MCHRKiller

Im new to planted tanks, my idea is to setup a very low key tank that isnt alot of fuss. My plan is for a standard 55G tank with an XP2 canister for filtration along with a Penguin 350(missing biowheels). The occupants are a Green Severum, 4 Silver Dollars, 4 Pictus Cats. Not the most plant friendly fish ever but with the right plants Im confident it will work. My plan is to invest in a Coralife PC 6700K fixture with 2*65watt bulbs. For substrate Id like to use a thin layer of laterite and cover that with torpedo beach sand which is like a finely crushed gravel. Im most interested in sword plants more than any. I will not be using CO2 and would prefer to keep fertalizing to a minimum. Any ideas on what would work with this tank setup?

CherylR

I don't think you need the Penguin 350. Swords will grow slowly with this setup, but they'll grow. Especially if you give them root tabs. They like to root-feed and your substrate is not very fertile. There are a lot of different sword plants and you could have a very nice layout with only Echinodorus species.

To control algae in the absence of CO2, I would use Excel. OTOH, if you're going to spend that much on Excel for a 55, you might as well buy CO2! Even a low-light tank will benefit from CO2.

Tex Gal

Silver dollars love to eat plants. I'll be interested to learn what plants you will find that they will leave alone.

hoppycalif

Don't put 130 watts of PC light on a 55 gallon tank unless you are also going to supply CO2 to the plants. Or, unless those lights have no reflectors. Or, unless the lights are suspended several inches above the tank. I suggest limiting the light to 100 watts or less, placed right on top of the tank, for a non-CO2 tank. High light without lots of fast growing plants means lots of fast growing algae.

Being in a contrarian mood this morning: sword plants grow in moving water in natural settings, so they need a big root system to hold them in place in the water currents. But, like almost all aquatic plants they have no problem getting the needed nutrients from the water, not from the roots. I have grown monster swords with an inert substrate and EI fertilizing, and I have done the same using substrate fertilizing and few water column ferts. Swords, with very few exceptions will readily outgrow a 55 gallon tank and do it quickly, when well fertilized, with lots of light. However, if you really crowd even the big sword varieties, they do tend to stay a lot smaller. For example, if the swords send out a lot of runners, starting new plants, those tend to get very overcrowded, and grow a high carpet all over the place.

MCHRKiller

Thanks for the replies The tank is still very much in the planning stages so I am still looking for better ideas. The lighting will be on mounting legs above the aquarium, and it will be open top. I will use some floating Brazillian pennywort to knock out a bit of light and as it is a fast grower it should help with algae. I will probably dose a good general fertilizer to just help supply the plants with some extra nutrients. What substrate would you guys recommend? Im not against mixing several things together either.

I am to interested to see what plants the fish wont bother. But I do feed my SDs heavily on plant based foods so that should help keep them at bay for the most part.