some question of planted tank.

[dinosor]

hi all, just wanna to have some knowledge on planted..
1. those base fertilizer right.. eg, JBL etc.. put it in the tank after that cover with gravel. then how does the fertilize reaches the plant ? or rather, how does the plants take in the nutrient when so many gravel are on top of the fertilizer.
2. what type of gravel is the best? fine river sand? river sand ? colour sand??
3. those co2 cylinder.. how long do u need for the co2 to be in the tank and when to close it.. ??
4. does the gravel need to be wash after a year or few years??
5.what type of filter is the best? overhead is not that idea for a planted right? how about those hang on? internal or cannister?
6. does it matter if i put salt into a planted tank?
7. how many hours of light do i need to turn on everyday? 7 to 8 hours?
8. how many watt of light then it is sufficent for the plant? and what colour ? white ? yellow? , will it affect the fish if the light is too bright? or turn on for too long?
thanks..

[lorba]

Dinosor,

I suggest you read up more on plants and how they grow. Plentiful of information in the web. They grow and react in more or less the same way.

1. Plants will grow and in the process, roots will grow out and up/downwards seeking for (water and) nutrients.

2. Normal gravel that you can buy in the LFS are fine. Colored or not depends on your liking. A consideration for selecting gravel type will be type of fish or plants you keep. Delicate stem plants will likely be damage when planting, more so with very hard and packed gravel. Fishes like corydoras species are better kept with round and smaller grains so that they can dig around without being injuired.

3. Most ppl switch on the solenoid together with their lights, controlled using a timer. Some on for 24hr. I on it for 24hrs.

4. Most likely. Fertilizers will be used up gradually. Few other reasons too, read up the FAQ.

5. IMO, any type of filter will do, but it limits the type of plants you keep.
I think for a low maintenance tank of java ferns and anubis nana without co2 injection, a overhead filter works fine. With CO2 injected, it will depend on your tank size. Generally, small tanks, use internal. Bigger tank like 3ft (or 2ft cube) and above, use external ones.

6. No problem. Read up on this topic. I put salt to treat whitespots. Some ppl add in regularly (in small amount) as preventive measures over freshwater diseases.

7. 7-8hrs is fine. But be sure to give the plants enough time to produce food. You can experiment over a short period by monitoring your plant growth.

8. Generally, 5000-8000k light is fine. Read the FAQ forum. There are many topics on these as well. More than often, hobbyists will recommend u 6500k lights.

Amount of light (watt) really depends on plants you keep. Light hungry plants requires more, and you can keep 3W/US Gallon or more accordingly. For low light plants, you can go as low as 30W for a 4x1.5x1.5 tank. Check out the plant database.

Fish shouldnt be a problem. But excessive light without hiding place will stress them.

[dinosor]

thanks for the cool reply.