[treasy]

I'm about to start my first planted tank and I wanted some advice on the plants i've picked out

I've got a 40 gallon breeder (36x18) with a t-5 78W light fixture. I am using eco-complete as a substrate and I will be using flourish & excel to dose the tank if needed

These are the plants I was considering


2x Dwarf Hairgrass
1x Anacharis (maybe?)
1x water Sprite
1x Amazon Sword
1x Anubias Nana
1x Cryptocoryne
1x Java Fern
1x Chain Sword


If you guys could give me feedback on which plants would work best in my setup and maybe some additions, i'd appreciate it.

 

[Abrium]

Ok, by the plant:

1. Your choice of hairgrass is admirable but don't get too discouraged if it doesn't grow the way you want it to. The best method to make a carpet with HC is to put clippings all over the floor of an empty tank and all the carpet to grow emmersed instead of submerged. All in all the carpet will come in provided with the right light and Co2.

2. Anacharis - great choice for beginning a planted aquarium. This plant is a great oxygenator and above all it is a fast grower that can either be planted or left floating. Either way this plant will add to biomass quickly and thwart the growth of algae.

3. The same with Sprite. That is a fast growing plant that has to be trimmed often to ensure that it A. looks good and B. doesn't over grow the tank because it will.

4. Amazon sword - This plant if taken care of will outgrow your 40 gallon tank. You can bet on this. These plants get huge.

5. Anubias Nana - Make sure that this slow grower doesn't get too much light because GSA will consume the leaves and drown out the minimal amount of light that it actually needs. If it is taken care of though the nana is a gorgeous plant.

6. The Crypt is another semi slow grower that requires lower amounts of light to really stretch up. This will be another pretty slow grower.

7. Java Fern - This plant could literally be grown on your concrete driveway... This is a very undemanding plant that if not watched will take over your tank. Make sure that you don't bury the rhrizome because it will die if you do.

8. This is my fav carpet plant. It is slower than most but one of the fulliest, prettiest carpets out there.

All in all, you have a balanced plant. Just make sure that if you are going to go high light you pay attention to dosing and lighting. Remember algae loves high light and minimal dosing.

I wish you the best of luck,
Abe

 

[treasy]

Ok, by the plant:

1. Your choice of hairgrass is admirable but don't get too discouraged if it doesn't grow the way you want it to. The best method to make a carpet with HC is to put clippings all over the floor of an empty tank and all the carpet to grow emmersed instead of submerged. All in all the carpet will come in provided with the right light and Co2.

2. Anacharis - great choice for beginning a planted aquarium. This plant is a great oxygenator and above all it is a fast grower that can either be planted or left floating. Either way this plant will add to biomass quickly and thwart the growth of algae.

3. The same with Sprite. That is a fast growing plant that has to be trimmed often to ensure that it A. looks good and B. doesn't over grow the tank because it will.

4. Amazon sword - This plant if taken care of will outgrow your 40 gallon tank. You can bet on this. These plants get huge.

5. Anubias Nana - Make sure that this slow grower doesn't get too much light because GSA will consume the leaves and drown out the minimal amount of light that it actually needs. If it is taken care of though the nana is a gorgeous plant.

6. The Crypt is another semi slow grower that requires lower amounts of light to really stretch up. This will be another pretty slow grower.

7. Java Fern - This plant could literally be grown on your concrete driveway... This is a very undemanding plant that if not watched will take over your tank. Make sure that you don't bury the rhrizome because it will die if you do.

8. This is my fav carpet plant. It is slower than most but one of the fulliest, prettiest carpets out there.

All in all, you have a balanced plant. Just make sure that if you are going to go high light you pay attention to dosing and lighting. Remember algae loves high light and minimal dosing.

I wish you the best of luck,
Abe

Do you think I should ditch the hairgrass and try to use the chainsword instead?

And thanks for that really detailed response. I really appreciate it.

 

[DarkCobra]

+1 to Abrium's comments, with one correction.

Excel causes anacharis to melt and die. I've found that if you start with a fraction of the normal dose and work your way up, it will adapt somewhat; but it will still never grow as well as it should.

Also, because T5's produce so much light per watt, the lights you've selected will put you into the high light category. (I have 78W of T5 over my high light 46G tank.) Plants in high light tanks demand more carbon than Excel can provide (regardless of dosage), so they require real CO2, plus complete and heavy fertilization. Probably not what you had in mind for a beginner's tank. You'll need to suspend your lights about 10" over the tank, put window screen under the lights to block about half, or use a different light.

 

[treasy]

I have no intention of adding any Co2 just yet. Will it hurt my plants in any way to have high light and just the carbon from excel, or will it just hinder their potential growth?

 

[Abrium]

+1 to Abrium's comments, with one correction.

Excel causes anacharis to melt and die.

+1 to Cobra, sorry overlooked the Excel + Egaria Densa. That does equal melted plant.

Thx DC

 

[Abrium]

High light plus excel leads to an envrionment that can easily have swings in the desolved carbon. This will lead to big bad algae (BBA or black brush algae). Remember that light drives the need for fertilization which includes a carbon source that can be used by the plants. So, if you have high light and a lack of balanced nutrients you are really asking for algae.

If you don't want to introduce Co2 to your tank and keep it low tech I would suggest that you go with more low light plants and lower the amount of light that you are going to use. You may not be able to get all of the plants that you want to but in the long run the tank will be prettier and you will have far less headaches and ultimately you will be happier.

 

[BBradbury]

Your Plants and Lighting

Hello treasy...

As long as you avoid demanding plants, lighting in the 1 to 2 watt per gallon range will grow most quatic plants. The 40 G Breeder tank is wide for a T5 bulb. The T5 will provide an intense light over a small area, so you'll need to plant your most light dependent plants directly beneath the light source.

Most of the plants you have will do fine in low or filtered light. The Dwarf hairgrass is more challenging and requires stronger light. So, here's a plan: Plant the hairgrass underneath the light and the shorter plants toward the front of the tank and the taller ones in the back. Do a little research on the height of the plants and plant accordingly.

Float the Water sprite and as it grows, it will provide a little shade for the plants that do well in low light.

Just a thought.

B