what do i need for a planted fishtank?

Question

i have a 55 gallon fishtank and am looking forward to planting it. what all do i need to get started. lighting(watt), heater(temp), gravel/substrate, anything else? please tell me all i need to get started. thanks :]

Answer 1

Here are a couple of sites all about plants

http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=326
http://www.liveaquaria.com/general/general.cfm?general_pagesid=56

good luck

Answer 2

what you are planting depends on the equipment you need -- do you want to go high tech with bright lights and non-gravel substrate and co2 or would you rather go for a tank with less equipment? what kind of fish do you want? a lot of fish aren't going to be happy living in a tank with a lot of light.

if you already have a hood you can start by replacing the bulbs -- learn about the color rating numbers -- most plant friendly bulbs are higher color rating than what your hood came with but you want to stay in blues and reds -- really high color rating bulbs are more in the blues for saltwater tanks.

you should research plants -- if you go to the store they will sell you a bunch of bog plants that won't grow well fully submersed in water -- but they are usually more decorative until they die and muck up your tank. people in pet stores know little enough about fish -- they know nothing about plants at all.

Answer 3

I actually have a fifty 5 gal with java ferns, so... Ottos are surprisingly sturdy for maintaining the glass clean. specially situations they sell a variety of fish it relatively is approximately an inch long, suggested as a "Siamese algae eater" or a "Butterfly algae eater" or a "Siamese pleco." it is not a actual pleco, and would not get that vast. It looks greater like a flat pebble with a tail, and it has little spots throughout it. those adult adult males consume the algae off the glass, and on no account touch the vegetation. Malay trumpet snails do help slightly, yet they are able to get out of hand, and the only sturdy thank you to maintain them in verify is to get a loach. Ramshorn snails (American ones, with the purple pores and skin) are slightly greater effective, yet they actually bypass all out, and that they are able to hold illnesses. in case you overwhelm a number of them, the gouramis and the tetras will ultimately initiate ingesting the babies. An apple snail might artwork. I even have some doubts approximately them with java ferns, yet i'm surprisingly advantageous the actual concern grew to become into the pleco, and that they infrequently stay for greater effective than a twelve months besides. i've got got here upon that brighter lighting fixtures additionally help. it's time to alter out the tubes. diverse sources advise 6 months to a twelve months between each and each replace out. once you're inexpensive like me, you may wrap the interior the fixture with aluminum foil, yet be careful to no longer get that too close to to the contacts, and be advantageous to tape it down sturdy.

Answer 4

1. a thin layer of gravel keep it scan as it will be easier to clean
2. temp for tropicals and cichlids 18-28 degs c goldfish 14-20
3 PH 7-7.2 range
4 water ager to remove the chlorine from the water
5 lighting usually 30 watt fluro only leave on 12 hours a day
6 do not put tank near a window as you will get too much algae
7 plants. elodea, combomba , valanceria, wisteria, amazon swords, purple waffle. java fern, they all work well
8 a good filter, either power head or canister filter
9. leave the tank planted for 7 days before adding fish and then only 2 fish start with the cat fish as they are your cleaners for the tank leave it 2 weeks and add another 2 otherwise you could lose your money as the fish may die added too quickly
10 change 1/3 of the water once a week add water ager and a good plant food

Answer 5

honestly i think your starting out too fast.... but if you still want to do it then i'd start with the following:

co2 diy kit,
coralife light system 2x65 t8 6700k fixture
substrate: red sea flora base about 5 bags (1 bag every 10 gallons)
fertilizers... read about EI method... or just get some trace elements to start IE seachem flourish..

Definately read more dude, your jumpin in way too soon. But if you need further help come to my forum
www.fishaquarium.org i can help you out there aswell, and take alot more time,

Answer 6

Before you plant the tank, which I think is a great thing, you may want to consider first how you will cycle your tank.

A good forum for you to visit would be:

http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/

If you want to cycle a freshwater, saltwater or marine tank, there are different forums for all three types which are moderated by expert fish hobbyists to experienced to beginner fish hobbyists.

