13
0
0
Los Gatos
Hello all! I currently have a spare 29 gallon and have figured out all the materials I need to run a successful planted-only aquarium (with maybe a couple tetras). Here's my list-

1- DIY CO2 set-up
1- Bag of Eco-complete
1- 65 watt Coralife set-up (approx. 2.5 watts per gallon)
1- Whisper In-Tank Filter
1- 150 watt heater

Thats my idea for a basic set-up. Will it work? What kind of plants can I throw in?

Thanks for all the help!!!
 
Kill the whisper filter, you will lose more co2 than you will put in with it. Get an XP1 for the tank instead. Jump the eco-complete to 2 20 lb bags. 1 bag is to little for you to plant in. A single 65W CF will leave you with approximately 2 wpg after you add the filter. I would stay to low light plants. One more thing you definitely will need with a powerful light, and co2 is ferts. Without the good ferts you will have more algae than water. www.gregwatson.com is a good source of ferts that are cheap. I would definitely add several fish to the tank. They will help to provide food for your plants, otherwise you will be dosing a lot of nitrates. Definitely something for algae clean-up is recommended. Oto's, amano shrimp, bristlenose plecos, or hillstream loaches.

Finally welcome to MFK!
 
Thanks! I'll do that. I only thought the Whisper would be good and economical, but I guess I shouldnt short change myself. Thanks again!
 
3 bags of eco complete is recommended for 29 gallon Tank. You can grow most of the plants with 65watts lightning (thats my previous setup and i can grow Limnophilia Aromatica, L. Cuba and Macranda known as High light Plants, but you need to place them at the center cause a 30" CF cannot cover the whole tank, if you notice there is a spot on each side that are not getting that much light) And like Wyldfya said Ferts is recommended, Xp1 is nice and perfect for 29 gallon, you can also try Ehiem 2213 the best filter i used its more pricey though

If you want to stay with Low light plants then just put the 20 watts Flourecent lightning that goes with the tank.

For DIY Co2, use 2 liter bottles and go get a Ladder diffuser (ex. Hagen Ladder or try Aquaticmagic.com)
 
I wouldn't recommend the use of a 20 watt for a tanks that size for low light. At minimum I'd say 60 watts of flourescent tubes. The lumen rating off of one is far less watt for watt compared to any other lighting. Also they very rarely have a reflector, and as such you will lose ~half the light to these two factors. When calculating standard T8 or T12 flourescent tubes, assume half to be safe.
 
Thanks a lot guys! I'm off to set this whole thing up. I did have one more (of probably many future ones) inquiry, which ferts should I get- potassium or nitrate, or both? And how soon can I add fish, do I need to do a whole cycle or will the eco-complete take care of that?

Thanks for the welcome to MFK, I really do appreciate a website as informative as this for the one and only hobby I have.
 
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