# newb question



## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

i got a fish tank with my elong if i wanted to convert it to a planted, would i have to move my elong to a temp tank untill everything is running and growing?


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## Winkyee (Feb 17, 2003)

You'd want to make sure the cycle isn't messed up and everything is settled out if changing substrate.
Keep an eye on the water parameters for a while.


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

so the main issue is removing old substrate and going into minicycle with new soil??
now if i do go ahead and new substrate is there for 2 weeks and its cycled through, when i start adding plants and fertilizer can this mess my params and harm the fish?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

db04ph said:


> so the main issue is removing old substrate and going into minicycle with new soil??
> now if i do go ahead and new substrate is there for 2 weeks and its cycled through, when i start adding plants and fertilizer can this mess my params and harm the fish?


Adding the plants and ferts won't screw things up as long as you are using proper ferts and follow the directions.

The mini-cycle comes from the fact that you will be removing a lot of beneficial bacteria with your old substrate.

How many plants are you thinking, what type of lighting, and what is your current substrate? Depending on what you have in there now and what your goal is, you may not have to do a total substrate change.


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

i am thinking doing like a carpet of dwarf hairglass, lighting i have no clue what i got, and i got black gravel, so i dont thing gravel will do with hairglass,


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

db04ph said:


> so the main issue is removing old substrate and going into minicycle with new soil??
> now if i do go ahead and new substrate is there for 2 weeks and its cycled through, when i start adding plants and fertilizer can this mess my params and harm the fish?


If you change the substrate you will stir alot of crap up that will foul your water which is a problem. Your also removing alot of benificial bacteria in the substrate. Adding plants wont mess with the tank assuming the plants are healthy. Plants may bring algae and snails to your tank though.

"*i am thinking doing like a carpet of dwarf hairglass, lighting i have no clue what i got, and i got black gravel, so i dont thing gravel will do with hairglass,*"

hairgrass is a high light and usually co2 type plant. Dwaft sag may be better or mirco swords. They are thicker and larger then drarf hair grass, but easier to keep. First you need to decide what lighting you want and if you want co2. For my tank im doing medium light with no co2 with a ton of crypts, some anabuis, dwarf sag, java moss and java fern.

something like t5 lighting should be good for your needs. If you want hargrass, the setup wont be cheap. You will most likly need better substrate, good lighting and pressurized co2. None of which are cheap.


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

ok i am liking the idea of dwarf sag and some java fern, but everybody says best results are with co2, how are you going to run without it? onother thing my substrate, i dont think gravel will do


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

db04ph said:


> ok i am liking the idea of dwarf sag and some java fern, but everybody says best results are with co2, how are you going to run without it? onother thing my substrate, i dont think gravel will do


 My dwarf sag is pretty new, and i have about 10 new runners so its doing fine. Java fern is really easy to keep without anything high tech. Something liek flourish excell would work instead of co2 if you wanted to go that route. Mops sells 2L jugs for 35$ Not bad, but co2 is probably mroe economical long term. Im growing all my plants in play sand. Im sure somethingl iek eco complete would be better, but im not going to spend 150$ or so on dirt especieally when i want a natural looking tank. Co2 is helpful for most plants, but its not always nessisary. Its under high light and co2 that alot of the fine carpet plants like drawf hair grass and glosso are grown. If your doing co2 and high light go for dwarf hair grass, but if not, your more likely to find sucsess with grass like substiituses like vals, dwarf sag, tennelus...


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

alright thnx man, i guess i goda change my substrate now, not gonna be good with gravel


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

db04ph said:


> alright thnx man, i guess i goda change my substrate now, not gonna be good with gravel


 A better substrate would probably be better, but gravel is fine for hardy plants. I would jsut keep the gravel for the time being and just add some hardy plants like crypts. It will save you alot of money rather then replacing everyhting to start with delicate plants. Like i said i grow my plants in play sand. Sand isnt the best substrate for plants either, but it works fine for hardy plants. You can keep healthy plants with gravel, just cant keep mroe delicate species. What lights are you running on what size tank? IMO lights are much more important then substrate so no point in having good substrate if you have crappy lighting. Too much lighting means the extra cost of pressurized c02. I say just start slow with a low to medium light setup.

If you want, i could give you a clump of java moss some time as i have plenty of it.


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

alright i goda do more research on this stuff
if i decide to go that route i'l pm you, thx for all the info
planted tanks look sooo much better


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## db04ph (Jan 27, 2009)

http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...louriteblack7kg

thats not a bad price


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

db04ph said:


> http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...louriteblack7kg
> 
> thats not a bad price


As long as you aren't getting it shipped...the extra weight charge will break the bank, especially on multiple bags.


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## CLUSTER ONE (Aug 2, 2006)

Piranha TeAcH said:


> http://www.bigalsonline.com/BigAlsUS/ctl36...louriteblack7kg
> 
> thats not a bad price


As long as you aren't getting it shipped...the extra weight charge will break the bank, especially on multiple bags.
[/quote]
From there example of a 2" bed you would need 4 bags which would be about 100$ after tax.


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## lo4life (Aug 12, 2008)

Just go get some sand.. If you want a entire carpet then you will not see the black in the florite. Just use some root tabs and Co2 and you will be fine. Co2 is really nice to have and isnt actually that expensive after the inital blow of the things that you need. Go to a welding shop and buy a Co2 tank dont rent it because it will cost you more in the long run. I just went and got my Co2 tank filled and it was only like 10 bucks and will last a LONG time. For lighting you can go to wal mart and get shop lights for pretty cheap and just get the 6500k bulbs. Thats what i did and my plants are doing fine. A lot of guys in here use shop lights because they are so inexpensive. Just try to spread the things that you purchase out and you will have them in no time.


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