non planted to planted ....

[ahollland92690]

I plan on remodeling my 26 gallon aquarium to a planted aquarium...what kind of lighting is best for plants that does not cost a fortune? i just need one that will help the plants grow.

also if anyone could answer these questions i would greatly appreciate it:

1. whats the best type of substrate for planted aquariums?

2. what kind of CO2 thingy should i get?



I would like to do all this on a tight budget.

[FLFishFanatic]

I was going to make a thread exactly like this, except mine is a 35 gallon. Thank you.

[supradupafast]

Tiny Budget? Want something nice?
No need for CO2. Go Low Tech! Like me
See my 60 & 20gal. Although, a good set of lights would be recommended, but when I started, I was using Stock lighting with Fertz.

[supradupafast]

To answer what Lighting.
I am using Coralite (Freshwater) on both Setups

[mgamer20o0]

ok i renumbered your questions since you did ask 3 of them.....

1 what do you want to grow? low light set up? high light high tech?
2 the best? mineralized top soil or ada soil. the top soil is more of a diy personally dont recommend it for people just starting out. ada soil isnt cheap. eco and flourite are popular but still not too cheap. i use turface/ soil master select in most of my tanks. its cheap and has a higher carbon capacity exchange then eco and flourite.

3 depending on what kind of set up you want co2 isnt always a must.