Help With Plants

[Davidiator]

Hi,
I need help making my 55 gallon tank into a planted 55 gallon tank.

My fish stocking:
6" Arowana
6" Fire Eel (which is for sale https://www.monsterfishkeepers.com/forums/threads/fts-fire-eel-1-post-falls-idaho-pickup.699167/ )
6"- 8" BGK
4"- 5" Clown Loach
1.5" Clown Loach x4
5"- 6" Common Hi-Fin Pleco

Substrate:
Sand

Lights/Lids:
Aqua Culture LED Aquarium Hood for 20/55 Gallon Aquariums x2

Filter:
Marineland Penguin Power Filter 300
Yes i do have carbon in filter
should i remove it?

Heater:
Marina Submersible Heater 150 Watt

Air:
Airstone

I want to know everything i am going to need (with links please)
and how much of everything

thanks

Also I know the stocking is a bit much as i was told the tank was a 75 then i found out it is not...
Will sell fish when they get to large for tank

Readings:
Ammonia 0.0pph
nitrite 0.0pph
Nitrate 20pph
pH 7.6

 

[Fat Homer]

I'll be honest and say if you want a proper lush planted tank it would probably be easier to start a new tank...

If however you just aim to have some plants in this tank with current stock and substrate etc, i would look into plants such as these which can be tied down:

Anubias - lots of varieties / easy to care for / low light requirements / can be tied to wood or rocks

Bucephalandra - lots of varieties / can be grown in low light / can be tied to wood or rocks

Mosses - lots of varieites / easy to care for / low light requirements / can be tied to wood or rocks

Java fern - easy to care for / low light requirements / can be tied to wood or rocks

But to be honest, at the end of the day with that stock in that size tank you'll have a hard time keeping any plants rooted into the substrate, also sand is not the best medium for a planted tank...

--EDIT--

As i mentioned before regarding the lights: there is no info on the type of LED / spectrum / lumens etc it gives out so it maybe purely for viewing fish only and wont grow much of anything...

About the carbon, again, its only really needed after dosing meds you want to remove from your system, it does not help in a planted tank...

Not to mention, if not removed from the filter after its expired so to speak, it will do more harm than good...

 

[FriedFlowerHornFillet]

Every single fish in that tank will out grow it.

 

[skjl47]

Substrate:
Sand

Hello; Having kept planted tanks for a bit over 50 years I am not a fan of sand.

I want to know everything i am going to need (with links please)
and how much of everything

Hello; While I do not have the stamina to post everything about planted tanks, I will make some suggestions. First is to use a gravel substrate sized from about bb size to small peas. Next is to have the substrate four inches or more deep. Put the lights on a timer.

also sand is not the best medium for a planted tank...

Hello; I agree.

About the carbon, again, its only really needed after dosing meds you want to remove from your system, it does not help in a planted tank...

Hello; Carbon is a short term use material and I have not used it in decades.

Hello; As others have stated the fish you have are not suited for planted tanks. Also the tank is too small for them. In some cases too small for even one of them. For planted tanks the fish may need to be secondary to the plants. Fish that do not eat or uproot the plants.

 

[fisheatfish]

For planted tanks the fish may need to be secondary to the plants.

Totally agree...especially when first starting off, getting plants to thrive is a challenge in itself.

 

[monkeybike]

On the flipside of the sand debate, I like sand with plants compared to gravel because the plant debris and mulm can't sink in and instead gets pulled into the filters.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; Sand has two to three fundamental issues.
First is that when at depths best for rooted plants it tends to pack tight. This has , in my experience, retarded to growth of plants. My theory was the tightly packed sand is a bit harder for the roots to penetrate. At any rate plants did not grow as well for me in a sand substrate. Not that they do not grow at all, just not as well.

Another issue with the tight packing of sand can be the formation of gas pockets. The recommendation to avoid these gas pockets is to keep the sand less than one inch deep and to stir up the sand on a regular schedule. Both these approaches become more of a problem with sand and rooted plants. The introduction of MTS (maylasian trumpet snails) in a tank may help as they burrow in the substrate.

A second issue of sand has been the damage it does to pump impellers. The best way I ever found was to pre sift the dry sand which can remove much of the very fine sand particles. This pre sifting is followed by extensive rinsing.
Another thing that can be done during the dry sifting is to grade the sand by particle size by making screen boxes with varying sized openings. That way most any sized particles can be had. I always got large amounts of construction sand whish turns out to be made of many sized particles.
Note - many suggest pool filter sand on this forum. I have never tried it. It may be of a more uniform size but likely need a good rinsing also. May also be more costly.

The last thing about sand I do not care for is the look. I prefer a darker substrate. A darker substrate tends to improve the appearance of the fish in terms of them having deeper coloration. This is a personal preference.

 

[Fat Homer]

From a strictly personal standpoint i've always believed in proper dirt substrate of somesort for a proper planted tank or a substrate that can hold nutrients and re-release it slowly over time...

But as mentioned, you can grow plants with sand (i do it in my 200G predator tank) but its far from ideal...

 

[FreshyFresh]

David, not to derail your thread, but like said above, none of what you have in terms of stocking is appropriate for a 55g tank, especially one with plants. That common pleco alone will grow to 12-18" and are often kept in a 55g by themselves. They need driftwood to rasp on as well.

I too am not a fan of sand. I prefer a fine grained gravel (this tank is not). Below is a recent pic of my 55g with plants. This tank has just ordinary gravel and I add no CO2 products or ferts. Plants are anubia, java fern, amazon sword and various cyrpts. Lighting is a 48" Current Satellite LED+. I do weekly 50-70% WCs and I never gravel vac.

 

[Davidiator]

thank you everyone
i am selling eel today
will not be going with planted tank in this tank
i am considering getting a 29 gallon and making it a planted neon tetra tank