# Planning my first NPT!



## grin (Dec 22, 2013)

Hey guys,

I'm planning out my first NPT, and I'm hoping for some recommendations or advice. I haven't purchased anything yet. 

Tank:
50 gal 36x18x18 tank. 

Substrate:
1 in miracle grow organic 
Capped with 1 in gravel
My water is very soft, so I will mix oyster shell into soil and sprinkle on top

Filtration:
Power head with prefilter - recommend gph and/or model

Lighting:
Tank comes with a (probably) insufficient light - reccomend wattage and/or model

Flora:
My lfs has tons of plants. I'll probably just go buy a mixture of low-med light stems, crypts, anubias, and foreground plants. I will also make sure to get duckweed or water lettuce for aerial advantage. 

Fauna: (enough or too much?)
3 angel fish
3 guppies
2 dwarf gouramis
6 cardinal tetras
6 Pygmy corydoras
Mixed snails including mts

I'll need a test kit, food and a net. What else do I need right away?

My plan is to buy the tank/stand/light, substrate, filter and many plants on the first day. I'll give the plants a week to settle in and then I'll begin adding fish one line at a time per week. 

What else do I need to think about?

Thank you!


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

I like the tank dimensions. Having a standard 55g, I can speak from experience that no one who wants a planted tank should get anything less than 18in deep. The 12-13" just isn't enough space for a proper fore-mid-background setup.

Mineralize the Miracle Grow, the chicken poo they add is too rich. I would also mix it 50/50 with something high in CEC like Safe-T-Sorb.

I hate recommending lights. It really depends on the aesthetics you want as well as you're particular plant needs. Things like anubias can be fine in ambient light in many cases, but stems will likely want more. I've never grown crypts, but they're known for low light as well. Remember, these are almost all slow growers so giving them too much could cause algae issues.

Don't go duck weed, it will drive you mad with the mess. It sticks to you and your tools every time you touch the water. You're fish will like the roots of the larger floating plants as well.

You may need to wait longer than a week for the fish as well. Especially if you don't mineralize the MGOC first. I would hate for the fauna to die from an ammonia spike.


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## atc84 (May 18, 2013)

Agreed with Tugg. As for filtration aquaclear powerhead 50 is it a great powerhead. I have a smaller one for my 29 and i have had no problems. Since your aquarium is tall, i recommend building a spraybar attachment to spread out oxygen so the substrate doesn't get anaerobic pockets. 

You might find it a little stressful if you are going to set up from nothing to a planted tank in 1 day. I think you should wait on the plants for 1-2 days after setting up the substrate and filling to think about your scape. Unless it's a far drive of course.


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## grin (Dec 22, 2013)

great! thank you for the advice. I forgot a heater, so i've now added it into my list. I'm thinking about capping the soil with 30lbs of fluorite dark. Oh, and I'm going to go with a 40 gal breeder tank.

The last question I have before I make the purchase is the lighting. My tank will get no natural light. What type of wpg should I aim for?

My goal is to have a low maintenance tank as Walstad describes in her book.

Thank you.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Unfortunately, Walstad's book does not include up to date information on lighting. Forget the WPG rule, it doesn't apply to newer lighting technologies.

For a 40 gallon breeder, you could use two T5 normal output tubes, a single T5 high output tube, or three spiral compact fluorescents (the kind you can get in any hardware store). Look for tubes with a color temperature between 5,000 Kelvin and 6,700 Kelvin. Such tubes usually produce light in the right wave lengths for plants.

Any of the above should give you medium lighting which will allow you to grow many species of plants, but will not require the use of supplemental CO2.


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## qwe123 (Jun 15, 2011)

I have nothing to add to the above good advice, but simply wish to reiterate Tugg's suggestion to not go with duckweed. Water lettuce is a much better choice, as well as pretty much any other floater.


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## ObiQuiet (Oct 9, 2009)

Note that depending on where you live, water lettuce (Pistis stratiotes) could be illegal to possess -- considered invasive.


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Frogs Bit is another larger floater that can be used. BTW: same applies to duckweed, at least the giant sp is illegal in Texas.


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Tugg, duckweed (genus _Lemna_) is native in Texas. I think you mean _Salvinia_, all species of which are illegal in the state.


