new/tank sorta planted start

[nagel]

Okay so i have had a 55 gal for about a year now and ive lost about 5 fish out of about 30 i would say i am thinking about getting some u.v light or whatever they are called and getting some plants and trying a planted aquarium so im reaching out to you expert and am asking what i need and stuff, let your imaginations run wild spending most of my tax return on this.

 

[MyanRan]

What do you have right now? Substrate? Lighting? Fish?

 

[nagel]

right now i have gravel/going to replace after i do a good cleaning this weekend, i got some lights but ill need to get new ones that can grow stuff and for fish i have mollys mostly, with a couple diaminos or whatever they are called.

 

[nagel]

anyone?

 

[MyanRan]

I was going to say that you will probably want at least a Dual T5 HO Fixture for that tank. If you want to grow more than low light plants.

 

[nagel]

so i just need lights dont need to monitor the water or put any chemicals in or anythingl ike that?

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

IMO the necessities that you need to have appropriate for a planted tank is lighting, substrate, and ferts. I agree, you need at least a dual T5HO on that tank to get more than just select few of plants...I had a dual T5HO on my 60g and I could grow lots of plants well, but then I added some high output LED strips and i can grow almost anything in it...you don't need anything to monitor water with in a planted tank, just plants, correct lighting, a good substrate and proper ferts!

 

[nagel]

Okay quick question what are ferts and will gravel work as a substrate?

 

[DanTheGuppyMan]

Ferts= fertilizers. Plants need the correct nutrients to survive (macros and micros) and a source of CO2 to grow along with the right lighting and a substrate. I recommend using dry ferts, but liquid ferts such as flourish comp. will work also. Usually liquid ferts make the tank prone to algae issues, though. I dose dry ferts through PPS-Pro in my tanks along with pressurized CO2 (in a low light tank like yours you won't need pressurized CO2, something like flourish Excel will do). Gravel is common in low light planted tanks, it should work fine but in addition to the ferts you will need root tabs since the gravel has no nutrients except maybe the fish poop to use as a fertilizer.