Want input from the planted tank gurus

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CoryWM

CoryWM

Candiru
MFK Member
Jan 13, 2008
368
11
48
Everett, Washington
www.tankgeek.com
I want to have a planted tank, with community fish. This is my first tank. I have a 65g tank. That is not standard apparently. It is 36Lx18Wx25H. So it seems it quite deeper than a standard tank. How will this affect my light penetrating the water to reach the bottom.

For filters I run a Fluval 304.
For lighting I have a all-glass 60 watt twin florecent light with an Aqua-glo bulb 18k, and a Marine-Glo 18k bulb(bought this, to make the fish colors stand out more)

I also have a tetra quiet air pump rated for 100g that is current not being used, due to bad bubble wall that i returned, Ordered some cheap air stones online, which are on the way.

I have a 200 watt heater, that is set to keep the tank at 78 degrees.

So I've invested over 1000 dollars now. I wan't to know the equipment I really need to make my plants grow, keep algae down, make my fish the happiest etc.

My bioload
4 ghost shrimp
2 Mystery Snails
2 Snails that came on plants
5 Glasscats
2 Dalmation Mollies
3 Black mollies
2 upside down catfish
2 Rubberlip pleco
5 Penguin Tetra
1 Zebra Tetra
3 Platys
3 Marble Hatchet fish
1 Albino Corycat
2 Dwarf Gouramis
1 Dwarf Frog

My tests on the water, seem towards the low side, 6.5 or so, and on my "all in one test strip" it shows my water as very soft. Everything else is spot on says the kit.

I'll include some pictures of my algae problem after this post, since i've only posted 4 times.

My questions are these.
Do I need a powerhead to help water agitation, and help fight algae?
Do I need a Co2 System to help my plants.
Do I need different lighting/bulbs to penetrate that much water and reach the bottom.
Is my current bioload too much for the tank? I can buy another tank if so. Do I need to trim my plans as soon as they get a brown spot?
I have read that fish need oxygen added in sometimes, but it can stifle the growth of plants. But plants use oxygen at night, produce it during the day etc.

And finally, a general, If i had that gear, heres what i'd buy to upgrade/augment what you already have, to make that a good setup.

I want to get into aquascaping alot. I'm already seeing problems with having such a deep tank, it's hard to reach all the way to the bottom and plant things just right.

Thanks for spending the time to read this, it seemed this section was kinda slow today anyways :)
 
These pics are to show my algae problem, and dead/brown parts of plants.
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The lights you have are the reason for poor growth. Plants need 6700K, not 18,000K like the aquaglo bulb. Also, the marine glo isn't 18000, its actinic. This does nothing for freshwater plants. CO2 isn't necessary, but would help. Your plant will be fine without co2, or high light.
 
WyldFya;1486918; said:
The lights you have are the reason for poor growth. Plants need 6700K, not 18,000K like the aquaglo bulb. Also, the marine glo isn't 18000, its actinic. This does nothing for freshwater plants. CO2 isn't necessary, but would help. Your plant will be fine without co2, or high light.
Click to expand...

So my next question is. Now that i see I have incorrect lighting. Do i A, purchase new bulbs or B, buy a new lighting system? Would the 36inch system in your lights for sale link, do better? Or should i go purcahse new bulbs. By the way, it seems that most of my LFS sell the aqua line... Does that mean I should buy aqua-life bulbs? It says that one is rated for 6700k. Also if I was to run two of those is it too much? And do i need to seperate light systems for growing the plants and viewing lights of my aquarium? ie, will the grow lights be too dim to properly light my aquarium or is it just a different type of light?

Also i'm looking to get into aquascaping, as a serious hobby. So i'm trying to minimize my mistakes/wasted money. Say i go buy 2 new 6700k bulbs, am I just gonna want to end up buying a different light system?
 
