29 gal planted aquarium setup

[cubsfan]

I just bought a 29 gallon (30"x18"x12"), and would love to set it up as a heavily planted community tank with apistos being the centerpiece. After reading some info about setting up planted aquaria, I believe that I am going to go with a moderately lighted setup.

I plan on setting up the lights to achieve about 2-2.5 watts/gal.

For CO2 I would like to use two DIY CO2 injectors.

For the substrate, I am thinking of either doing all flourite, or a bottom layer of flourite, with regular sand over the top.

Does this sound like an environment in which plants will flourish? I really want to have luscious plants, so it is important to me that they be able to thrive.

Also, does anyone have any suggestions besides, java fern, java moss, and crypts that would do well in this tank? Any help and advice will be greatly appreciated.

 

[M0oN]

For my substrate I do the following:
I layer the bottom of the tank with jiffy peat pellets (they're small compact discs that expand in water, consist of both peat and very nutrient rich soil) then add a layer of pure flourite and cover the top with a layer of sand. Keep in mind that if you do use sand you'll need to get some malaysian trumpet snails or it will become compact and restrict the roots from getting the water flow they need.

Some plants that do well in lighting conditions you're talking about are sunset hygro, anubias barteri and some crypts.

You can find a good list of plants with information on each at http://www.aquabotanic.com or http://www.plantgeeks.com

If I were you I'd consider buying a fully automated co2 unit from http://www.aquatic-store.com since apistogramma are fairly delicate a large pH fluctuation could kill them overnight...

Hope that helps,
Jason

 

[M0oN]

Forgot to mention you can get the peat pellets are a fairly good price on e-bay, got 150 of em' for 20 bucks myself, free shipping...normally 20 bucks for 30 of em' at the local garden centers...

 

[cubsfan]

Thanks for the excellent info Moon...

I would get a automatic CO2 system, but I really don't have the money to spend on it. Does the output from the DIY CO2 systems fluctuate alot?

I have heard that if you put peat in the substrate, you have to be very careful not to stir it up, as it will cause major problems for your tank if you do. Is this the case? How hard is it to prevent this from happening?

Thanks again for the help.

 

[M0oN]

Since the jiffy pellets have their own little fine mesh around them they don't really get stirred up at all, not to mention if you use them as a base substrate they're still covered by two other layers...I've not run into any problems, if anything the flourite is the more messy part of things.

DIY co2 systems are iffy, they cause a lot of fluctuations in pH until you get it down and apistogramma are somewhat sensitive in that respect, you'll end up spending more on a DIY system between buying yeast and fixing unforseen problems then you will on an automatic system in about 2 years time, I only need to fill my tank once every 3 years on my automatic system...never have to replace anything, pH never fluctuates more then .2

It's actually worth saving up the money to get the automated system in my opinion...if you still go the other route here's an excellent article on DIY co2

http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

 

[farm41]

I just refilled my 10lb co2 tank, lasted 13 months on my 75g tank. Cost $9.80 to refill. Last time I used diy co2, the sugar would cost that much per month, not to mention having to set up 5 diy generators.