planted tank in progress.plz help

hey guys i'm busy with or rather im busy planning what and how im going to go about redoing my 3foot into a semblance of a halfway decent planted tank.im going the low tech route no co2, i dont know maybe thats already a mistake?i have lots of questions at the moment and im sure much more as i go along,if there's an answer somewhere on the forum already if people would be so kind as point me in the right direction i would very greatful,i have gone thru a few posts and have gleamed some info already but there are quite a few posts there so if i missed a few please bear with me.i also dont want to be opening up a 101 new threads with every new question so i'll just be bumping this thread every now and then i hope thats ok?ok i think thats enough of foreword now on to the nitty gritty.
the tank is a standard 3 foot,current occupants are a school of guppies soon to become hors de ouvres once i'v got all my ducks in a row and im ready to start.

1.substrate
im going with the pfp route,i have 1 brick and the chemicult ready and waiting.the top layer at the moment is set to be pfs.i know there is quite an extensive thread on this subject alone so i will be going thru it quite a bit.
2.lighting
at the moment its a single t8 tube almost as long as the tank in the red spectrum i think i heard it called @azurekoi,looks more green to me.i'l be the 1st to say all that i dont know about correct lighting for optimal plant growth could fill two book this(____) size so feel free to enlighten me.was planning on adding 2 60w run of the mill tungsten globes in the interests of more light is better light(i think i also read somewhere they are the closest thing to sunlight) and because i have a plastic lid on currently and thats about all i can fit under the lid at the moment.i also have plans to change the current tube to a more white light.
3.fertilizers
i have no idea yet,i know some can be obtained from the prof but are there any that are good and can be purchased locally in jhb i.e maybe from some of the jhb sponsors.
4.plants
i currently have 1 amazon sword(its the only plant i can recognize)and some others of which i will post some pics asap and if the knowledgable members of tasa could tell me what they are and if they blacklisted and the like.
5.filtration
currently have 1 internal filter.now with a planted tank is less considered more,or should i aim for more there as well?

ok i think thats it for now,hope to hear back as much as possible,oh and one more thing with reguards to temperature,i currently have both my tanks at 26degrees the fish in both tanks are happy and healthy but i see on the plant lists certain temperatures for certain plants and its usually 28-30degrees.now how important are those paremetres and how healthy are they to the fish i intend on keeping.

 

Hey oscar freak

I'll try and help you out based on what i know.

1. Apparently PFP/Chemicult is used by lotsa guys and is working really good. Ive never used it. Just make sure you cap it really well.

2. For lighting a planted tank, you should atleast have 0.5watt per gallon. Colour light should preferably Daylight(White) and Growlux(Pinkish/Red) as plants excell better in the reds. As for that plastic lid, paint the inside white, and you're good.

3. Ferts can be purchased from the Prof. Although i struggled to get hold of him. His DSD is very good, i couldnt wait and just bought some Flourish, which is working well for me.

4. Plants - No comment just make sure its an aquatic plant, and that is suitable for your low tech tank.

5. Not so sure about this. Just make sure there is a constant flow around the plants so that you dont get Black Beard Algae growing on them. Not to strong though...

With regards to temp. Some fish can withstand higher temperatures, i would keep mine at about 27deg to suite the fish rather than the plant. That might just slow down the growth rate of the plant. I have two t5's that heat up my tank so much, one afternoon my thermometer shot up to 31deg!! Because there was no ventilation. I now keep my lights on, dont use a heater and just drilled a couple of holes in my DIY Canopy.

Oh, plants do need CO2, but can go without it....just like a Oscar Pistorius can run with no legs.

 

Those are some huge fish....

 

Oh sorry that one got in there by mistake.can u recognise any of tose plants,i hope they all aquatic plants.

 

Shoo i dont know those plants and any other...out of my head. But i can direct you here though.

http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/all.php

 

Thanx guy i will take a look and see if i can find them.

 

The grassy one appears to be Eleocharis acicularis and is on the easy list so i hope so.

 

the other plant looks to be ludwigia repens x arcuata.gonna check now if they blacklisted.

 

ok the eleocharis is BL its the devil and shall no longer be spoken of.

 

Ok so i'v decided to ditch the 2 extra 60w globe idea and will rather go with another ballast either t5 or t8.now i need to know which is the better of the two and also i buy from my lps and the last ballast and tube cost me +-R150 now is there something else i can buy that is better for less or more or less the same price?

 

Hi oscar the third pic in the row looks like ludwigia repens thats turned green.
The grass looks like hair grass.
The red/purple plant is not aquatic.

I might be wrong on the Ludwigia though.

 

looks like the ludwigia on the plant profile.turned green?what colour should it be?it grows kind fast,is a bit untidy has long roots growing off the stems and seems to grow roots from broken off leaves.is the hair grass BL?it has little brown pods on the end of the leaves.

 

The hair grass was grown emeresed that is why it has those pods. You will see a lot of grass dying and new leaves forming as it change to submersed. I think certain hair grass is BL.

Ludwigia repens can also be a very beautifull red but you need the correct conditions to achieve this.

 

the last plant seems to be hygrophilia polysperma, it's a very fast grower and shoots roots from all over the stem and can turn a pinkish red if the right lighting is used. the plant with the purple underside is a species of hemigraphis which is a marsh plant and won't last fully submerged.

 

I think that purple plant is a bog plant, so itl eventually just die if its submersed

 

so which is it,hygrophillia or ludwigia?and which would be the best lighting situation to get it red.the other plant i wil palm off to my friend who has a pond.

 

I would say it doesnt really depend as much on the lighting to get a plant red more on an iron source, you can either does some iron or put some in the substrate!

 

ja i do plan on placing some nails in the substrate when i get going eventually.just read that the leaves fall off when there is insufficient light which is whats been happening.

 

ok trying to get my mind around this lighting issue but the more i read the more confused i get.from what iv read t5s seem to come up tops,then i see it looks like you have to put them together yourself and then i hear about grolux and sylvania something,im this close to giving up.