# Beginner Planted Tank Questions



## BlueSky (Jan 26, 2014)

I am going to getting a couple of low light easy/beginner plants for my divided 10 gallon tank. I have searched the forum and found answers to most my questions but still have a couple more. 


My first question is on lighting. I have have a separate light hood(it is not attached to the lid) that takes the tubular light bulbs. For low light plants is 2500K 25 Watt enough? If not, how to I tell how many Kelvins a light bulb has? I have looked at several different light bulbs and they list the Watts but not the Kelvins.


I know with heavily planted tanks your not suppose to use a gravel vacuum. So, is this when you would want to get shrimp or bottom dwellers to keep it clean? What about the poop how would you take that out? 


Last question! My tank lid is a lid for reptiles (I think). It is black with black wire mesh across the middle; should I put saran wrap to hold moisture/heat/humidity inside the tank?


Thank you in advance!


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

BlueSky said:


> My first question is on lighting. I have have a separate light hood(it is not attached to the lid) that takes the tubular light bulbs. For low light plants is 2500K 25 Watt enough? If not, how to I tell how many Kelvins a light bulb has? I have looked at several different light bulbs and they list the Watts but not the Kelvins.


Most aquarium plants will grow properly if Kelvin rating exceeds 5000K but doesn’t exceed 6800K. Noon light is rated at 6500K. So if you can I would up it a tad, even for lowlight plants if you want them to grow noticably. Things like crypts will basically grow in ambient light, same as anumbias, but growth be be very, very slow. The Kelvins should be on the box, somewhere. What brand are you looking at, and I can try and help with where on the box to find it. 

A general rule of thumb is 2 watts per gallon, if you really cannot find the K rating, but it is a very, very shaky rule and will not guarantee good plant growth. 



BlueSky said:


> I know with heavily planted tanks your not suppose to use a gravel vacuum. So, is this when you would want to get shrimp or bottom dwellers to keep it clean? What about the poop how would you take that out?


What substrate are you using? I personally gravel vac mine. When my 20long was heavily planted with gravel, I had to not gravel in the few cms around the base of plants or they flaoted off, but replanting wasnt a massive issue. Now I use soil with a sand cap, i waited for the plants to root (a few weeks) before getting too close with the vaccum, but now I can basically run the plants over with a gravel vac. Once their root network is established, you can get pretty darned close. Especially with sand as the vac doesnt penetrate in, like you do with gravel, a surface clean is all thats really needed (enough to make a bow/wave of sand as you move it, but not so much you have to rescape every week! XD).




BlueSky said:


> Last question! My tank lid is a lid for reptiles (I think). It is black with black wire mesh across the middle; should I put saran wrap to hold moisture/heat/humidity inside the tank?


This depends on a few things:

- What is your ambient humidity? 
- Are their going to be betta (or other labirynth fish) in this particular tank? 
- Are you going to try to grow the tank plants so they emerge from the top of the tank?


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## BlueSky (Jan 26, 2014)

BettaMummy87 said:


> Most aquarium plants will grow properly if Kelvin rating exceeds 5000K but doesn’t exceed 6800K. Noon light is rated at 6500K. So if you can I would up it a tad, even for lowlight plants if you want them to grow noticably. Things like crypts will basically grow in ambient light, same as anumbias, but growth be be very, very slow. The Kelvins should be on the box, somewhere. What brand are you looking at, and I can try and help with where on the box to find it.
> 
> A general rule of thumb is 2 watts per gallon, if you really cannot find the K rating, but it is a very, very shaky rule and will not guarantee good plant growth.


I was just looking at the light bulbs at Walmart -don't remember brands off the top of my head. I am actually getting ready to head there soon, so I will look at the boxes again... maybe I just overlooked it. I am also going to be heading to Petsmart and Petco today I will see what they have. I am thinking I saw a 6100K at Petsmart once when I was there last month.

I haven't actually picked out plants yet. I wanted to get the whole light thing sorted out first then pick the plants. 



BettaMummy87 said:


> What substrate are you using? I personally gravel vac mine. When my 20long was heavily planted with gravel, I had to not gravel in the few cms around the base of plants or they flaoted off, but replanting wasnt a massive issue. Now I use soil with a sand cap, i waited for the plants to root (a few weeks) before getting too close with the vaccum, but now I can basically run the plants over with a gravel vac. Once their root network is established, you can get pretty darned close.


I have gravel at the moment but I am contemplating getting black sand(or gravel if it's easier). I really like the look of the darker substrate colors. Would you say the sand or the gravel is easier to manage? 



BettaMummy87 said:


> Especially with sand as the vac doesnt penetrate in, like you do with gravel, a surface clean is all thats really needed (enough to make a bow/wave of sand as you move it, but not so much you have to rescape every week! XD).


Good to know! XD I was worried about keeping it clean without using a gravel vac, but then again I didn't want to uproot the plants and have to deal with replanting things.





BettaMummy87 said:


> This depends on a few things:
> 
> - What is your ambient humidity?
> - Are their going to be betta (or other labirynth fish) in this particular tank?
> - Are you going to try to grow the tank plants so they emerge from the top of the tank?


The humidity is 31% today outside if that helps any. I don't really know the ambient humidity in the room though. I live in Kansas. Sorry not much help on this question.
Yes, there will be a betta in this tank (which I know I can't seal off all air supply since they need that)
No, I am not really planning on growing tank plants that emerge from the top.


