55 Gallon Planted Beginner Questions

Hello I currently have a 55 gallon tank with two koi who I'm working on rehoming and 4 albino cories. Once the koi are gone I'm looking to do a planted tropical community tank. My questions are
1. How much substrate do I need in a 55 gallon?
2. What kind of substrates can I use to grow plants? I was gonna use flourite but its $20 for a 15lb bag and I'm hoping not to spend a fortune on substrate.
3. I have an old light that came with the tank and I'm not sure if I can grow plants with it. Would a beamswork 48" work? Would this be considered low light?
4. If I got the beamswork light what kind of plants could I have? Could I get an amazon sword?

 

Amanda there are many options for substrates. General rule of thumb is to use One lb. per 1 " depth per gallon. I currently use several types. Pool sand is the cheapest option. Weight is needed to establish the plants roots in the light weight mediums, like blasting silica. Tying anubias and ferns to wood creates a visual garden without other substrate. I have done this in a 10 gal tank which has those decorative round glass blobs in the bottom. I love hearing the pleco push those around to get the leftover guppy food. 1.5-2" substrate works for me.

Amazon sword is low light as well as java fern, mosses and anubias. It's your tank. Enjoy!

 

In a large tank, for substrate you could use pool filter sand for a light color, or black diamond blasting sand for black. Those come in 50# bags for around $10-15 for the pool filter sand, and $8 for the blasting sand. This is a much more economical approach, and you can add root tabs or dry fertilizer to the sand for the plants. I have 50# of pool filter sand in my planted 38, and have 100# of blasting sand to go in my 40. I don't know how much I'm going to use yet, but one bag just didn't look like enough!

The beamswork light can work for lowlight plants, and an amazon sword would be fine, but will definitely need root tabs, as they are root feeders. I have several of them. There are also different kinds of swords that work as well. For the light, make sure you get the 6500k fixture, as this is the better light for plants. There are also other inexpensive plant lights to look at too.

I don't want to just ramble on and on, but if you have any more questions feel free to ask!

 

I've tried to research the light thing with the K and the watts and it just confuses the heck out of me no matter how much I look at it
The light I'm looking at says "48" EA 120 54x - 2500 lumen 37x 10000K, 9x Actinic, 4x Red, 4x Green" Is that not enough K-things?

here's the link if that's not the right info.

 

I have that light in a 30", and I'm replacing it. I got it from amazon. I know some people use lights like that with plants but I'm not having much luck with it. However the beamswork DA has a 6500K light temp, which is better for photosynthesis. I can try to find the link on amazon and post it here.

 

I only like that one because it was cheap and all the other lights I had looked at were like $100+
Is this the one you're talking about?

 

Also is this the right black sand?
Black Diamond Blasting Abrasive | Blasting Media| Northern Tool + Equipment

 

I was thinking this one, but I was wrong on temp for it. It does have more reds though, which are important.

Beamswork DA FSPEC LED Aquarium Light Pent Freshwater 0.50W (90cm - 36")

Edit: But it's not in a 48"... I hate looking for lights!!! that's why I gave up and broke the bank on finnex lights... my tank is also deep so...

Yes that it the right sand. Make sure you get the medium grit: 20/40 I think. The fine is too fine. Kicks up clouds.

 

I looked in the comments it said the 48" is coming first week of May so I think that one should work as long as they actually come out with it.

Also is the black diamond sand supposed to be the one that says coal slag? Is that ok for an aquarium cause it doesn't sound good?

Is 30/60 ok or is that the fine one?

 

That size is great as blasting sand goes from #8 to #1000 with 1000 being the very finest. Coal slag is what it is made from. You will do best if you put a pound or so in a 5 gal bucket to rinse and swish away the finest particles. Rinsing takes time and water. Once in your aquarium some will float on the surface despite all the rinsing in the world. Eventually these will sink. Be patient. And yes, you will suck some out when you clean the gravel. You won't miss it.

 

P.S. Save yourself money and go visit a lumber yard to buy it. Shipping charges will be more than the product if you have them send it to you. Call the business first and ask what they have on hand. Don't wear a white shirt if you are buying the black blast! Lesson learned.

 

It's also available at tractor supply stores if you have one near you. Northern tool has storefronts as well.

 

There's a tractor supply store in Taunton so not too far away. The light I can order off amazon. Petsmart has most of the plants I want. Now I just have to find a pet store that actually has the fish I want. Progress!

 

I would pass on the beamswork, you will have a hard time with it on a 55 (I needed to switch mine on a 20long, but then again that was also based on my plant selection. There is a beamswork 6500 1w (vs .5w) that someone on here swears by.
Comparative priced I would go with a finnex stingray. Up the price and I would go with the finnex 24/7 SE.
Another one worth considering is the chihiros series a. (On eBay) My only hesitation with recommending it is that there are seven different light settings. As a beginner it will be hard to guage the setting you would need in order to avoid an algae farm... however, if you add other plants in the future that need medium plus lighting this will cover all your bases.

Be sure to purchase root tabs to plant at the base of your plants, especially the sword. Also an all in one fertilizer is the easier way to start, two great ones are thrive from nilocg aquatics and easy green from aquarium co-op. Flourish and leaf zone are the other two main ones, they are slightly below the first two due to a lower amount of NPK.

 

So this is what my tank looks like would the finnex 24/7 SE sit on top or would I have to take the top off the tank?

https://did%3Dda39a3ee5e6b4b0d3255bfef95601890afd80709%3Bid%3D160139524799%3Bkey%3DoxuT1bK-5bDeupgA4I-gbQ%3Bname%3Ddeformed-frogs

 

I can't see the photo but it is designed to go on rimmed or rimless tanks. It has 2 different leg pieces you can use. I got mine this week but don't have it all set up yet.

 

Yep, the Finnex Stingray. I like it a lot. It does come with different end cap mounting brackets or legs as Angel said.

 

Feeling a little overwhelmed. I think what I'm gonna do is get a few plants and try to grow them with the light I have and if it doesn't work I'll buy the finnex 24/7 SE. That way I'll only be out a few bucks if the plants die and maybe I can avoid spending $150 dollars right now cause I'm not even sure if my light won't grow plants I just suspect it won't. Thank you everyone for the help!