# 90gal setup, Beginner needs help.



## suliman (Jul 18, 2009)

i have a 90gallon tank that i am going to be planting in. After a bit of research ive decided on the following...

Substrate: small layer of normal aquarium gravel, next layer either flourite or eco complete (help me choose), then a layer of sand.

so far this is all i have to go on. I dont want to put any fish into the tank until it is completely planted and conditions are good.

anyway, i need some help, as to this is going to be the first time im planting an aquarium and i want to do things correctly. Please help me by informing me as to whether or not my plans for substrate are adequate and what you would change, also give me some values as to the appropriate amount of each substrate necessary for each substance (like how thick each layer should be).

any and all help would be greatly appreciated.

i want my tank to look more or less like this:









if anyone can, please identify some of the plant species you see in this picture. this is ideally what i want my tank to look like.


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi suliman,

First of all, welcome to APC! There is lots of great information here and friendly people to help if you need it. That is a great setup, possibly award winning, and an excellent goal to shoot for but keep in mind that a lot of the award winning aquascapes are not designed for the long term but just for the contest picture.

I started with the basics by reading the "stickys" at the beginning of the "New to Planted Tanks", "Substrates', "Lighting" and "Fertilizing" forums. That gave me a good basis for the equipment I needed for the plants I needed for my aquascapes. The plants I wanted to incorporate and my overall aquascape design determined the tank size, substrate, lighting and CO2 I was going to need for my design.

Welcome aboard, enjoy the ride!


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## suliman (Jul 18, 2009)

Seattle_Aquarist said:


> Hi suliman,
> 
> First of all, welcome to APC! There is lots of great information here and friendly people to help if you need it. That is a great setup, possibly award winning, and an excellent goal to shoot for but keep in mind that a lot of the award winning aquascapes are not designed for the long term but just for the contest picture.
> 
> ...


yeah i read the stickys here (that picture is from one of them), as well as anything i could google, but im the kind of person that needs specific confirmation that im doing the right thing. As i said this is the first time im planting an aquarium, the first feedback id like is if the substrate choice im going with would be adequate for my plants. I figured if i put gravel on the bottom it will add some support. Then follow up with fertilizer substrate, and sand as a way of sealing off the water table to prevent leakage.

as to the comment about the picture, are you saying that a setup like that shouldn't be longterm? Why? are you suggesting there are negative aspects to the setup i posted? if so, please help.

Some questions:

Do i need to fill my tank before i can begin planting, or can i set my layers, plant, then fill? why?

About what thickness or ratio should i have as per each layer of substrate?


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## davemonkey (Mar 29, 2008)

For your substrate, just pick one that looks good and go with it. Mixing/layering won't help unless you have a specific purpose (like laterite clay on the bottom for more iron, or power-sand under aquasoil if you want ADA set-up, or soil under gravel for El Natural). Flourite is inert, by the way. It just has a high CEC rating and probably some initial amount of available iron in it.

Substrate in any given tank will be about 3" if you ask around. It's a good idea to slope form back (4" ) to front ( 2" ) to add a sense of visual depth.

You'll want to probably look in to CO2 addition and fertilizing, but if you choose low-light plants and use a low-watt fixture, then the CO2 and ferts will be less necessry.

Read this article and click on each link at the bottom of the page for VERY helpful info: http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/index.html

-Dave


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## Seattle_Aquarist (Mar 7, 2008)

Hi suliman,

I have found my aquascapes are always in a state of flux, ever changing and evolving. Plants grow, need to be trimmed, some are "thugs" and try to take over, others are frail and don't thrive. A picture is a point in time of an aquascape, not always easy to maintain.

I use plain gravel, about the depth that davemonkey suggested, and add my nutrients through the water column. I feel I have better control over the nutrients that way.

Some individuals will plant the aquarium with little to no water, spraying the plants regularly to prevent them from drying out during the process, and fill after the plants are placed. I fill the tank about 1/2 way, then plant, then finish filling.....I don't know if there is any "right" way or not.


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## suliman (Jul 18, 2009)

davemonkey said:


> For your substrate, just pick one that looks good and go with it. Mixing/layering won't help unless you have a specific purpose (like laterite clay on the bottom for more iron, or power-sand under aquasoil if you want ADA set-up, or soil under gravel for El Natural). Flourite is inert, by the way. It just has a high CEC rating and probably some initial amount of available iron in it.
> 
> Substrate in any given tank will be about 3" if you ask around. It's a good idea to slope form back (4" ) to front ( 2" ) to add a sense of visual depth.
> 
> ...


yeah, read that article before i made this thread too. it has alot of info, but nothing very specific as to the best or most effective way of doing things. mostly a general overview. I will eventually want to put fish in the aquarium, and i feel that sand would be the easiest to maintain, and also more aesthetically pleasing imo. I have read that sand is not a good substrate for plants so i thought if i put a layer of something better i could have both a good plant substrate as well as a good substrate for fish..

what are your suggestions for CO2? could i have a reliable system using DIY CO2 and a good reactor method or would a pressurized system be necessary?


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## R B (Sep 11, 2006)

hello there suliman........

i got into planted tanks after years of fish keeping..........
started planted tanks around 2005, registered at APC at around 2006 and i only started getting the sort of results i use to only see on photos posted by members until about six months ago.............

my plants use to wither, go yellow, refuse to grow, loose leafs or just plainly rot. i tried everything from replacing the substrate to trying various light intensity and set ups.............

i tried fertilisers, liquid and slow release solid types and even growth hormones

undergravel filters, top filters, chillers, cooling fans, activated carbon experimented with water flow and the works..........

i would have spent about RM 7000.00 ( about USD 2500.00 ) on a 255 litre tank just trying to get it right........ ( read as trying to get the plants to grow ) 

i finally decided that the only thing i have not tried doing is buying specially made substrate. i use to see my pet store use it on their display tank......and what ever they plonked into the tank just grew.......

finally i decided to give it a try. told myself i will scrap the entire planted tank idea and go back to just keeping discus if this did not work either. i got myself some japanese brand that cost me around RM 300.00 for two bags with a total volume of 20 kilos. black coloured stuff that is granular and very light weight. took out half of my previous substrate (gravel 3mm to 5mm ), added a layer of lava stone and dumped the substrate on top.

i have not looked back since............my plants are just growing.........and boy are they growing. some even look better than when they were while on display at the store..........

so thats my advice............substrate is the most important,..............sand or soil or gravel just does not give you the sort of capacity to grow very dense planted tanks.....even the display tanks at the store that uses normal gravel and the planting substrate are markedly different.......plants will grow on gravel......add abit of slow release ferts and some liquid ferts and it will grow..........but you wont be able to get the sort of growth you see in the photos........i think it has something to do with normal gravel becoming too hardly packed together when you add water into the equation. ive always felt that the plants could not grow properly in gravel because its roots could not spread out as they should

couple that with about 10 hours of medium intensity tube lights fixed to a timer ( about 120 to 160 watts for a 255 litre tank with a tank depth of about 18 inches )

inject it with CO2. ( about 60 bubbles per minute )

water temp at about 28 deg celcius. 

you can plant whatever you want.

right now im experimenting with aeration overnight when the lights are switched off.....it seems like the plant growth rate is accelerated when i do this. mind you my CO2 is switched on at all times. ( solenoid timers for CO2 tanks are quite expensive over here ). will see what are the results if any...

will try to update some pictures sometime soon......( hehehe after nearly five years of trying i finally can show something )


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