New 60L planted setup!

Stephanie1985 · 04-05-2013, 02:19 PM

Hello! New forum member here looking for some advice.
I have been keeping fish for many years, and very sadly just lost the entire contents of my 60L community tank that had been set-up for 5 years

I'm not 100% sure what happened as I was away on holiday and my partner was caring for the fish, and one day they were swimming, and the next they were all dead. Apparently there had been several power cuts with the power coming on and off so I am guessing either the heater shorted and cooked them, or there was some kind of electrical surge. As a result, I have decided to completely restart my tank.

Although I had plants in my old tank it was more of a tank with some plants, rather than a planted tank and I want to focus more on getting a nice planted set-up before adding any fish.
So I have decided on putting down 2 inches of eco-complete substrate, and then 1 inch of sand.
Can anyone give me some advice on what to do next? I.e some good plants to start off with, I don't have any C02 input as of yet, and what kind of fertilizers to start off with?
I hope you guys can help!

SomeCanuck · 04-05-2013, 05:01 PM

First, you'll need to figure out what it is you're looking to grow or have your tank look like. Do you want some branching wood in there? Rocks for the hardscape? Both? Lots of rootfeeders (like crypts and amazon swords)? Or mostly water column feeders (like stems and ferns)? Start thinking about the kind of plants you'd like to use, about how you'd like the tank to look and feel, and how much time per day/week you want to put into maintaining it. Do some sketches of how you think the tank would look, where plants and hardscape would go.

My first tank 3 years back I just bought a bunch of plants and a hunk of wood and threw it all into the tank and it limped along for a long time. When I redid it, I put just a little more thought into it and it went a hundred times better.

So, as far as suggestions, figure out what you're comfortable with and work off that. I personally love java ferns (bunch of different types) and crypts (ditto), as they're both easy families of plants to grow and hard to mess up with. But try taking a look at the Tropica site for information on plants as well; they've got a very good database of information (which includes a difficulty rating for each plant), even if it only lists the plants they sell.

And depending on the kinds of plants you get, you may not even need fertilizers. Though some root tabs for heavy root feeders will probably be a good idea if you get any.

Best of luck!

Stephanie1985 · 04-05-2013, 08:26 PM

Thanks for the reply :-)

I've had java ferns before and found them fairly easy to get on with so there will definitely be some in there, but I will do some research. I've got a lovely bit of driftwood from my tank already, but I think some smaller round rocks would be good too!

04-05-2013, 02:19 PM	#1
Stephanie1985 Newbie (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Shrewsbury Posts: 2	New 60L planted setup! Hello! New forum member here looking for some advice. I have been keeping fish for many years, and very sadly just lost the entire contents of my 60L community tank that had been set-up for 5 years I'm not 100% sure what happened as I was away on holiday and my partner was caring for the fish, and one day they were swimming, and the next they were all dead. Apparently there had been several power cuts with the power coming on and off so I am guessing either the heater shorted and cooked them, or there was some kind of electrical surge. As a result, I have decided to completely restart my tank. Although I had plants in my old tank it was more of a tank with some plants, rather than a planted tank and I want to focus more on getting a nice planted set-up before adding any fish. So I have decided on putting down 2 inches of eco-complete substrate, and then 1 inch of sand. Can anyone give me some advice on what to do next? I.e some good plants to start off with, I don't have any C02 input as of yet, and what kind of fertilizers to start off with? I hope you guys can help!

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04-05-2013, 05:01 PM	#2
SomeCanuck Planted Member (View User Tanks) PTrader: (1/100%) Join Date: Mar 2012 Location: Montreal, Canada Posts: 170	First, you'll need to figure out what it is you're looking to grow or have your tank look like. Do you want some branching wood in there? Rocks for the hardscape? Both? Lots of rootfeeders (like crypts and amazon swords)? Or mostly water column feeders (like stems and ferns)? Start thinking about the kind of plants you'd like to use, about how you'd like the tank to look and feel, and how much time per day/week you want to put into maintaining it. Do some sketches of how you think the tank would look, where plants and hardscape would go. My first tank 3 years back I just bought a bunch of plants and a hunk of wood and threw it all into the tank and it limped along for a long time. When I redid it, I put just a little more thought into it and it went a hundred times better. So, as far as suggestions, figure out what you're comfortable with and work off that. I personally love java ferns (bunch of different types) and crypts (ditto), as they're both easy families of plants to grow and hard to mess up with. But try taking a look at the Tropica site for information on plants as well; they've got a very good database of information (which includes a difficulty rating for each plant), even if it only lists the plants they sell. And depending on the kinds of plants you get, you may not even need fertilizers. Though some root tabs for heavy root feeders will probably be a good idea if you get any. Best of luck!

04-05-2013, 08:26 PM	#3
Stephanie1985 Newbie (View User Tanks) PTrader: (0/0%) Join Date: Apr 2013 Location: Shrewsbury Posts: 2	Thanks for the reply :-) I've had java ferns before and found them fairly easy to get on with so there will definitely be some in there, but I will do some research. I've got a lovely bit of driftwood from my tank already, but I think some smaller round rocks would be good too!