Having Trouble --- starting a planted tank

[CodyL]

OK, so yes, I am a little new to everything. But I'm doing loads and loads of research. I just have a couple things that are confusing me. I am thinking of moving up to a 29-39 gallon tank. As of now I have a 10g with fake plants. When I get my 29-39g tank, I want to set it up very nice with REAL plants. I am not understanding though some of it though. Here are my questions:

1.) how do I get the plants in the tank and be able to bury them?
2.) What do I bury the plants with and how often do I change the substrate?
2.) What will I need in order to balance everything, so it is perfect for my fish?
3.) How do I keep my tank clean with plants?
4.) Are there testers in my LFS so I can test my waters and will it come with something to tell me what is perfect water for my fish? How often do I test it?

Thanks for your help hopefully I haven't been too annoying yet haha

 

[fouldsy]

Hi, and welcome! Check out some of the threads in the 'Planted Tank' forums for advice on lighting, as often that can be a limiting factor. But, there's plenty of low light plants that will work with fairly stock light systems.

I'll try to answer some of your questions here, and hopefully others can chime in too

1) You'd generally plant them with about 20% of the water in the tank. This way you can place them where you want them without the tank being completely full of water.
2) You can bury it in to whatever substrate you prefer - fairly fine, smooth gravel is fine, though there are pros and cons to using specialist substrate specific for plants.
3) Regular water changes and testing of your water will help you understand what's happening in the tank and keep the water balanced. Depending on the fish you want to keep, you may need to adjust the temperature slightly, or pay attention to the pH level or hardness/softness
4) A similar cleaning schedule to your current tank hopefully - regular water changes, and you can get a cleaning brush/pad that can clean the inside of the glass to remove any algae that builds up. There's also some fish that are great at eating up algae too
5) The API liquid test kits are what most people, including myself, prefer for accurate readings. Most, if not all, pet stores will carry these and are a great buy. Testing once a week is usually sufficient once your tank is established.

 

[Ashes2ashes]

I agree with everything fouldsy said, and to add to it, as per your question about cleaning with plants, I just gravel vac around them. I don't get too close to the plants as the fish poo etc works as plant food, so I just get close to them and vaccuum the spots where they are not. Also, I don't think you need to change the gravel out..not anytime soon or on a regular basis or anything. Once the plants are rooted I would leave the substrate around them alone except to pull out runners or trim things when you need to thin them out. Good luck.

 

[CodyL]

Wow, thanks for all the advice it is really helping me understand better. Isn't the gravel vacs used when changing water? Doesn't it work as a siphon or something similar?

 

[fouldsy]

Most of the gravel vacs I've seen can be used just a siphon too. Providing you don't stick it down in to the gravel, it will just suck out water instead.

I have an Aqueon unit that's very similar to a Python you might often read about - it attaches to a faucet and uses the water pressure from the tap to draw out water from the tank either just straight water or by vacuuming the gravel, and then can also fill the tank back up with fresh water. It's definitely worth looking at investing in and most people can't speak highly enough of them!

 

[jsoong]

I would suggest you read this article in the planted tank forum:
Planted tank basics

Also read some (or all) the links in this sticky:
http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f24/read-this-first-resources-and-references-83826.html

Just to clarify a few things:
1. you don't really change the substrate. You might have to add some fertilizer from time to time, but for a low light setup, fish poop is often adequate.
2. Some plants don't need a substrate at all, they get all the nutrients from the water. This would include all stem & floating plants (eg hornwort), and those that use roots only as anchors (eg Java fern, anubias). Those are generally the easiest plants to get into.
3. As others had said, lights over a planted tank will determine what you will need (and what you can grow). Decide on the lights first, and take it from there.