Newbie looking to start a planted tank...

[Zookeeper23]

Hello all!
I am a complete newbie looking to turn our 37g tall into a nice live planted community tank. I have attached a photo. It currently has 5 small cichlids in it who are about to be re-homed to my friends 125g cichlid tank. This tank has literally just been existing for the past 5 years now and now I have the time to play with it. I want it to be very low tech and I guess that is part of my question. How low tech can it be? My husband really like things like dwarf baby tears and shorter grasses.

Questions...

-Can I use the old fluorescent strip I have on it and buy plant friendly bulbs?
-Also this is a "tall" will that GREATLY affect the lighting needs?
-In our betta planted tanks we used Eco complete planted aquarium substrate, is this good stuff? They plants in the betta tanks are doing well. We have 2.6g Fluval Specs.
-Can I get by successfully not having Co2 set ups? Can I just use the bottled Co2 additives and be successful?
-I have a wet dry filter on this tank is that ok for a planted tank or any reason it wouldn't be ok?

That is all I can think of right now. Any other help or advice is welcomed. I don't want to dive in without knowing what to expect.

Candice

 

[SpaceFish42]

What kinds of animals are you thinking of putting in it?


Sent from my iPhone

 

[Zookeeper23]

Newbie

What kinds of animals are you thinking of putting in it?

Not really sure yet. Pretty open to that part of it. Definitely community fish no more aggressive. The cichlids were given to me years ago. Not really my thing. =)

 

[Mebbid]

Thats a yes to all your questions.

As for the plants that light can support, anubias, java moss, java fern, crypts, and bolbitis.

It will be a very low light level tank unless you invest some more money in the light system.

 

[Zookeeper23]

The bettas

Here are our betta set ups. They have been set up for 4 days. I don't even know types of plants yet LOL but the plant in the middle (In mine with my old man Blue in it) has sprouted two new leaves in 4 days already and I have literally done nothing to them. My husbands is the one with the white guy in it. He wants to put a little white sand "river" or walkway in the middle of his tank.

EDIT: I have not idea what it is about this website but I can not figure out why it is uploading pics sideways... They aren't that way saved in my computer.

 

[Zookeeper23]

Thats a yes to all your questions.

As for the plants that light can support, anubias, java moss, java fern, crypts, and bolbitis.

It will be a very low light level tank unless you invest some more money in the light system.

Thank you so much for the reply! So as far as investing in lighting... are we talking new bulbs for this strip or getting all new fixtures like LED or something? I want a nice variety of plants without braking me in case it doesn't work out haha. And I have seen the lamp fixtures people use but I would like it to be able to be concealed under the wood hood on the tank if possible.

I certainly appreciate the info. =)

 

[Pseudomugil]

A really bright green plant you could get is Limnophila Sessiliflora.

For fish something cool would be only neon blue fish. Maybe 10 neon tetras, 2 electric blue rams, and 5 praecox rainbowfish.

 

[Mebbid]

Thank you so much for the reply! So as far as investing in lighting... are we talking new bulbs for this strip or getting all new fixtures like LED or something? I want a nice variety of plants without braking me in case it doesn't work out haha. And I have seen the lamp fixtures people use but I would like it to be able to be concealed under the wood hood on the tank if possible.

I certainly appreciate the info. =)

All new fixtures. It depends how much it's gonna cost. What light level were you thinking of trying for?

A really bright green plant you could get is Limnophila Sessiliflora.

For fish something cool would be only neon blue fish. Maybe 10 neon tetras, 2 electric blue rams, and 5 praecox rainbowfish.

The limnophila is a medium light plant. Currently out of reach for this particular fixture.

 

[FishayFishay]

A really bright green plant you could get is Limnophila Sessiliflora.

For fish something cool would be only neon blue fish. Maybe 10 neon tetras, 2 electric blue rams, and 5 praecox rainbowfish.

You also might not want to put rams in there, I heard they need to be introduced into an established tank.