# Considering Switching to Planted Tank



## RobertsKitty (May 2, 2009)

I currently have 2 20g tanks, a goldfish tank and a tropical community tank. I have quartz sand in both of them as the sole substrate. I have been looking into and am finally ready to make the switch from cheapo depo plastic plants to the real deal.
I have seen the list of plants for beginners etc and just had a few quick questions.
I am willing and planning to probably buy some Flourite for substrate. My main concern is I don't particularly want to drain the tank in order to do all this and remove all the sand but I am aware it would be beneficial if the Flourite was UNDER the sand for the roots as opposed to on top of it. I can probably vac out most of the sand then add the Flourite. Would that be the best method? I need to add more substrate either way because we were running low on cash and sand at the time I did this so its only got about 1-1 1/2 inches of substrate through the tank. How much substrate is suggested all together for the tank. I have heard numbers like 3 inches in front to 5-6 inches in back is that viable? And if so how many 15 lb bags of Flourite should I expect to need to buy for each 20g tank?
Secondly, I am already planning on getting a new light for at LEAST one tank. I am planning to do I guess a low to medium light tank. Is there benefits to doing higher or lower lights?
Also, I have been doing reading and there are suggestions to keep the fish out for 2 or 3 weeks after planting. In my situation that is simply not possible. Is this true or needed in anyway? 
I have been looking at pictures and such of plants and I am definitely interested in the main ground cover to be Dwarf Hairgrass if that is possible but I don't know how much care it requires.
Other than that are there any particular plants that I should look into?
Also, this is probably a really stupid question but how much and how frequently do I need to do water changes once I first get this started.


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## Obsidian (May 20, 2007)

#1 I do not believe goldfish and plants go well together. It is my understanding that the goldies like the plants and will eat them all up. I am open to being wrong about that. 

#2 to change out to flourite you can also push all of the sand to one side, layout the florite for that half of the tank, push the sand on top of the flourite put down the other half of the flourite and then even out the sand. Make sure you turn your filter OFF for this as it will create a mess in your tank. Once the particles have settled you can turn the filter back on. 

 Happy planting!


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## RobertsKitty (May 2, 2009)

Where do you get the plants? I don't know of any AQUARIUM shops around though I could research but like the chain places like Petsmart don't really seem to have much of anything. I went to the closes Petsmart and only found 1 thing. I'm going to go to the one farther off and see what they have. I would like to get started on this fairly soon but I don't know where to buy any of the plants!


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

as time passes(a month or so) all of the sand will sift through the fluorite and will be on the bottom instead of on top...
yes..goldfish will destroy your plants.
although my friend has been rather ill and is kind of taking a bit of a break at the moment;i don't know how much he is doing...but you could try him.....the best plants at the best prices.....anywhere.....

www.bayleesfishees.com


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## thegotoguy (Dec 16, 2008)

robertskitty i disagree with your statement... in florida they have tons of plants... amazonz,hornwort,moneywort,anubias,cabomba,and mondo grass


but i just converted to a planted tank in my 37 gal eclipse with 8 angels 1 clown loach 2 algae eaters and 6 danios


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## RobertsKitty (May 2, 2009)

gotoguy- I'm not entirely sure which statement your disagreeing with...but in Oklahoma there aren't any plants at our petsmart...If that's what you were referring to....


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## skason (Jan 8, 2009)

Don't paint with too wide a brush. Having goldfish and plants together does not necessarily mean trouble, you just have to be picky about what plants you get. I have 2 comets in with some java fern and elodea. They don't eat the java fern due to it's tough texture, and even if they did eat the elodea, it grows too fast for me to notice.


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## RobertsKitty (May 2, 2009)

I still need to know how deep should I layer the Flourite? Also, what power light should I look for? The one I have is the tube not the bulb kind. Should I try for 2 wpg or more? I'm going for low tech if possible. I don't mind doing ferts if I have to but the CO2 I'd prefer to avoid.


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

for me; i would put in a minimum of 2 inches... 3 would be better..
2 WPG is good for a low light tank.. if you maintain a decent number of fish; there is no need for ferts...
i dislike using co2 for anything other than fire extinguishers and carbonation of soft drinks.. i just keep thinking of a cylinder of co2 and the valve goes bad and leaks the whole thing into the house or apartment with your baby sleeping in the next room....
nice plants...dead kid..lousey trade off...
now i am sure somebody is going to say it isn't possible... but i know it is.


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## RobertsKitty (May 2, 2009)

Thanks SO much! Very helpful


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## RobertsKitty (May 2, 2009)

One more question, the tank is currently fully stocked. Should I start taking plants out and adding the new ones slowly or all at once? I don't want to screw up the cycle that I worked so much to get done. I'm hoping to go for light to medium lighting and get things going super quickly.


