From: jartsu@vipu.hut.fi (Jartsu)
Newsgroups: rec.aquaria,alt.aquaria
Subject: Re: [F] Setup for plants and fish
Date: 26 Aug 92 02:38:35 GMT
Reply-To: Jari.Lehto@hut.fi
Organization: Helsinki University of Technology, Finland



> OK, I have come to the conclusion that if I want to have plants in my tank,
> and have them do well, then I must do away with my UGF.  How do I do this?

Just out of curiosity... is it common to have unplanted or
plastic-planted tanks over there? Here *EVERY* aquarium hobbyist has
real plants in his/her tank and usually LOTS of them. They do wonders
to the look of the tank and the bio-action.

Then to the questions...
You don't have to remove the UGF. Turn it to ReverseUGF with
adjustable flowthrough. This way you provide the roots all the
nutrition that the water contains and also enough oxygen. Why
adjustable? Too little flow - the gravel stays dirty and plants don't
do well. Too much flow - root overgrowth or some species die. No
energy left for the green parts to grow normally.
If you assemble the filtration system carefully you can easily add the
fertilizer directly to the water going under the gravel. And forget
all "hyper-active" filter medias like carbon, you just make the water
over-sterile for plants. Foam is enough.

> Can I move the current inhabitants of my tank: 2 blue rams, 4 discus,
> 1/2 doz otos, and a clown loach into a bucket and siphon off most of the water
> out of my 55 gallon tank then push all the gravel to one side, remove the
> plate, then move all the gravel to the other side and remove the other plate?

You should be able to change the UGF to RUGF without moving the gravel
too much, but because you have used it as a filter (UGF - the worst
possible filter, my opinion) you should vacuum it very carefully or
even take it out and rinse it.

> What is going to happen to the bacteria living there?

Even if you take all the gravel out and rinse it with as warm water as
the tank normally has been, there will be enough bacteria left for
rapid re-establishing. But, all you have to do is to get rid of the
loose debris, so if vacuuming does it, it is enough.

> Then what do I do for the substrate? I have had mail from those who use
> potting soil, sand, gravel, etc...  If you use sand, where do you get it?
> Just any old sand?  I'll be getting a load of sand for my dog run. Is this
> sand OK?  And how do you keep the sand from being siphoned up when you
> vaccuum the bottom of the aquarium?  Recommendations for how to set this up
> are welcome, encouraged, begged for!

The best for heavily planted tank is a mixed color or quite dark
gravel with about 3mm average grainsize. At least here we can get
washed aquarium gravel in different colors and grainsizes from
pet-shops. They sell it in large bags or by kilogram or litre. There
are mainly red-brown, mixed, black or white gravel, in small (1-3mm)
medium (3-5mm) or large (over 5mm) grainsize.
The 3mm size seems to be the best, it holds the plants quite well,
doesn't get siphoned so easy (of course you have a vacuuming cone on
your siphon, plain tube sucks everything) and fish that tend to dig
the bottom or hide in it are quite satisfied. Also it is rough enough
to allow the water to circulate through without getting clogged by all
that debris. Of course you can use all sizes, rough gravel to ensure
the roots to hold and fine sand to decorate and give the diggers a bit
easier life.
If you are going to use the RUGF, stick to the midsize.
All the gravel that I have seen here has been screened and packed by
some local concrete and building company. Logical?

> Will a whisper 3 external power filter be enough filtration for a 55? Or will
> I need to add another EPF or what?

Whisper filters are totally strange to me. Tell me the flowrate (l/h
or gallon/h) and media volume and I'll tell you if it is enough. Hmm,
55 gallons make about 208 litres... external power filter (something
like canister???)... I would recommend at least 450 l/h flowrate. I
have a heavily planted 250 l tank with a canister having a 620 l/h
flowrate, and works fine. In a heavily planted tank the media volume
seems to be more important than the flowrate, lots of debris...

> Will I also need to add another light strip?  I have one strip that goes
> across the lenght of the aquariam with triton bulbs.

When you have plants, you never have too much light (assuming that the
light is the righ kind). For good plant life there must be enough
Carbon Dioxide and ligh energy for photosynthesis, and the lighting
should be timer-operated for stabilizing the sleep/awake cycle of the
plants.

> I realize a have a lot of questions, but I want to do this right and I don't
> want to have to do it again, at least not for a long time!

Don't choose too demanding species, and take a good care of the
fertilization and filtration. You may need a CO2-injection if you have
only a few fish but lots of plants. And plants need a lot of iron! I
have a bunch of iron nails and screws under my RUGF rusting and
supplying iron to the water, and you just should see how beautiful
leaves my plants have... But remember, too much iron is toxic to fish,
so be careful with the fertilizers.
When you buy the plants, buy enough! For example, you can easily fit
50 vallisneria to the background of your tank. One there another here
doesn't look any good at all. Rather put them in thick groups and
leave free space in between, and try to make the background as tight
as possible.
Monitor the pH-level daily, and if you need to aerate the tank, do it
only in nighttime! Otherwise you will aerate all the CO2 out of the
water. Start the aeration after an hour from lights-off and stop it at
least an hour before lights-on.
 

> Thanks!

> --Marsha

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