# Contemplating 50G planted



## chevyboy_0 (Oct 29, 2010)

hey ya'll, 

I have been thinking about building my 50G into a nice planted tank and was hoping to get some advice. I have read about beaslbob's build and I like that Idea. Right now the substrate I have is a river rock with some tan and black 1/4" aquarium gravel sprinkled throughout. Currently I have two very healthy Anubias Nana, and some Java moss which was added just yesterday. 

As for Lighting I have a 36" GLO T5 HO, with a 6700K bulb in it. *c/p*

Thanks Andrew


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## Big Dog (May 17, 2010)

what kind of help are you looking for?


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I was going to ask the same question, lol.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

chevyboy_0 said:


> hey ya'll,
> 
> I have been thinking about building my 50G into a nice planted tank and was hoping to get some advice. I have read about beaslbob's build and I like that Idea. Right now the substrate I have is a river rock with some tan and black 1/4" aquarium gravel sprinkled throughout. Currently I have two very healthy Anubias Nana, and some Java moss which was added just yesterday.
> 
> ...


depends on how much plants you have in there. As long as ammonia is under control then you should be fine.

Your fish should be ok with that substrate. "my" peat,sand,gravel used the peat moss to prevent kh and gh from rising and allow delicate neon tetras to thrive.


Not sure about lighting hopefully you are at or over 1 w/gallon (50watts). But if the plants grow and not algae and ammonia is under control then you are fine anyway.

I am worried about the bio wheel as they use plant life (algae) on the paper to do their majic. Therefore are directly competing with the plants for nutrients.

I would think if you keep the feeding (added food) low and get the plants established you should be fine.

my .02


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## mk4gti (Jun 15, 2010)

IMO you should order some bags of eco complete if they have it in stock at petco.com.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

For plants to be healthy, they like ammonia, nitrite and nitrate from the water (for nitrogen), various things from the substrate (iron, nitrogen, phosphate, etc.), CO2 from the water, and lots of light.

To facilitate plant growth, most of us have very high-power and high-quality lighting (T5, T8, or PC at the very least), injected CO2 either by yeast-sugar fermentation or by pressurized bottles (better, easier to control, lower maintenance, but much more expensive), and we dose fertilizers on a daily basis.

Our toted beaslbob setup uses peat moss, play sand, and Eco-Complete substrate layering, heavy plant loads, and no filtration or water changes. However, I haven't had the opportunity to set up a beaslbob build and therefore resort to the good old filtration and PWC route.

You can either go low-tech (decent lighting, no injected CO2, no fertilizers) and grow things like crypts, anubias, and java moss that require little care and love, or you can go all out and get all the accoutremants and grow some really awesome plants.

Either way, your fish will love having plants, and they are very pretty.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

[email protected] said:


> ...
> 
> Our toted beaslbob setup
> 
> ...


Gee 

Where am I being toted?

Up the river? *r2


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

[email protected] said:


> You can either go low-tech (decent lighting, no injected CO2, no fertilizers) and grow things like crypts, anubias, and java moss that require little care and love, or you can go all out and get all the accoutremants and grow some really awesome plants.
> 
> Either way, your fish will love having plants, and they are very pretty.


I'm going to interject a little here, just to point out an exaggeration that is often passed as fact. First, I will point out I'm relatively new to plants, and have never run a high tech setup. I probably won't, due to the expense and effort. I only tried beaslbob's style because it was so darned cheap and easy to try, and if it failed I wasn't out much money.

Having said that I will say that I have not had a single plant die, or even look unhealthy in my 10G beaslbob setup. It is true that there are plants I would think would not survive the setup, but I'm growing low and medium light plants pretty well. I think their growth is slower, but still healthy. I have java moss, wisteria, corkscrew vals, dwarf sag, najas, hygrophilia polyspermia, cabomba, red ludwigia, pellia, subwassertang, anacharis, duckweed (ugh), and dwarf hairgrass. I did have hornwort but pulled it because I never want to have to deal with a needle drop. I also JUST added my first crypt, a c. wendtii 'tropica'. True, I'll probably not be growing HC in it, but I don't have the substrate for that anyway (and am worried the dwarf hairgrass may die out because of that too). 

I had someone tell me that in the beginning as well, but I have put any plant I felt like in there, and keep whatever fish I like in it (RCS, otos, and a couple of kuhli loaches) and have suffered no problems. Not trying to be argumentative, but I think many are led to believe you can't have anything but crappy plants without CO2, and I've not found that true at all.

That said, I respect a well run high tech tank, and if someone wanted to do it, I'd certainly wish them the best, and admire any success, but a planted tank doesnt have to cost a fortune.


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## beaslbob (May 29, 2009)

mfgann said:


> ....
> but a planted tank doesnt have to cost a fortune.



+1 and thanks for the feedback.

my .02


ps wanna know a dirty little secret? neither does a reef tank. 

but shhhhhhhhhhhhhh don't let that little secret out. *w3


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

mfgann said:


> I think many are led to believe you can't have anything but crappy plants without CO2, and I've not found that true at all.
> 
> That said, I respect a well run high tech tank, and if someone wanted to do it, I'd certainly wish them the best, and admire any success, but a planted tank doesnt have to cost a fortune.


I agree, sorry for being misleading.

What it boils down to is this - most plants you can add to an aquarium are very hardy. I've had success growing plants in a ten gallon with no fertilizers, no special lighting, standard aquarium gravel, and an undergravel filter. Here's the kicker:

Plants that have excess of everything they need will grow like mad. This results in a lush aquatic jungle that you're going to end up ripping out handfuls of plants just to give your fish swimming room. Plants in a low-tech tank are just fine, but their growth rate is much slower. The aforementioned tank I started live plants in took nearly a year to grow three medium-sized plants (amazon sword, tiger lotus, and wisteria). They were all green and lush by the end of it, but in my 30 gallon now with CO2, T5HO lighting, ferts, and all the fixings, I can grow the same sized plants in about a month.

Cost, naturally, is a very inhibitive thing when going from low-tech to high-tech, as are the amount of time and effort you can devote to the tank. If you're like me though, you'll get addicted fast and start devoting more and more of the three ($$$, time and effort) to the hobby.


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## mfgann (Oct 21, 2010)

beaslbob said:


> +1 and thanks for the feedback.
> 
> my .02
> 
> ...


Thanks for the starter tips on the beaslbob build 
One of these days I'll be tempted to try a reef, and then my wife will strangle me 



[email protected] said:


> I agree, sorry for being misleading.
> 
> What it boils down to is this - most plants you can add to an aquarium are very hardy. I've had success growing plants in a ten gallon with no fertilizers, no special lighting, standard aquarium gravel, and an undergravel filter. Here's the kicker:
> 
> ...


Oh I can absolutely see where it would be a blast, and nothing wrong with being enthusiastic about it, but I'd hate to see someone not try plants because of the cost of a CO2 and fertilization setup. Better to get them in the doorstep with an NPT/beaslbob tank and then to tempt them with tales of other plants you can grow with a little upgrade. *r2

Who knows, perhaps someday I'll go all out, but for now the tanks I have keep me busy enough.


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