CoryWM;1486757; said:
I want to have a planted tank, with community fish. This is my first tank. I have a 65g tank. That is not standard apparently. It is 36Lx18Wx25H. So it seems it quite deeper than a standard tank. How will this affect my light penetrating the water to reach the bottom.

For filters I run a Fluval 304.
For lighting I have a all-glass 60 watt twin florecent light with an Aqua-glo bulb 18k, and a Marine-Glo 18k bulb(bought this, to make the fish colors stand out more)

I also have a tetra quiet air pump rated for 100g that is current not being used, due to bad bubble wall that i returned, Ordered some cheap air stones online, which are on the way.

I have a 200 watt heater, that is set to keep the tank at 78 degrees.

So I've invested over 1000 dollars now. I wan't to know the equipment I really need to make my plants grow, keep algae down, make my fish the happiest etc.

My bioload
4 ghost shrimp
2 Mystery Snails
2 Snails that came on plants
5 Glasscats
2 Dalmation Mollies
3 Black mollies
2 upside down catfish
2 Rubberlip pleco
5 Penguin Tetra
1 Zebra Tetra
3 Platys
3 Marble Hatchet fish
1 Albino Corycat
2 Dwarf Gouramis
1 Dwarf Frog

My tests on the water, seem towards the low side, 6.5 or so, and on my "all in one test strip" it shows my water as very soft. Everything else is spot on says the kit.

I'll include some pictures of my algae problem after this post, since i've only posted 4 times.

My questions are these.
Do I need a powerhead to help water agitation, and help fight algae?
Do I need a Co2 System to help my plants.
Do I need different lighting/bulbs to penetrate that much water and reach the bottom.
Is my current bioload too much for the tank? I can buy another tank if so. Do I need to trim my plans as soon as they get a brown spot?
I have read that fish need oxygen added in sometimes, but it can stifle the growth of plants. But plants use oxygen at night, produce it during the day etc.

And finally, a general, If i had that gear, heres what i'd buy to upgrade/augment what you already have, to make that a good setup.

I want to get into aquascaping alot. I'm already seeing problems with having such a deep tank, it's hard to reach all the way to the bottom and plant things just right.

Thanks for spending the time to read this, it seemed this section was kinda slow today anyways :)
Click to expand...

WOW, big bucks for a 65g tank, but everyone does everything differently for whatever reason. Let me start by saying this, I don't have a planted aquarium now but my 180g used to be a planted tank until I decided to change the specimens and try different fish. The fish I have now eat more lettace per week than I do. So basically as they grew they ate all the plants. Thankfully I got 90% of all my plants either wholesale or I collected them myself.

My 180g measurements are 72"Lx18"Wx30"H (Note " denotes inches), and sits atop a 40" tall custom made wooden stand, even with a 5" gravel bed and while standing on a latter my arm is in the tank up to my shoulder. So when I do any work in the tank I had to shower first and work shirtless so that I didn't contaminate the water with deodorant or get my shirt wet. But high & deep tanks are the best for planted tanks.

Questions I have for you:
How long has this tank been setup with fish in it?
Does it have a U.G.f. (Undergravel Filter)? or what type of filter does it have?
How long do you leave your lights on for, each day?
Are your lights on a timer, or do you just turn them on and off everyday yourself when you remember.
How often do you feed your fish? and how much? What do you use as a indication that your fish have had enough food? and what are you feeding them? (ie: flakes, live worms etc)
When you say that you want to take up Aquascaping as a hobby, you mean that you enjoy the fish part of aquascaping of the plants?
What types of plants are you using (common names are fine, I sux at Latin).
And whats the overall chemistry of your tank? (ie: PH, Hardness, Nitrite, ammonia and most importantly Nitrate levels!)

Basic answers to your questions:
Good Rule of thumb for planted tanks is (WPG = watts per gallon) 2 wpg or higher. Your water is pretty clear I wouldn't worry too much about the depth or height of the tank at this stage. Your Bio-load of 30 fish, 4 shrimp, 4 snails and a frog, most of which don't grow larger than say 3" maybe the frog and pleco do, but they don't really count. No Problem that I can see there, I've kept more fish than that in a tank have that size. You don't need a Powerhead unless you have a u.g.f. and need a strong flow. C02 is always a good thing with aquascaping, especially if you set it up on a timer.
Ok that answer most of your basic questions I believe.

