This time Im gonna do it right!....Help me out :) - New to Planted Aquariums

Pancakes · 02-09-2008, 10:36 PM

Hi All

Ok Ive had several freshwater plant attempts before and they mostly fail. So this time I thought I come and as some questions so I can do it right.

My first question is, I have very fine sugar sand, almost like powder, it was from my former slatwater tank, now Im wondering how plants would fair in this tank? Should I add a layer of something underneith? or should I abondon this sand altogehter? Also it always seems to get sucked up into my HOB filter and create a horrible noise, does anyone know how to counter this?

Second question is about driftwood, now Ive bought and collect driftwood, and it always seems my water goes brown. I even bought driftwood from the LFS soaked in in hotwater for a week, and it made my tank browner then ever, also it seems my driftwood weather bought or found begins to rot in my tank creating this horrible mess, any suggestions on this?

These are all my questions for now, but there will be more.

Thanks in advance

Zippin · 02-10-2008, 01:04 AM

Hi

, IMO i would ditch the fine sand you have and get a good substrate if you plant to plant heavy then maybe this might help you http://home.infinet.net/teban/jamie.htmThe other thing i was thinking about is that if your sand is very very fine in might compact...I am planing on have the frount 5" being sand and no plants and the rest of the tank heavly planted.

And the driftwood problem... you sure it is driftwood? I brought some driftwood and boiled it and then soaked it for only 24hrs in hot cooling water, this brought out a small amount of tanning and loads of tiny splinters... when put into my tank it was fine and i had no problems

I heard that if it rots then it is not driftwood or very very poor quality indeed...

Do you use co2?
Do you use fertz?
What is you light watage and do you know what kelvin it is? this would have a bearing on the plants growth aswell. Read this part of the forum for lighting ideas and understanding Click Me

hoppycalif · 02-10-2008, 07:17 AM

Bogwood is wood that has been in water long enough to sink, and is durable enough not to be rotted by that time. Driftwood, technically, has to be floating wood, or it would be at the bottom of the waterway it came from. Just nit picking, I know, but whatever we call the wood we use, we should be clear about what we are looking for. Some hardwoods are almost as dense as water, and a few are more dense, so they are much easier to keep from floating. Those are the ideal "driftwood" for an aquarium.

Pancakes · 02-10-2008, 07:41 AM

I never used C02, or ferts, as for lighting it will be a 96w powercompact daytime lights 10,000k. As for the wood, most of it was branches and such I found at the side of the lake while fishing...

russel p · 02-10-2008, 11:27 AM

Be sure to sterilize any wood you collect yourself before putting it in your tank. Besides possible introduction of parasites, there are many other pests you could introduce.

Zippin · 02-10-2008, 06:15 PM

I have never been keen to use wood i found tbh, if you do then do as russel p says and sterillze it. I use some slate that look like rocks but i boil them in hot water and soak for 24hrs and then for 5hrs in dechorionated wather. Thats just my way though for anything... but still using wood from the wild is a no no in my aquarium tbh as boiling alone isn't a sure way that will eliminate toxins .

Not knowing your tanks size i would say if your wattage is more than 2wpg then Co2might be needed imo, 10.000K is good also.

Pancakes · 02-10-2008, 08:25 PM

my tank size is 35L Im going to set up c02 with this one, Im just gonna take it slow and get everything right this time. The wood I bought at the store mad my water very brown after soaking it for 2 weeks. I wonder why..

russel p · 02-11-2008, 09:44 AM

Probably just tannins releasing, but it shouldn't have made it "very brown." To be on the safe side, I'd take two five gallon buckets of matured, aerated r/o water, test pH, add some wood to one, then compare pH, nitrogen (ammonia, nitrite, nitrate) and hardness levels after a day of soaking. It's unlikely that anything organic would be decaying in it, but if so; you will be able to notice the presence of nitrogen. If nitrogen levels are detectable or the pH plummets, I wouldn't use the wood.

Edit: this will still not eliminate the possibility of other toxins being released. When I used collected materials in my fish tanks, I always had a hospital tank with some feeder guppies and zebra danios that I would test with.

Zapins · 02-11-2008, 12:13 PM

Fine sand from your former salt water setup is not going to work! Salt water sands are usually very high in calcium. High levels of calcium are not suitable as a substrate for planted aquariums. In addition, if the substrate was in contact with the salt from your former tank it will most likely still have residual amounts of salt that is leaching out into your freshwater tank. Sea salt is not good for plants (or most freshwater fish).

Best to change your sand to fluorite, eco-complete, aqua-soil etc…

In addition, anything with a powder-like consistency is not suitable for plants since the roots can’t exchange gasses (oxygen, carbon dioxide) through the fine sand. You also run the risk of allowing anaerobic bacteria a place to thrive. Cut off from oxygen these bacteria will multiply and produce a foul smelling sulphur gas that is poisonous to fish and other freshwater creatures.

For your second question, driftwood is a tricky thing. You must choose it very very carefully.

Wood that has any bark on it at all is not suitable. Do not use it, it will not be suitable for use until the bark has naturally been removed by the environment.

Wood that is too thin is not suitable, this means twigs and other wood that is less than an 2/3rds of an inch thick. This wood will rot and foul the tank.

Wood that is too young is not suitable. This means no wood that has been off the tree for less than a year.

Finally, any type of wood that is soft when you find it is not suitable. This wood has begun to rot and it will not stop in your tank. As it rots it will foul your tank.

If tannins are a problem, boil the wood in a pot of water for a few hours. Drain the water every hour and replace with new fresh water. The fresh water will saturate with tannins from the wood. At some point the wood will run out of tannins and you will know when this happens since the fresh water you add to the pot will not come out so brown after the hour of boiling is over. On the other hand, tannins won’t hurt the tank and some species of fish like it and will breed only in this water. Its also a good idea to boil the wood because you kill any unwanted pests that might be in the wood.

rod · 02-11-2008, 02:30 PM

All I use for wood is what I collect locally. I don't have a pot large enough to boil it in so I bake it for several hours. Then take it to a friend who has a sand blaster and blast off any loose or soft wood. This also brings out the grain giving it more of a weathered look. Userally it takes about two months of holding it down with a rock in the tank before it will stay. This may not be the recomended way but it's always worked for me.