Want a planted tank....

[supersmirky]

I have a 150g tank and want to start putting live plants. I am assuming Java fern and other types that are low light. I have just a standard fluorescent top and would prefer not to change that as it can be expensive. I also have quartz substrate and would prefer not to change that out either.

Anyone have suggestions on what I need to do and what kinds would be best?

[AndrewH]

I would recommend Jave Ferns or any of the Mosses or almost any of the Swords.

Here's (http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2) a list of some low light requiring plants.

I'm not sure how the color quartz will do as a substrate, but maybe Biggin will know.

[supersmirky]

well, i bought a couple low light plants. Does anyone have any DIY ideas on lighting? I priced at DNA and it would cost $500 for what I need

[Vivarium Concepts]

Are you wanting to use flourescent or power compact?

When we use power compacts, we order from
www.ahsupply.com (http://www.ahsupply.com)
Good prices, and good products.

[supersmirky]

Not sure.. I have not a lot of knowledge about what type of lighting to use. If you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them. I have a 140g long.

Thanks for the link!

[biggin]

Wanna come by for a long discussion? I have some fish for you....

Anyway.... I think of you get some Seachem(sp) tabs (about $8 bucks at a pets store) and add them to the 3m you will be fine.... you can get a shop light for $20 or less that will do the trick and you will be fine.

[supersmirky]

Yeah, that sounds good. I was thinking the shoplight idea, but the plant lights lowe's sells are T12 and the shop lights take T8. Then there is the factor of my tank is 72" long and the shop light is 48" :confuzeld:

Tell me when is good and I will drop by. :D

[AndrewH]

The main problem with a 72" tank is there are very few 72" options out there. Even the double 36" option isn't the best (good tubes are pretty expensive because most places don't keep them in stock).

In addtion to the CFL...

The other options include 3, 24" fixtures. Again, still not as common as some of the longer lamps, but they are out there.

One of the options would be to get 2 - 48" fixtures and have them overlap in the middle. This options isn't really the most attractive if you don't have a canopy or some why to hide the fixtures, but it would be cheap and would work.

There's also the option to have a couple Halogen fixtures over the tank, but then you run into heat issues plus they're not a cheap as the fluorescent fixtures.

BTW... normally (not always, but most of the time) you can interchange 32w-T8 tubes and 40w-T12 tubes.

[rolloffhill]

Build a canopy and put in a 4' and a 2' fixture, or endcaps.

[supersmirky]

some good ideas...thanks guys!

[fishman76092]

Ebay has cheap PC lights (in comparison to LFS). I got all of mine from there. I think 2 36" fixtures (384W total) will be around $220 inc shipping. Youll need to order the right bulbs as well (6500K), but you can get those on ebay for about $8 per bulb when you buy 4+.

Here is a link to the fixture that I have:
http://cgi.ebay.com/36-Odyssea-Power-Compact-Aquarium-Reef-Light-192-WATTS_W0QQitemZ270197286745QQihZ017QQcategoryZ4631 4QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

The problem that you will run into is that the lights are only one portion of the cash outlay. Your substrate is not suitable and youll need to run CO2 if you want a real plant tank. Im not sure how tall your 150 gallon is, but if its more than 18" you will have issues with the lighting unless you blow a ton of cash. I overkill my 180g and its still not enough light with 706W to get many plants to grow right. The light isnt strong enough to get through that deep of a tank. So.... you may want to stick with what you have until you want to blow $700 on lights, substrate and a CO2 unit.

$250 for lights
$150 for substrate (Aquariumplants.com brand)
$300 for CO2 inc cylinder

[fishyjoe24]

amazon sword, anucris(sp?) are good ideals. maybe try some of those live plants in a plastic cyl. at petsmart i had one that did well tell the silver dollar had lunch with it.

[supersmirky]

Cool...I might try those. I bought the bulbs from walmart...my fish eat those like its lunch time.

