Been to this planted aquarium hobby for some time, I always encourage people to start one. But most of the time the first reply I receive is “Planted tank is damn costly to build”. Next comment is “ It took too much of time and attention”. These comments are partially true. If anyone like to go for a high tech setup then probably he has to burn out lil bit extra money and time for that tank.
But if you are a beginner in this hobby and still want to have a beautiful planted tank without spending lots of money, you can very much do it.
Before starting, let me be clear on some points. Below I will suggest how to make a low cost low maintenance planted tank. But we will follow all the thumb rules and will use all the required accessories which are very much required for any planted tank. Low cost tank does not mean less equipment.
Any planted tank requires,
Good fertile substrate
Enough lights
CO2 (Carbon Di Oxide)
Fertilizers
Proper filtration
to promote plant health and growth.
The Tank: The best tank size for beginner to start with planted tank is 2’ (L) x 1.5’(H) x 1.5’ (W) (That means the empty tank holds 34US gallon or 127 liter water). This tank will give you a decent length, not too much height and a nice depth. And if tomorrow if you want to go for an advanced high tech setup, then also you can easily use the same tank for aquascaping. For a planted tank, an open top aquarium is the best choice. Open top will help to increase evaporation, which will keep the water temperature low.
And you can’t beat the beauty of an open top aquaria ever. :)
Substrate: This is the base where the plants will grow. Some plants gets nutrients through roots and a fertile bed is required for them. Most of the aquatic plants gets nutrients through leaves from water column. We will discuss more on this in Fertilizer section.
For your first planted tank, you can make your own substrate without spending a single paisa. There will be 2 layers of substrate.
You have to make the bottom layer with laterite (In Bengali, it’s known as Morum). In India, we get laterite in West Bengal, Konkan belt and in south india directly from nature. You can pick up laterite in gravels form or in rock form. You have to break the rock in small pieces (4-5 mm) to use as substrate. I provided 2 links on laterite, bottom of this write up. Please go through.
If you failed to source laterite, still you have an option. And that is normal soil. Dig up some fresh soil away from locality and farm lands so there will be no pesticide and pollutant mix with it. Mix the soil with 7-8mm inert* gravels. Your bottom mix is ready. Make an inch thick layer at the bottom of the tank directly on the glass.
Now you have to cover up the laterite/soil layer with inert* gravels. For planted tank, best is 3-4 mm inert* river gravels (You can use those left outs what we usually through out after sieving sand for our building constructions.) Do not use fine sand as top layer as they will be compacted with time and will hamper root growth. And do not use bigger size gravels. Cause plants will get difficulty to get hold on those gravels with fine roots. Cover the bottom layer with gravels. Thickness of this top layer should be 2” minimum at front and 3” at back of the tank. The back to front slope will add extra depth to the looks.
We need such a topping up gravels which will help roots to propagate but will not compact easily.
*Inert Gravel: It means gravels which is chemically inert. Which will not react with tank water and change the water parameters such as water hardness. To make sure, drop 3-4 gravels into vinegar and watch if they are fizzing. If they fizz, they are not inert and don’t use them in your planted tank.
**Links on laterite:
***Tips: While planting, do not touch the bottom layer. Plant your plants in Gravels. When they will start to grow, they will send roots to the bottom layer to get nutrition.
Lights: One of the most important accessories for planted tank. Just like normal plants, aquatic plants also need enough light for photosynthesis. As we are talking about our first planted aquaria, we will stick to easily available cheap sources. For the above mentioned tank size, we will go for normal 2 feet T8 tube lights each of 18watt (T8 tubes are the same thin tube lights what we use at our home). For this tank we will need minimum 5 no’s brand new 18watt T8 tubes. You can make custom made fittings with those tubes which can be suspended on tank top. We need to provide minimum 2.5 watt per gallon light to start with. 5 tubes will give you 5x18 watt= 90 watt (2.6 watt per gallon).
Another option is, using PLL. You can use 3x36watt brand new PLLs for this tank.
While buying T8 or PLLs, pick up the lights with 6500K color temperature (On the lights packet search for color temperature written as 86500/ 6500 Kelvin.). For non techy guys, go with the tubes which will give you white lights (No colored tubes are required in panted tank).
If you want you can use 3 x 6500K tubes and 2 x 4200K (84200 Kelvin) tubes (This will give a worm yellow light like sun). This 4200K light will give an overall worm effects to your tank as well as will promote the red plants growth and colors. PPL user can go for 2x6500K and 1x 4200K light.
