Need help for my 2ft tank

[Don90]

Hi, I've just set up my 2ft tank. It's not cycled yet.

I was thinking of making it a planted tank, so I've got a few questions.

1) What kind of substrate do you guys have to recommend? I filled my tank up with water already, so can I still add the substrate in?

2) What kind of lighting to you recommend?
I'm using a Hung on filter hung on the tank's breadth, so I don't know if I have space for lighting.

3) Is a hung on filter good enough for a 2 feet tank? I'm using the atman hf0600. I'm still saving up for an Eheim classic.

4) For plants, what kind of plants do you guys recommend? I have Java moss, but I'm thinking of other plants as well.

5) What's HC?

Fauna I'm using to cycle the tank:

2 x guppy

5 x emperor tetra

Is this enough to cycle?

Thanks for all your time, any comments will be appreciated.

[illumnae]

1) your choice of substrate really depends on you any of the tried and tested substrates would serve you well, be it lapis sand (with or without base fert), ADA soil, Seachem onyx/flourite or Gex soil. My personal recommendation is that Gex soil is the best, but we have varying opinions on the forum.

2) lighting depends on whether you want to go high tech or low tech. How much maintenance are you intending to put into this tank? for high tech, you'll need to monitor your ferts, have co2 and do trimmings very often while for low tech, you have to bear with very slow growing plants. A standard 2x1x1 ft tank is about 13 gallons or so? the rule of thumb is to have 1.5-2 watts of light per gallon of water for a low tech tank and 3+ watts of light per gallon of water for a high tech tank. However, for tanks smaller than 20 gallons, the rule doesn't apply fully and you have to go higher than recommended. So perhaps you could try 28-36W for a low tech and 54W for a high tech? I'm not a light expert so perhaps someone else could correct me please?

3) i'm using the atman hf0600 myself for my low tech lightly planted apisto tank, and it's good enough to me. i don't use the provided cartridges as media though. I put in a filter bag of biohome and cut out some filter wool for mechanical filtration. i doubt the biofiltration for your tank will be sufficient with the atman filter if you use the provided cartridges so you might want to consider replacing with at least a bag of cheap ceramic rings or lava rocks if you're on a budget. of course in the long run a canister filter would serve you best

4) plants would depend on your choice of tank type. certain plants require high lights, co2 and dosing of ferts while others (like your java moss) are really hardy and can survive on low light/no co2/no ferts. going low tech of course limits your choices, but beautiful scapes can still be made with a low tech set up. Check out our Aquascaping subforum, i believe Ranmastone recently posted some really stunning pictures of his low tech tanks. Check out some plant sites (e.g. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myplants/ or http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...nder/index.php) to read up more about the different plant types and see pictures of them and then look at our aquascaping subforum to get ideas for how the plants can be used to create a beautiful scape

5) HC is a type of creeping plant used to create a foreground lawn. In full it is known as Hemianthus callitrichoides and it's a rather demanding plant requiring high light to creep and grow low. it's also a pain to plant due to its small size (i think it's the smallest aquatic plant known to man). usually not recommended if you're new to planted tanks

Your fish should be enough to cycle, though some people do recommend fishless cycling of the tank instead as it's easier on the fish and (i think) equally effective

Hope this helps abit

[Don90]

Wow, thanks for the reply!

My tank is filled with water now, so can I just pour the GEX substrate in? will it float or something?

And how do you replace the filter cartridges? I thought they have fixed slots?

Thanks!

[illumnae]

i'd recommend taking the fish out before you pour the substrate, but yeah you can pour the substrate in with water inside. there will be initial cloudiness, but with Gex you only need to tolerate it for a few hours maximum before the water clears again. try to switch off the filter when you pour it in though

as for the filter cartridges, i took both out and threw them away, so that leaves me one big cavity in the filter that's empty. i then bought a filter bag (available cheap from just about any LFS) and filled it with biomedia (you can get lava rocks repackaged into plastic containers for VERY cheap if you're on a budget...i used biohome for best results) before dumping it into the cavity. i also put in some filter sponge at the slit where the water flows into the cavity to act as mechanical filtration

[Shadow]

any reason why you do not want to setup your tank while empty? IMHO it is easier to setup while it empty.

[Don90]

Sorry guys, but I got a few more questions....

1) I'm thinking of getting a L270 pleco for my tank, so is a planted tank still feasable? I heard plecos can destroy planted tanks.

2) What should I use to tie the moss to the driftwood?

Sorry....but thanks.

[illumnae]

1) no idea about plecos

2) you can get fishing line to tie the moss

[Aquaculture]

If I'm not mistaken plecos like to graze on the substrate and swim just above it or hang out on a driftwood. Plants on the substrate would be uprooted. I'm not too sure about plants being tied to wood. But pleco tanks I've seen so far are mostly bare with bog/drift woods and black water... giving quite a mysterious look to it.