Substrate Ideas for a 20 gal

[Taboojen]

I have a 20 tall that I'm getting ready to set up as a planted tank. My goal is to grow a nice and thick lawn underwater. w/ cory cat or two.

I purchased a bag of black Flourite sand, but I will still need another bag of substrate to sufficiently create a 2-3" substrate. I was just if it would be prudent to mix in other substrates like eco-complete? Would this cause problems? or should i maintain uniformity with the sustrate?

I have a 20 gal tall - Clear for Life
JBJ - 55w x2 CF 10k bulb
AC50 filter
Rena heater
Nutrafin CO2 (yeast+sugar) w/ the bubble ladder

 

[WyldFya]

I would stick to the flourite. Eco-complete has a very high phosphate level. You are going to run into problems with the amount of light you have. That much light will need co2, and reaction co2 isn't going to produce enough co2 to maintain that level without a ton of algae. Next, your HOB filter will gas off all of the co2 your system is being injected with. Definitely get rid of the filter. If you plant it well enough, the plants will be the filter. I'd recommend either running the reaction co2 doubled up, with a powerhead pushing it around the tank, and flourish excel to up your co2 levels. Be careful with the excel though as some plants are intolerant of excel. I highly recommend you read the stickies, particularly "Planted tanks for beginners".

 

[fshfanatic]

I have a 29 and use ADA aquasoil amazonia. Love it. But I am only using a coralife 65wt PC and 6700bulb.

 

[David Hui]

At the beginning, you may consider running one 55 watt bulb for 5 hours to keep the algae at bay.

 

[evercl92]

As mentioned, that's a lot of light for a tank of that size with inefficient CO2 production, and an filter that will certainly outgass a bit of the CO2 that is produced. You'd be better off with a small canister filter and running the output of the CO2 into the input of the canister. This causes the CO2 to be in contact with the water longer, so by the time it reaches the output, it's dissolved (or pretty close to it). This is what I do in my 120gal planted tank. I just use a limewood airstone before the filter intake to break up the bubbles even more before getting to the canister.

If you are going to run DIY CO2 on the tank, rather than pressurized, I would use 3 2L bottles (one replaced each week, on a rotating schedule, so that each bottle runs 3 weeks) or even four 2L bottles (replacing 2 each week, allowing each set to run 2wks).

With that much light, you're also going to have to dose fertilizers, particularly trace, K, and N (typically people get enough P from fish food). Those are generally cheap though, as about $25 worth will dose my 120gal for a little over a year. You can get these at:
http://bestaquariumregulator.com/ferts.html

Personally, I would stick with the Fluorite sand. I like the uniformity of substrate.

 

[Taboojen]

Thank you everyone for your very insightful advice.

Okay, the good part is that the JBJ light has separate switches, so alternatively, I can as mentioned above, just use one bulb, 55, bringing it around 2.75 wpg if necessary.

As for the AC50, got it. I will remove that. I have a spare xp3 (seems like overkill, but I can adjust the flow, after submerging the spray bar). If i wanted no more than 2-4 small cory cats, is a filter necessary, as mentioned - the plants will use up some of the nirates and act as a filter, whereas I assume the substrate will act as the bio filter?

Okay - I'll stick with the Blk Florite sand.

As for CO2, I had my little Nutrafin bottle from my previous attempt at a planted tank, but had to scrap the tank because I moved. Is pressurized CO2 the way to go? Cost a bit more though it seems for the regulators, values, etc.

Also - I just went through the stickies last night. They were very informative. Thanks WyldFya for setting that stuff up. Its nice to have a different area for a Monsterfish Keeper to expand their horizons into. I've kept reef tanks in the past, and that was fun - but i have yet to master a beautiful planted tank. lol.

Thanks again!

 

[fshfanatic]

They cost allot more AT FIRST but if you consider the cost of sugar over time, and weekly remixes, damn, MY wife forced me to go pressurized.. Poor me..