hey guys..just wondering what i should do to begin a planted tank..after looking at all the threads its starting to get me thinking..i see that you guys start out with a bare tank and just some kind of driftwood or rocks..how to these plants begin to grow??..what kind of light do i need??..chemicals??..hardware??..thanks guys

The bed: you need ferts or sorts, usually people go with 2 or 3 types. CO2, tank or DIY depending on the size of the tank. <20 can use a DIY with a diffuser. People also dose the tank with seachem fertilizer to aide growth of plants. Lights should be around 2-4 wpg.

thanks man..newwww project!!

It's actually 1-2 wpg. Any more than that and you'll have a serious algae problem. Just try to stay around 1.5 and you'll be fine

actually 2 or 4 is good they have skimmers for the algae on surface. also low light requires less co2 that is consummed by plants. So more light more co2 need to balance out also means more growth and color. Supplement of potassium and other minerals to aid plants health and growth such as the brand of supplements such as SeaChem-flourish theres many versions of it such as Excel, Iron, Potassisum and Kent-Freshwater Supplement

First of all. How big your tank ?what kind of planted tank you want ? Low tech (no CO2, low light (1-2wpg) )or High Tech (C02 required, Strong Light(3-4wpg)) tank ?

Get the Amazonia from this web http://www.adgshop.com/Substrate_System_s/1.htm
C02 Pressured tank is best. + C02 diffuser.
Lightning system from Power Compact to Metal halide.
Some rock or driftwood.

Yes, you can get the stuff from ADA, as Daniel said, but ADA is say.. for ballers! All their stuff is hawt and awesome and all that sparkly stuff, but damn. $$$$. To add to Daniel's post, i think there is a "middle tech," which is: DIY C02 with mini diffuser and around 2-3 wpg. Usually this is for 20gal and lower. maybe 15 and lower.

the main & most important thing would be striking a balance b/w Co2, fertilizer dosing & Lighting.. if ur combination is right, u shouldnt have any algae problem.. when you first start u will get brown algae..but this is VERY normal and will go in a months time... U should have a bed of about 4" to hold the plants firmly... use laterite(red in color) soil as the base..top it with a 3" layer of CALCIUM free gravel/sand... plant densly initially to avoid algae problems... plants like duckweed, Vals, Moss, Cobamba, etc should be planted first...dont start fertilisers and Co2 for the first month... Start of with 1.5watts per gallon for the first month and then increase to 2 Watts per gallon once u start with Co2 & Ferts...

just thought id add u dont need a CO2 tank for plants to thrive, just dont get any hard to keep plants, get stuff like anubias and java fern.

should i put the live plant to my FH tank???

any body have co2 tank setup for sale ?

i run a diy co2 set up on my tank 2x1x1(20gal at a guess) and i use root tablet fetilizer and my tanks getting pretty crazy i also only use a very small filter now i was useing a canister but kept haveing tomany problems so im useing a filter that is probly to small for the tank but it seems to work fine oh and i use 2 light tubes not sure on brand or watts.

if u decide to do a plant tank keep a few cories as they disturb the gravel witch is good for your plants as it can get rid of the bad gasses that get stuck in the gravel and i found adding fish to your plant tank also helps.

also depending on your set up depends on your maitenence if u dont prune your plants it can some times slow there groth or they will out grow or evan take over your tank.i pinch prune my tank every 2 weeks and thats stil probly not enough.its pretty easy to set a plant tank up but once its running 100% it can get time consumeing.

i hope all of that makes sense and can be of use.


ziggey

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ziggey casts "Resurrection" on target "thread"
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It is succesful.

lol let there be plants

I'm going to be putting some plants in my sump ala refugium style!