[Homer_Simpson]

Lighting 140x2watts = 280 watts total. I would not go more than 280 watts total. IME, 2 watts per gallon seems sufficient for growing many low to moderate light plants but not so much to ignite an algae bloom. Don't go more than 7.5-8 hours for total photoperiod.

c02 is optional and cannot hurt. You can dose with Fluorish Excel for carbon instead of c02 but it can get expensive on such a large tank. You are probably better to go with pressurized c02. The key is to disburse the c02 via a fine mist. This blog explains this concept best.
http://www.practicalfishkeeping.co.uk/pfk/pages/blog.php?blogid=116

Substrate: You really cannot go cheaper than Aquariumplants.com own substrate (http://www.aquariumplants.com/product_p/ss-1.htm)which some say is really soilmaster select repackaged. Many people have had great success using an underlayer of laterite and or gravel fert tabs like flourish gravel fert tabs underneath the substrate.

Plants - I say go low to moderate light plants. Java fern, java moss cryptocornes, tiger lotus, apongentons, and swords. You really cannot go wrong with the grow your own bulbs. (http://www.aquariumplants.com/Grow_Your_Own_Bulbs_s/29.htm) You will not get algae or snails with them and I have yet to receive one that ever proved to be a dud. If these bulbs don't sprout in your tank nothing will. They are pretty much fool proof.

There is a large enough list of low maintenance plants that you can use to create a beautiful aquascape. Here is a list of excellent, hardy, low light plants. You can see that there is a lot to choose from and many of these are not all that demanding. This list was posted by James From Cali at Plantedtank.net I you jam pack your tank full of plants from the start and take the low light, low maintenance approach to planting your tank, I can pretty much guarantee you that you will not have any algae issues whatsoever and will have a beautiful tank.

FERNS & MOSSES
Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus
Windelov Java Fern, Windelov Fern - Microsorum pteropus 'Windelov'
Narrow Leaf Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus v. 'narrow leaf'
Java Moss - Taxiphyllum barbieri
Taiwan Moss - Taxiphyllum sp.
Flame Moss - Taxiphyllum alternans
Philippine Java Fern - Microsorum pteropus 'Philippine'
Red Java fern - Microsorum pteropus "red"
Pelia - Monosolenium tenerum
African Water Fern - Bolbitis heudelotii
Marimo Ball- Aegagropila linnaei
Riccia - Riccia fluitans
Singapore Moss - Vesicularia dubyana
Christmas Moss - Vesicularia montagnei
Erect Moss - Vesicularia reticulata
Pheonix Moss - Fissidens fontanus
Watersprite - Ceratopteris thalictroides

STEM PLANTS
Green Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma
Sunset Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma 'Rosanervig'
Ceylon Hygro - Hygrophila polysperma 'Ceylon'
Giant Hygro - Hygrophila corymbosa
Water Wisteria - Hygrophila difformis
Rotala Rotundifolia - Rotala rotundifolia
Rotala Rotundifolia sp. Green - Rotala rotundifolia sp. 'Green'
Rotala Indica - Rotala indica
Moneywort, Water Hyssop - Bocapa monnieri
Bacopa - Bacopa caroliniana
Brazilian Pennywort - Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Water Pennywort - Hydrocotyle ranunculoides
Guppy Grass - Najas guadalupensis
Waterwheel Plant - Aldrovanda vesiculosa
Downoi - Pogostemon helferi
American Waterweed- Elodea canadensis
Red Ludwigia- Ludwigia repens
HC- Hemianthus callitrichoides
Watersprite - Ceratopteris thalictroides

FLOATERS
Hornwort - Ceratophylum demersum
Parrots Feather - Myriophyllum aquaticum
Brazilian Pennywort - Hydrocotyle leucocephala
Water Pennywort- Hydrocotyle ranunculoides
Anacharis - Egeria densa
Riccia - Riccia fluitans
Watersprite - Ceratopteris thalictroides

CRYPTOCORYNE
Crypt Wendtii - Cryptocoryne wendtii
Crypt Balansae - Cryptocoryne Balansae
Pygmy Crypt - Cryptocoryne pygmaea
Crypt retrospiralis - Cryptocoryne retrospiralis
Crypt spiralis - Cryptocoryne spiralis
Crypt Becketii - Cryptcoryne becketii
Crypt Aponogetifolia - Cryptocoryne aponogetifolia
Micro Crypt - Cryptocoryne petchii
Crypt affinis - Cryptocoryne affinis
Crypt lutea - Cryptocoryne lutea
Crypt walkeri - Cryptocoryne walkeri

