The most common mistake beginners make is....

[BrianNY]

Lighting. When it comes to a planted tank a little bit of information can hurt you alot!!! For some reason the first thing people hear is.... You can't grow plants without massive lighting. This is true for some plants but certainly not all. Then people seem to think I'll get the lighting first and worry about the CO2 later.

So people go out and invest in fixtures of more than 2 wpg without any understanding of the water chemistry required to balance the effect of that much lighting. Complex plants (the plants we want grow), require carbon, nitrogen, potassium, and a host of trace elements for health and photosynthesis. Simpler plants (algae), can proliferate without all of the building blocks mentioned above being in balance. Expecially carbon.

When you throw alot of light at your tank, and are missing CO2, the algae will steal that light from your plants. You soon realize that what you've accomplished is growing magnificent algae to the detriment of your plants.

Conclusion: High light and no CO2 will be a disaster.




(This thread is for information and resources only. Post questions in new threads. -- czcz, 9/06)

[Jchillin]

There is also the lack of overall knowledge regarding:

Wattage, Kelvin rating, [acronym:91f9bf52b5="Compact Flourescent"]CF[/acronym:91f9bf52b5]'s, [acronym:91f9bf52b5="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:91f9bf52b5] and [acronym:91f9bf52b5="Very high output fluorescent"]VHO[/acronym:91f9bf52b5]. Everyone who does a planted tank should know or research this information beforehand as well.

I was completely depressed when I found that 40w is the highest wattage for a [acronym:91f9bf52b5="Normal Output Fluorescents"]NO[/acronym:91f9bf52b5] 48" bulb.

[Quake2player]

Just as buying inapropriate fish for small tanks ala the common overstocking problem... there's the similiar beginner mistake with plants. Large plants such as varieties of swords get too large for tanks under 30 gallons. But, we all make that mistake as I have. Perhaps someone can elaborate on some common plants we all find, but should not go in common small sized tanks (under 30? under 40?).

[malkore]

Good call on posting this Brian!

Jchillin - you can always overdrive a 48" NO tube to levels above 40watts

Greenmagi - yes, 1.5 - 2wpg is considered medium light, and is also the range where CO2 injection will noticably improve the plants, but isn't 100% necessary.

(references a post pruned from the sticky-- cz)

[BrianNY]

My reason for posting this as a sticky is simple.

It is hoped that anyone reading will be spared the money and frustration involved with buying that expensive light first. [acronym:e4ff6fc07f="In my opinion"]IMO[/acronym:e4ff6fc07f], a newbie to planted tanks should start with low light plants first. Gain some hands on experience with the chemistry and maintenance, and then see if they want to take on more.

[Steve Hampton]

Brian, excellent post! I have preached this over and over on other forums and have never fully got this concept to "stick". To me the logic seems clear, [acronym:2855fa7c75="Carbon dioxide"]CO2[/acronym:2855fa7c75] is the horse and lighting is the cart. Never put the cart before the horse. Over the years I have seen countless hobbyist come and go starting with gobs of lighting, growing a tank full of algae, getting frustrated and leaving planted tanks or sometimes the whole hobby. Great post to have stickied and I hope folks take heed to your sage advice.

[Quake2player]

Originally Posted by smallfry

can I have a "beginners list" of low light plants? Thank you!

plantgeek.net is referenced quite a bit in this forum... I always use their plant guide and they do categorize nicely... check out by "lighting" requirements:

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide.php

Off the top of my head, common low light plants:

Java Fern
Java Moss
Anacharis
Watersprite
Wisteria
most Anubias
most Crypts

[TankGirl]

I think before people even get their heapum big lights they throw any and every kind of plant in there (terrestrial plants included - mondo grass being my personal favorite ) and when everything up and dies that is when they wind up here, only to discover they have 1wpg or even under.

They get their big new lights, start a thread about algae, etc. ... you know the rest!

Great thread, Brian!

[HiFi]

Sometimes LFS will tell you anything to get a sale. My recent experience (new to hobby) I had just bought a new perfecto canopy with the stock lighting for a free 29G I got from a friend. Got 2 Red Platty & 2 Dwarf Flame Gourami.

Then I went to maybe get a plant or two, before finding AA, I was sold some cabomba & rotala and was told its easy to take care of with my setup, and that I didnt need fertilizer. Back to the store I went and they suggested a new bulb and got me a 20watt 11,000k T6 superlux. $50 later the plants are not lookin so good.

I'm glad this information is made available to people like me, as I dont think the employee knew what CO2 was when I asked her Yesterday.

I've learned a lot here, over the past weeks and hope that I dont get fustrated with and give up on the planted tank which me and the wife are hoping for.

[Simpte]

Great post but you left out one very important concept. Plant heavy from the beginning. Plant mass is key to keeping algae at bay and keeping NH4 levels down during the cycle no matter what lighting level you have.