Questions regarding Biotopes and Live Plants.

[digitallinh]

Hello Community,

I am a brand new fish-keeper, outside of the deathtraps I managed as a kid. I have recently ordered a 30 gallon Aqueno Tank with a Eheim 2211 filtration system to use as my starter tank. My house generally has the A/C running all day @ 75 and I'm planning to position the tank near a window (100% treecover, so no direct sunlight). I would also prefer that my tank not be murky.

The possibilities are endless, and I don't really know where to start so I have a few questions:

1. I am really open to the type of biotope I'm willing to simulate, my question is which biotope would be best for a beginner (with the least amount of effort/testing)?

2. Which biotope are the plants most readily available?

3. Is my filtration system too strong for my tank size? plants? Does filtration type matter? Should I change?

4. Should I even bother to have live plants or would they be too much to handle for a beginner?

Any nudging would be appreciated.

[mnemenoi]

Welcome aboard, glad to see such enthusiasm and focus in a such a wide hobby such as ours. Your tank sounds terrific and with that filter you should never have an issue with cloudiness, beyond the first few days for it to settle out. I'll try and answer your questions in your order ta help out as much as possible.

1. Nearly all the biotope tanks are manageable, given you that you start slowly and work into it with a focus and manage the tank well. In a 30 gallon there is quite a variety of differing areas you could choose from covering all the major fish locales. North American Native to South American to African Rift, it really depends on your choice in fish and what you'd prefer to house in your tank.
2. South American, North American, Central American, Asian, and African all have plants that are native. Once you have a choice in the type of fish you would prefer it will help slim the choices and options.
3. Your filter is strong, but many of us choose to overfilter and it works quite well for us. Certain tanks actually require very strong water movement (Hillstream), while others have nearly no flow at all (shrimp tanks). Your plants and area will help to decide and your filter has a control to slow flow if it becomes and issue.
4. Planted tanks can be quite tricky, but there are a trove of low light plants that thrive in most conditions. I'm sure that you could handle it and it would guide you in your choice of substrate and lighting initially. It is entirely up to you and even in non traditional tanks (African rift) you can still utilize some plants with enough lighting and using rockwork to prevent digging.

I think that if you had a small list of what type of fish you prefer to keep I could assist better in choosing the right inhabitants and plants. The possibilities are quite endless, aggressive or peaceful, schooling or solitary, ect. Just post up what you'd like to see in your aquarium and we can offer what advice we have.

[TonyO]

I agree with mnemenoi on everything. If you let us know what you're looking for in terms of the species you want (lots of color, for example), we can certainly point you in the right direction. Ultlimately, we can make suggestions, but the focus should be you enjoying the tank.

Given your tank size, I do think there are some limitations, but we can probably find something that would work for about anything. . .

[digitallinh]

Thank you for your replies.

I have decided to go with the Southeast Asian Backwater/River Biotope. This is especially interesting since I happen to be from this region!

Here are some links that helped me out a bunch, in case anyone else was interested in setting one up of this type.

Links!

1. Mongabay Biotope characteristics, also has very well written profiles of many types of fish throughout the site.

link

2. Badman's Tropical Fish - has a nice graphic of what this biotope is supposed to look like.

link

3. Thread at "theplantedtank"

link

4. Wetwebmedia , goes into a bit of detail on the substrate/texture of the tank
link

The equipment!

1. All-Glass 29 Gallon tank 30 x 12 x 18

2. Eheim Filtration 2213 with Hydor In-line 200W heater.

I wanted to have as little non-natural elements inside the tank as possible, plus apparently the filter system is virtually silent! Don't forget the valve switches!

3. Zoo-Med Aquasun T5-HO 30" Lighting fixture

This link is a great resource to decide what type of lighting one should get for their planted tank.

The fish!

1. 2 - Dwarf Gourami link
It grows to about 2" , swims Mid/Top

2. Small school (6) of Red Rasbora link
Schooling fish grows to about 1.75", swims in the middle

3. Small school (4) of Dwarf/Chain Loaches link

Bottom dweller, grows to about 2.5"

I am trying to avoid running a pressurized c02 system, if anyone has any thoughts on this, it would be helpful.

Also still working on picking which plants!

So excited to receive all of my shipments!

[TonyO]

That's very similar to a tank I was thinking about doing a few months ago. Those fish shouldn't give you any issues in terms of care. Just keep the water clean, and they'll be fine. I have a soft spot for dwarf gouramis. They're one of my all-time favorites.

[jhouk]

What about his co2 question?

[digitallinh]

@jhoulk.

I've earned a whole lot in these past 2 weeks and the conclusion I'm resulted with is that every situation is different because every tank has different nutrient demands (light,co2,npk (nitrogen,phosphate,potassium),trace) that are wholly dependent on plant load and fish load (fish provide phosphates and nitrates). It's not that complicated though, as long as you adhere to a few basic principles you will find success, albeit at different rates.

1. Plants outcompete algae for nutrients. If you lack nutrients, but have too much light/co2, you will provide a haven for algae to grow, since the plants will not utilize all of the light/co2 you are providing them. Therefore the most popular fertilizing method is overdosing nutrients (NPK) accompanied with weekly 50% water changes to 'reset' the nutrient table.

In essence you are giving your plants all of the nutrients it needs to utilize all of the co2/light that you provide it.

2. Think of light as the gas pedal, and co2 as fuel. The intensity of light you provide your plants can change, just increase or decrease the distance between the light source and your plants. More co2, more light. The key is balancing light and co2 with each other.

3. Flourish excel is viable form of carbon. Your plants will grow slower, but you will eventually reach the level of a co2 injected tank, assuming nutrients. The more carbon you have, the more you are able to slam on the gas pedal (light). The generally accepted effectiveness of flourish excel is that it will provide about 30-40% of the carbon needs a co2 injection system will. Therefore you must lower your light.

4. Watts per gallon is an inaccurate judge of light effectiveness.

Co2 injection - high light - high nutrients
Excel - medium/low light - low nutrients
Noco2 - low light - lower nutrients

Light intensity is very tricky, because some fixtures provide better light than others, you just have to find what the value is for your specific fixture at what distance.

So something you can take home:

29 gallons - fully stocked with fish and plants
1.5x the excel daily dosage for carbon
Zoo-med aqua sun T5 24watt x 2 about 21 inches from the substrate which gives it a 45 PAR rating, putting it at medium light.
nutrients outside of what fish provide

Potassium Nitrate (kno3) 1 and a half 1/8 tsp twice a week.
Mono potassium phosphate 1 and a half 1/16 tsp twice a week.
Trace elements (flourish comprehensive) 2ml twice a week
50% weekly water change to reset.

Here is my tank, still have a bunch of plants and 20lbs of ecocomplete sitting in a tub to put in.

link

Centerpiece fish is a pearl gourami, along with a school of blackline rasbora and 8 loaches (kuhli/yoyo) at the bottom.

Send me a private message or post here if you need anything specific. I'll do my best to help, remember I barely started 2 weeks ago!

[TonyO]

Not experienced with the CO2 outside of the one I made that didn't work as well. That's really for someone with more expertise in that area.

I do like your choice of fish. Pearl gouramis are gorgeous!

[algarciajr]

Welcome to the box, good information for someone who only has 2 weeks experience.

[TonyO]

Welcome to the box, good information for someone who only has 2 weeks experience.

Definitely! Good that you sought information.