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

BlueSky said:


> I was just looking at the light bulbs at Walmart -don't remember brands off the top of my head. I am actually getting ready to head there soon, so I will look at the boxes again... maybe I just overlooked it. I am also going to be heading to Petsmart and Petco today I will see what they have. I am thinking I saw a 6100K at Petsmart once when I was there last month.


Not sure about walmart bulbs, but the pet-specific ones should have it on the box. Most household bulbs do too. 



BlueSky said:


> Would you say the sand or the gravel is easier to manage?


Personally? Sand every time! 



BlueSky said:


> The humidity is 31% today outside if that helps any. I don't really know the ambient humidity in the room though. I live in Kansas. Sorry not much help on this question.
> Yes, there will be a betta in this tank (which I know I can't seal off all air supply since they need that)
> No, I am not really planning on growing tank plants that emerge from the top.


Humidity shouldn't be an issue for you then, beyond meaning you *may* have to top up the tank a bit more often than you would with a more solid lid. I use craft mesh lids on my 2 Gals with no real issues. Temp is more important than humidity with the betta in there, the closer the room temp is to the water temp, the better for the labyrinth organ.


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## BlueSky (Jan 26, 2014)

BettaMummy87 said:


> Not sure about walmart bulbs, but the pet-specific ones should have it on the box. Most household bulbs do too.
> 
> 
> Personally? Sand every time!
> ...


Ok thank you for all the help!

Walmart was pretty low on light bulbs when I went there last so I am going to see what they have today and if I can't find anything then I will just find one at the pet store.

I prefer the look of sand over gravel.... I just might be switching over then!


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

I prefer it too.  And like you, I love that black sand.


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## BlueSky (Jan 26, 2014)

Would two 10 watt 6500k bulbs work for a 10 gallon? Those are the only tube light bulbs I can find with kelvin rating higher than 5000K. Thinking about just not using my light hood and use the clip on lights since those are easier to find the right bulbs for.

Also, would it be considered low or moderate lighting?


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## BlueSky (Jan 26, 2014)

Also the plants that come in the tubes from petco/petsmart do they need to be quarantined?


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## BettaMummy87 (Jul 26, 2014)

Without a meter its hard to be certain, what is the depth of the tank and how hig above the water level would the bulbs be set? 

I would hazard a guess at moderate, unless you are mounting them pretty high and/or the tank is deep. 

No idea on the tube plants, we dont get them here. :/ I QT the ones in tubs, if it is a species I am worried about. TBH I pop them in with the QT fish, save having multiple tanks running. Be aware there is an ANubias issue the last few years, so any borwning or smell from the rhizome and it should be segregated from all other anubias (_Echinodorus_ species and _Hygrophila corymbosa _have also been reported to be affected). Dont let it put you off, but maybe QT anubias seperately from any of those other species. _
_


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## ZZD (Jan 13, 2013)

I use black sand in my tank and I do have shrimp, but I also use a turkey baster I bought for my tank to clean up the tank as needed. I have one of the hinged glass lids that is always opened and Other than needing water added at least once a week I have no issues with it.


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## BlueSky (Jan 26, 2014)

BettaMummy87 said:


> Without a meter its hard to be certain, what is the depth of the tank and how hig above the water level would the bulbs be set?
> 
> I would hazard a guess at moderate, unless you are mounting them pretty high and/or the tank is deep.
> 
> ...


The tank is a standard rectangle 10 gallon tank. From the base of the tank to top of water level is 9 3/4 inches and there is about half an inch of gravel(soon to be changed out with sand). The light bulb is about 2 inches about the water.

I actually have some plants coming from Umar so I probably won't get any tube plants now.



ZZD said:


> I use black sand in my tank and I do have shrimp, but I also use a turkey baster I bought for my tank to clean up the tank as needed. I have one of the hinged glass lids that is always opened and Other than needing water added at least once a week I have no issues with it.


Yes that reminds me I need to get a turkey baster!


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## Oldfishlady (Mar 1, 2010)

I use and buy my light bulbs from about any store that has a lighting dept-usually walmart-I use the GE brand 6500k daylight-watts depends on the bulb size and that can vary from 10-40watts in my case.

My tanks are all soil based natural planted-no added Co2-only what the tank makes naturally from decomp and lights out-I don't have to use any added ferts since the system generates it for me, however, with the rosette type plants they need a bit more iron (yellowing leaves) sometimes and I will on occasion will need to make some clay balls from the natural clay I harvest around my stock pond and cram around the base of the rosette plants (swords, crypts, val, sags...etc)

I have found keeping the photoperiod at 10-12hr/day to work best for my plants and to keep excessive algae at bay-It normal, expected and a sign of a healthy system to have some algae, however, since these are closed systems it does need to be controlled to a degree.

With florescent light bulbs it is important to change them out at least every 12mo regardless if they are still working or not, due to the color temp is no longer effective for good plant growth. I also change the starter on my florescent bulb light strips the same time I swap out the bulbs-IMO, it a good habit to get into since the starter often will go out and you might think either the light bulb went bad or the light strip itself- when it is just a simple/cheap florescent starter that needed to be changed.

Light penetrating is also important for good plant growth-this is why I removed all my hoods-only using the light strips over the tanks-If using a hood be sure and keep the partition between the light and water really clean for good light penetration to plants.

With live plants I have found success is related more to proper kelvin rating than watts or even plant food-without proper lighting the plants can't use even the best food provided.


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