# Need a little guidance



## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

Okay, so I've read a little and may need a little guidance. I've never really done a well planted tank. Since I've gotten back into the hobby, I thought I'd give it a try. Currently, I have an 80g with 48" coralife dual T5 lighting and a Fluval 404 for filtration. It's cycling at the moment and has no substrate. My plan is to have some fast moving dithers with a fahaka puffer in there.

Here's what I *don't want*.

1. No crazy, high maintenance plants as I don't have time for that. I basically want plants that I can take care of with my fish (ie feed in the morning, feed at night, water change once a week, etc). In short, I don't want a freshwater reef, (I did an lps tank and it's too much for me.)
2. That means I'd rather not have to supplement CO2. I don't have the money to buy a $300 system. 
3. I'm willing to upgrade to 48" PC lighting at the absolute most. But I would prefer to keep my current lighting system IF possible. I can't justify buying MH lighting for anything at the moment, not even saltwater.

With that said, my only real *WANT*, is a nice grass-like plant that will carpet my substrate. If I can get that, along with a few other plants to compliment my driftwood and cover up some of the equipment I'd be perfectly happy. Can someone point me in the right direction as to which plants might suit my needs? I know I can pick up very hardy low-light, taller plants. My main issue is the grass-like stuff. Can't seem to find too much info on them.

this tank, while i know is "high tech & high light", has the carpet that i like...









will that require much?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

I think that is glosso and will require higher lighting. If your Coralife is the 56w version (28w x 2) then you will need to add another to get any kind of a carpet going. I like dwarf sag and E.tennelus micro for carpets in lower wattage tanks. The sag looks better w/o CO2 than the tennelus, but the tennelus will fill in much faster. It all depends on how long you want to wait for the carpet to grow in. You could also layer the tank with the carpet in front and remove plants as it fills in. Crypts can really fill in a tank once they get going. The hard part about lower light tanks and no CO2 is that you have to plant the heck out of it to fill it in before things take off...the plus side to that is that once it gets going, there is a lot less trimming and transplanting if done right.

My advice is get a whole bunch of the carpet you want and some crypts to fill in the other areas. Once everything is established, your tank will look good and be low maintenance.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

i have no problem with buying another light (gotta replace these bulbs anyway). i like the look of the tenellus. i was thinking of maybe combining that with dwarf hair grass, would that be okay?

once these guys come in, what advice can you give as far as propagation is concerned? just bury the roots in the sand?


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## Piranha Guru (Nov 24, 2005)

hyphen said:


> i have no problem with buying another light (gotta replace these bulbs anyway). i like the look of the tenellus. i was thinking of maybe combining that with dwarf hair grass, would that be okay?
> 
> once these guys come in, what advice can you give as far as propagation is concerned? just bury the roots in the sand?


Hair grass may work although it likes higher light...I would stick with just the tennelus micro though. Separate the individual plantlets as best you can and stick them in the sand. I tore down my 46g bow last year and was able to seperate the jungle of tennelus into enough plantlets to carpet a 75g and a 40g breeder. Took forever, but worth it IMO. I had CO2 on both tanks and 2+wpg and then backed off once it filled in (took maybe a month). The 40g breeder doesn't even have CO2 now and about 1.25wpg T-5...plus Excel and ferts when I remember. It's thinner than my 75g, but gets the job done! My other 40g breeder has a carpet of dwarf sag. It took over a year to really get it to carpet with low light and Excel because I only started off with a patch. The tennelus tanks have Eco-Complete and I find that they really do well with the finer substrate (sag is in Soilmaster).

All you really should need to add is another fixture like the one you have. Those T-5 Aqualights are slick and put out much less heat than their CF aqualights (although I do like those too).


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

yeah i may just buy another T5. with my tv, digital cable receiver and xbox being the same room it gets rather warm pretty fast with all the electronics running, i don't imagine a 48" cf light would help any.

as for maintenance, what should i be dosing?


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## RedneckR0nin (Nov 5, 2008)

I have tried at least four different additives and seachem" Florish" @1ml/10gallons every 4 days keep everything blooming and growing strong. I have noticed as well reproduction is at least twice what it was for new sprouting and growth from is considerably more. It has a multi-nutrient supplement and has not forced my Iron level high while chealated Iron remains constant once dosing is regular around the .25-.50 level!


