Art_Giacosa

If you are new to planted aquariums and to APC, PLEASE STOP LURKING! You have a wealth of experience and information in the ready-to-help moderators here at APC. Take advantage of us.

Please introduce yourself and tell us how it's going. Ask us what we think and how we can help you.

So, lets hear from you.

And, thanks for supporting APC with your presence!

bms

I posted this question on the South Florida Club Forum, I am posting it here again, so everyone can benefit from it.

From what I had read lighting and CO2 are crucial to succeding on this hobbie, however Carlos mentioned a non-CO2 method to acquascaping.

I would like to know, first what the method is, and then how the results compare to a tank with say Yeast CO2, and with a tank with pressurized CO2 being added.

gpodio

BMS,

The biggest difference between a low light setup and a high light setup is the rate at which plants grow. For aquascaping purposes it is easier to have a faster growing tank so that one can reach the desired look in a matter of a couple weeks rather than months. There is also a difference in the choice of plants you have available to you, the lower the light level the more limited you are in your choice of plants. A low light tank requires very little fertilizers and work to maintain it where as a high light tank requires more attention and gives less room for errors.

Other than that, there is little difference, a well maintained low/medium light tank IMO can be just as effective as a high light tank, just requires more time and patience. The fact that today everyone is jumping into high light tanks before low/medium light setups is really just a trend, it's the latest fashion.

I don't feel the art or method of aquascaping in any ways is tied to the type of tank, a good aquascaper would be successful in designing either kind of tank IMO.

Giancarlo Podio

Art_Giacosa

Benecio,

I couldn't put it any better than what Giancarlo said.

Glossy

Hey! *waves* Newbie to the board here, I've had some -to- alot of experience with planted tanks so I haven't had alot of questions as of yet.

The first post I posted was where in the world I could find a ready-to-go plant-ready nanoish tank. I've spent too much time and effort dealing with lighting and I have my suspsions that somewhere in Japan there are tanks with really high lighting just waiting to be planted!

Anywawho, it's nice to finally join a planted tank forum!

bms

gpodio,

Thanks for your reply, as always, nature plays games with us: newbies need fast results to get encouraged, but maintaning a fast growing tank is not for newbies .

I guess I am patient enough as long as my plants don't die.

One clarification question, you spoke about low and high lighting tanks... am I to assume that low/medium lighted tanks do not require additional CO2 either or is CO2 a completely sepparate issue?

~Benicio

gpodio

CO2 is vital for all plant growth. In a low/medium light tank additional CO2, more than what is produced by fish respiration and atmospheric concentration, is not required. A high light tank on the other hand must be "spoon fed" everything, from CO2 to nitrogen, phosphates and everything else you can think of. However, this doesn't mean that a low or medium light tank won't benefit from CO2, actually, CO2 enriched low light tanks with semi-soil substrates are probably going to be the next craze once we all get tired of weekly prunings The results such a setup can give are awesome.

Giancarlo Podio

Art_Giacosa

Glossy,



Welcome to APC!!

gnome

Another way that I've come to think of tank dynamics is by analogy of human needs and our environment. For example, a plant under strong lighting is like an athlete. When athletes are exerting themselves, they need more O2. They achieve this by breathing faster, which pumps blood faster, which transports O2 faster. Similarly, under strong lighting, photosynthesis is pushed to the higher extreme and the plants require more CO2. Depriving the system of enough CO2 would be like the amount of atmospheric O2 being depleted from the air we breathe. It's like what happens at higher altitudes and people who are not used to it getting light-headed.

With regards to nutrients, athletes need to assimilate enough food to replenish their energy stock. They use it up faster and need to replenish faster. Same with plants. If you run a tank low on macros, it's like an athlete not getting enough food to maintain peak performance. If food is deprived long enough but the athlete is forced to perform all the same, s/he will starve to death quickly. A sedentary person doesn't have these requirements; Take me, for instance : I can subsist on minimal caloric intake and I could probably be shot up to the top of Mt. Everest and not feel too woozy compared to a hungry athlete who's doing jumping jacks on the way up.

And last but not least: traces. We all need them as much as we need food. But a high-metabolism athlete needs more iron (among other minerals) and vitamins for the proper development of muscle tissue and again for O2 transport (via hemoglobins) than us slow-moving average folk who probably store iron in excess by the consumption of way too much red meat. With more than 2 wpg of fluorescent lighting (just as a rule of thumb), it's good to supplement (both CO2 and nutrients). PC lighting is more intense and at 2.5 wpg and above, it's like feeding a team of Olympic hopefuls. Providing too much or too little of anything is going to lead to an undesirable outcome.

Many claim that 2 wpg of "normal" fluorescent lighting is enough to grow almost *any* plant. I do think that some plants look best when "worked out," however. In any case, it doesn't hurt to have a little extra CO2 available via yeast generator or Excel, and a little extra nourishment to keep some meat on the bones. And I'm still rambling.

Happy planting to all noobs, and welcome to this wonderful obsession!

-Naomi

vicious

Ok since this is my first post and I'm setting up a 55g planted tank for the first time, I'm a nooob. (be gentle). I've been researching a while before starting with the tank and taking my time getting it set up.

Here's what I have:

35 pounds of Profile
20 pounds of Flourish
25 pounds of black gravel

couple pieces of Driftwood

Whisper 5 Power filter

Here's what I'm planning

160 W 6500k Flourescent lights (home depot)
DIY CO2

Plants:
Floating:
Frogbit or Duckweed (confined to a corner via string and suction cup)

Foreground:
Anubias "nana" 2
Dwarf Sag 5
Glossostigma 5
Java Moss 1 clump

Middle:
Blasii "Broad Leaf" 2
Wendtii Red 1
Cilliata (crypt) 3
Red Temple 2
Lloydellia 1

Background:
Corkscrew Val 6
Crystal Val 6
Mellon Sword 2
Marble Queen Radicon (sword) 1
Amazon Sword 1
Wisteria 3

and finally livestock:

6 Oto's, 3 Gourami, 12 Cardinal Tetras, 6 Coris, 2 Blue Rams. How about adding some Platinum Lyretail Mollies, or sword tails, or even just another 6 or so odd type of Tetra?


Sorry for the long post, but just found this site and love it! I've had saltwater tankns for 10+ years and want to try a Planted tank.