tell me if im ready folks!!

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Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


singapore
 
Posts: 238
Joined: Sun Feb 10, 2008 6:47 pm

tell me if im ready folks!!

by singapore

ive slowly been setting up my new tank (55g). rite now it only contains driftwood and some rocks. no substrate yet. is plain black gravel suitable for a planted tank?

so far i have a marineland canister filter and a seaclone protein skimmer. along with a titanium heater. and i just recently purchased a 216 watt t5 lighting system. is this enough to start a planted tank?

also what do i need to test for and what test kits should i buy?

my goal is a tank covered in aquatic mosses. id like a large school of cardinal tetras, one large male butterfly betta, and a few S+ grade crystal red shrimp. Probably ramshorn snails too, does this all seem possible with my current equipment?


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Ok. Take back the protein skimmer. These are only for salt water tanks.

Rams horn snails will eat some fragile plants and grow in mass nimbers if you feed too much. Malaysian trumpit snails are better for most people.

If yo have the $$$ to spend and you want to do a really nice planted tank right you'll need to use pressurised co2 and bleed it into the water with a diffuser. I'd wait until you have a good understanding of the "cycle" before geting into co2 as it is toxic to fish in high levels and is difficult to control.

The "cycle" is the process in which bennificial bacteria (which live in your filter and on all surfaces of your tank, plants, gravel, etc) breaks down fish and other waste and converts it into less harmful nitrates.

The fish poop and other waste will produce ammonia, which is toxic to fish. One kind of bacteria breaks down ammonia into nitrites (with an "i").

Another kind of bacteria breaks down nitrites into nitrates (with an "a"), and this is the end product.

Nitrates are less toxic to fish, are food for the plants, and needs to also be kept in low amounts by you regulalily replacing a certian % of the water in the tank, ie water changes.

Study the cycle and get an understanding of how to get benneficial bacteria colonising your filter and tank before adding fish. Then you'll be on your way to growing and maintaining a "Takashi Amano" style planted tank. (look him up!). PK


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

To grow a really nice planted tank with high light plants you'll ned special gravel (substraight), like Eco-Complete or flourite.


Peterkarig3210
 
Posts: 1980
Joined: Wed Oct 24, 2007 3:04 am

by Peterkarig3210

Get a test kit that tests pH, nitrates, and probably best to get one that tests for ammonia and nitrites as well.

If you have a healthy cycle and you've maintained a healthy colony of benneficial bacteria by cleaning the filter in a way that doesn't kill off the bacteria colonising it you don't realy need to test for ammonia or nitrites.

If you're cycle is working you should have zero ammonia and zero nitrites, because the bacteria will have converted these toxic substances into nitrates.

The end product is nitrate, and this will need to be tested regularly so you can know when to do a water change. I do water changes when nitrates go to between 10 and 20 ppm. If you let nitrates rise too far it will cause algae to grow and will eventually harm your fish.

High tech kits also measure water hardness which is kH and gH (I think). These are important for getting water perfect for high tech planted tanks.

I use the kind of test kits that use test tubes. Other kinds use test strips of paper that may be easier to use, but are not considered as good as the ones with test tubes.

tell me if im ready folks!!

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