New to plants

[Retaks]

Hey everyone. Im neew to having plants in an aquarium. Well actually i still havnt tryed it yet but plan on doing it soon. I have no clue what all i need to have plants in my aquarium. I plan on just trying a few for now and going from there. Can anyone please give me tips on what i need to do or have?

 

[chris127]

hey im glad to see another one taking the plunge into the aquatic garden

first off, what kind of lighting/tank setup do you have?

 

[Retaks]

I have a 55 gal with curremtly 3 Red Belly PIranhas in it but its going to be just one Black Piranha in it soon. I have no clue what lights are on it. They are flouresent lights is all i know.

 

[chris127]

are they the stock lights that came with your tank? if you turn them off and flip over the light fixture it should tell you how many watts on the bulb.

 

[jrp1588]

if he doesn't know, I imagine he has stock lights and under 1wpg. You can grow some simple plants under that kind of lighting, but not much. Anacharis, crypts, and java fern will be your best friends. hah

 

[chris127]

yeah thats what im guessing lol. i have a low light setup and ive done my research so far. i just got java fern, wisteria, and crypts since their low light and will do fine with 1wpg. my anarcharis is turning brown and i dont suggest putting that in your tank. you just have to make sure youre dosing with ferts though.

 

[Retaks]

There is 2 18w T8 bulbs. I have no clue what that means but im sure all of you do. I do plan on doing more with plants but i just wanna start out slow and i dont have alot of money to dump into it right away. Im planning on doing a complete overhaul of my 55 gal before my Black Piranha gets here. Im going to Black Sand i believe.

 

[chris127]

Well since you have less than 1wpg, you should start out with java fern, anubias, and crypts. You'll also need some ferts. Seachem Flourish and Flourish Excel are great fertilizers. Seachem Flourish Tabs are great too. You can find all of this at Petsmart or Petco.

Heres a link to plant info
you should stay in the low light range for now.

Also, you should put some high plants at the ends of your tank to keep the piranhas from running into the glass, they're not the smartest fish lol.

 

[jrp1588]

Hmm, I've never had a tank where anacharis didn't grow light crazy, even under low light. I guess results may vary

 

[chris127]

yeah thats what i thought was the case too. i put some in my 10 gal tank with a 15w light and it started to rot? anyways, you can do some pretty fancy aquascaping with the plants jrp and i mentioned.

and post some pics! piranahs are awesome fish.

 

[Purrbox]

I agree that Java Fern, Anubias, and Crypts are going to be your best bets for plants. Java Moss is another one that you could also try. Even these won't grow very fast considering how low your light is.

I really wouldn't worry to much about fertilizers with your current setup. Perhaps dose a good trace fertilizer (Flourish "Comprehensive", Tropica Plant Nutrition, or CSM+B) and some Potassium after each water change. Flourish Excel would get awefully expensive quickly with your size aquarium, so I probably wouldn't bother with it. Fert tabs could be helpful under the Crypts, but not strictly necessary.

 

[Retaks]

Ok. Thanks for everyones help. Im gonna try to go to Petsmart today and look around and start getting the stuff i need. Im redoing the tank next Sat night into Sun so im not gonna get anything until i have it ready for them.

 

[rkilling1]

My advice would be to read through the stickies in this forum before purchasing the plants.

my anarcharis is turning brown and i dont suggest putting that in your tank. you just have to make sure youre dosing with ferts though.

Would you be adding Excel to this tank?