Tropical Fish Forums

[koolguyal]

I am upgrading my tank to a 46 gallon now (its a tall bowfront) and plan to keep some a pair of Angel fish and 2 pairs of Bolivian Rams that I would like to breed in my tank, if possible.

I was thinking of using dwarf hairgrass as carpet; an amazon sword, Creeping Red Ludwigia (Ludwigia repens), and Green Cabomba in the back; with a few crypts and anubias in the front of the tank. Also some Java Fern on a piece of driftwood in the center. Maybe some Dwarf Sagittaria & Golden Moneywort in the middle (on the sides) as well.

I did not want to use any CO2 nor any fertilizers in the tank. I do have a twin light fixture (2x25 Watts), and am using Flourite in the bottom of the tank and putting some small gravel on top of that.

Are my lights enough for the plant types I working with? Or should I invest in another light fixture? Or should I start with what I have and see if I need more light and invest accordingly?

[koolguyal]

P.S. I have a glass top so have no problems getting another fixture and using it .

[Minsc]

Could you provide more info on the light fixture? Brand name and type of bulbs would be very helpful, or a link to the product would be great.

[koolguyal]

Heres a link of the light bulbs I am using T8 (8000K) 36" 25 Watt Fluorescent Lamp:
http://www.all-glass.com/products/lighting/lighting.html

The fixture is from all-glass as well. Its the Twin Tube fixture, 30 watt, 36" tubes Polished Aluminum:
http://www.all-glass.com/products/hoods/index.html

[Minsc]

It will probably be just enough for the type of plants you listed. The Anubias and Crypts will definately be fine. Keep the glass clean and expect the plants to take a while to adjust, even a couple months. You will want to add at the very minimum a good trace mix like Seachem Flourish as directed on the bottle.

[koolguyal]

How hard is it to fertalize a tank? Is it as easy and some drops of the fertilizer in? Can it be harmful for the fish? I wouldnt mind putting it in if it doesn't have any affects on the fish and quality of water.....I guess I'm just a big concerned not knowing much about fertilzers and CO2 and trying to stay away from it because of that.

[Minsc]

Have you been to www.rexgrigg.com yet?
One of the best introductions to doing a planted tank right.

[koolguyal]

Yes I had and it seemed like there was too much information to digest there. I do not want to get tied to checking all the different parameters listed there for iron etc etc, plus figuring out which CO2 is good and how much of it I should be using.

That is why I was trying to stay away from both CO2 and fertilizers. I have had 2 plants in my 15 gallon and since they survived thought of going for a planted aquarium.

Anyways I would still be shying away from CO2 however since fertilizers do seem important I will just invest in some comercial product that will keep my plants in good shape Thanks for your advice!

[Rex Grigg]

Buying commercial fertilizers is buying a lot of water and very little fertilizer. Get the dry compounds from Greg Watson. As long as you do a 50% water change every week you don't need to test. I have not tested water in my planted tanks in over a year.
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Link to my Guide www.rexgrigg.com


Semper Fi

[Marcos Avila]

Yes Rex, but you gained that confidence over many years of testing and getting to know how your tanks and plants behaviors relate to water parameters. Newcomers to the planted tank hobby don't have your trained eye, so testing is still highly recommendable regardless of how much water they change...
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Success with a fish/tank is measured in YEARS, not months or weeks...