# converting to a planted aquarium - Advice needed



## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

Hi Everyone,

My 45g aquarium currently is decorated with plastic plants and it just looks un natural and untidy. I do have a bit of java moss in there to add a hiding place for swordtail fry but that's all. I want to go to a completely planted tank soon. At the moment I only have a 15W fluorescent tube which is obviously inadequate for proper plant growth. I want to add two 24W T8 tubes to the 15W I already have which will leave me with 63W. I only want to add low light plants like java moss, java fern and anubias so I dont think I will need more light than that. 

The things that concern me however is whether I need to change the substrate. Attached are two photos of the tank in question and as you can see my substrate is a light coloured coarse gravel. As far as I have read I can just tie the java fern and java moss to some drift wood and it will grow fine like that but I don't think this will work for the anubias. I think I would have to plant that in the substrate and I think this gravel is too coarse and loose for that. Would changing the substrate be a good idea?

If I should change the substrate then I would like to go for a darker substrate, the contrast of the green leaves against the dark substrate would look amazing. I have seen some nice fine dark gravel at pet masters which I think would look quite good but should I be using a different substrate all together?

Lastly If I change the substrate what would be the best way of doing this?

See attached pictures of the tank as is.

Any advice would be helpful


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

No need to change your substrate for the plants you listed. Anubias is like java fern as in it does best tied to something rather than planted.


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## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

Thanks, just a correction from my earlier post, the lights are 2 x 24 W T5 lights - not T8 and they give off 6700K and are 70 lumens per watt so I think they will do OK with my low light plants.

I'm gonna get some more drift wood and some rocks and get rid of the corny decorations and make the tank more natural looking and then add some more fish when I am done. The tank is a bit empty now. 

Any tips for tying the plants to the drift wood and rocks? I know that seems a strange question but I have never done that before.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I use fishing line to tie mine off with, but some also use cotton thread. The thread will eventually rot away. By the time it does, the plants should have attached to the wood or rocks themselves. Wont hurt the water params either.


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## dalfed (Apr 8, 2012)

With two t5 lights and no co2 you may be asking for algae like crazy, t5's don't fall under the watts per gallon rule of thumb.


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## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

Dalfed, thanks for the info. I don't really want to go for a high tech tank with a CO2 diffuser so should I just use CO2 tablets? Are there any other techniques I can use to add some CO2 to the water?


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

The wattage rule depends on whether you're using T5NO or T5HO. If it's HO (high output), you'll have too much light. If it's NO (normal output), you're still in the green.

For CO2, this is the system I've used and loved:
http://www.aquariumforum.com/f34/diy-co2-made-easy-5049.html


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## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

Yup, the lights are both T5HO so should I only run one? I'll remove the 15W from the system. The tank is quite deep so that may offset things a little. I have been doing some research on the CO2 setup and I will start with the DIY system for the moment and make plans to set up one from a cylinder in the future.

After doing further research I think I still may want to change the substrate but I'm not 100% sure yet so I will take it slow and not rush things.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

You can run 48 Watts of T5HO over a 45 and you would be just fine; I ran 48 Watts over a 30 gallon AND over a 10 gallon (both with injected CO2, mind you), with great success.

You may need to gang 2 or 3 of those bottles together for a 45 gallon tank to get the right CO2 concentrations. I ran a 1L on my ten gallon (the one with 48 Watts of T5HO) and was barely getting good CO2 readings.

The fizz tabs are really useless, BTW. I used them for years, never noticed a change until I went DIY and then, later, to pressurized.


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## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

Thanks for all your input. Gonna sort out the DIY CO2 soon and then will get the pressurized system when the budget allows it. Still trying to decide on the substrate though... :fish9:


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

If you don't want any heavy root feeders like hygros, crypts, or ludwigia, I don't think you need to worry about the substrate. Even so, I've grown two of the above mentioned in standard aquarium gravel, I just didn't vacuum it so it got nice and dirty for them.


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## rtmaston (Jul 14, 2012)

I know it will look good.posts some pictures if you do


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## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

Well, I installed the new lights tonight and the difference it has made to the appearance of the tank when the lights are on is fantastic. 

I have decided to replace the substrate afterall after watching a few youtube videos on how to do it and what to look out for. I will be going for pool filter sand to replace the gravel. 

My rainbow shark died a week ago and I think the rough gravel that I is currently in the aquarium contributed to his death as i think that it damaged his barbels over time which caused him to stop feeding well, as he was so thin when he died so I think the finer pool sand will be more gentle on bottom feeders. I will be wanting to get a new rainbow shark and a few cory cats when the sand and the plants are in.

I am compiling a list of what I will need to do the conversion and am formulating a strategy to do it. When it's all done I will post some before and after pics to show everyone.


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## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

OK, well I finally managed to do the upgrade today.
I drained the tank to about 1/2 way, removed all the old decorations and the fish. I drained the water into quite a few buckets and put the fishes into the biggest one.
I then drained the rest of the water and then removed all the gravel with the aquarium net. When the tank was empty it was light enough to take it off of the stand. With it on the floor I was able to give it a really good clean in all the corners. I set it back on the stand and started to put the new sand in which is pool filter sand. I then put the filters back and the heater and started to fill water back into the tank from the buckets very slowly. When the tank was half full I started to put the plants into the sand and when that was finished I put the fishes back in and then filled the tank back up with new water. The water was a bit cloudy due to the new sand but with the filters having been on for a few hours the water is already starting to clear up. 

I may change things around a bit, I'm thinking of moving the bogwood that is covered in moss to the left corner and then move those pebbles and grass into the middle to make it more open.

Below are before and after pictures.
BEFORE



AFTER







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## SueD (Aug 4, 2012)

Nice improvement. I much prefer live plants over artificial.


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## coralbandit (Jul 29, 2012)

Tank now looks very nice! Good job.Hope you enjoy it!


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

What is the distance between your light and the substrate? This tank looks to be taller than a standard tank and although it may appear to have too much light, it may not be much of an issue if the tank is as tall as it looks. By the looks of it, it does look like you will need to manage your lighting period pretty tightly, either way. I would start with 6hrs and slowly work to 8hrs max.


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## LariM78 (Nov 2, 2010)

The tank is about 60cm deep and at the moment the lights are on for 7 hrs a day. I dosed some fertilizer yesterday and today the water is quite murky. I checked all the normal parameters and they are as follows:
NH3 = 0
NO2 = 0
NO3 = 10 ppm
So the nitrogen levels are all normal and safe.
I also checked Fe and PO4
Fe is 0.5ppm and PO4 is 0.5ppm. From what I have read these levels should be OK.


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