Best Way to Set up a Planted Tank (Photos Added)

hows things lads its about time but ill be start the new setup soon it is a 180L rio and i want to have it as a planted setup

now the only thing is i have no clue at all with plantes and that as never done it befor i have a co2 system ready to setup for it again no clue eith that to ( ha

im lookin for ideas to wat to do and for wat to put in it plant and live stock wise and wat way to start it of off a step by step would be great i know im push it

im going to be addin redmorr wood also and caves and that

i am going to be gettin a few bits and bobs for it tomo like the JBL mando,t5 light reflectors will have to check the blubs again that are in it but i know they are defo t5s would these be ok if thay are not plant blubs?

is there anything else i am forgettin ?

thanks

sean

CO2 not gonna give you any profit for plants if you not gonna use proper substrate, light and fertilizers.
If you wont use CO2 system you need at last 0,8W/L but best for plants is to have 1Watt/per 1L of water in ya tank so if you have Rio 180 you need 180W.
Best results you get with bulbs with 6500K, 8000K or 10000K but I think 65000K its just perfect for plants.
If you boost plants with CO2 and light you need proper soil and JBL its waist of your money. I would recommend ADA soil as best for plants.
ADA New Amazonia its full of fertilizes but still with CO2 and strong light you need add some plant food. Perfect will be to use whole ADA product for plans like Bright K, Green Gain and Step 1 but its expensive so I would go for dry fertilizers (search google for EI - estimate index, Tomm Barr).
With planted tank its good to have external filter.
Its recommended to have fast growing plants for first few weeks and then replace them with target plants.
Fast growing plants helps with nitrogen cycle and stabilize tank much quicker.

www.aquaticplantcentral.com/

this is one of best forums about plants.
good luck with new tank and keep us posted

yeah ill have to check the bulbs are see wat W they are i have a ex filter running on a setup now its up and going about 3 months that will be gettin put on to this setup as a had twp ex filter on the other one i will also be usen tab ferts anything else i would need?

also i was thinkin off usen Oliver Knott soil substrate with the manado??

im going to be doing a lot off readin about it

thanks mate

sean

Hi
There is whole bunch of different methods to do it and in my opinion ADA is total ripoff. Tropica has brilliant substrate, i had Dutch style tank based on it + EI + co2 and it was working perfect. Also if u are planning to have "planted tank" not "perfectly planted aquascape" i wouldn't worry to much. Don't spend to much on fancy substrates and ferts. Set it up, experiment, learn, observe and prepare for proper one down the line.

I think Bart has the right Idea play around with the set up and find what works for you, when you decide on your substrate plat many different plant and see what likes your set up.

Im currently experimenting with the walstad method for a low tech natural planted tank and Im having some sucsess and some problems,Like anerobic conditions in the substrate etc.

I will be setting up a juwell vision 260 with this method over christmas (keeping a picture journal) and have found that my experimenting on a smaller scale has thought me some invaluable lessons. I would say that most of the comercial substrates I have seen are rediculously expensive.

Im currently using an Aquatic soil designed for ponds at 5 euro for 20KG (cant remember the brand) capped with play sand, The soil is giving fantastic growth on my plants but the sand was a bad idea (causing anerobic conditions), I need to find some nice 2mm to 5mm sized gravel and change the soil cap in my 70L and I think ill be golden,

hi - i just changed one of my tanks to a planted tank about 3 months ago. Bought a substrate (cant remember which one tbh) and make sure the lights are on for 8-9 hrs a day. Thats all I do!
Plants all seem to be thriving for now

If you're only starting then do not waste your cash on expensive substrates or fertilizers. ADA label alone will not grow you plants. First you have to understand how it works or otherwise you'll be growing algae not plants.
As Bart said there are many different methods and I found that you have to adapt methods to your tank needs not you're tank to the method. EI is a good one except for big tank that means loads of wasted water and fertilizers and this is not practical.
Before starting do some research. Also you have to have a vision what you want your tank to look like and what plants you want to grow. The less species you have the easier it will be. Juwel tanks are bit hight and the standard light that comes with the tank is not strong enough.
My recommendation for substrate would be Akadama as it is cheaper than ADA, JBL or any other branded substrate and has all the needed properties.

bart wrote:

Hi
There is whole bunch of different methods to do it and in my opinion ADA is total ripoff. Tropica has brilliant substrate, i had Dutch style tank based on it + EI + co2 and it was working perfect. Also if u are planning to have "planted tank" not "perfectly planted aquascape" i wouldn't worry to much. Don't spend to much on fancy substrates and ferts. Set it up, experiment, learn, observe and prepare for proper one down the line.

