40 Gallon Tank Input wanted on new tank plan

Hello all, I'm transitioning to a larger tank and would like input/opinions on my plan. Here is the setup:
40g breeder
Fluval 207 from current tank
150w heater
2x AI Prime freshwater
Pressurized CO2 (CO2 art pro-se regulator and inline diffuser)
40lbs UNS Controsoil
~35lbs dragon rock (6-7 from existing tank)
1x Medium (~15" long forked piece) mopani wood

For plants I'm thinking:
Egeria densa
Echinodorus Bleheri (From existing tank)
Crypt spiralis tiger
Crypt wendetti green
Alternanthera variegatus
Crypt pink flamingo
Java moss (on existing wood)
Dwarf hair grass or Monte Carlo for carpet

For livestock:
25-30 neons (15 from existing setup)
6 Otos (from existing tank)

I'm confident in my ability to keep the fish alive and healthy, but this will be my first foray into CO2 and am concerned about my plant choices being overzealous.
Water ph here is about 7.3 out of the tap and I know the heater is a bit small but the average house temp is 75 year round.

 

HI! welcome to fishlore, Im sorry but I am a serial plant killer and you wouldn't want my advice if i had any. There are tons of people here that will help you though , Good luck!

 

To carpet or not to carpet.

Or somewhere in between...

For instance, you can create a carpet with monte carlo in inert sand, provided you are really patient. I mean, years..... Or you simply buy lots of MC to start with....

I have dwarf hair grass also in a non CO2 tank and inert sand. And....it's alive, but not kicking. Do I mind? No. Because it sticks out between a substrate that has mulm, some dead leaves, rocks.... This patched substrate looks great in my view.

If you aim for a tight carpet, but don't want to invest 100s of bucks in plants from the start, and don't want to wait years to get results, my advice would be to have all your attention on the carpet and forget about the other plants.

The other plants do fine as long as you take care of the carpet. There's nothing overzealous about your list.

Things to address:
- CO2 distribution; ideally, diffuse as much as possible before it enters the tank and aim for the carpet. An inline diffuser is not 100% perfect, but better than a diffuser hanging inside a scape.
- Ensure stable supply but don't worry about the concentration; a normal tank has 0,6-3 ppm CO2 concentration. If you raise it to a stable 7, or 10, or 15, it already makes a huge difference. Monte carlo doesn't need a whole lot extra.
-I'd add a very modest bubbler in the corner of your tank. Here's the rationale: Surface agitation & gaseous exchange in CO2 injected tanks If you keep the bubble rate modest, CO2 might never be a problem, but since O2 is the most important factor in healthy tanks, I'd never compromise.

 

Hey there,

Ruud basically covered everything already.

I'm seeing you're planning on using soil. Are you aware how soil works and that you need a very low KH in your source water?

 

-I'd add a very modest bubbler in the corner of your tank. Here's the rationale: Surface agitation & gaseous exchange in CO2 injected tanks If you keep the bubble rate modest, CO2 might never be a problem, but since O2 is the most important factor in healthy tanks, I'd never compromise.

Rudd, thanks for the link, from the videos I'd watched I didn't think I'd need to do that. Since I'm running an inline diffuser for the co2, should I put an airstone on the opposite side of the lily pipe like if doing an in tank co2 diffuser?

I'm seeing you're planning on using soil. Are you aware how soil works and that you need a very low KH in your source water?

Zer0Fame, My understanding is that it's similar to using good potting soil in a container garden. The soil provides a good growing medium for the roots to establish and has an initial nutritional value that will need to be supplemented with additional fertilizer as the plants use the available nutrients. In regards to the KH, I haven't tested it myself but according to the board of water supply it's ~32-34 ppm, so I'm hoping I won't need to mess with an RO system.

 

Welcome to Fishlore.

Your plan seems fine to me. I wish you luck.

-I'd add a very modest bubbler in the corner of your tank. Here's the rationale: Surface agitation & gaseous exchange in CO2 injected tanks If you keep the bubble rate modest, CO2 might never be a problem, but since O2 is the most important factor in healthy tanks, I'd never compromise.

I second this. Although, there are some other options other than, or along with, a bubbler if you wish to use them. I typically use a spray bar and/or powerhead to create lots of ripples at the surface plus some sort of surface skimmer. ...does the same thing as the bubbler would.

Are you aware how soil works and that you need a very low KH in your source water?

I'm curious what you mean here Zer0Fame. I agree that low KH is usually preferable in most planted tanks, but do you mean you can't use soil if you have high KH? If so, that hasn't been my experience.

 

Hey,

I mean the active substrate, those round little balls. (Basically what he uses)
A high KH will lead to the soil depleting extremely quick and the soil pushing out a lot of nutrients, if it's the "loaded with nutrients variant". (Short summary: Soil takes ions, creates protons in exchange, protons react with KH, KH is destroyed. The higher the ion-count in water, the faster and more massive the exchange is)

Moreover, since the soil reduces the KH (after all, that's one of its jobs), with every water change the inhabitants will suffer huge osmotic stress.

Fantasy example: Soil pushes the KH from 20 to 5, you do a 50% water change, the KH is suddenly, within minutes, pushed from 5 to 12.5 or if you do a 75% water change to even 16.25 ... that puts quite a load on the internals of a fish.

To not hijack this thread, I wrote an article about soil for here just yesterday.

Soil and you

---------------

Did not see this post.

In regards to the KH, I haven't tested it myself but according to the board of water supply it's ~32-34 ppm, so I'm hoping I won't need to mess with an RO system.

32-34ppm is fair enough. Already on the high side for soil, but still doable.

 

Thank you all for your input. The tank is still a work in progress as not all the plants I wanted came in, but I had to get the other broken down so setting it up couldn't wait. It's looking good so far, now I just have to make sure it thrives!

 

Nice foundation! This gonna be good!

 

Just thought I'd post an update, and thank everyone for their input! I had some serious problems with algae and ended up adding a uv clarifier and a second filter, with a skimmer intake. The tank is doing well, I added some Ludwiga Natans super red and some Alternanthera Lilacina and am still going to put the crypt spiralis in one day. Also, the oto's bred! None of the fry survived the neons, but they bred and that makes me super happy!