# 29g planted.



## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I'm going to plant my 29g. My lighting is a t8 17w fluorescent light, I'm thinking I will try that flourite from petsmart. I don't want co2 and want to keep this low budget. I want that carpet look toward the front so I'm thinking dwarf sag and toward the back I would want a tall grass look on half the left side. On the right side some kind of big rocks. What you think?


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

If you want a carpeted tank without CO2 or high light...good luck bro. You could try using 2x t8 fixtures with Flourish Excel and Flourish Comprehensive and have moderate success. Add root tabs under the sag to boost growth.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

It's a hood with a 24" t8 17w light. I'm going to try it and see what happens. Where do people get the Mountain looking rocks from? What root tabs?


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## grogan (Jan 23, 2011)

Hand pick you own rocks bro! Go to a local river and get what appeals to your eyes. Look into other threads on the forum about testing them BEFORE you add them to your tank. 

Root tabs:
They are essentially time release nutrients that are added to your substrate. Your standard Fluorite or Eco Complete substrates are not going to cut it. Thats why you should add root tabs. Petco/Petsmart both carry API root tabs. They are expensive but well worth the investment. A low light, carpeted tank, is well very reasonable..if you beef up the substrate system.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I'm thinking I will use this organic potting soil I have better. Maybe about 1" all around the tank and sand on top of that. Do I need to rinse the soil first?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

Don't cap with sand. Over time it will mix with the soil, as it is smaller than the soil, and you will end up having a disgusting mess. Use gravel to cap instead. Potting soil isn't a good idea either since it has fertilizer in it to make plants grow quicker, use composted earth instead. It has no fertilizer but is still full of nutrients. There is no way you'll get a carpet look without high light and Co2. If you want to keep your tank low budget and still planted go with java fern, java moss, and anubias instead. These plants work with low light, and no Co2.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Man; I want that carpet look. I'm doing it with no co2 it will be done. Maybe some of the eco-complete better with sand cap?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

sand cap is a bad idea with any substrate because you will never find a plant substrate that has a smaller kernel size than sand. The substrate with the smallest kernel size will eventually end up on the bottom which is why you need to use a substrate that has a bigger kernel size than whatever earth you use. Gravel works well for this.


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## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

why not PFS?


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## BettaGuy (May 6, 2012)

PFS(pool filter sand) also has a smaller grain/kernel size than earth. If you try to cap any earth with sand you will end up with a blend of sand and earth which looks ugly. The smaller sand particles fill the gaps between the bigger earth particles. Every time the sand is disturbed by a fish, water movement, or anything else the sand particles mix even deeper with the earth because the movement creates new gaps in the earth. This is why you cap with grave which has a way bigger grain size than earth.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Thinking about going with just ecocomplete no cap. I was looking at a small co2 system but it's around $50. My wife don't care much about any hobby's I have and will not let me buy one. Ideas?


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## emc7 (Jul 23, 2005)

You could try DIY Co2. But its ugly, smelly messy and you have to keep feeding it so it can actually cost more over time. I think the last one I heard tried was grape jelly and champagne yeast (from a home-brew store or internet). 

But I wouldn't try CO2 with only 1 bub. If you get things out of balance you will have something grow, but it won't be what you want. 

You could use plastic plants for the "carpet" and java fern tied to decor for the rest. People who see a mix often assume its all real.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Well I got some dwarf hair grass today from petsmart. Yup they sell it now. I'm going to use organic potting soil that I have. Do I need a cap over it? About how much soil should I use all the way across?


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Here we go I'm going to try and grow this out in a small 4 gallon tank first.


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## Blerty (Jul 13, 2012)

How I make thread


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Not to sound like a ass but it's simple and by looking a bit a 10yo can figure it out. Please stop spamming the forum. In the top left side you can see the new thread button click it...


Anyways it looks good. Im interested in the grass. How fast does it grow? Low light/high light?


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

What? I'm not spamming nothing.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Not u! Poster above me posted how to make a thread on like 10 posts. Don't worry coolfish you and I are still cool lol


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I just planted this stuff today. I'm going to use sunlight to grow this out. It's going in my 29g with a 24" t8 17w fluorescent light. Right now it's planted with organic potting soil.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Hmm good luck keep us posted on how it does. Maybe someday I'll add some to my planted tank.


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## Fuzz (Jan 27, 2012)

I'm not trying to be a smarty pants here or anything, but I've had my tank dirted and capped with PFS for about 6 months now and the dirt isn't mixing with the sand. It won't mix unless you move your plants around recklessly or if you have digging fish. If you have digging fish, it'll be hard to plant a tank anyways. I've replanted this tank a few times, but hardly anything ever gets brought to the surface when I pull plants out. The small amount that does get brought to the surface can be easily siphoned out of the tank.

http://i256.photobucket.com/albums/hh190/tallkid12285/2012-07-27_11-48-09_119.jpg

And in my opinion, if you are going for a carpet, you might as well not even bother with a cap over dirt.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

The DHG is starting to spread out. all i been using is organic potting soil and sunlight to grow it out. Went to a lfs to get some eco-complete but the guy said his son took the last 2 bags but will have me in some by Thursday. As soon as that gets here I will set up my 29g and start growing out the plants with that and the t8 light.


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## Cory1990 (Jun 14, 2012)

Put up pics of the DHG now. Im interested to see how it's doing after this short amount of time...


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I'll put up a pic tomorrow. It's just now starting to spread out.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Here is a pic I took like 3 days ago. It's hard to see but it's starting to spread out. It will do better once I plant it in eco complete.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

I'm thinking of getting some tabs and see if it will help.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)




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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)

Took out the organic potting soil because it was smelling bad. I just put eco-complete in the small tank and cut the dhg up in small pieces and replanted it. Now we wait and see what happens.


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## Coolfish (Apr 30, 2012)




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