# Cichlid Man's planted tank.



## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Hi Simpte, I've sent you a private message, but just in case you don't get it I thought I'd post my questions here:

I'm setting up my first ever planted aquarium. (Can you beleive it, Cichlid Man going all weedy.)
And I thought who better to ask than the very plant man himself.
The tank is quite large, and it's going in our lounge so it needs to look presentable, no garage tank or anything.
Anyway, the only thing in the tank at the moment is RO water with some mineral additives suitable for discus, I'm not planning to keep discus in it. The only fish I want are 5 cardinals and 5 harelquins.
There's not even any substrate in it yet.
I've already got some bogwood to try and stain the water a little with tannins.

Because cardinals and harelquins are quite skittish and prefer darker tanks, I want some black substrate. However, it's been quite difficult getting hold of any as the types I've found are only suitable for rift-lake tanks as they buffer the water.

So here are my questions:

1) CAN YOU RECOMEND A BLACK SUBSTRATE, OR COMBINATION OF BLACK SUBSTRATES THAT ARE GOOD FOR THE GROWTH OF PLANTS, AND KEEP THE PH AND HARDNESS LOW?
HAVE YOU USED PEAT?

2) IN YOUR EXPERIENCE, WHAT IS THE BEST LIGHTING TO GET FOR PLANTS LIKE AMAZON SWORDS, JAVA FERN, CAMOMBA SP? AND OTHER AQUATIC PLANTS SUITABLE FOR ACIDIC TYPE SETUPS FOR OPTIMUM GROWTH?

3) DO YOU NEED A CO2 COMPRESSOR FOR PLANTS? WHAT SORT OF MODEL CAN I GET AWAY WITH AT A CHEAP PRICE?

I hope you can get back to me with some answers, and don't forget if you have any cichlid questions, just ask.

Thanks, Danny AKA Cichlid Man.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

I got your pm. I'm still typing out a "letter" to answer all your questions. As you are in England you are able to get ADG products that we would have to wait months to get. I will list many options and ups and downs to each of them. Should be rdy tomorrow evening.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks Simpte I'm waiting here patiently. And yeah, living in England does has its advantages, but here we can't go out and catch our own fish. (We can, but only your bog standard river fish like trout.)lol


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Not many native fish in Ohio so dont feel bad. A few darters, minnows, bluegill and sunfish. How big is the tank?


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

I'm doing this in a 20g tank. 32" by 12" by 15". I only want 5 harelquins and 5 cardinals for inhabitants.
The reason why the tank is not that big is because I'm looking for beauty rather than size. (Plus I won't have to spend so much on plants and RO water.)


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

If everything goes to plan, so if the plants establish, and fish thrive, then I might consider doing the same thing in a 4' by 2' by 2' aquarium and do everything on a bigger scale.


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## Guest (Jun 24, 2006)

I have a question...I hoped Cichlidman's first question about the substrate would get answered on here, but I see it isn't.

Does Eco raise the KH and pH? How much?


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

JustOneMore20 said:


> I have a question...I hoped Cichlidman's first question about the substrate would get answered on here, but I see it isn't.
> 
> Does Eco raise the KH and pH? How much?


Eco-complete for plants doesn't effect the water chemistry at all acording to them. And if it did it would only be minor, or at least decrease pH instead of increasing it.
If you have a CO2 unit, it should keep your pH quite low even with some of the more calcium based substrates in moderation.
You might be talking about the eco-complete suitable for african cichlids however, which does raise pH.


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## Guest (Jun 25, 2006)

Ohh I see. Ok, that's good. My pH is neutral, so I didn't want a big pH drop. Thanks!


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## northfacehiker (May 31, 2006)

Simpte,

I know it's a lot to ask, but I would love to read a copy of what you're sending to Cichlid. It's almost the exact same thing I'm building into my new 55 gallon (lighting and base plant choices are almost identical). This information would be hugely beneficial for me as well if you are open to passing it along.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Its almost done. Didn't finish it Saturday so work calls. Substrate is my biggest concern but with a 20 gallon tank, CIchlidman will be able to get ADA amazonian soil from a semi-local lfs or on-line store. Much harder and more expensive to get it here in the US but that would be Europe and Asia's best bet for substrtae.


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## Fishboy93 (Jun 11, 2005)

Man i wish they had the ADA ADG stuff near me..........


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## ultasol (Mar 12, 2006)

there is a plant system seller in TX that imports and sells ada/adg products. Not trying to plug another site, but the best place to track the guy down and to find in depth reviews and dissection of those products is at aquaticplantcentral.com
Also., look at the natural planted tank forum. Very worth checking out.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

Yes, Jeff Senske is in Texas and does sell ADA products. Very nice guy. Has set up hundreds of planted tanks. Getting ADA products from him arent bad but if its not in stock, you will have to wait months for him to order his next supply. They don't special order as its too expensive to ship a few items from ADA in Asia.

Cichlidman, I reccommend ADA soil (dont really need the powersand but its a nice added feature). The AMazonian is a really nice dark color too.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Now I guess that aqua/amazonian soil doesn't cloud the water, because I bought some pond soil and peat the other day, and put some in a bucket to see if they cloud the water. The soil took about 5 days to settle, but the water is still too cloudy, and the peat hasn't settled at all. So I'm not going to use either as a substrate. I'm going to put peat in a nylon bag though to lower the pH of the water.
I'm looking on the internet to see if I can purchase some ADA soil, but I would much prefer eco-complete as it doesn't cloud the water like soil.
I know you can add a layer of sand on top of the soil to stop it from clouding the water. But I can imagine the water will get cloudy from time to time in the event of planting/uprooting etc.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Thanks for letting me know about the ADA Amazonian soil. I've been reading about it and it all sounds good so I'm going to order some.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

I would. If it were only cheaper here.................

Regular tap will be fine.
Co2 will depend on your lighting but I'm guessing you'll start with easy to grow plants. If so a bottle of excel and some flourish so dould you fine. Tropica's Mastergrow will work instead of regular flourish (and I perfer it). This write-up is taking longer than I thought it would.........


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Simpte said:


> This write-up is taking longer than I thought it would.........


That's OK Simpte, take your time.


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## Damon (Jan 18, 2005)

A light dusting of Spagnum (spelling) peat moss on the bottom before the soil will help bacteria grow much faster. Just a dusting, dont cover the whole bottom. You should still see plenty of glass. A handfull should be more than enough.


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## Cichlid Man (Jan 19, 2005)

Simpte said:


> A light dusting of Spagnum (spelling) peat moss on the bottom before the soil will help bacteria grow much faster. Just a dusting, dont cover the whole bottom. You should still see plenty of glass. A handfull should be more than enough.


That's what I actually bought from the garden centre, thanks for the tip.


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## IloveCichlids (Jul 11, 2005)

Simpte...
did you ever finish that write up? I am interested to see it.


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