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

I am having trouble dealing with even my medium light tank w/ CO2 these days. I just can't find the time to do what's necissary to keep it spiffy anymore.

So I think I'm going to do the same as you, and try a stricktly _Cryptocoryne_, and _Anubias_ tank. I have been growing them in my 75g med. light for over a year now, and they are really taking off. I think I have enough of them to start a lower light tank, filled in pretty well.

If you like the Glosso, why not check out _Marsilea minuta_? It looks almost exactly the same as the Glosso, only darker green in color. It doesn't need too much light to grow well, but as with all low ligh plants, it takes a long time for them to grow in like a carpet.

You can get away with 1wpg, but it will take a very long time for them to start growing in thick for you. 1.5wpg is the highest light you should go w/o CO2.

Dwarf sag or chain sword will work, but if you get some M. minuta, that plant can be a nice midground plant. 
Maybe check out _Cryptocoryne willisii_, _Cryptocoryne pontederiifolia_, _Cryptocoryne wendtii_, _Cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae_, and/or any _Anubias_, or _Bolbitis heudelotii_.
All of those plants thrive in low light, and are very low maintenance.

Hope that helped some


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

damn, you guys are the sh*t. looks like i have more exploring to do. i'll definitely look into diversifying with the cryptos, i took a look at all the ones youve listed and will have to visualize where i'd like them to go. after the addition of a second dual strip t5 i'll be at roughly 1.4 wpg (i hate using the wpg measurement, to be honest) so hopefully i won't need co2. seems like a big ass ache that i can't deal with since i'm working from 10am-10pm these days.

i'm going to do some more digging with all the suggestions and will get back to you guys. thanks for the help! i'm hoping to get all this stuff situated within the next couple weeks. btw, are plants affected by ammonia spikes and such?


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

hyphen said:


> damn, you guys are the sh*t. looks like i have more exploring to do. i'll definitely look into diversifying with the cryptos, i took a look at all the ones youve listed and will have to visualize where i'd like them to go. after the addition of a second dual strip t5 i'll be at roughly 1.4 wpg (i hate using the wpg measurement, to be honest) so hopefully i won't need co2. seems like a big ass ache that i can't deal with since i'm working from 10am-10pm these days.
> 
> i'm going to do some more digging with all the suggestions and will get back to you guys. thanks for the help! i'm hoping to get all this stuff situated within the next couple weeks. btw, are plants affected by ammonia spikes and such?


wpg is somewhat inaccurate, but it really is a descent general rule of thumb. 
I've been planting tanks for about 4 years now, and lots of people still use it who are not 
too pretentious about it.

Types of fixtures and bulbs vary in strength, but we all know that halide is the strongest, then T5's, then either of those with reflectors, then PC's, etc etc..

If you get a bit of algea, then we will look into why it's happening. One thing you can do to limit algea with about 1.4wpg is plant your tank densely from the beginning. That should help a lot.

If you still get algea with lots of plants in there, then just invest about 25$ in a liter of Flourish Excell, and you should be golden.

Plants love ammonia, so they are not affected by it in the least. I believe they can use up ammonia easier and faster than nitrate, so for sure don't worry about that.

Hope that helped too

Glad to see you going for a planted tank, Hyphie!


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## meateater311 (Sep 3, 2007)

I think you can put vho bulbs in that fixture maybe?? I have one in my stock hood and works well just keep it under 2wpg with no co2. Dippys the man listen to him


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

yeah, planted tank seems like fun dippy. just gotta start getting all my components together. you guys have definitely helped alot. hopefully, i'll be able to start ordering plants by next weekend.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

actually, i might be moving (going to check out a new place tonight). plants and stuff may have to wait til im done :/


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

I have Marsilea minuta, if you want some just let me know. Looks like glosso and grows like a weed. I think my high light days are over too, just too much maintenance for me. I do enjoy the rarer plants though.


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## hyphen (Apr 4, 2004)

i absolutely would love some. keep some on hand for me, i'm checking out a new apartment tonight. if it goes through i'll be able to take them off your hands in a few weeks.


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