Nofence lads but howe many of ys have tanks on ADA to say its not worthed to spend money??
I had 4 diferent setups on ADA. Ill try walstad method and EI and still thing ADA is best on market. I know its not cheapest stuff and cost me fortune for my shrimps farm but I waste money on any other soil I used.
Over half of my 22 tanks is on ADA malaya,amazonia and amazonia New and if I woud have to spend money again I woudnt think. I woud go for ADA.
EI its good but for people with experience and good knowlage.
ADA wos design for begginers and with full ADA line you will have no problem to grow plants.
I remamber 5y agoe it wos same in my home counrty Poland. Many people wos saying its waste of money etc and now after 5years Poland supply all eastern europe so its mean louds of people is buying in the country wher people dont have money to waist if you know what I mean:-)

I agree, you spend more money making mistakes than using what is tested and true, a lot of the substrates run out of their growing potential very quickly and people end up coughing up heaps of Notes trying to get things back to where they were in the beginning, good substrates never cause the problems that bad ones do.

ADA is more expensive than some but in the long run you save more than you lose, my only worry is when a product with a good rep cannot fill the largess in orders and ends up selling it's Name to a franchise where quality control can be an issue but somehow I don't think ADA will be going down that route, it's been the mainstay of planted Tanks in the East and you only have to ask the Dutch what they use and you'll see the majority use ADA.

Kev.

ow is ADA better than Monado from JBL? I use it and love it.. would be nise to know the difference

Draco wrote:

Manado comparing with ADA is like to compare Toyota with Lexus.

So you mean the same

Draco wrote:

Manado comparing with ADA is like to compare Toyota with Lexus.

ah ok, now I understand

smitas5 wrote:

ow is ADA better than Monado from JBL? I use it and love it.. would be nise to know the difference

Hi , Manado is a man made substance without any nutrients, like crushed stone, ADA has Macro and Micro nutrients.

Kev.

Toyota and lexus are very much different actually as i worked in a toyota and lexus garage for 3 years.

Mando is jbl s product to rival that of ada s amazonia.


So its there product to try rival in the live soil market witch there are many companys that have a product in that field.

Obviously one is going to be better you cant say every product in that market is the same



with the amount of people talking about ada youd have to argue that people are getting better results out of it.


Every brand name has a mini filter for example so is that to say there all the same


no some work better then others.

Hehe
A bit of an argument.
Instead helping Vision 260 to plant the tank we are making him more confused. ADA or no ADA good luck sean and we are waiting for pics

thanks lads

and all info is much appreciated i went out and had a look at a few different bits and bobs i came home with wat i tot was the best (thats what i tot so hopefully it works out for me) i got 2 bags off oliver knott substrate

www.oliver-knott.com/naturesoil-bodengru...en+M52087573ab0.html

seems to be the way to go would love to see if anyone else has used this and wat they have tot i also got few bits off redmoor wood and also orders the reflectors for the tank i had a look at the bulbs and they are the standard juwel 2 x 45w i know i should be lookin for 1w per 1L well that is wat i came across when readin up on planted setups should i just try with the bulds that are there at the mo or not?

as i said ill have the CO2 so should boost it a bit?

thanks for the replys and cant wait to here wat else yous think also am lookin for ideas as setups goes like plant lay out wat plants are good and so on fish stock also and who know might put all off the ideas together and end up with a SWEET setup (hopefully)

sean

Hi Sean.

I have had 2, one, currently, running on Oliver Knott, never had a problem , I have CO2 running on a Lido 120 and it's been Fabulous, I add Flourish complete Fertiliser and Flourish Iron, the second Tank, a 150 litre was run on Manado, which I believe is inert, devoid of nutrients but behaves like a reservoir to absorb and slowly release any nutrient within the Tank, it was over Aquasoil ( ADA Pproduct )and it flourished.

Check them out under stretnik, youtube.

Kev.

thanks kev they are some planted setups you sure know wat u are doing some great growth when u say Flourish complete Fertiliser and Flourish Iron, are they a type off ferts? when it comes to dosen are all tanks different i guess they would as for size wat was your routine for dosen and that im going to read up on the Flourish complete Fertiliser and Flourish Iron, in the monring

thanks

sean

Flourish is made by Seachem and may need to be ordered from the net, Lighting is important but ONLY if you are trying to grow plants that need higher intensities, some plants like Crypts and Amazon Swords, Java Fern and Anubias will do quite well under less than perfect conditions.