I am not going into anything technical as this is just the beginning. I don’t want to make you puzzled right at the beginning.
** Tips: Use aluminum sheets at the back of the lights as reflector. It will redirect all the lights with full intensity into your tank instead of diffusing around.
Carbon Di Oxide (CO2): At the time of photosynthesis plants converts carbon dioxide into organic compounds (Mainly Carbohydrates), under sufficient light and release oxygen (O2). That means plants use CO2 to make food for them. That’s why we have to mix CO2 in our planted tank too for a good plant health and growth. You can’t think about a planted tank which does not have CO2 supply. Lack of CO2 will hamper the plant growth and will promote algae growth at the same time. So as being responsible plant keepers we have to get a source of CO2.
But, like before we are not going to spend much on CO2 for our first planted tank. We can produce CO2 mixing Sugar and Yeast with water. As of now I am attaching a link, how to make your DIY CO2 System from other site. Soon I will write one with my own experience.
http://www.aquatic-eden.com/2006/10/build-your-own-yeast-co2-generator.html
Just you have to make the solution once in a week and your CO2 is ready. And I don’t think the complete setup will cost you more than 60/- (Including the price of the Pepsi, you have to drink ).
Now the next step is to mix the CO2 with your tank water. Again I am not going to let you spend any extra money. Simply attach the CO2 outlet pipe to the air inlet of your power filter. Your CO2 reactor is ready to start with.
Fertilizers: Plants need Nitrogen (N), Phosphorus (P) and Potassium (P) mainly. These 3 elements are called Macro Elements. There are trace elements too, like Iron(Fe), Boron (B), Zinc(Zn), Molybdenum etc etc which needs to be dosed in a planted tank.
Don’t be afraid seeing all these chemical names. We are not reading chemistry here but learning how to prepare a proper fertilizer for our planted tank.
Go to nearby chemical shop or ask fellow hobbyist to spare some KNO3, K2SO4 and KH2PO4. You will need,
3 Tea Spoon KNO3
4 Tea Spoon K2SO4
1.5 Tea Spoon KH2PO4
Mix them in 2 ltr RO water and store them away from children. Your Macro Fertilizer is prepared.
Now it’s the time to get the Micros (Trace Elements). You have to search for any Agro Fertilizer shop and ask them for “Microsol –B”. This powder contains almost all the micro elements your plant will need to grow. Do not mix this with water. Keep them in a air tight box and keep it away from light and children.
But I am sure, you will find help to source all these from fellow planed hobbyists.
Now after setting up the tank, DO NOT start dosing from the first day. Wait for 2 weeks. Then start with 1ML Macro every alternate day after switch on the tank lights. You have to increase the dosing very slowly with time to 4ml per day.
For micro, start dosing 1/8th teaspoon Microsol-B twice a week only after switch off the tank lights. Same like Macro, you have to increase Micro dosing too with time but very slowly, to 1/4th Teaspoon twice a week.
** Be careful. When you can see your plants are growing, then only start increasing the dose. Otherwise you will get algae.
Filtration: Just like other aquariums, planted tank also needs a very good filtration system. We don’t need Mechanical and chemical filtration too much in planted tanks but we need a strong biological filtration. Also we need a good water circulation all over the tank all the time. For a beginner, I would suggest good power filters with double sponge cartage. Choose the outflow of the filter carefully so you get a good water circulation but no water turbulence. Use a spray bar at filter outlet for a even flow. My choice would be 2x700 lph power filters with double sponge cartage. Do not use very compact sponge with very fine holes for planted tank, cause they have a tendency to clog too fast.
Weekly Maintenance: Ok.. everyone warned you already that, planted tank needs lots of time and energy. Lets see what exactly we have to do to maintain our tank.
• Weekly minimum 40% water change. (Try to remove accumulated dirt using a suction pipe while taking out the water.). This means you have to take out 40% tank water and replace it with fresh water. This is the most important maintenance job you have to follow every week without fail. (Will take 30 min max)
• Wash filter sponge once in 3 weeks with Tank water while doing water change. (Included in the above 30 min. )
• Dosing Fertilizers 3 times a week (Maximum 5 min)
That’s it. We are done. Does it sounds too much of work??? I don’t think so… :)
**Disclaimer: Aim of this article is to help the very beginners. Knowingly I have avoided, using of technical terms for easy understanding. Advance hobbyists may find some part too high level and vague.But this article is for beginners ONLY :)