ANUBIAS
Anubias barteri - Anubias barteri v. barteri
Anubias barteri 'marble' - Anubias barteri 'marble'
Anubias barteri v. 'glabra' - Anubias barteri v. 'glabra'
Anubias nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana'
Coffee leaf anubias - Anubias barteri v. 'coffeefolia'
Golden nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana golden'
Narrow leaf nana - Anubias barteri v. 'nana narrow leaf'
Petite nana - Anubias barteri v. nana 'petite'

SWORD PLANTS
Tropica Sword - Echinodorus parviflorus 'Tropica'
Amazon Sword - Echinodorus amazonicus
Melon Sword - Echinodorus osiris
Ruffle Sword - Echinodorus major
Pygmy Chain Sword - Echnodorus tennelus

LILY'S
Lotus- Nymphaea pubescens

GRASSES
Vallisneria natans
Water Celery- Vallisneria americana
Vallisneria asiatica
Corkscrew Val - Vallisneria tortifolia
Dwarf Sag- Sagittaria subulata
Crinum calimistratum
Micro Sword - Lilaeopsis braziliensis


APONOGETONS
Aponogeton ulvaceous
Aponogeton bouvianus
Aponogeton crispus
Aponogeton elongatus
Aponogeton undulatus

[rolloffhill]

Substrate: You really cannot go cheaper than Aquariumplants.com own substrate (http://www.aquariumplants.com/product_p/ss-1.htm)which some say is really soilmaster select repackaged. Many people have had great success using an underlayer of laterite and or gravel fert tabs like flourish gravel fert tabs underneath the substrate.



Nice post, good intel in there.

Only thing I see is the price in that link, compared to Soilmaster select is really high. If you can find SMS locally you'd be better off.

[Homer_Simpson]

Nice post, good intel in there.

Only thing I see is the price in that link, compared to Soilmaster select is really high. If you can find SMS locally you'd be better off.

Yes, you are totally right. In my city, SMS is not available locally and some people are unable to get SMS. I heard that the AP substrate was really SMS repackaged. I had no choice but to order from them as I will be setting up a tank in the near future(lol, when I can find the time and room - I may have to tear another tank down to make room) to test the substrate to see how it compares to others.

[biggin]

If it is SMS I have Amazonia, SMS and just took down my Flouriate (sp), Lariarte (sp) and ECO Complete tanks....Not sure how great my test were but I did find some little differences....

Yes, you are totally right. In my city, SMS is not available locally and some people are unable to get SMS. I heard that the AP substrate was really SMS repackaged. I had no choice but to order from them as I will be setting up a tank in the near future(lol, when I can find the time and room - I may have to tear another tank down to make room) to test the substrate to see how it compares to others.

[supersmirky]

Homer - Very good intel...I agree! It's going to be printed and put in my file for future reference! I got suckered into Mondo Grass at Petsmart. Looks good though...still holding up! haha

So Biggin...I need your help again. What substrate should I lay in my new 130 gallon?

[biggin]

I like SMS(Soil Master Select by Lesco) capped with something. I have been using Color Quartz... surprise surprise...

Homer - Very good intel...I agree! It's going to be printed and put in my file for future reference! I got suckered into Mondo Grass at Petsmart. Looks good though...still holding up! haha

So Biggin...I need your help again. What substrate should I lay in my new 130 gallon?

[supersmirky]

how thick do you keep your sms?

[Homer_Simpson]

I know that this does not answer your question directly about thickness of SMS layer, but this is a useful step by step by MatPat, describing the way he set up a tank using SMS. You might find it helpful. I bookmarked the page for reference when I set up a test tank using SMS. http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Soilmaster-Select-Substrate/26/

[supersmirky]

Very good reading and of course good detailed pics to go along with it!

Thanks!

[Homer_Simpson]

Very good reading and of course good detailed pics to go along with it!

Thanks!

You're welcome :) The only thing that I have heard about SMS is that it is supposed to drop KH drastically. How this allegedly effects plant growth or fish I have no idea. Drastic drops in KH are supposed to cause dramatic swings in PH, so if this is the case it may become more an issue for fish than plants as fish like consistent PH levels and don't tolerate rapidly fluctuating PH levels. GH is more an issue vs KH for plant growth from what I understand. Again, SMS is on my list of substrates to test so I cannot speak for whether this would play out in practice or not.