# New project - First planted tank (Need serious help!!)



## FredericoAlves (Jan 5, 2013)

Hello people! I'm going to get a new tank with the following dimensions 115cm length, 55cm depth and 40cm height, so, about 65 gallons I think. My plan is to create an awesome aquascape and keep some fish in there aswell, but I have some questions:

1. Substrate - I've done some research and my plan was to get this Tropica Plant growth substrate (Tropica Plant Growth Substrate 3kg - Crystal Red) in the bottom (first thing to go in the tank) and then this Dupla Ground (Dupla Ground, 3 l - Crystal Red) as the main gravel on top of the fertil soil. Is this ok?

2. Lighting - My plan was to get 2 of these Boyu Floral T8 7.500K 30W (Boyu Floral T8 7.500 K 30 W - Crystal Red). Is it enough?

3. Co2 - Is it absolutely necessary to have a Co2 system? They really are expensive and I'm kind of short on money (already making a big investement in this planted tank project)

4. Plants: The idea that I have in mind is to have a great open area in the middle, planted with some kind of grass, I saw this Lilaeopsis novae-zelandiae, is it a very difficult plant? Should I look for another option? After that, I was planing to plant some taller plants at the back and sides of the tank, I've seen some anubias, vallisneria, echinodorus... but I'm not sure what should I get. Sugestions? Then I'd finish my aquascape with a big piece of red moor wood, maybe with some moss in it, but still not sure about that.

5. What are the ideal water parameters for plants? Same parameters that are good for fish? The fish I'm planning on keeping in this tank are the Redline torpedo barb (6 of these), some kuhli loaches (about 5), some otocinclus (about 5 also) and maybe a small school of endlers. Will any of these damage the plants? Or are there any inconvenients that I should know?

6. Do you spot problems with this project ? If yes please tell me and all sugestions are really welcome!

PS- I'm from Portugal, there are not much fish stores around my town and the ones that exist aren't really the best, that's why I look for everything in this website Crystal Red - Professional Aquarium because it seems to be the best online fish store that works in Portugal. If you have any sugestions of other products that I should get I ask you if you can please see if they are available in this website. Its the only trusty fish store I can rely on. Sorry for any mistakes in my english writing. Thank you!


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

1- should be fine

2- go with 2 of the t5 plant grow lights from same sight. With the 2 t8 lights you are very limited as far as plants

3-there are a lot of nice planted tanks without co2. start without and add later if you want faster growth.

4-http://www.aqua-fish.net/index.php?cur_lang=2&count=no&secured=&section=6 this is a good site to look for plants

5-most plants will do ok between 6.5and 7.5 ph, again the sight above helps with that. If you add those kuhli loaches before your tank is well established expect to have a lot of your plants uprooted they like to bury under the substrate.

6-be patient I find plants WAY harder to grow then fish so do your research and have patience, tank sounds like it will be great when done good luck.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

FredericoAlves said:


> Hello people! I'm going to get a new tank with the following dimensions 115cm length, 55cm depth and 40cm height, so, about 65 gallons I think. My plan is to create an awesome aquascape and keep some fish in there aswell, but I have some questions:
> 
> 1. Substrate - I've done some research and my plan was to get this Tropica Plant growth substrate (Tropica Plant Growth Substrate 3kg - Crystal Red) in the bottom (first thing to go in the tank) and then this Dupla Ground (Dupla Ground, 3 l - Crystal Red) as the main gravel on top of the fertil soil. Is this ok?
> 
> ...


1. The substrate choices sound good to me.

2. No. T8 is not a very effective fixture in general, and for a ~65G tank you'll want about 120 Watts of T8, to get decent growth. Look into a T5HO fixture, preferably a dual-bulb either 34W or 56W each. The Kelvin rating you mentioned sounds good. I would say that aside from CO2, lighting is THE most expensive aspect of a planted tank, so be ready for that.

3. No. For low-demand plants, you can get away with simple surface agitation and/or a bubbler.

4. Ground cover plants are some of the most demanding in the field, if you ask me. They WILL need CO2 and high light, so I would advise against them unless you really want to go high tech. With that being said, I don't know anything about the type you'd like to use so I'm of no help there, sorry. For taller background plants you could look into some ludwigia repens or a dwarf water lily for some added red to the plant scape. Otherwise the choices you listed are fine.

5. Plants enjoy elevated levels of nitrates and phosphates which aren't very friendly to fish, amongst other elevated parameters. I generally strive for nitrates in the 20-30 ppm range and phosphates in the 1-3 ppm range.

6. None that I can see, aside from those already addressed.

Glad you're starting out by researching, instead of diving headlong into things without proper info!


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## FredericoAlves (Jan 5, 2013)

Thank you so much for answering guys! So, for a best ilumination option I saw this AquaLight T5 6.500K 54W, if I get two of these, will it be a better option? Also, I really want to keep a ground cover plant, so is there any option of plant that can grow well with these lights, and no Co2? If not, is there any way of having a co2 system without having to pay super high prices? the systems that I see all cost around 200€ and that's a lot!


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## FredericoAlves (Jan 5, 2013)

I'm only planning on adding fish once the plants are well rooted and growing well, I have no no hurries with fish, but I might put in there some of the cardinal tetras that I have in my 30gal, but those I'm pretty sure they won't rip up any plants


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Two of those 54W T5's would be perfect. Java moss and dwarf sag might be good options for ground cover in a low-CO2 setting. As far as a cheap CO2 system, talk to Auban on here, he does yeast fermentation systems for larger tanks like yours, and has had very good success. Otherwise, I'm afraid a full pressurized system is the only way you can get effective and efficient CO2 injection for such a large tank.


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## FredericoAlves (Jan 5, 2013)

Yeah, I like that dwarf sag, might try that one, thanks a lot! Maybe in my birthday my friends will give me a pro co2 system


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Hello FredericoAlves,
Just thought I would help/w my small amount of experience on plants. Most of the T5 light fixtures have two bulbs but when you said 54W I think you
mean the ones you are talking about have one bulb each ? That would mean you will have two bulbs total ? That would be good for a 40 cm height.
My tanks are all about 29 cm so the T8 works for me plus I can use two timers for two light fixtures as they each have one bulb.
Two things that no one has talked about so far...too much nutrients either from overfeeding or fertilizing can cause algae...lots and lots of it.
The other thing is my quick rule of plants/lights...any color on a plant other than green indicates that the plant needs more light.
Hortworth is easy to grow/tall background plant. Planting some easy to grow plants and allowing them to get a good start before increasing the amount
of extra fertilizers(anything other than substrate) helps keep down the algae as those plants help consume any nutrients that the algae might use.
You can spend a lot or you can shop around on equipment. I will give links that I use/like.
https://www.youtube.com/user/DefiniteAquascapeTV
Angled 15 inch Stainless Steel Aquarium Tweezer Forceps Shipped from USA | eBay These are not as good of quality you get from Amato
but they work and are long.
aquaticmagic | eBay


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