New 55 gal planted community tank

[spitfire]

I am setting up a 55 gal planted community tank. I am going with Eco Complete and Fluorite as my substrate. I will be using an Emperor 400 and Eheim 2234 w/ surface skimmer. Should I install a UV stabilizer on the Eheim?
I am still debating CO2 and the lighting. I will probably go with a light fixture that will give me at least 2-3 watts per gallon. I will install lots of caves and structure for the fish to hide in. I would like to use these fish:
a couple apisto pairs or a trio, cardinal tetras, pencilfish, glass catfish, roselines, serpae or black tetras, maybe some black neons, pygmy cory, otocinclus, and siamese algae eaters. Any comments on these or other fish that would work out are appreciated. I have chosen these plants:
Foreground: anubis nana, coffeefolia, pygmy chain sword
Middle: anubis barteri, braz. sword, rotala indica, cryptocoryne, java fern, java moss, indian fern, vallisnernia americana
Back: Anubis congensis, anubis gigantea, ruffle plant, echinodorus blehri, echinodorus osiris, ludwigia repens

Any other plants that I should include?
What fertilizers should I use?

Are weekly water changes sufficient for a planted tank?

Thanks for participating in this forum - I have already learned so much form you.

 

[AdamT]

I don't recognise all the plants you named off, but I did see a bunch of anubis, crypt, and stuff that I think of as kinda slow growing. Fast growing plants are really the ones that are gonna be good for nutrient uptake and out-competing the algae. There was some faster growing stuff in there as well, just remember to keep as much of it as you can. If you have 1 anubis instead of a dozen rotala it doesn't take too many trades like that before nutrient uptake really falls off and you have algae everywhere.

-A

 

[rpiotr01]

Hi there,

First thing's first - stick with the cannister filter. The Emporer will cause a great deal of CO2 loss with its splashing and the water's contact with the air. You want as little of that as possible.

If you're going to go for the 2-3 WPG then you definetely want CO2, for a tank that size go pressurized.

Before getting to the plant selection just a few words on ferts and nutrients. Remember this: algae can use nutrients like nitrogen and carbon in far far far smaller quantities than higher plants. You cannot limit algae's growth by limiting nitrate. You'd have to get it down to where we're talking in parts per billion, it's just not going to happen. Forget what your test kits say about nitrate readings. The way to prevent algae growth is to get the plants growing as well as possible. That means providing them with everything they need in sufficient quantities. For a tank with that plant assortment:

2.5ish WPG
pressurized CO2, keep it STABLE at about 30ppm
1/4 tsp KNO3 three times per week
1/8 tsp K2SO4 twice per week
a few drops of P, you can use seachem's phosphorus, per week
dose Flourish on days when not dosing KNO3

and the most important part - 50% WC every week. All the nutrients you're adding are inorganic. Algae will feed like crazy off of ammonia and other organic compounds. Water changes help remove this stuff from the water. This way you control what goes into the water, and you control what builds up. Water changes are like a reset. Fish LOVE them too

Keep the water clean with WCs, keep it moving.

As for the plant, that's a lot of anubias and ferns. Stick with java ferns and smaller versions of anubias, like nana and coffeefolia. barteri and the others grow too large. Don't plant them in the substrate, tie them onto wood and rocks. Use wood to create height in the aquarium, prevent it from looking flat. Those swords will also grow too large. Use crypts for the midground, in and around the DW. Vals can be used for the background, but jungle vals are too large - look for italian vals, or use crypt balansae, or cyperus helferi if you want grass like plants.

Also, stick with either eco complete or flourite. EC seems better to me - less rinsing involved, less mess.

And a big word of caution - plan out where you want everything to go before doing it. Mess with the substarte as little as possible. This is where a lot of organic materials build up, and when you release it into the water column, that's when you get algae problems. Pick a layout and stick with it.

Happy planting!

