Switching to planted?

[smithpants94]

How easy is it to switch to live plants in an already established aquarium?

 

[Link119]

First, Change substrate if wanted, then add better lighting, be ready to inject CO2 (although you may not need to off the bat, and add plants.

 

[smithpants94]

I have a straight sand substrate right now. Is that all I need to seriously do?

Can I dirt an established tank? I assume it's possible but what about the steps?

I want to stay away from co2 and stick with low light plants.

 

[mohican]

Your gravel should be time. You can mix laterite or Eco as well too nutrify the substrate. When I started plants, I just used my existing gravel. If you have the resources, getting nutrient rich substrate would be best.

 

[Rivercats]

I have a straight sand substrate right now. Is that all I need to seriously do?

Can I dirt an established tank? I assume it's possible but what about the steps?

I want to stay away from co2 and stick with low light plants.

If you want to dirt a tank you need to empty your tank first and remove the sand. Depending on the size of the tank you'd add an inch to 1-1/2 inches of Organic Potting Soil then cap it with an 1-1/2 of sand, gravel, or a commercial plant substrate. I have dirt capped with Eco-Complete. Many plants will appreciate a rich substrate especially heavy root feeders like swords and crypts. You can get decent lighting such as a 2 bulb T5HO fixture and be able to do low to medium light plants without using CO2. But using a liquid carbon such as Excel/API CO2 Booster/Glutaraldehyde will significantly aid plants in photosynthesis and growth. You will also need ferts. I actually run a high light heavily planted tank using only Glutaraldehyde. You can view my tank at the link below.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I have my low light planted tanks with sand as the substrate.. That's totally fine. You can just place some root tabs by the root feeders such as swords and crypts. You can water column dose a good liquid fertilizer such as flourish comprehensive for water column feeders like anubias, java fern, and mosses.. Use flourish Excel to aide in carbon supplementation. And just get a decent light strong enough for low to medium light plants.