I am new at planted tanks. I will begin by telling you i have a 45gallon tank with low light, not co2 injected. Ive heard mixed reviews about attempting a planted tank under these conditions but figured i would try it for myself. I would like some advice or to see what you all think. Currently my tank has been established for two full years with regular water changes and cleanings. I started it with a general substrate from a pet store, of course i cant remember which kind i got but remember that i was told it would work fine. I have 7 zebra danios, 3 cherry barbs and a lone gourami that are doing fantastic. Yesterday i went out and purchased two dwarf hairgrass plants, a aquatic clover of some kind, amazon sword and baby tears all guaranteed aquatic unlike some places that sell non aquatics as aquatics lol i learned this the hard way unfortunately. I dosed the tank with excel and plan to continue doing so as i dont want to invest in a co2 injector at this time. Ive read peter hitchcocks aquarium plants book and read alot of forums online but no one really has the same setup i do so im wondering. If there are any tips or suggestions people can give me to help my plants be all they can be. Thank you.
planted tank for a beginner
- Thread starter Meg28
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Easyaqua
Aquarium Advice Regular
Hi there I set up a 45 gal planted tank yesterday, I would love to see pictures of yours. Here are a few pics of myn. My plants have a lot of growing to do, but I would like to suggest to you that you should get the plant ambulia, it is a very quick growing plant and looks amazing as a back ground plant. Ambulia is the plant on the right in the second pic
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Here is a picture of my tank. Sorry i have alot of windows so the glare is a bit tough to see past. I will definitely be looking into that plant as long as these ones take well and thrive as well as i hope they will. =)
I hope the picture isnt as small for you as it is for me....not sure how to make it bigger =S
I hope the picture isnt as small for you as it is for me....not sure how to make it bigger =S
Easyaqua
Aquarium Advice Regular
Looks good, your plants should be fine normally if they were going to die now you would see brownish colouring or dead leaves by now. Can't wait to see what it looks like when everything's grown a bit
I always figured it would take a couple weeks for them to show signs of their upcoming fate lol. Im just hoping that excel will give them the carbon they need to grow well. I cant wait to see both our tanks once theyre grown in. Are you using a co2 injector?
Easyaqua
Aquarium Advice Regular
I'm sure they will look amazing, my tank is very low tech, my plants get 6 hours of natural sunlight a day , no co2 (besides what the fish are producing) the only fertiliser like thing I have is in my sand as it is 3 parts sand 1 part aquarium dirt
Yeah my plants arent looking too happy. The clovers going to die for sure and the amazon sword and dwarf hairgrass look a little sad. I dont get it lol i guess i just either have to wait and see what plants survive in there or just start from scratch and go high tech. I dont know. A little frustrating for sure.
Adaptingfate
Aquarium Advice Apprentice
The hairgrass and tears are considered high light, co2 recommended plants. From what i understand, they'll survive in moderate light with no co2,but they won't really grow. java fern and anubias are GREAT low light plants, and there are a couple different looking options in each type.
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