# Live Plan Inquiry.



## Nfluckey (May 13, 2011)

Hey guys, I just got my 75 gallon tank for my red bellies, and the stand for it should be done within the week. I was wanting to go with live plants in this set up. I don't know much about this are of aquarium care however. I'm imagining i should start off with a plant that is east to care for. Here's what my set up is looking like..

5 Red bellies, about five inch's each.
75 Gallons.
Fluval 305.
Fluval 205.
75 Gallon powerhead fan.
Sand for substrate.

is there something i need to add to the tank to make it plant ready? Like a soil? Whats your advice guys?








I'll post pics btw.


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## addicted216 (Sep 30, 2011)

Nfluckey said:


> Hey guys, I just got my 75 gallon tank for my red bellies, and the stand for it should be done within the week. I was wanting to go with live plants in this set up. I don't know much about this are of aquarium care however. I'm imagining i should start off with a plant that is east to care for. Here's what my set up is looking like..
> 
> 5 Red bellies, about five inch's each.
> 75 Gallons.
> ...


plants are not my specialty, but it all depends how far you want to go, im trying out one of my smaller tanks with live now, and its goin good just with a better bulb, i have a t8 6700k bulb , but they are low light plants, i have a timer on for 12 hours, and they are doin great, as far as co2 goes dont know to much about that


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## Guest (Oct 17, 2011)

If just starting out with plants I would first start with a low light set up. Plants that can be used are crypts, anubias, ferns, vals, hygro etc

Here is a great site to purchase your plants from: http://www.aquariumplants.com/category_s/175.htm

I would not recommend sand for plants. Instead I would use Eco Complete, Flourite or Schultz Aquarium Soil. What size aquarium do you have and how many watts are the lighting. For low light setups, try to aim for at least 1 watt of light per gallon. Co2 is not needed for a low light setup


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

No co2 for low light tanks is fine.

Yep, Anubias, java moss, java ferns, Bolbitis, most Cryptocorynes, hornwart, and some floaters like duckweed would make a very good start.

You can use sand if you want, you aren't going to get lots of growth in a low light setup, and you can feed the plants a micro nutrient after water changes if you want your plants to have a better shot at looking good, like Flourish comprehensive


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

ksls said:


> I would not recommend sand for plants. Instead I would use Eco Complete, Flourite or Schultz Aquarium Soil. What size aquarium do you have and how many watts are the lighting. For low light setups, try to aim for at least 1 watt of light per gallon. Co2 is not needed for a low light setup


sorry for jacking the thread...
does it matter much if i use silica sand? or quartz

I got 3.25 WPG and dosing and injecting co2

wondering if it will matter lol









if it does guess ill get flourite :/ 100$ fir 4 bags and shipping


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

SpecialEffect said:


> I would not recommend sand for plants. Instead I would use Eco Complete, Flourite or Schultz Aquarium Soil. What size aquarium do you have and how many watts are the lighting. For low light setups, try to aim for at least 1 watt of light per gallon. Co2 is not needed for a low light setup


sorry for jacking the thread...
does it matter much if i use silica sand? or quartz

I got 3.25 WPG and dosing and injecting co2

wondering if it will matter lol









if it does guess ill get flourite :/ 100$ fir 4 bags and shipping
[/quote]
I know your Q was for ksls, but I thought I would chime in since she hasn't yet..

I don't know about the quartz, but silica sand might give you some trouble for a few months.
I used pool filter sand in one of my tanks. I liked the look, but I ended up with diatoms, and cyanobacteria that I hated.
I had to manually remove them both out of my tank every other day, and it got on my plants a lot, and it was a major pain... I got rid of it.

I heard that you can go to your local water company, and buy sand from them, I believe, for a water purifying gadget or something? but I hear that the sand they sell is very cheap, and is free of silica and bacteria.

Sorry for the vague comment, but it is worth checking into


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## Guest (Oct 20, 2011)

Thanks for clarifying Dippy







I agree, you really should try and stay away from silica based sands as they do tend to promote outbreaks of algae/diatoms and like Dippy said it is a pain in the butt to manually remove.


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## SpecialEffect (Aug 7, 2009)

Alright going to get rid of my silica sand (or is it quartz idk) it could be a reason why I had brown growth on my glass... Never on the sand itself though :/

Terrible that fluorite black sand is so expensive though... Such a shame... Going to have to buy quite abut of it now ..

Looking foward to removing all the old sand tomorrow, go me :/


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## Guest (Oct 21, 2011)

To help cut the costs down a bit I mixed equal amounts of black gravel with black Flourite


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## Nfluckey (May 13, 2011)

Currently have 4 Amazon swords about a foot tall and 6 batchs of "mojo grass". Not very full yet but i feel like it's not looking to shabby. I purchased Leaf Zone from API but after doing a little reading have decided to return it and instead use the Seachem Flourish product. Currently leaving the light on for about ten hours a day. Should i be using both the lights in the tank? I have one white directly over most of the plants, and the other light is blue and only over a few plants.


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

Only use the 2 lights if all is well in the tank, and it doesn't equal over too much more than 1.5 watts per gallon.

I hate to be the one telling you this, but that stuff called 'mondo grass' isn't aquatic..


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