Planning my first planted tank

[lenny]

I have been away from the hobby for a lot of years and by luck am getting back into it again. Rather than starting where I'm comfortable I'm going to try some new things right off the hop. I am quite familiar with your basic peaceful community tanks and breeding livebearers.

I really struggled with what I wanted to do first seeing as I've been out of it for so long and am extremely excited to get going. After much debate, I've decide I would like to go with a planted semi-aggressive community tank. Because both the planted and the semi-aggressive factors are new to me I decided for a while I would just play around with the planted portion and won't introduce fish until later.

A limitation I am dealing with is hard water with a high ph (7.4)

On the planting portion of things:
I am planning to begin experimenting with low-tech options with low to moderate lighting. My lighting to begin with will be determined by the limitations with the hood that is coming with my tank. I will go and purchase the best bulbs I can that the existing hood will accomodate (I don't have any details on the equipment until the aquarium arrives) and go from there.

On the fish stocking:
I considered going to a species tank but since I've been out of having an aquarium for so long want to start with a community setup for varied interest. Because I'm working with hard water and want to go to more of an aggressive tank, I'm likely really limiting my options here. I think my goal is to have a couple specimen fish (a breeding pair of something or other would be nice), a school of something, and a few bottom feeding fish.

I have been doing loads of research and feel pretty confident about starting in on the planting of my tank but I'm really struggling with what fish to stock. I would like to have a good feel for my goals with the fish stocking so I can appropriately hardscape before planting.

I am not planning on introducing any fish (maybe a couple for cycling) for quite some time until I have a handle on the plants so it's likely that as the tank matures my ph and hardness will alter a bit as well - also depending on the decorating I do.

Oh, by the way, the tank is a 37 gallon.

Any suggestions and help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[pateceramics]

Welcome back to the world of fish!

I wouldn't worry at all about a ph of 7.4. That's completely within the normal range.

And hard water is actually a help in keeping a planted tank because the hardness will help buffer your ph for you. Soft water can give you big ph swings if you do CO2 injection, because the plants take up CO2 during the day, and then it builds up all night while the lights are off. I've forgotten the exact chemical formulas, but you can look it up, I'm sure.

 

[lauraf]

You can have a great planted tank with low-moderate lighting - just ensure that your pick the appropriate plants. I have had success with vallisneria, anubias, swords, java fern, java moss and hortwort in moderately lighted tanks, for example.
Your pH isn't crazy high, so you probably don't have to worry too much about picking only hard-core hard-water fish. Gouramis and synodontis would be a cool start . . . .

 

[IThinkTherefore]

Rams or angelfish would make great breeding pairs

Corydoras are also good bottomfeeders. And if you have plants, you practically have to have shrimp just because they're so awesome .

Plantedtank.net is a great resource for planted aquarium inspiration as well.

Have you considered fishless cycling? It's generally considered to be healthier and more humane than fish-in.

 

[lenny]

I was thinking my ph was a little high for rams, angels and corys.

 

[lauraf]

Most aquarium store fish - especially those not wild-caught - will adapt to a reasonable pH range. Rams are known to be quite sensitive, but angels and cories should be fine with your pH.

 

[lenny]

Well in that case ... my understanding is that the dimensions of a 37 gallon is tall. That would make this tank I think quite suited to angels.

I think I'll go with angels as my specimen fish and build up a stocking list from there.

Now I go researching some more ... the tank is coming on the weekend so I can get started planning and working on any hardscape items I may want.

 

[kerryhomes]

As my opinion You may find the 12 rummy's look a bit lost in a big tank, adding a whole load more would look great.Generally in planted tanks we tend to go with darker backgrounds, this, with the plants can cause the discus to go dark, as they try and "blend" in with their surroundings, a lot will depend on which strain you get though. Also some discus do not do well in CO2 injected tanks, so be prepared for that as well, when you introduce the fish, start with the CO2 at a low level and gradually increase it over a few weeks band this will give you and the discus the best chance! I had my CO2 on a solenoid so when the lights went out so did the CO2.As for the top layer of substrate a lightship coloured sand is great time.

 

[lenny]

Well, I am quite sad about the whole thing but I'm going to have to abandon my idea's for a planted tank.

I picked up the tank yesterday and I have a 24" T8 to work with so there's no way I can get the lighting requirements I'll need from that.

The tank, stand and filter cost me $100. It will cost me more than that to upgrade the lighting. Add to that the cost of substrate, fertilizer, heater, and the plants themselves and that is really more than I can budget for right now.

I'm thinking I'll maybe get some java fern and moss going but that would be all my lighting will be able to handle for the time being

 

[Kiara1125]

You could try to put the tank in a spot where it will get natural sunlight, but not a lot (you don't want an algae bloom). I did that to one of my 10 gallons. I put it by my window, but kept the shades closed. I haven't had an algae problem in that tank yet. You should try that, at least you won't have to worry about a light bulb going out. lol.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; I may have missed some information in your thread, but you seem to have determined that a 24 inch fluorescent tube is not adequate for growing plants. I have two 18 inch tubes on a 55 gallon and a single 18 inch tube on a 29 gallon that have been growing plants nicely for over six months now.

I have not used any form of CO2 injection, so cannot comment on that or the required lighting needs when using it. I do know that I have and continue to grow lots of plants without it. From comments on this forum the CO2 injection systems do add to plant growth, but I believe that it can be added at any time in the future when you have the money.

Some plants do well with lower light intensities such as the crypts. Others that might grow better (faster) with higher light intensities will live and grow at lower light intensities. One way to compensate for the lower intensity (lower lumens) bulbs is to lengthen the photoperiod. I did this on my current 55 gallon a few months ago and now the sword plant is doing much better. It was producing new leaves but much slower than it is now with only a change in light duration.

 

[skjl47]

Hello; An additional thought. You can get started with the setup that you have described and add the special stuff, if needed, later on when the money is right. You may find that you can have a nice planted tank with what you have. I had a tight budget for my tanks for most of my life and had to improve setups over time.

 

[pateceramics]

Hey Lenny,

I wouldn't give up yet! You need something in the bottom of your tank anyway, so why not put a good planted tank substrate in there? Then if you want to add plants slowly later, you will be ready.

As for light... I've had good luck lighting tanks with windows, too, although they were smaller tanks. My current planted 20g tank is lit with a single clamp lamp like this one: Bayco 150-Watt Incandescent Clamp Light - CE-300PDQ at The Home Depot
currently available at the home despot for under $10. You would need two for a 37 gallon. I use regular household compact fluorescents from the grocery in ours and we still manage to grow swords just fine, which like fairly high light from what I understand. Can we grow a carpet of riccia or microsword? Probably not, but all the stem plants do fine. If you decide to go this route, just please remember that you now have an electronic device not specially made for aquariums and use around water clamped onto the rim of your tank. Use common sense siting the tank, so that no one is likely to bump the lamp into the tank. Unplug and remove the clamp lamps before playing in the tank. Please don't electrocute yourself to save a buck!

And if you want to skip the fertilizer, you can put a thin layer of garden soil under your substrate instead. That will feed a lushly planted tank for 6 months to a year.