New to forum!

[Soul-Man22]

Hey everyone I'm new to the forum and just wanted to say hi and tht this forum is extremely helpful to me! Well here is some stuff about me. I used to have a 35 gallon tank a few years back, I had everything from tropical communities to cichlids to goldfish at some point. I took the tank down because I lost interest and time but now I got the itch for fish back so I set up a 10 gallon community tank in my room to liven things up and give me something to look at and take care of. I set it up about 3-4 weeks ago and currently have it stocked exactly where I want it, 3 blue/leopard danios, 3 zebra danios, 5 neon tetras, and 4 ghost shrimp. I do have a few questions though, I am really considering putting live plants in my tank but have never done a planted tank and don't really know where to start, I would really appreciate any advice! Thanks!

 

[Old Scales]

Welcome to AA Soul,
So you want to step over to the dark side of the force huh? (planted tanks) Good for you. Like fishkeeping, it is a whole world of study in itself. The first point of the plant triad is light. Determine what light you will be using and what level it will be. Low, medium, high. Then research the plants you like in that category. The second point is nutrients(macro & micro ferts & types of substrate). The third point of the triad is carbon level. (None, liquid carbon, DIY or pressurized CO2) Also your best friend with plants and controlling algae is an API master test kit and the extra phosphate test.
Read through the many posts in the planted tank section and read the articles about planted tanks at the top of the thread page. Once you get a specific idea of how you want to go and what plants interest you, post your questions and many great people in here will gladly offer their help. Good luck and again, welcome. OS.

 

[NYgiantsRP]

You can try plants like java fern, amazon sword, jungle val, and cryptocoryne and anubias. They dont need any special treatment. A lot of plants need higher light, and fertilizers. Plants can become quite complicated and expensive. So if you stick with those you can do it cheap and low maintenice.

 

[TXaggie]

Planted tanks are a lot like any aquarium, you can set up a planted tank to be low or high maintenance or anything in between. Most plants need some kind of fertilizer (some of which can be provided by your livestock!) and at least the correct spectrum and level of lighting.

By no means am I a plant expert, but for starters if you can tell us some more details about what your setup is, especially the kind of light fixture you have it can help members give you advice. What's your main goal in adding plants? More visual interest? A jungle of growth in your tank?

I do think I see one little moss ball in there already...

 

[Dallascowboys16]

Once you go planted you'll never go back! Welcome to aa and back to the hobby! plants are like a whole new hobby within themselves! I'm almost as into my plants as my fish!

 

[Soul-Man22]

Thanks for the warm welcome everyone! I really appreciate all of the advice! Some specifics on my tank are that I have a small gravel substrate, an aqueon quiet flow 20 filter, about 78f degrees, I have the heater and led lights that came with the kit, which was a top fin 10 gal starter kit, my nitrate, nitrite, and ammonia have all been in the healthy range since I started my tank, and yes I do have a Marimo in there also! What I'm looking for in a planted tank is to add a more natural look to tank and to give my fish a better, more healthy living space. I'm looking for hardy and easy to care for plants that look nice also! I love how adding live plants adds a whole new level to the tank! I'm going to do some research tomorrow and hopefully get to the LFS and have a look around. But if anyone has any recommendations on plants tht would fit my needs I would really appreciate it! Oh and I am wondering if I will need to change my substrate to accommodate plants? Thanks again!

 

[NYgiantsRP]

Gravel is fine. It isnt optimal, but for what your looking for it will be fine. Check out the plants I suggested earlier on the thread. They are perfect for what your looking for. If you local place dosnet carry them petsmart does, though i ALWAYS reccommment local first!

 

[TXaggie]

Hope you have some luck at the store looking for plants today! I think NYgiants gave you a good list of some starter plants. Depending on what you come home with you may also want to order some basic ferts or root tabs (if you get the sword or cryptocyrenes). Seachem makes a line of products including a liquid fertilizer called flourish and root tabs. A lot of other hobbyists use other fertilizer brands but those work well and are easy to find, so a good starting point. Also, if you get an anubia keep the rhizome above the substrate when you plant it. You can bury the roots though.

I had gravel in my tank for the first year or so, but then I did a full rescape of my tank and switched substrate to a plant friendly one. I'm not sure it made a huge difference in the health of my plants, but I do love the look of it! If I were you I'd just leave your tank mostly alone for now and just add plants in and see how you like keeping them.

If you have specific plant questions the planted forum on here is a great place to ask!

 

[Soul-Man22]

I just got some plants and put them in, I got an Anubias, a cryptocorine, and a sword, and they look great! what r those root tabs u mentioned?

 

[TXaggie]

Here's the ones made by Seachem:

http://www.amazon.com/Seachem-Flour...UTF8&qid=1391300101&sr=8-2&keywords=Root+tabs

These are the ones I use:

http://www.aquariumplants.com/AquaFertz_com_SUBSTRATE_VITALIZATION_SYSTEM_p/fert.htm

I usually get the 75 bottle of the total pellets and it lasts me about 9 months. But I have a 29 gallon!

You want to add root tabs as soon as you get a chance to your sword and crypts, then add a tab per plant every 4 - 6 weeks. The anubias might be fine just with what your livestock produce as fertilizer, time will tell.

If you have trouble with any of your plants post a new thread with photos in the planted tanks area of the forum. All the experts hang out there.

Welcome to the dark side!