Planted tank renovation, opinions appreciated

[moonbunny]

Hi,

I'm in the lucky spot of being about to receive a high output plant light, so I'm thinking I'd like to renovate my 55 gallon tank as a low-tech, kind of easy, planted tank. The reno would be almost starting from scratch--substrate, decor, plants and fish. I'm hoping that a few people here who have planted tanks might share some advice on what works, stumbling blocks to avoid, and generally things to do to make things easier. I've read so much that I'm already confused, so all opinions would be greatly appreciated.

I've 2 bristlenoses already. The main concern with them is that they survived a bacterial infection that hit one, then the other very quickly this last winter. I treated them with everything I could, including huge water changes, and they survived, but they lost most of their fins to the infection. They're now healthy and doing well, but I just need to take their diminished swimming abilities into account when designing the tank. I'd like the reno to be as sensory and stimulating as possible for their enjoyment.

I've attached a pic that's my inspiration--mainly, I like the look of a tank with lots of rocks, only they'd displace too much water, so I'm thinking of using maybe 3 big pieces of driftwood as focal points instead and using plants as softer, secondary design elements.

In general, it's a 55 gallon tank with a Rena XP3 canister filter with a Hydor in-line heater, glass canopy with a high output plant light to arrive soon.

For the bottom of the tank--
Presently the tank has a bare bottom b/c it's so easy to keep clean, but I'm open to any/all suggestions about substrates (I was thinking maybe some sort of flourite/laterlite/eco-complete, etc.) I've read where some people just have regular aquarium gravel that they supplement with root tabs, does this work as well or better than having a substrate with some of the nutrition built in?

Possibly a powerhead--
I'm also considering increasing the water's circulation with a powerhead. One of the two fish really loves the feeling of water being added to the tank, so I was thinking of having just a powerhead to work as a circulation pump/small filter or have one work as part of a river tank manifold.

Caves--
I've been wondering whether to go with something like cichlid stones or not or whether comfortable enough housing could be made with the combo of driftwood, rocks and plants.

Plants--
I'm thinking it might look nice to have a few long-leaved/wiggly plants as well as some carpet plants that look like tactile fun. The big thing is the last time I tried having plants was 9 years ago and I only used ambient light. And they were so over-run by pest snails that I ended up stripping the aquarium down completely, re-cycling and starting over. My health's not as good now as it was then, so I'm really hoping to avoid the snail problem as much as possible. I'd been told at the time that such snails couldn't reproduce in freshwater, which turned out not to be the case and I couldn't trap enough, try as I might. I'd even soaked the plants in potassium permanganate to no effect. I've read where assassin snails are supposed to do the best job of killing/eating pest snails. Would the assassin snails end up laying a ton of eggs? Is it possible to have a planted tank without a snail problem, and if so, how?

CO2--
I'm afraid of accidentally gassing the fish with CO2. What would be the safest way to make sure the plants have what they need? Should I go with a liquid CO2 product like Flourish or would I need a CO2 injection setup?

Tankmates--
I'm still reading fish profiles and trying to figure out where I can get fish locally since the temp. is starting to steadily get into the 80s and 90s and I'm not sure if fish could be shipped safely. The only things I'm sure of are that I'd really like to find a fish or two with a dog's personality and I'd like the fish to be peaceful to each other.

Ideas? Suggestions?

[Bas Pels]

CO2--
I'm afraid of accidentally gassing the fish with CO2. What would be the safest way to make sure the plants have what they need? Should I go with a liquid CO2 product like Flourish or would I need a CO2 injection setup?

In a tank with many plants, the general rules of thumb do not apply. After all, the plants need CO2, nutrients and these are precisely what the fish produce.

My advise would be starting with a few fishes, but expanding the population every week, untioll you end not @ 1 inci of fish per gallon, but at 2 of perhaps even 2.5

The fish will supply what the plants need, in the right dosis. Its even free

[dw1305]

Hi all,

I'm afraid of accidentally gassing the fish with CO2. What would be the safest way to make sure the plants have what they need? Should I go with a liquid CO2 product like Flourish or would I need a CO2 injection setup?

I have the same concerns, but you don't need to add CO2 to grow most plants. Added CO2 is required to grow some plants (like Hemianthus callichtroides "Cuba") submersed, but this is mainly because they aren't plants that naturally grow submerged for long time periods.

As "Bas Pel" suggests many plants can be grown in a tank, with a plain sand substrate, and no added fertilisers or CO2. Often these are described as "low light plants", mainly because they survive when grown in low nutrient/low tech. situations.

high output plant light to arrive soon.

You may need to limit light intensity and/or photo-period, I do this with a floating plant, and I also use this to indicate if the plants may need feeding via the "Duckweed Index" <http://www.planetcatfish.com/forum/view ... ex#p247580>.

Suitable plants are Aquatic Mosses and Ferns, Amazon Swords, Cryptocorynes, Aponogeton crispus, Nymphaeae, Cabomba caroliniana, Anubias, Hygrophila corymbosa etc.

cheers Darrel