moldyform Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 G'day, i am going to start up a planted tank with South americans in it. Does anyone know where i can get decent large pieces of driftwood from? The tank is a 6 x2 x2 so i would like some nice large pieces of wood. Also is a sand substrate ok for a planted tank as thats what i currently have. i have about approx 2.5 " in depth. Also is a co2 unit essential? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsx Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 not all plants will grow in sand i dont think.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Sand tends to be too compacted and hence no air for roots of plants. Not that that stops you - you could go just plants that will grow on the driftwood - gives you the various anubias species, java ferns, etc Co2 is not essential depending on plants - good light is and your tank is pretty deep at 600. Options are halogen lights or plants on driftwood up high in the water column. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moldyform Posted February 15, 2008 Author Share Posted February 15, 2008 I see. Is it better that i remove the sand then?? as i intend to have the tank fairly densely planted. For lighting i currenly have 3 sets of dubble fluros. What type of bulbs are required as i would like to have lights that are good for actulally viewing the tank, so atm i have a very white light and also a blue light. the rest are around the 10000k. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mcsx Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 there are bulbs rated for plant growth they would probably be your best bet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted February 15, 2008 Share Posted February 15, 2008 Due to the height - the reccomendation I read for planted tanks that deep is halogens. I have failed on 600 deep tanks with 4 flouros due to not enough light. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moldyform Posted February 21, 2008 Author Share Posted February 21, 2008 I have been reconmended to use red sea flora base as a substrate. Is this necessery for a planted tank and what does this look like in the tank? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JLL Posted February 22, 2008 Share Posted February 22, 2008 It really depends on the plants you want. A great number of aquatic plants can grow in any substrate (with ferts added if required) due a specialisation that allows them to translocate O2 from the leaves to the roots. Your south americans will probably dig them up though so the wood attached plants such as anubias, java fern, bolbitis etc might be the go. Many of these will also grow in nutrient and light poor tanks without CO2. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moldyform Posted February 24, 2008 Author Share Posted February 24, 2008 actually it seems a lot of people use eco complete. Is there a noticeable difference in plant health and growth when this form of substrate is used over a plain gravel? cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Davo Posted March 31, 2008 Share Posted March 31, 2008 actually it seems a lot of people use eco complete. Is there a noticeable difference in plant health and growth when this form of substrate is used over a plain gravel? cheers There is a huge difference between normal gravel and substrates such as eco complete/ada/flourite etc. That is why you pay good money for the commercial substrates and bugger all for plain gravel. I have used gravel mixed with Seachem Flourite and had great results. I have also heard great things about eco complete and ADA. Do some searches on google or look at some planted tank sites and you will find heaps of info. Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moldyform Posted March 31, 2008 Author Share Posted March 31, 2008 Thanks. Yeah i brought 9 bags and your right its quite pricy. I brought 2 3.5kg co2 bottles on the weekend. Now i need a reconmendation on a good reg? i want to keep guramies, discus, and some other catfish, possibly a school of cardinals with a heaverly planted /driftwood tank (if i can find some secent wood). What paremeters should i be testing for and what should the paremeters be. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
moldyform Posted April 1, 2008 Author Share Posted April 1, 2008 Is this regulator ok?? http://cgi.ebay.com.au/CO2-Regulator-Elect...1QQcmdZViewItem cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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