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Both are a problem 

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/huntwild/wild/species/exotic/prohibited_aquatic.phtml



TPWD said:


> Giant or Dotted Duckweed, Family Lemnaceae
> Landolita punctata


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## Michael (Jul 20, 2010)

Sorry, you are correct. I only did a search of the prohibited list on the genus name _Lemna_ and did not get any matches. I didn't know that other genera where also called duckweed. Here is a good description: http://plants.ifas.ufl.edu/node/222


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

This is why I :-# HATE common names. A while back I got two varients of duckweed with some frogs bit. After the small stuff exploded, I carefully removed all the tiny leaves for 3 weeks until it was all gone. I left the larger version and the frogs bit. Later I found out that "Giant Duckweed" was on the invasive list so I've been careful to keep it in the tank and not talk about it. For months I've thought I may have had an illegal plant in my shrimp tank, but now I don't think I do. I'll need to check for those stupid dots when I get home.

If I can't tell, I'm just going to pull it and be done with it.

In any case, to the OP... Check your state's list before making a purchase. That's the moral of the story. You never know what's invasive until you look. Any update on the tank? Did you make any purchases? Are you mineralizing the MGOC? Keep us posted.


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## grin (Dec 22, 2013)

Yes, I've ordered the following from Amazon:

2 bags flourite dark
Aquaclear powerhead 50
Aquaclear quick filter attachment
Cascade Heat Aquarium Heaters 10" 200watt
API Freshwater Master Test Kit

Amazon order should be here today.

I also picked up 16 quarts of Miracle Grow from Home Depot. I haven't started mineralization it yet. Probably this weekend. 

My wife wanted to split some of the purchases across paychecks, so we are waiting to pick up the tank until later this month.

What do you guys think of the fish load I wrote in the initial post? Will my 40 gal breeder support that many fish? Could I add more than that?


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

I think the angels would want more space.


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## atc84 (May 18, 2013)

you might need more soil. Usually mineralizing removes about half of the bag of soil. 

Also the pygmy cories and angelfish might not work very well, since pygmies don't stay on the ground like most cories. This means the much much larger angelfish will either bully them or eat them.


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## grin (Dec 22, 2013)

Thanks guys. I'm going to scrap the angels. I'm thinking about some Bolivian rams and a couple schools of tetras. Maybe cardinals and rummy nose. 

How much more soil would I need? I read an article from walstad about her 50 gal and she used 3 gals of soil.


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## atc84 (May 18, 2013)

just did a quick calculation:
1 gallon: 231 sq. inches
your tank area: 648 sq. inches
for a 1 inch dirt layer, 3 gallon of mineralized soil is perfect. Since a lot of the dirt is wood, about half will be washed away. i recommend 2-3 more gallons.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

Don't forget to add some laterite/iron rich clay in the MTS. If I were you I would scrap oyster shells and add crushed coral or aragonite. Also you need to remember that once you are done with planting you can not uproot plants for atleast 6-9 months. That's one of the most common mistakes people make when doing an NPT tank. Best of luck.


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Aragonite and Crushed Coral are both just diffrent forms of CaCO3. What are the benifits of them over Oyser Shells? The Shells are at least very inexpensive.

If I were to not use Oyster Shells, I would think Dolomite is the better choice. It has Mg as well as Ca.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

Aragonite and CC both dissolve and are readily available than oyster shells. Dolomite will obviously a better choice if you have soft water. I personally have used Aragonite, cc and oyster shells and I found vals did way better in tanks with Aragonite and CC did much better than the oyster shell ones. I think it might be cause both Aragonite and CC dissolve way better below 8 ph than OS. 
Just my 2 cents though. I might be wrong.


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## grin (Dec 22, 2013)

Hey guys, a lot has happened since my last update. I purchased my 40 gal breeder tank, a stand, and a light. I have rinsed my soil a number of times. I also rinsed my fluorite a whole bunch! 

I added slightly less than an inch of soil and capped it with 30lbs of fluorite. I was really careful when filling the tank and there was very little turbidity. I let the heater acclimate for a few hours and then turned it and my powerhead with prefilter on. Then I went to bed.

By the time I woke up, the water was very cloudy. I assume the water circulation kicked up a bunch of dust? 

I haven't planted anything yet because I was hoping things the particles would settle so I could see where I was planting. 

What can I do to improve the clarity of the water? I'd like to go pick up plants and get them planted this weekend if possible.

Thank you.


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## Tanan (Mar 11, 2009)

Water change. 100%.


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## Tugg (Jul 28, 2013)

Make sure you refill with a pot on a plate so you don't kick it back up.


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## grin (Dec 22, 2013)

The 100% water change solved the cloudiness. I planted the tank yesterday and added some rocks. Here is the current picture.


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## atc84 (May 18, 2013)

looks good! the cloudiness should go away over time and water changes.


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