# Planted Aquarium



## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

Alright, say you've got the whole substrate covered in plants, taken up by plants, how would you go about gravel vaccing? Say in a glosso tank, with the glosso covering the whole substrate, would a ugf be good for this type of setup?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

No. Some use UGF for planted tanks, but I wouldn't because I don't like them, and I think it would be a pain, and a mess over time.
It would most likely work, but I wouldn't. If you have to, go for it..









About the gravel vaccing.. No need to ever really go beyond 1/2" anyway. Gravel vaccing a planted tank is a no no
Kick up all kinds of things that is a potential algea bloom in the making


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

I will take my python sometimes and take the plastic tube off of the hose and vac the plants and skim the surface of the substrate. This works well for me because I have ground cover and I can get into tighter places. Also it seems the vac has more power. One problem is if you get to close you suck up a bunch of substrate. My concern when cleaning my tank is how my plants look so I mainly vac all the crap of the plants.


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

i have vary fine gravel so i just up root the tank once a month, i know it don't do the roots any good,, but the tank gets a good cleaning..


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

cueball said:


> i have vary fine gravel so i just up root the tank once a month, i know it don't do the roots any good,, but the tank gets a good cleaning..


it is better if you can get the roots to set in. I have been told to leave the plants in the ground. Although it does get your tank good and clean,


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## traumatic (Jan 29, 2003)

planted tanks aren't clean, just on the outside. The mess in the gravel is good for plants and the ecological processes that the tank goes thru. If you ONLY have fish, it's good to clean the gravel.


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

Thanks for all the information everyone, I'm looking to start a planted tank soon but I really have no idea what kind of plants I would like. I'll be using a 130watt AquaLight 50/50 on a 55 gallon aquarium.


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

i think thats a lot of light to start off with,are you going to be using co2?


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

StryfeMP said:


> Thanks for all the information everyone, I'm looking to start a planted tank soon but I really have no idea what kind of plants I would like. I'll be using a 130watt AquaLight 50/50 on a 55 gallon aquarium.


50/50 wont help you on a planted tank. go with 6500k 130 watts. thats 2.3 watts per gallon. I would get co2 for that.


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## StryfeMP (Apr 26, 2007)

I got the light from a friend and the box said it was good for fresh or saltwater. Well, seems that the plants I bought need a lot of lighting, so I will be using a 2 tube 48" flourescent tube lighting that I was using to germinate some seeds. For co2 I will be making a diy co2 system. Can't seem to find a place around me that would service my 25lbs tank. Tell me what you think, it's just normal white gravel. Just got a bunch of swords. This is my very first planted.


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