Lighting and aeration schedule

[Matt724]

Hi, I'm a fairly knew aquarist (about 6 months) and I am just planning to add some plant life to my tank. I have one acrylic 15 gallon tank with a good filtration system and 40 watts of lighting. I would like to have some grass or carpet like plants and then some other medium hight plants and maybe some driftwood. Any ideas. I also heard that I can't leave my air system on and blowing bubbles all day because it'll over oxygenate the tank and kill the plants. I also heard that I have to leave the light on all day. Are any of these true, and if so, can I have an schedule of when I have to turn on the air and when I must turn it off? That would be very helpful. Thank you.

Check out pics of my tank: http://s252.photobucket.com/albums/hh23/themattmobile724/Fish/

Give me any suggestions too. All comments are appreciated!

 

[jcardona1]

lol these two things couldnt be further from the truth!!!

aeration: oxygen does NOT kill your plants. the only time you need to add aeration is when youre dealing with DIY co2 because you cannot shut the flow of co2 off. when using pressurized co2, you dont need aeration because the co2 goes out when the lights go out. and the only bad thing about running aeration all day is that the excess water movement will gas off your co2. so in a nutshell, if youre not adding co2, then you dont have to worry about aeration. turn it off, turn it on, it dont matter.

lighting: never never ever leave your lights on all day. before you know, youll have a green swamp in a box! youll have algae issues galore. you didnt mention what type of lighting you have. is it just regular fluorescents? if so, youll want about 8 hours of lighting a day. anything more than that is overkill for a planted tank.

plants: if youre not gonna add co2 or Fluorish Excel (carbon supplement and co2 alternative), then you need to stick with some low light and easy to grow plants. take a look at mosses, java fern, and anubias for starters. it will be hard to get a carpet plants w/o the addition of co2, so this idea is sort of out the window.

good luck

 

[mgamer20o0]

lol these two things couldnt be further from the truth!!!

aeration: oxygen does NOT kill your plants. the only time you need to add aeration is when youre dealing with DIY co2 because you cannot shut the flow of co2 off. when using pressurized co2, you dont need aeration because the co2 goes out when the lights go out. and the only bad thing about running aeration all day is that the excess water movement will gas off your co2. so in a nutshell, if youre not adding co2, then you dont have to worry about aeration. turn it off, turn it on, it dont matter.

plants: if youre not gonna add co2 or Fluorish Excel (carbon supplement and co2 alternative), then you need to stick with some low light and easy to grow plants. take a look at mosses, java fern, and anubias for starters. it will be hard to get a carpet plants w/o the addition of co2, so this idea is sort of out the window.

good luck

not 100% true.... its not very often you need to aerate a tank even with diy or pressurized co2. i run my co2 24/7 on all my tanks.

as for the lighting get your self a timer and set it so the lights are on 10 hours a day. for the carpet plants you might be able to do sags but you can always do moss.

 

[jcardona1]

not 100% true.... its not very often you need to aerate a tank even with diy or pressurized co2. i run my co2 24/7 on all my tanks.

as for the lighting get your self a timer and set it so the lights are on 10 hours a day. for the carpet plants you might be able to do sags but you can always do moss.

why run co2 at night if the plants arent using it? if its pressurized co2, then youre just wasting your money. unless of course its DIY where you cant control the flow of co2...

 

[Matt724]

Wait, I'm not completely sure what you are talking about (I'm a newbie). My aeration system doesn't release C02, It releases 02 to oxygenate the tank. So if I buy plants, I should buy a C02 releaser??? And I have a 14 (not 40) watt florescent light bulb that came installed with the tank hood.

 

[Noto]

CO2 injection, in combination with powerful lighting, is a technique for growing really lush plants. You can have a perfectly nice planted tank without it. CO2-injected tanks are often called "high tech" tanks.

Aeration will not hurt your plants; in fact, it will benefit them by adding atmospheric CO2 and O2 to the water (yes, plants need oxygen too).

 

[Matt724]

oh thank you very much. that makes more sense. Well, this weeks finals so my parents won't take me to the fish store to get some plants. Do you have any suggestions (for plant types and I can look them up)?

 

[mgamer20o0]

why run co2 at night if the plants arent using it? if its pressurized co2, then youre just wasting your money. unless of course its DIY where you cant control the flow of co2...

i adjust my lighting often around my schedule. since i want the co2 to already be build up once the lights are on i dont feel like always adjusting both. i have a 20 pound co2 tank on a 120 so its not that big of deal.

CO2 injection, in combination with powerful lighting, is a technique for growing really lush plants. You can have a perfectly nice planted tank without it. CO2-injected tanks are often called "high tech" tanks.

Aeration will not hurt your plants; in fact, it will benefit them by adding atmospheric CO2 and O2 to the water (yes, plants need oxygen too).

not always. co2 will help even low light low tech tank.

in this case its not really needed.

 

[jcardona1]

i adjust my lighting often around my schedule. since i want the co2 to already be build up once the lights are on i dont feel like always adjusting both. i have a 20 pound co2 tank on a 120 so its not that big of deal.

not always. co2 will help even low light low tech tank.

in this case its not really needed.

gotcha. i have my co2 turn on one hour before the lights come on. by the time the lights turn on, the drop checker shows a dark green color

 

[jcardona1]

Wait, I'm not completely sure what you are talking about (I'm a newbie). My aeration system doesn't release C02, It releases 02 to oxygenate the tank. So if I buy plants, I should buy a C02 releaser??? And I have a 14 (not 40) watt florescent light bulb that came installed with the tank hood.

sounds like you have a lot of research to do. i recommend you take a look at www.rexgrigg.com and read all the articles on the right side of the page. full of great info.

the need for co2 will depend on several factors. your dosing regime, your lighting, your plant's needs, etc. there's a lot more to it. the more light you have, the more co2 and dosing youll need.

with low levels of light (like yours) and no dosing, you can get by without adding co2. it doesnt hurt, however, to add some Fluorish Excel as a carbon supplement.

as for plants, i recommend you start with some very easy to grow plants. look for anubias, java fern, and mosses. this will help you get an understanding of how aquatic plants work