55g first planted tank

[jjrock]

Hi everyone!

This will be the start of my journal chronicling my foray into planted tanks.

Intro: I'm a newbie when it comes to aquariums, bought my one and only tank (55g) at Big Al's (before they changed names) around 2008 Christmas time.

I didn't give my tank and fishes as much care as I should have which is probably the reason why they all died eventually. I stopped with the hobby 1 1/2 yrs ago, but now I'm motivated to start one up again.

My tank is a 55g , 48’ long x 12’ wide
I have an emperor 400 HOB, which I will not be using anymore
I have replaced it with an Eheim 2213 canister filter.
I have a dinky 32w single bulb t5 that I will be replacing (see below)

Lighting:
I've debated with myself whether I should go with the cheap and difficult route (that being a DIY canopy and light fixture) or the easy and expensive route (buying the lighting fixture).

After much back-n-forth with myself, I chose to go the easy way and buy the light fixture instead after seeing a very good deal for a 48" 216W T5 HO 4 bulbs for $98.90.

https://www.aquatraders.com/ProductD...uctCode=52305P

So that was just ordered today so on to the next issue.

Substrate:

This i'm still debating. I've already decided to do a dirt substrate because I don't want to do any dosing or adding any fertilizers.
However, I'm still trying to get wrap my head around the many different ways to prepare the dirt.

One way is the longest and most tedious, which is mineralized top soil (MTS), see How-To: Mineralized Soil Substrate, by Aaron Talbot - Library - Aquatic Plant Central

That article says to add clay, dolomite, muriate of potash I have no idea where to find these.

The alternative would be to just put in organic top-soil from Canadian Tire, maybe wash it beforehand without adding any other stuff and see how it goes.

And I’m thinking of capping it with pool sand or gravel...I’m leaning towards pool sand because I’ve had gravel already and I’d like to change it up a bit. However, it’s still not final


Plants:
I haven't thought much about this yet, as I'm still tackling the substrate issue. However, I'm thinking of getting easy and hardy plants. Where to get them is another issue.


So as you can see, i’m still very much in the planning stages. I’ll put up some pics along the way to show the progress.

Thanks for reading!

Jay

[jobber604]

Great plan to re-start your tank. Look forward to seeing the progress and pics.

[tang daddy]

The MTS substrate seems like alot of work....why not just opt for the much simpler route, ADA??

As for finding plants cheap, there are lots of good deals on plants here on bca. But if you're looking for the more rare varieties like erios or the likes it can get expensive.

The most important thing when setting up is research, then have fun!

[Captured Moments]

I see you already got the light issue resolved by ordering an Odyssea. I was recently tempted into buying one as well but the deluxe model with the electronic timer complete with moonlights.. but I decided to stay with my current setup... got to save money for Xmas for presents, etc..
At 4 bulbs T5HO, that's quite a bit a light even though it's is a single reflector so I would think about getting a Co2 system otherwise you can run into problems with algae at that light level. If you want to dose liquid carbon instead (Flourish EXcel or Metricide), it should be fine as well but someone please correct me if I am wrong.
With substrate you have quite a few choices from the commercially available ones to the DIY ones such as soil. Plants grow very well in soil but maybe a bit more difficult to look after.
Ask questions and do a lot of research.

[Morainy]

I look forward to seeing pics as your tank progresses! Glad you came back to the hobby.

Since you're new to planted tanks, why not take the easier route and try Eco-Complete or ADA or a Fluval planted tank substrate instead of blending soil? That way you don't have to worry about toxins. The dust will probably also settle out earlier. Eco-Complete is excellent for beginners (speaking with experience)

That said, I think that natural soil aquariums are fascinating and I hope to start one once I overcome my worry about where to find safe soil. I've read quite a bit about the Diana Walstad method (Google Diana Walstad planted tank)

As well, you can find excellent information about planted tanks by Tom Barr. (Just Google Aquarium reports, Tom Barr)

Good luck!