want to convert to a planted tank

[mandygvns]

Hey everyone, its been a while since ive been on here but wanted to post a picture of my tank and ask a question....

I really want to add plants to my tank, the platic ones are cool and all but I just love the look of real plants. I used to have them but they died and I was told I didnt have enough light for the size of my tank. I just want to know what kinds of plants I should get, how I should help them in the beggining stages so they stay healthy and what kind of light should I look into??

I bought the tank (16 gal bow front) as a set and it has the original light in there, all it says on my hood is that its a 20'' Fluorescent light 19 watt and 60hz

I added a picture of the plants I used to have in my tank that died for unknown reasons...

 

[neilanh]

Well, I'm going to say that those plants died because they're not really aquatic plants.

Try getting your hands on some anacharis or an anubias and give that a try. You've got enough light to do low-light plants I think.

 

[mfdrookie516]

I agree with Neilan, those look like the plants they sell in tubes at petsmart that are actually terrarium plants that cannot be submerged. Anacharis and anubias are both good, you could also try java moss and java fern as well

 

[HN1]

Yep. +1 to the above. Go planted, you'll love it!

 

[mandygvns]

Awsome, thanks for the advice guys!!! And you think I have plenty of light for them?? Should i buy a different one for plants?? Thanks again im so new to this plant stuff...haha

 

[mfdrookie516]

how old is the bulb? does it have a k rating (6500k, 6700k, 10,000k, etc)? I would just go ahead and buy a new bulb for it anyways. I've had good luck with phillips daylight bulbs from home depot... much cheaper than those "plant and aquarium" bulbs from the lfs, but do the same thing... bulbs are only good for a certain amount of time, anywhere from 6 months to a year depending on who you ask

 

[BigJim]

Not all the tube plants at Petsmart are non-aquatic. I've had good luck with the swords. I think those might be the only aquatic plants I've seen in the tube though.

I wouldn't say you have plenty of light, but I think you have enough to grow low-light plants. Doubling your light would offer a lot more options in terms of plant selection.

 

[mfdrookie516]

yeah, not all the plants are, but those look like the ones that are not aquatic, which is what i meant. I've got anubias that i got from a tube that is doing great, and i've had good luck with the swords too... i think they have wisteria as well. but the majority are not aquatic

 

[mandygvns]

Yeah I got all but one of those plants in a tube from petco...the one in the picture to the far left with all the limbs was from a pet store they said ti was for low lighting.

I dont know the k rating of the bulb...nothing is written on the bulb at all...

When your talking about bulbs from homedepot do those replace the light from the tube or are you adding light and setting it around the tank? Sorry if that seems like a stupid question...