# Starting a 20g tall planted



## Kageshi17 (Sep 6, 2006)

So I've been successful with really low light plants in the past. I'm not sure what they were called...the ones that are still doing well in my ex's tank are apocolog...I dont know. Hehe. They usually have a few longer leaves and then a really long stem that reaches all the way to the top of the tank and then sprouts a leaf there like a lily pad. I like em, they are cool. But, I now have a 20g tall that I have done nothing with as of yet. I have a 50g filter for it, a HUGE bag of gravel, a 200 watt heater, a glass top, and am going to get the light which will be 3wpg.

So, I was thinking of asking for advice on how to start up the tank. I was imagining that I could fill it with water and start the cycling process with leaving the filter and heater on with no fish or plants added. How long should I do this, if this is the first step, and what plants would be good for a nice densly planted 3wpg tank? When the plants start filling in and are doing good, I will add my 12 glowlites, 3 platy, and 5 female betta.

Advice would be awesome on how to set this sucker up. I have never had alot of plants to take care of at one time. In my 29g at my ex's I grew about 5 apoco..whatevers, 1 java fern, and some java moss. Haha. Ok anyway, thanks for the time you spend on this post if you happen to!


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

Kg:

I hope that I can be of little help here but first

I am assuming:
1) that the tank is 30" deep and
2) that the light is white light or
3) mostly white light with 25% blue light.
(My experience is that even at 3W/Gal at a 30" depth "daylight" or "grow light bulbs" will not provide enough light for many plants at the bottom of the tank.)


*A) Substrate*
Have you given "any thought" to "what you would like the tank bottom to look like"?

In a recent post I set forth the following (which has been modified for this post)
For substrate:
1" of 1/4" or 3/8" inch of uniformly graded gravel;
overlaid by 2" of laterite;
overlaid by another 1" of 1/4" or 3/8" of uniformly graded, subrounded gravel.

Two additional items:
A.1) If "this was my project" I would determine the color of the gravel courses based up the aesthetics associated with the plants and the "colors" of the fish which I would be procuring.
A.2) The laterite can be "at least partially hidden" along the perimeter of the tank by "mounding up the gravel" along the perimeter as you are adding the laterite (I was not "smart enough" to do this when I reset up my tank several months after a LFS "had set it up") but I have seen tanks where this method has been successful.


*B) The plants.*
1) I have procured many plants from
http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/categ.cfm?pCatId=768.
Most of plants are easy to grow plants.

2) I have also had "good luck" procuring plants via
http://www.aquabid.com/
When I find a plant which "I like" I google for the particulars of the plant.


*Additional Items:*

a) Liquid Fertilizer

IMHO purchase Seachem Flourish Excel as it is almost a cure all for plant growth as well as algae control*
http://www.seachem.com/products/product_pages/FlourishExcel.html
*Please refer to the following for algae control also:
http://www.fishforums.com/forum/fyi-your-info/17334-algae-fighting-west-texas-style.html

b) Cycling and Plants

1) You can induce your plants into the tank immediately subsequent to placing the substrate, adding dechlorinated water and bringing the temperature to 78F.
2) You did not state the filter which you are considering purchasing but in general for a fishless cycle for a 20G tank:
A) Put three tablespoons of flakes in the tank;
B) Perform 25% weekly WC's;
C) At the end of Week 2 add one tablespoon of flakes to the tank;
D) At the end of Week 3 add one/half tablespoon of flakes to the tank;
E) At the end of Weak 4 vacuum the bottom of the tank and check the water parameters.
F) If the concentration of ammonia and nitrites is 0 add 1/3 of the fish you anticipate for your ultimate stocking level but
G) If the concentration of ammonia and nitrites is not 0 then please post.

TR


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## Guest (Sep 21, 2007)

I'm going to assume you mean a 20g high, which is 16 inches tall. Please correct me if I'm wrong. If in fact the tank is 16 inches tall, a 65w fixture is perfect for it.  If you haven't purchased a light fixture yet, the 24" Coralife is a pretty good one. You'll have to buy some mounting legs for it as well. They are good fixtures.

Most of the plants in the Medium category at Plantgeek.net should grow nicely for you. There are some plants that are pickier than others though. Also, anything in the low categories should be fine as well.

With 3wpg, you want to think about fertilizing, because to have healthy plants at that light level, you'll need to provide nutrients. Especially if you are planning on having a densely planted tank (lots of plants).  I suggest investing in some dry fertilizers, such as KNO3 (potassium nitrate), K2SO4 (potassium sulfate), and possibly mono potassium phosphate. I would atleast get the first 2, as well as a micro fertilizer like Flourish.

If you can rig up a DIY CO2 setup or even better, purchase a pressurized system, that will definitely help your plants thrive. Excel is a carbon supplement, not a fertilizer and while it can help with algae problems (preventing and treating some), it has not shown to be the equivilent of CO2 injection (the results aren't as good from what I've read, in high light). DIY CO2 is not hard to setup and most of the items used, you probably have lying around the house. Its just the process of changing out the mixture every few weeks to keep your CO2 production as steady as possible.

You will have alot of plant choices with 3wpg. I suggest you look through the profiles at plantgeek, check out aquabid if you plan to order from there, and look at other places that you would purchase the plants to see what you like and what is available.

You can have plants in the tank during the cycle. What I always do with a new tank is take some filter media from an established tank to use in the new filter. Then I add in alot of faster growing plants (mostly stem plants). Then I stock it with a group of fish. If you can't get some used filter media, then you could still add in alot of fast growing plants and stock the tank with a small group of fish (for a 20g, I'd get 4-5 smallish fish, like your Glowlights) and then watch the ammonia and nitrite levels. Then a week later add in a couple more. Just stocking slowly and having the fast growing plants will provide you with a "silent cycle" in where you most likely won't see an ammonia rise or nitrites.


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