My first planted tank. Need some help!

[Patrik]

This is my first post here.

I'm putting up a planted tank at work.
The tank is 47x16x20inch (120x40x50cm)
240 liter (63 galon)

Eheim 2217 external filter
Pressurized C02 with external reactor.
Light. 4 T5 39W with reflectors.
Planning on using PMDD with a dosing pump system.
Substrate. cat sand and blaster sand.

The thing is I would like a quite low maintenance tank and have a few questions.

EDITED! The tank will be high tech. So what I mean is as low maintenance as possible but still high tech.

What style and plants will work best for low maintenance?
Do I have to add something to the substrate?
How to startup? I read something about starting the plants without water?
I'm planning 30-50% water change once a week. Is that ok?
CO2 bubble rate. What should I start with?
Should the CO2 be on the same time as the light or should I put the CO2 on a separate timer? (Light 10hrs/day?)
I'm using a tripple dosing pump for the fertilizer. Should I fertilize once per day or...?

Well, lots of questions

Cheers,
Patrik

 

[jerrybforl]

Substrate. cat litter and blaster sand.

......Dont use cat litter!!!

Light. 4 T5 39W with reflectors

......that's a lot of light if you're wanting to do low maintenance. If you want to go easy, maybe you should go to two bulbs instead of four.

What style and plants will work best for low maintenance?

You can use all kinds of plants. Anbias, ferns, crypts, and even stems. Try to use stems that don't have lots of requirements. It's just how well you balance your lighting, co2, and fertilizing!

How to startup? I read something about starting the plants without water?

That's the dry start method. The idea is to keep just enough water in the bottom of the tank. Enough to keep roots and substrate wet. Cover it and place the lights. I've never done it and I'm sure I'm missing some details to it. If you look it up in the search engine, I'm sure you'll find something.

I'm planning 30-50% water change once a week. Is that ok?

This is all based on what you want to do. You said low maintenance but all of your equipment is geared towards high tech. I like to do 50% WC a week.

CO2 bubble rate. What should I start with?....Should the CO2 be on the same time as the light or should I put the CO2 on a separate timer? (Light 10hrs/day?)

Again this is based on what you want to do. Low light lower CO2...high light more CO2. With a low light setup, you can go with a very low bubble count. EX. 1per second. With higher light, you might want to go with 3-4 bps. Yes your CO2 should be on a seperate timer and come on about an hour or so before the light. High tech tanks will need shorter photo periods...8 hrs. Low light you can keep longer without having to battle algae too much.

I'm using a tripple dosing pump for the fertilizer. Should I fertilize once per day or...?

I've never used PMDD. I personally EI dose. I hate beating the same bush but....againg this is based on what you want to do. Low light you can fert once a week or not at all depending on the amount of fish you have. More light more CO requires more ferts.

You need to be more specific with your goals and what you want to accomplish. That way we can give you more/better advice. Do you want to go low light low CO2/ non CO2...less maintenance? Or do you want to go high light, CO2, more ferting...more maintenance?

 

[Patrik]

Thanks for the reply.

Ok, I realize I was not clear.

I want a high tech tank, high light? (4x39W) and CO2(6Kg tube) and ferts, not too many fish!
But with as low maintenance as possible but still high tech.

So, what substrate to use? It's kind of hard to get hold of the ADA soils where I live.

Thanks,
Patrik

 

[Tom Barr]

I've used kitty litter a few times, worked well, but a single layer of ADA aqua soil will do better I think and be less messy.

I'd go that route personally.

 

[jerrybforl]

You should look around online and in your lfs'. I'm sure you'll find something. You may have to order online to get what you want. As far as low maintenance, you will want to stay away from stems. They grow fast and will be lots of pruning. Anubias, ferns, and crypts is what you will want to use. With so much variety of each genre of plants, you can do a lot of combinations!

I want a high tech tank, high light?

High tech is the combination of using CO2, high light, and ferts. If you are using a lot of light, you will need more CO2 as well as ferts. You should plant your tank very densly from the start to help avoid algae issues. They plants will absorb a lot of the minerals in the water and beat out the algae for the CO2.

You should do lots of research and now what you're doing exactly before you get started...what plants, photo period, ferting, lighthing, and fish. Just continue to ask questions and hopefully we can all help.

I've used kitty litter a few times, worked well, but a single layer of ADA aqua soil will do better I think and be less messy. I'd go that route personally.

...I've never used it but I've read that the integrity of the cat litter breaks down making it clumpy. So if you ever brake down, you will have a big mess on your hands.

 

[Patrik]

Thanks alot.

One more thing. If I go with the dry start method do I need to cycle my filter somehow (brand new filter media) or do I just plug it in when I add water?

Cheers,
Patrik

 

[jonny_ftm]

Just plug it in.

Of course, if you have another tank to cycle it would be ideal or even some media from another filter. I'll just wait before adding any living stock. The longer the better. Sometimes, moving from emersed to immersed can kick in with some problems (BGA, algae, plants adaptaion...). Better not having to deal with fish + plants at the same time when you begin. Once plants show adaptation signs, introduce the fish. Dealing with dieing plants and algae is always harder and longer then going slowly to avoid them.