Dam it's 4:39am I gotta get some sleep.
 
Tequila;1487115;1487115 said:
WOW, big bucks for a 65g tank, but everyone does everything differently for whatever reason. Let me start by saying this, I don't have a planted aquarium now but my 180g used to be a planted tank until I decided to change the specimens and try different fish. The fish I have now eat more lettace per week than I do. So basically as they grew they ate all the plants. Thankfully I got 90% of all my plants either wholesale or I collected them myself.

My 180g measurements are 72"Lx18"Wx30"H (Note " denotes inches), and sits atop a 40" tall custom made wooden stand, even with a 5" gravel bed and while standing on a latter my arm is in the tank up to my shoulder. So when I do any work in the tank I had to shower first and work shirtless so that I didn't contaminate the water with deodorant or get my shirt wet. But high & deep tanks are the best for planted tanks.

Questions I have for you:
How long has this tank been setup with fish in it?
Does it have a U.G.f. (Undergravel Filter)? or what type of filter does it have?
How long do you leave your lights on for, each day?
Are your lights on a timer, or do you just turn them on and off everyday yourself when you remember.
How often do you feed your fish? and how much? What do you use as a indication that your fish have had enough food? and what are you feeding them? (ie: flakes, live worms etc)
When you say that you want to take up Aquascaping as a hobby, you mean that you enjoy the fish part of aquascaping of the plants?
What types of plants are you using (common names are fine, I sux at Latin).
And whats the overall chemistry of your tank? (ie: PH, Hardness, Nitrite, ammonia and most importantly Nitrate levels!)

Basic answers to your questions:
Good Rule of thumb for planted tanks is (WPG = watts per gallon) 2 wpg or higher. Your water is pretty clear I wouldn't worry too much about the depth or height of the tank at this stage. Your Bio-load of 30 fish, 4 shrimp, 4 snails and a frog, most of which don't grow larger than say 3" maybe the frog and pleco do, but they don't really count. No Problem that I can see there, I've kept more fish than that in a tank have that size. You don't need a Powerhead unless you have a u.g.f. and need a strong flow. C02 is always a good thing with aquascaping, especially if you set it up on a timer.
Ok that answer most of your basic questions I believe.

Dam it's 4:39am I gotta get some sleep.
Click to expand...
Read the sticky about WPG. WPG is not a good means to look at for tanks.
 
CoryWM;1486947;1486947 said:
So my next question is. Now that i see I have incorrect lighting. Do i A, purchase new bulbs or B, buy a new lighting system? Would the 36inch system in your lights for sale link, do better? Or should i go purcahse new bulbs. By the way, it seems that most of my LFS sell the aqua line... Does that mean I should buy aqua-life bulbs? It says that one is rated for 6700k. Also if I was to run two of those is it too much? And do i need to seperate light systems for growing the plants and viewing lights of my aquarium? ie, will the grow lights be too dim to properly light my aquarium or is it just a different type of light?

Also i'm looking to get into aquascaping, as a serious hobby. So i'm trying to minimize my mistakes/wasted money. Say i go buy 2 new 6700k bulbs, am I just gonna want to end up buying a different light system?
Click to expand...
The fixture would be good, I need to find out what type of bulbs it has. You could replace the bulbs you have with the Life glo 2 bulbs, which will enhance the growth of the plants. The life glo 2 bulbs will be more than sufficient to light you tank for viewing.
 
I keep a 29 gallon heavily planted tank with pressurized co2.

If you want a great place to get your plants keep try http://www.plantedtank.net they have a swap and shop forum just for buying selling and trading plants. The prices cant be beat. That is where I get mine.
 
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