Need help with planning a planted tank

Hi All. I have done some research on planted tanks and what they require to be successful. I want to create a planted set up for my 100l aquarium. It currently has a black canopy with a simple white fluorescent light. How many more lights do I have to add? And there is no connection items in the black canopy for additional lights. What must I do about this? Is there a ballast that can connect more than one light? What about substrate? Sorry for all these questions, but really want a planted tank. :smile1:

 

First off what type of setup are you looking at?
1. Difficulty of plants. ie guppy grass, as easy as "just add water" or more of a challenge
2. Tech you are going to use? This is a big section of your setup. What substrate are you going to use? Fertilizers? CO2 or not?
3. Most importantly your budget for this project? Helps to determin the route you are going to take.
When you have got all this in place you look at the requirements of the plants, which is normally broken down into Low, medium or high tech
Low tech setups are "budget" setups. You can do a lot with this setup, it just takes time. But generally means changing your light tube to a 6500K light and splashing on some ferts.
Medium tech setups need a bit more coin. This requires stronger lighting options where you look at an average of 1W light per 2L water, Carbon dosing of some sort and a strong fert ritual. And a mineral rich substrate like ADA Aquasoil or the sort
High tech is full out. With these setups you want 1W or more light per liter of water, running a pressurised CO2 system with all the bells and whistles and knowing exactly how much sodium phosphate to dose because the P in your EI dosing is down.

I know this is a lot to swallow in 1 shot but they are the building blocks in your design. Light units can be found in different shapes, sizes, capacities and prices.

 

Thanks for the reply. Maybe a low tech or medium tech. Do you know a good website describing in detail how to set up a CO2 system? I am probably going to go for fairly easy plants such as amazon swords, java moss. Do you think that R500 would be enough to get 2 more lights, ballast, substrate and a CO2 system?

 

CO2 systems usually are quite expensive. there are different kinds of substrate. good budget way is PFP. for a 100L system 2x25w t8 lights would be fine. thats what i use and have very good plant growth but doubt that 500 rand will be enough. the initial part of getting everything from scratch takes a bit out of your budget but after that its cheap to maintain

 

Hey, pop over to the article section of the forum, I've shared a wealth of info there in my articles that can help answer many of your questions.

 

Thanks Zoom, will do!