Help to change tank to planted one

Ok so I have my 100l tank with artificial plants and stuff. I really want to change it now to a nice planted tank.
So where do I start?

I want to do it properly now so that I don't have to re do in a few months.

Any advice would be greatly appreciated

 

Start with substrate. Decide what kind you want to use. There are lots of options from the home-made to the designer and expensive. The rest is just decorating! (lol) But if you start with the "wrong" substrate (one you change your mind about in a few months' time) that's when you'd end up having to redo everything. So take your time and make sure you're happy with what you decide to get!

 

Ok thanks

Where can I read up and learn of the different substrates available. I'm clue less and brand new to this hobby :-D

 

Oh I was think brown dark fine substrate.

 

Depends if you want to go hightech or lowtech,hightech being more expensive for more demanding plants.

Lowtech you don't really have to worry about substrate that much,plants usually have trouble routing into gravel though.

Personally i'm going with a playsand substrate with liquid ferts and some fert tablets.

 

Here are some good threads:
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/s...fiber-Peat-soaked-in-Chemicult-as-a-substrate
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?15347-Dirt-tank-setup-Has-anyone-done-this
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?16524-PFP-Potting-soil-and-real-River-sand
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?8604-potting-soil
http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/s...crobe-lift-substrate-Anybody-used-this-before

Most of these threads are about the more home-made side, the main "fancy" commercial substrates are ADA Aquasoil and Flourite (not fluorite lol). Do a search for those terms as well.

 

Hi OBI,

There are quite a few great substrates commercially available right now... But at a price though. Like @DCWarHound said, all depends on what you want. Read up on some of these..

ADA Amazonia
Caribsea Eco Complete
Seachem Flourite Range - there are various ones available in this range.

I'm using plain river sand at the moment, dosing fertz using the EI (Estimate Index) and slowly working in ADA when I get some new plant additions. See... get the right substrate first and you wont have the hassle which I'm having now

Oh yeah... read up on EI.. it works, its cheap and you know exactly what your'e putting in your tank!!

 

Jeeze ok I see I have a lot to learn.ush:

 

Substrate is all very well, but the lighting is important too. You can get away with just using filter sand but you still need to ensure you have decent lighting

 

Hi @OBI

Most important thing to start with is definately the substrate/gravel and lighting. Like it is said in above post, ADA Amazonia, Eco Complete and Flourite is the most popular choices. PLAN first! Decide on what type of plants you want and what needs do they have. Like for example, carpet plants like HC is a beautiful carpet plant but, choose your subtrate well for this plant. It is a slow grower and needs lots of bright full spectrum light and needs CO2. All three subtrates I mentioned will work well for this plant although the Flourite type might be more tricky. This specific plant is first grown emersed and can then be planted submersed. Decide on green, yellow or red plants or a variety of them. Red plants in my experience have more needs than green plants. For now stay away from the Barclaya Red plant, very demanding and very fragile, I know, I have one that I've been pampering for a couple of months now, got four tiny little leaves again after I replanted it in proper substrate with CO2 and ferts. You'll learn by trial and error. What I'm trying to tell you is just don't go out and buy a lot of stuff and in the end it's not what you wanted. Do research on plants and different scapes, combine it with what you like, look at layouts, rule of thirds, depth etc. Filtration, ferts, subtrate, lights and the duration of hours per day, CO2, fert tabs etc. The list is long. DO RESEARCH! Ask the people on this site, their are a lot of plant guru's here. Buy what you can aford. You will have monthly expenses on a planted tank, make sure you can afford it according to your plants needs. Start with something small like a 2ft tank and take it from there. Don't believe everything you read on the internet either! Test everything you read and ask alot of questions. I'm not a pro, far from it. I'm just sharing some ideas and stuff I did wrong/wright along the way. My next tank will be done propper from the start. HTH.

 

The 3 things that plants need in order to grow?.

Fertilization + Light + Co2 = Plant growth :canabis:

 

Hi.

Take your time when deciding what you want to do. When I first set up my planted tank, I decided after a month to change some of the substrate! What a job it was! Good luck and keep us posted.

 

That what makes this hobby so much fun! I don't think anybody will ever be able to say that they know everything there is to know about it:smile1:. But with forum's like this one you will get good advice and should have a beautiful aquarium in no time!

How about sharing some of your tank specs with us... What lighting you have, filtration?

 

Thanks for all the info so far!

I bought the tank 2nd hand from a friend that upgraded to a bigger one. So I don't know much but can find out.

Its about 50cm x 40cm x 45cm high.
Its got blue and white pebbles (we want something more natural now) on the bottom and some plastic plants. A Hailea internal filter and a 200w heater.

I don't know what tipe light is in but its blueish,which we also want to change to something more natural.

I must say I'd never thought that I would enjoy this hobby so much and I only have the tank for a month now and I can't wait to get home and sit in front of the tank and feed the fish.

 

Me again

Where's the best places to go and see some plants as most of the places that ive been to have more or less the same type of plants. And not really what I want.

 

Ok after some research I got a new plant aquarium light.One problem I got is that I can't make up my mind between ADA and flourite black?What is the maintenance difference between these two?Hope to here from you guy's

 

I prefer flourite, simply because it is less messy, they both perform very well. The ADA does require a bit more maintenance. Aka water changes to help the tank settle. Flourite is more rocky and ADA is more like soil you will find in the garden if I can explain it that way. It all goes towards the look you want to create. Google both and see the images and decide which look you prefer.

 

OK Looks like im gonna go for the seachem flourite black sand.
I like that the most:amuse:

 

Hi
Hi also changed over from plastic and rocks to a planted aquarium. The best is to google and you'll find a lot of answers and all the do and donts.

Ive started it with plain and simple plants first. Amazon swords java ferns and added a few grasses that is apperently harder to grow, but they grow much slower.

The first thing to do is to choice the correct substrate. The correct substrate is expensive but alternatively I've used swimming pool filter in the begining and once I've saved anoth I went to the expensive substrate. I have beter results with it then the pool sand.

Then you have to have the correct lights. Google around to find out how many watts per liter you need but I'm using 2x 24watt T5 tubes one is a actinic light and the other is 10000k daylight, and my plants grow well. That is on a 120 liter tank. Then I've heard you have to change your lights every 6 months but mine is still going good 10 months later. You have to have a timer on the lights to switch on and off at the same time and for the same duration. I'm on 8 hours a day at the moment and my algae growth is low but all my plants grow.

Keep your fish quantity limited since to large or to many fish you'll have to many ammonia that results to high nitrate level that kills the plants or limit it growth. There is a formula for every cm fish you need 3-5liters of water. On google they use 1inche to 1 gallon. But it depends on if you have air bubbles or not. Well I took my air bubbles out.

I change water every second week. First weekend of the month a 50% change and 2 weeks later a 10% change. On the first change I add feeding tablets and liquid fertilizer from Tetra and the second change only liquid. I've used excel from Seachem that also worked well by that you have to apply 2/3times a week I only applied it once 5ml to 120 liter

i took my carbon out of my filter, and ensure to limit feeding over feeding kills everything.

ive got a plant forgot the name but its a grass sword like that shoots out a root for the next to grow. I've bought 2 and I started to trow them away now since I've got no more space for them, a took out some amazon swords since they got to big and my grass fern is busy growing and spreading now.

enjoy it its great fun a little more technical then just have fish. Good luck

 

Hi OBI

I see you from Kempton. Boksburg pet master sells that substrate I've used the fine black and then there's a more coarse reddish sand as well. Just ask the sales people they will know.