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## Elyn (May 18, 2009)

I bought my plant from ebay seeing as how i couldn't find the one I want from the stores around me. Still waiting on it. Hope it gets here okay.


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## sneasle (Jun 25, 2008)

Hmm.. let me lend my input here, for what it is worth.

My 29g has probably 40lbs of black sand and maybe a few oz. of a plant substrate added (it was pretty concentrated). My 55g tank has close to 70lbs+ of sand and several oz of whatever substrate stuff is in the 29g. Basically, I bought a box of stuff from Dr.F&S and most of it went into the 55 and the rest into the 29g.

My lights are pretty basic, single tubes on both tanks, running 40W on the 55g and 20W on the 29g. Talk about low light.

My tanks are very heavily planted. I don't fert them often, maybe once a month for some flourish excel. Flip through the forum a bit and you'll run into my journal at some point, should be some nice pics there.

You can sink a lot of time and money into a planted tank, or you can sink very little and still have a gorgeous tank. Maybe I'm wrong, I could of gotten lucky....


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## lohachata (Jan 27, 2006)

nah....you ain't wrong sneasle....you don't have to spend 10 grand to have a nice planted tank..i have seen a lot of spectacular planted tanks long before anybody ever heard of fluorite or metal halide or power compact or co2 injection and all that other junk..
in 1974 or 75 i won first place in the natural category and best in show with my 240 gallon tank in our clubs annual "home aquarium beautiful" compettition.i had only been in the hobby about 2 years..incredible plants..8 different kinds of crypts.. huge swords.. aponogetons 3 feet tall..... no ferts; only fish.... no special gravel... no co2..... and only 2 40 bulbs for a 24 x 24 x 96 tank...


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## jones57742 (Sep 8, 2007)

RK: Please excuse me but with the Forum "timeout for displaying posts during one session" issue I missed your original post.

loha, who has way way more experience than most of us, has addressed most of these items but I have set forth a "second take".



RobertsKitty said:


> I still need to know how deep should I layer the Flourite?


As loha indicated a total 2" substrate depth will probably not be sufficient.

In addition to loha's 3" comment you might consider one inch of 3/8" to 1/2" subrounded aggregate overlaid by two inches of Flourite overlaid by another one inch of 3/8" to 1/2" subrounded aggregate.

A discussion of the benefits of this lamination is beyond the scope of a post.




RobertsKitty said:


> Also, what power light should I look for? The one I have is the tube not the bulb kind. Should I try for 2 wpg or more? I'm going for low tech if possible.


2.0WPG to 2.5 WPG is a desirable range.




RobertsKitty said:


> I don't mind doing ferts if I have to


Fertilizers, although not absolutely necessary, are wonderful things but they take a little experience to "get the hang of" (we can help decrease your learning curve).

Dry fertilizers are the "way to go".
1) They are not near as hard as many times perceived to dose. 
2) *Rex Grigg's* site is the keys to the kingdom.




RobertsKitty said:


> but the CO2 I'd prefer to avoid.


Not necessary at 2.5WPG although you will read posts which indicate differently but these posts are typically by Internet Parrots.

TR


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

RobertsKitty said:


> I still need to know how deep should I layer the Flourite? Also, what power light should I look for? The one I have is the tube not the bulb kind. Should I try for 2 wpg or more? I'm going for low tech if possible. I don't mind doing ferts if I have to but the CO2 I'd prefer to avoid.


flourite for planted tank should be a minimum of 2in. eh if you want a good light bar go find a good salt water aquarium place. They should have these prebuilt bars, I threw away the box, but I think it was Corallite, or Coralight, or coralife... something along those lines. I got myself a prebuild 46" double light bar with 1 sunlight, and 1 coral flourecent bulbs in it for $79 which is a steal. Also a bottle of flourish is a must for a planted tank.

So long as you don't stuff your tank full of plants i.e. pull an amano you should do fine without a CO2 system. A cap full of flourish for my 50gal, a day makes em well... flourish like the bottle says.


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## Toshogu (Apr 24, 2009)

RobertsKitty said:


> One more question, the tank is currently fully stocked. Should I start taking plants out and adding the new ones slowly or all at once? I don't want to screw up the cycle that I worked so much to get done. I'm hoping to go for light to medium lighting and get things going super quickly.


Honest to goodness so long as you're not touching your filtration system, or removing the sediment from your tank. Basically only removing plants you should be fine. To be on the safe side maybe remove em in 2 parts do half one day, half the other. As for putting new plants in, you can stick em all in at once, won't affect a thing.


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