 

[apistoireland]

The high tech approach will probably work but there are cheaper ways.
first of all to plant selection. Start with the really fast growing stuff. Good plants would be Hygrophilia polysperma, Ludwigia repens, Echinodorus quadricostatus. You will need a lot of them of them. If you think you have enough double that amount again. H. polysperma and L. repens are very cheap and easy to get hold of. They will grow like wildfire and hopefully should out-compete algae. Then slowly introduce the other species you have in mind. The java ferns and anubias should be the last to go in since they are the slowest growing.
Don't add any fertilizer for the fist couple of weeks. You will not need any. Since you are dealing with a start-up situation there will be nitrate spikes anyway so no need to add any more fuel to the fire so to speack. Your plants will have plenty of nutrients to deal with.
As far as the light goes you should aim for about .5 watt per litre. That's plenty to keep the plants you intend to keep.
For a substrate you can use any clay based long term fertilizer under a layer of quarz sand (2-3mm) 1.5-2'' deep. An undergravel heater would be nice to get the water circulating through the substrate.
However, I tend to favour the low tech approach. I use river sand in all my tank. Start the tank with the plants species I metioned above and let mature. Then slowly remove surplus plants and add the other plants you intend to keep. I use mostly Echondoris species. Should they show signs of a lack of nutrients I just use potters clay that has been shaped into pea sized balls and place one of then near the roots. You can add iron (crytal form) as used in hydrocultures.

I do use a CO2 system on my tanks. You can use CO2 systems with bottles of CO2. If you do , get friendly with your brewery rep. Get a bottle and a valve of them. Much cheaper than the systems that are designed for aquarium use. You can also use a natural fermentation system. You can't really control the output but generally it will not do any harm. I've been using natural fermentation systems for many years now and never had any problems with a ph crash etc even though I am keeping many fish at the 1 kh mark

 

[TetraFreak]

Interesting selection of fish and plants!

The fish selection looks mostly South American while the plants are mostly Asian...

Perhaps something you may want to look at for your tank is going with a specific theme...with the Apistos as the show fish, you may want to do a South American tank.

"SA Only" Fish & Plants can make for a stunningly beautiful tank. with CO2, Good lighting, & Ferts, you'll be trimming every week or two! your fish will love you for the plant growth and they'll be happy as well. Plus, the added bonus of the tank requiring less maintenance as it grows...other than pruning & replanting the clippings and the weekly water changes.

So many different options are available out there to look at...and all the "SA Only" tanks I've seen have been gorgeous(My own included)!!!

Hope this helps!

PEACE!

-TF

 

[chappy]

ApistoIreland- Was thinking of using a fermentation co2 input kit rather than a pressurised system due to the small size of the tank,100 Ltrs.Just wondering if there is any way you can switch these off at night.

Tetrafreak- Any suggestions on fast growing south american plants to start a tank up with.

 

[apistoireland]

no way to turn off the natural fermantation systems at night. But you really don't have to. I have them on some of my tanks and my water as it comes out of the tap is less than 1 kH. Never had a pH crash in 20 odd years. So I wouldn't worry too much that your fish will suffer

 

[AdamT]

Rather than turning off my fermentation CO2 at night, I run an airstone on a timer between 2 and 3 am.


-Adam

 

[spitfire]

2.5 week update

Sorry - I have been busy. It has been a lot of fun. I cannot believe how fast my plants are growing - three different plant specimens are out of the water already. They were received at approx. 5-6 inches in height. In 2.5 weeks they have tripled in size. I love the pearling. I am battling some algae but it is getting better. I feel the tank has not stabilized yet - since this is my first planted tank I am trying too many different things instead of being patient and changing one thing at a time. However, it is getting better - I just need to find a way to remove the current algae better on my foreground plants - sag. subulata, microsword, and baby tears. Any ideas on getting the algae in check? Should I remove the HOB filter and install a powerhead to move some water around in the tank. The water does not seem to be moving very much and I feel that could be an issue - help please....
I am very happy with this tank. It has exceeded my expectations. I love my plant selections - the reds are incredible - I love the rot. wallichi, het. zosterifolia, bloodstargrass, kleiner sword, and the lud. gladulosa. I am very happy that I did not go just S. American, etc. I mean a nat. habitat is one thing, but this is my tank and I wanted certain plants.
As far as inhabitants go: cardinal tetras, rummynose tetras, apist. cacatuoides, GBR's, otos, a giant blue feather duster (way cool), and a pitbull. I want to add maybe another one or two pairs of apistos and some pencilfish or harl. rasboras. I want a couple SAE's too and maybe a few cories. Thanks for the help in gettng this going and for all of the suggestions. There are several people out there who really helped me get my tank to this point - I am VERY grateful to them.
I have pictures need to figure out posting .....

 

[apistoireland]

nice to hear that things are moving along nicely.
However, I would not stock any more fish for the time being. Get those algae sorted first. More fish will produce more waste products on which algae thrive