It generally takes 4 to 6 weeks for a tank to complete its water cycle - use distilled drinking water if your city's tap water is hard. don't over chemical your water or you will stress/kill your fish by poisoning the water, and you'll know you've done this if you have an accumulation of white foam on the water's surface that gathers around the filter intake. Water conditioner is basically snake oil. It doesn't work on tap water. Use the product Prime, or StressZyme and Cycle is a great product as well to condition water. But if you use distilled, reverse osmosis or spring water that you can purchase in 10 gallon jugs at the supermarket, you won't have to treat that water and your fish will love you for it.

I have a 28 gallon freshwater tank that I chose to cycle with a few zebra danios.

What your 55 gallon tank will need:

flourescent lighting for plants (petsmart sells them cheap)

submersible heater with dial on top for temp. settings: between 72-80 degrees. The higher the temp. the less oxygen in the water though.

1 - 1 1/2 inches of gravel = 20 Ibs of gravel (not good at math)
add this before you add the water. rinse it first in a strainer to loosen dirt and dust. do not syphon or change the tank's water during the initial set-up cycle b/c you want to establish good bacteria colonies on your tank's gravel bed and on the sponge of your powerfilter.

powerfilter for your 55 gallon tank - Aqua Clear is the brand I use; it comes with a sponge media, carbon mesh bag and bio max mesh bag that cleans the water and promotes good bacterial growth. And its very quiet. Fish need water movement.

you could also invest in a sandstone bubbler to help circulate the water and create more surface current. Some fish love to swim through the bubbles it will create. Soak it for an hour in the tank before you turn it on and connect an air hose to it that connects to a separate motor you'll have to buy. Petsmart has all these items. The size of the sandstone bubbler varies. The larger is better for your 55 gallon tank.

decoration - to break the fish's line of sight and give them something to swim through or around can also stimulate them so they don't die of bordem. Fake wood, etc. again Petsmart sells these items.

Freshwater fish or saltwater fish: personally freshwater fish are easier to maintain b/c you don't have to add salt to the water and are a more peaceful species; danios, platies, guppies, etc.. groups of 3-6 per species are best. All fish are territorial so be careful you don't mix the wrong species together or have too many males to females in the fish schools you choose.

If I were you, I'd visit the aquariacentral.com fish forum for advice on the following:

1) fishless or fish cycling of tank
2) type of fish to add after tank's cycle has completed (if fishless cycle)
3) type of lighting - for a 55 gallon you can buy a flourescent light separate from your tank's hood that mimick's natural sunlight and is used to benefit live planted tanks. You will also need to purchase a product like "flourish" which is a liquid fertilizer that has to be added every week. Also, you don't want to keep your tank light on for more than 8 hours or you will have major algae growth; your plants will LOVE it, but too much light will stress your fish out (they only need 8-10 hours of light but have to sleep too).
4) go to the petstore/petsmart and look for a submersible heater like a marineland 200 watt visi-therm. Every submersible heater will indicate on its package the size of tank it is meant for.
5) gravel/substrate: for live plants, and depending on the fish, I suggest a gravel of no more than 1 to 1 and 1/2 inch in depth. Depending on the plants, which I will list next, you don't want to completely bury the roots of specific plant species.
6) aquatic plants available at petsmart:

Java Fern - easy to grow and new buds will sprout from the fern leaves. do not completely bury the roots. they will attach to individual gravel pieces after a few weeks of good tank lighting and liquid fertilizer like the product "Flourish."

Hornwort - fish LOVE this plant. And it grows extremely fast. You can purchase it in a bundle form and keep the bottom of the bundle, in rubberbands which will not affect your water's ph or quality and can be trimmed every week for new plantings around your aquarium. Fish love this plant b/c they like to sleep in it, and livebearing fish will deliver their fry in this plant; and the fry have a better chance of surviving if they have a plant like hornwort to hide in while they grow; b/c their mother/father will want to eat them after they are born - that's just their nature. Livebearing fish are not nurturers at all; its sink or swim with livebearing parents.

Frill is another great aquatic plant.

Here is a link to aquatic plants. Each require different lighting; light to moderate to bright.

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=8

I have my tank in the corner near a window and so I don't have to use my tank light very often and the hornwort, frill and java fern I planted are growing very well.

Go to aquariacentral.com fish forum. All your answers and some great photos are available to anyone interested in being a fish hobbyist.