Help setting up 55 gallon

[Karathax]

Have a 10 gallon that is purely gravel and fake plants. I decided I wanted to get a bigger tank and found sales. I currently have a snail, a few male guppies, and some corys. I have looked into substrates somewhat, but still slightly overwhelmed on it all. As for plants I've read that Amazon sword, java fern, and anubias are great plants to start with. I would like to find plants that would pair with those fish and potentially a dwarf gourami, school of tetras, and maybe a very small pleco (like a clown.) As for the substrate, inert or not. Am I able to use a few inches of a substrate like eco complete and then a thin layer if gravel over for the corys to sift through? Also, what is a good beginner substrate to look into that won't overly complicate water parameters. I did watch co-ops video where he mentions recommending crushed coral, so I would use roughly 5lbs at his 1:10 ratio. Lastly, was reading about c02 injection and etc. If I used an oxygen stone with a outside filter would that provide enough natural flow to inhibit my need to go that route?

[lefty o]

the simplest is to just run a couple inches of gravel.

[Kirsten]

Nice! Welcome to your planted tank journey! I don't think you should worry about fancy substrate for this tank. Java fern and anubias are both epiphytes and just float above the substrate or attach to rocks or driftwood. Swords are root feeders that should get planted into the substrate, but they're pretty easy care and will be happy just about anywhere, especially if you give them a root tab as fertilizer.

Something relatively soft/round and fine for your cories is best. That can be small, round pebble gravel, pool filter sand, or my personal favorite if you live near a Tractor Supply store: 20/40 Black Diamond Blasting sand. All of these options are inexpensive and look great in your tank. The only thing to be aware of is all of these will need a good amount of rinsing before adding them to your tank, especially the black diamond. So pick up a few 5-gallon buckets while you're at Tractor Supply to help with that process!

For what you're planning on: gouramis, tetras, a pleco, those fish all enjoy relatively soft water on the neutral to slightly acidic side. So don't worry about crushed coral unless you have extremely soft water and need a buffering agent. Even then, I'd recommend something like seachem equilibrium which is immediate and easy to dose for the level of hardness you want.

[SWilson]

Yes, I agree with Lefty, of the three plants you've identified, only the amazon sword will be dependent on nutrients in the gravel, the java fern and anubias will take nutrients from the water column.  So you can use inert gravel and use root tabs like the ones the co-op sells around the amazon sword.  

I probably used a total of about 50-60 lbs of gravel to fill my 55 gallon.  (this was my first big tank).  The three plants you're thinking of won't need CO2, you'll generally only need that if you want to grow a carpeting plant or red plants (though the co-op sells a couple varieties of red plants that don't need CO2, which is pretty great).  You could always add CO2 later down the line though.  CO2 doesn't really have to do with flow, it's injecting extra amounts of CO2 into the water (which already is present from the fish and plants) to boost plant growth.  

Adding an oxygen stone is always a good idea, but I don't think it is necessarily related to going the CO2 route.  

I'm currently growing primarily java fern, vallisinera (another good beginner plant), java moss, and frogbit (floating plant) in my 55 without CO2 and they are doing fine.  I do weekly water changes and use the Co-op's easy green fertilizer.  It took about 2 months for me to start seeing real noticable plant growth, but now things are really starting to take off.  A floating plant, or something else like guppy grass might be good if your guppies are breeding and if you want to keep the fry.     

Welcome to the world of planted tanks!  

[lefty o]

to add to the above, if gravel is used 60-65 pounds is a decent start. you may find you want a little more, but 1.25-1.5 pounds per gallon is a decent starting point.

[Karathax]

10 minutes ago, lefty o said:

to add to the above, if gravel is used 60-65 pounds is a decent start. you may find you want a little more, but 1.25-1.5 pounds per gallon is a decent starting point.

I'll probably just stick with gravel since it seems an ok substrate for my questions 🙂 ty!

[Jungle Fan]

For your Corys you could take gravel and leave a stretch of sand as @Kirstenrecommended in the front for them to sift through if you want, just be aware that plants don't tend to do as well in sand in my experience. Make sure not to plant Java fern and Anubias in the substrate, or they will rot. You can attach them with gel type super glue to rocks, or wood and they will grow, and spread over time. Another plant that is like these two and can also be attached to rock, or wood is Bucephalandra.

You can get different kinds of sword plants as well like Red Flame, or Ocelot Green, or Ocelot Red to give it some variety. You could also use a plant called Helanthium quadricostatus as either a mid-, or foreground plant, it is also known as Broadleaf Chain Sword, or Bolivian Chain Sword, it also requires root tabs and was once considered an actual sword plant but has since been reclassified into its own grouping.

Cryptocoryne are much like the swords in respect to being root feeders and they would also do well in your tank providing you supply them with root tabs as well. With crypts it helps to remove all their leaves just above the rosette when you first get them and plant them that way so they don't go through what is called crypt melt first where the old emersed grown leaves die off and new submerse leaves have to be formed. Cutting off the leaves at that point help skip the die off phase and get the plant not to waste nutrients and energy on dying tissue.

I also once kept a gravel tank with primarily Aponogeton, which are a family of bulb plants that were sold as just the bulb, and they did extremely well, the only issue with them was that sometimes their leaves die off and the bulb can go dormant for a while, only to make a reappearance months later. In the  meantime while you suction the mulm it can happen you accidentally suck a bulb into the bell of the gravel vac and  get stuck so you have to disassemble it and dislodge the bulb first before you can continue.

I hope this helps and gives you some more ideas for plants and an easy set up.

Edited March 22, 2021 by Jungle Fan
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