If you wanted to get your CO2 into the set-up without Regulating Apparatus you can use Flourish Excel or Easy life Easy Carbo but DO NOT use Flourish Excel in a Tank with inverts, ie. Shrimp etc, there is copper in it for some reason and it will affect Shrimp etc adversely. The instructions on the Bottle seem to be advising very small amounts but the advice is correct, add what is advised by finding the correct volume of each Tank you are fertilizing, get a sticky label, write down what the volume is and adhere to the instructions. Place the Label somewhere like the inside of the Cabinet where it will not get wet. I don't like fertilizing Tabs because they are too strong on newly establishing Plants.

Kev.

yeah was talkin to gav today in FFF and he said i wouldnt need the tabs as the oliver knott does the job i know i will have to upgrade the lightin at some stage but at the start i think i should see how i get on as some off the lads said the only way to learn is to try it also i was lookin at Seachem they defo seem the way to go but again would i need them from the start?

ill have to look around ebay and that to see if i can get it in if needed or some off the online stores if cant get it here.

wat do u mean by (If you wanted to get your CO2 into the set-up without Regulating Apparatus you can use Flourish Excel or Easy life Easy Carbo)

if i am usen CO2 is there a need for easy life easy carbo? again they seem to be used by a lot off the lads with planted setups why? and also is there many benefits with usen them?

top tip on the sticky note for startin off think ill be taken everything down at the start wat does wat, why i have to use it and so on till i get on head around the ins and outs there is a bit in all off it but it is like everything else hopefully ill get the hang off it. prob take a while sayin that.

sean

What I meant was that if you were trying to get CO2 into your system without using a CO2 system ( Cylinders, Regulators etc, ) was to use Flourish Excel or Easy carbo as these are Liquid forms of CO2.

I would use CO2 from the start and other Ferts when you see definite signs of growth.

Kev.

Hi Sean, I use oliver knott soil,no probs,actually makes water slightly acidic,ideal for plants & soft water fish (tetras,Angels,discus etc) I found my plants grow well in it (3 inch depth of soil). Easy carbo is a carbon in liquid form,you WON'T need it since you have co2 in a cylinder. DO use a weekly liquid fertiliser as advised,most important. Good luck with it. Check out Takashi Amano if you get a chance.

yeah kev i tot that was wat u meant but wasnt sure and yeah i was going to use co2 from then start and wait till i see some growth and then use the ferts so i think im on thw right track thanks a mill mate

a1 thanks yeah it seems to be a very good substrate i got 2 10L bags so hopefully that should be enough for enough depth in a 180L rio is there another use off easy carbo as i seen a few lads with co2 and also usen the easy carbo?

wat ferts do you use mate and thanks ill check that out now

sean

That's a little misleading, "Dennerle Substrate" it casts more of a Net than a Cloud over things, Dennerle make a few substrates, one being Dennerle Quartz Substrate which contains as it says in the Name. Quartz, while another, Deponit professional which contains nutrient and I found to be very good.

www.reptilica.co.uk/Dennerle-Deponit-Mix...eral-substrate.phtml

Kev.

There ya go !

Kev.

I gona have some nice plant substrates with the end of the month, more info when my place on the forum gona be set.

You planning to be a Sponsor?

Kev.

Oh do we have a new sponsor on.the way

Yes, and I'll introduce my self as soon as I get my Space on forum



sorry no more offtop

yeah i was lookin at that substrate but i went for the oliver knott so hopefully i done the right thing as it was not cheap at all haha


i went out the other day and got a few bits for it i got 2 10L bags off the oliver knott substrate so fopefully that will be good and enough for the 180L i got the heater and the reflectors today and few other bits and bogs i got the ex filter for it about three months ago and that had been on one off my tanks i have up now to seed it for the new setup the bulbs are just the standard t5s that came with the tank i had a look at them and they are 2 x 45W so hopefully with the reflectors they will do for now anyway i know in some time i will have to upgrade them but for now ill see how i get on

for the CO2 i bought a complete setup off one off the lads on the forum it has a fire extinguisher and yeah it has a solenoid and drop check and the lot got a bigger CO2 reactor today it is a JBL and it is 190mm that does up to 400L also i got CO2 hose i also have the old reactor it is about half the size off the new one, would i be better puttin it all together so it should be about 270mm in length while i am talkin about this how long should the CO2 run for each day should it be on a timer? and lights also i know i will need to run the lights for about 10 to 12 hours a day but do i run them the same time as the CO2 or wat ?

also wat is the difference betweek the reactor i got today and the defusers i seen on a good few setups?

and welcome to the forum as a sponsor aquaticgardenshop

sean