Advice for setting up my first planted tank

[JCrizz]

Hey guys! I went ahead and bought a 20 gallon long tank today (30" long) to replace my first tank (10 gallon). I have a few things in it already including a few decorations, driftwood, java moss and an anubias. I want to plant the tank and get 4-5 pea puffers. I'm not really looking to spend a lot of time on the plants, but I know the puffers prefer a medium to heavily planted area with places to explore and hide. Can you give me some suggestions on the best and quickest way to get started? Any strategies that you're found with the best? And lastly, what kind of lighting do you use? That is the final piece I need to get situated, but didn't want to spend a bunch of money on say a led setup if that isn't a good way to go. Thanks as always to you guys and gals who are always helping newbies like me!!!

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[TattedUpFishGuy]

On my planted community I have T5HO's and I only have a little Java Moss on some driftwood and a lot of Java Fern, also anubias. I have driftwood so its easy to start the growth, but you can use your decorations by tying the roots with fishing line. It would be more difficult trying to grow plants in the sand. I also use diy co2 and dose with flourish excel. Java fern is pretty cheap, at most lfs and explodes in growth from co2, t-5's and flourish excel. It also looks great

[mnemenoi]

LED's or a decent dual T5 set up the length of the tank will be fine, Ebay has some decent prices from Top Dog, just be sure and get the 6500K or 10K option. You can use sand, though planted substrates will fare better over time, Eco Complete or something similar is a great choice. Just look over non-ph reducing substrates like Flourite. Locals trim fairly regularly and asking a few for trimmings might yield decent results. I trim a 5 gallon bucket on big trim days out of our 6 planted tanks easy and it usually gets tossed. I only run low tech so nothing needs higher light or CO2 injection.

[TattedUpFishGuy]

I also use T-5HO's on my 75G reef and there great. 6700k is what I use on my planted

[JCrizz]

Yeah, I don't know anything about this co2 injection but I've at least heard about it lol. As you can see I already have sand in as my substrate. Do you think that will be a problem? I am hoping to find a decent sized piece of driftwood this weekend that's more than just a branch like I have now. If I find a decent sized piece, will the plants attach to that so the sand won't be an issue?

Thanks fish dude! I replaced my daughter's fish tank with this (10 gallon to 20 gallon) so I figured I better keep the princess castle and mermaid at least!

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[TattedUpFishGuy]

I have not had success with full sand but it can definitely be done. In mine I have sand in one corner. You can use weights or pots made for aquariums. As far as the driftwood. Yes most definitely you can get the roots to attach pretty easy. I use fishing line. It works great, you can't really see it and in a month or so you can cut the lines off. Now the co2 I went the diy route. All you need is two cups of sugar, a pack of yeast, a two liter bottle, a hat for you bubble counter, some air line and one of thise...I forgot what there called but to keep the water from reversing from your tank..anyways the whole setup is like $5 just out on YouTube diy co2....City pets has great pieces of driftwood!

[TattedUpFishGuy]

A jar for your bubble counter....spell check

[JCrizz]

I went to fish gallery today and I think it looks good. Thoughts?



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[TattedUpFishGuy]

That looks awesome! Great start

[JCrizz]

I got plants (Amazon sword, hysteria, analysis), 2 new pieces of Malaysian driftwood, 5 otos and 4 pea puffers. I'm so excited!!!





How many can you find in this picture???


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[TattedUpFishGuy]

I see one at the top left but can't see anymore...but using a cell phone so it's a lol harder to see

[Crush]

Looks great!

[morpheus]

looks great. just wait and see how it fills out. people on here do give away trimmings now and again. very helpful with eachother. my first planted tank was solely donations from everyone on here. very generous.

i only do low light plants, so two daylight CFL bulbs are all i use in my 10gal (6500k spectrum). i am setting up another planted tank soon as well, so that may get a little more in depth for types of plants and substrates.

i never did an all sand substrate, mine have always been gravel. but with your sword plants, use root tabs if you do not already. many rooted plants will benefit from them. you can get them on amazon or any store. put them in the sand/soil and they last about 3 months feeding the surrounding plants. helps them get established and stay green/full. swords are very nutrient hungry plants i learned

also dosing with Flourish (or Flourish Excel) helps the stem feeders

[LordBarron7692]

The sand should be ok as long as you use some sort of root tab

[ptran]

Looking great!


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