I need your help/suggestions with my plan!

[skylsdale]

Alright, I'm coming to you guys for help. My plan is to transfer everything in my 10 gal over to my empty 30 gal (36x12x17) to give my tiger barbs a bit more room as they are finally filling out and getting fairly nippy.

I'm trying to keep to a SE Asian sandy stream, so substrate has comprised of various grades of sand and stone from local waterways. I recently added some C. wendtii and lutea (which seem to be turning yellow around the edges, I assume from poor nutrients) and Rotala indica (which is growing, despite the low amount of light in the tank). Anyway, I want to keep a similar look in the 30 gal tank: a sandy bottom with smooth stones with slightly sloped substrate, with plants simulating growth along the bank. I would really like to try some Eleocharis montevidensis in this tank, allowing it to grow above the water level and keep the tank open-topped. Other plants might be some dwarf hairgrass. I think creating a monospecific stand that slowly creeps from the higher elevated side into the main stream (but getting smaller as it goes deeper) would be very cool. However, I may just stick to the current C. lutea and try to get them spreading. Water level will probably be lowered and kept around 13-14".

First off, I'm on a dirty cheap budget. I would really like some suggestions on substrate. I don't have any LFS's in the area (save for Petco) so my options are limited. For the above plants, would it be possible to just use plant tabs for substrate nutrients? And by plant tabs, I'm assuming those Jobes plant stick, which I've heard of some people using, but I'm not sure if this is what they always refer to when they say they are using "plant tabs." Did that make sense? My other idea was to do some sort of layered substrate with either potting soil (via Diana Walstad) or Schultz/Turface/Profilefor a bottom layer and then cover with the sand that I'm already using. Would there be a benefit to using either method (plant tabs vs. bottom layer)?

As for lighting, the tank would get some direct sunlight through an east facing window in the morning. The tanks lighting would either be a couple NO strips with a total of 35W or so...or a 48" shop light with 80W of NO. This isn't as visually appealing as I get some overhang on either side. Water flow is through an old Duetto internal filter (which disperses DIY CO2 quite will if I decided to use it). No heater. No other filtration.

I know this isn't much to work with, but I would REALLY appreciate any suggestions you guys can provide!

[ginnie5]

ok for cheap substrate what about kitty litter and sand? It's what I'm running in all my tanks. There are lots of posts here about kitty litter that you can do a search for. You could get a bag of play sand for like $3 and the litter for about $2. Or you could go to a creek and get sand from there. I have some I got the other day that I'm going to play around with. 35w is not alot of liht but the no part might change that, I have no experience with that. If you did the shop lights you could put some houseplants on either side of the tank and that would take care of the extra light if it isn't too hot for them.

[skylsdale]

I've looked into kitty litter before...but always heard that it ends up "decomposing" into a big solid mess. As I mentioned above, I have plenty of sand that I already collected. Also, when I mentioned "NO" lighting, I mean "Normal Output" flourescents (I'm used to reefkeeping).

[Wasserpest]

Kitty litter ... there is one called Special Kitty sold in Walmart, non-clumping and non-deodorized, which has worked great for me. It's only $2, so you could get some, and put it in a glass with water and see if it turns to mush, or remains looking like gravel.

Plant tabs ... in pet stores you can buy expensive Seachem root tabs. Or use Jobes sticks for Ferns and Palms for your root feeders, much cheaper and works good too.

Light ... placing that 4 feet shop light over that 3 feet tank will look pretty ugly... perhaps you can find some shorter striplights, but 35 Watts will be too low for some of the plants you mentioned. I would build my own hood and use two or three bulbs of the suitable length. A 4x ballast would give you lots of options.

[skylsdale]

Thanks Wasserpest. I just got back from Wal-Mart and picked up 50 lbs. of Special Kitty for around $4. I looked all over for Jobes Fern/Palm sticks, but all I can find is the standard houseplant spikes.

I'll probably retro some kind of hood down the road. Right now I just don't have the time to try and build something, but I'll probably pick up a ballast or two and throw some NO's in there when I have a chance for such a project.