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What can I grow with 40w and 29g?

420 Views 4 Replies 5 Participants Last post by  jazzlvr123, 
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Hi!

I am new to the aquarium hobby and even newer to aquaculture.

I have a 29g tank with 2-20w full-spectrum lights. I know I should have at least a 65w Coralife, but I'm splurging for lighting on my larger tank instead.

I just laid down 2 inches of Schultz Aquatic Soil and 1 inch of pea gravel from Lowe's. The tank is cloudy as can be, but from what I've read this will clear in a few days. Patience... :icon_roll

My Questions:

1. What plants will do well in this low light environment (1.4w/g) and will be natural for my gouramis? I currently have 1 java fern from Petsmart tied to a piece of driftwood, obviously not taking advantage of my new substrate!

2. Will my fish be adequate CO2 suppliers (see sig), or should I supplement?

3. Any other suggestions or water parameters I should be concerned about with these substrate additions?

4. Should I supplement new plants with any nutrients or anti-bacterials, or is the nutrient cycle satisfactory?

Thank you for your suggestions!

Jonathan :fish:
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Nbot
Jonathan,
Check out the "low-tech" forum, read thru all the posts in there, that's for low-light and no-CO2 setups.

Do a search (go to "Advanced search" and search by titles only) for the "best" low light plants, you'll see some recent threads w/ tons of ideas for you:) That is what I'm doing w/ my 29g tank in my sig...

Co2, you need to spend some time and read around the forum, do a search for co2 and spend some time learning......
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fishscale
When you say "natural" for your gouramis, do you mean you want to do a biotope?

Whether or not you have sufficient nutrients or CO2 depends on the number of plants you want to grow and the type of plants. Those questions can only be answered once you decide what plants you want. Your fish do not really "provide" a substiantial amount of CO2 for your plants. If you have a filter that provides surface aeration, your CO2 will be around 2-3 ppm. The rest will be outgassed.

Given your light, I would say stick with low to medium light plants, and adding some DIY CO2 couldn't hurt.
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Ukrainetz
Hey Jonathan, and welcome to the wonderful world of aquatic gardening!
40W will be quite low for a 29gal (tall) but you could never the less grow some things in it low tech, meaning w/o co2 and ferts. Water changes should provide some of the trace elements for the plants, and NO3 should come natural. If your plants do start turning yellow and look beat up, you might have to figure out what they're lacking and dose it, depending on your water supply/setup. Low tech is really a trial and error, since you don't want to dose anything without knowing for sure the plants will use it (otherwise algae will!).
I would suggest annubias and swords for a low light tank. Cabomba should do pretty well, and maybe even a wisteria. Java fern is also an excellent choice for a low light tank.
With that little light plants wont really need much co2. So unless you start getting over 60W don't even bother with it.
Look over the low tech section and you might find some of the common questions/problems there too. Post if you're confused about anything. GOOD LUCK and happy gardening!
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jazzlvr123
ever though about doing a crypt only tank? they are low light do not require co2 and can be quite striking when planted correctly. Most pros like to do crypt tanks when they are dealing with a "low tech" setup
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