New Planted tank

[goldenfresh]

First off I am very excited to be a part of your online community.
I am not sure if this is the correct forum to be posting this thread but here we go.

I have been keeping fresh water fish for three years now, I currently because of work don’t have a tank up and going. Fish I have kept in the past range from tetras to a red belly pacu. I have also had mixed results with a planted tank. All of the tanks I have had in the past have been very spontaneous, they have not been thought out before hand. By not planning everything out in advance I have made many mistakes and would like to avoid this for my next tank.
For my next tank I would like to have a planted tank. I want for this tank to be vibrant lots and lots of plants. I however do not know how to achieve this goal. My goal for this thread is to gain more knowledge and insight into keeping plants in an aquarium.
With the advent of Craigs List I have acquired a lot of equipment. I have a 5o gallon tank (36 7/8 x 19 x 19 5/8) with a stand that will be the foundation of this project. I also have an Eheim ECCO 2236 canister filter, as well as another canister filter that I am not sure of the brand.
I have the ability to build a hood.
Now for the part I need your help with.
What type of substrate should I use?
Is a CO2 System needed and if so what type?
Lighting?
pH control?
Filtration, I would like to use the equipment I have but don’t have to?
Plants; what type, how many, where do I get them?
What are the ideal tank parameters?
I am sure that I will have more questions as I get deeper into this project but for now that is all.
These are some things to keep in mind.
I would like for the system to be silent, or have as little noise as possible.
I would like for the system to be relatively low maintenance.

 

[bassbonediva]

For substrate, I would use something like Flourite or Eco-Complete. It's a little pricier, but it contains nutrients that will help your plants grow.
Whether or not you have a CO2 system depends on your lighting and how heavily your tank is planted. If you go with T5HO lighting (like what I have on my 29gal), you'll need CO2 if you go with anything but a couple of plants. If you go with just a standard T8 hood, you'll be more limited on your plant choices, but you won't necessarily have to run a CO2 system. So, you need to decided how planted you want your tank to be, what kind of plants you want, and how much you're willing to spend.
plantgeek.com might help you make decisions about plants. They have their plants categorized by light requirements. Remember: the higher the light requirement, the more powerful the light needed and the more likely it is that you'll have to use CO2.
Canister filters work great with plants, so you can keep the filter(s) you have.
Don't worry about your pH. Bad things happen when you mess with your pH. Most plants won't alter your pH anyway, so don't worry about it.
Ideal tank parameters for a planted tank are the same as they are for a non-planted tank, except that you should expect to see much lower nitrates. Plants will use ammonia in ANY form, and nitrate is a form of ammonia, albeit much less toxic to fish (which is why it is acceptable in small quantities).

So, I would say figure out what kind of plants you want (no one can really tell you that, you just have to look at what is available and figure out what you like) and then we can help you with lighting and CO2. As far as where to get them, most LFS and Petsmart/Petco carry live plants, but do your research and make sure what you want to bring home really is an aquatic plant (a lot of times Petco and Petsmart will try to pass off terrestrial plants as aquatics). Another good source of plants is aquabid.com and liveaquaria.com.

 

[OrangeCones]

Whether or not you will need CO2 is dependant on the light level you provide the aquarium. The higher the light, the more the need for fertilizer including CO2. Once you decide on a light level, you can then pick out the type of plants that thrive in that light level.

Check out this link:

PlantGeek.net - Your Aquatic Plant Resource

for a plant guide. Especially helpful is the list of 'non-aquatic' plants often sold at local fish stores as aquatic. With that list in mind, you can avoid buying plants that will NOT survive submerged long-term.

 

[Thyra]

I checked with the site you listed, OC, and besides the two you already told me that weren't aquatic, I have two others (Guess I didn't do to well) Question is do I let them in the tank until they start to deteriorate or remove them now?

 

[lauraf]

Thyra, I'd remove them now. Even semi-deteriorating plants negatively affect your water quality. You can always plant them partially submerged as houseplants if you like them . . . .

 

[OrangeCones]

I checked with the site you listed, OC, and besides the two you already told me that weren't aquatic, I have two others (Guess I didn't do to well) Question is do I let them in the tank until they start to deteriorate or remove them now?

It is sad, Thyra, that the aquarium 'industry' fools folks that don't know into buying fish that need to be in a pond, not a 10gallon aquarium, and into buying plants that are not aquatic.

+1 on lauraf's advice. It will just foul your water to leave non-aquatic plants in the aquarium to rot. Its the same (or worse really, because most fish won't eat the decaying plants) as leaving a large amount of uneaten food on the gravel.

 

[goldenfresh]

great thanks guys so it looks like i need to figure out what is going in the tank.

 

[lauraf]

Looking forward to hearing about your decisions, goldenfresh. OC is definitely the go-to on aquatic plant care; and with the website referral plus advice we'd be happy to give here, you are well-started to have a successful, healthy planted tank.
Thyra, it totally sucks that fish stores will sell non-aquatic plants. They look really beautiful at first, and get one's hopes up about a totally non-realistic aquascape. But, there are lots of great aquatic plant options, as you have seen!