planted or not?

[matt1245]

Should i plant my new 20 gallon freshwater the tank with like live plants or just have like 4 live plants and some rocks?
What kind of chemicals would need for the tank to?

 

[FishEggs]

what type of light do you have?

 

[hacket]

Have you ever had an aquarium before? If not, I'd focus on the fish first and get plastic plants for now. 6 months down the road if you've kept the fish alive, then think about live plants. They can be tricky. I've only tried once and my plant died on me. Gotta do more research haha.

 

[FishEggs]

the plants will actually help with the water quality. you just have to know what the plant needs in terms of lighting and nutrients. if you are going to use just the stock light fixture all you need to do is make sure the bulb is a daylight spectrum (5,000 - 10,000 kelvin) and start with low light hardy plants like anubias and java fern. then maybe try some crypts. you can put as much as you want into plants all the way up to spending about $1,000 for a hightech set up.
i started my first tank with plants before i even knew about this informative site and i still have most of the plants i started with and that was almost 2 years ago. it's not really hard. just need the right info.

 

[DragonFish71]

You can also try starting with something easy like anacharis, cabomba or hornwart.

 

[yohann976]

I suggest that you do some research on this forum about aquatic plants. Don't take the route I took; I simply purchased some plants from Petsmart and they all died. I was so frustrated and I almost quite the aquarium hobby all together. Once you get a good routine going, it's really easy to take care of aquatic plants.

I almost forgot, I kept killing the plants from Petsmart because they were actually terrestrial, lol.

 

[fisch]

There are plenty of plants that are very easy to keep. It requires a little more initial research than getting just fake plants. But once you have it set up the maintenance should be about the same.

 

[hacket]

I suggest that you do some research on this forum about aquatic plants. Don't take the route I took; I simply purchased some plants from Petsmart and they all died. I was so frustrated and I almost quite the aquarium hobby all together. Once you get a good routine going, it's really easy to take care of aquatic plants.

I almost forgot, I kept killing the plants from Petsmart because they were actually terrestrial, lol.

Yea Petco's where I got mine. If anybody doesn't know about this, don't buy plants at Petco or it seems Petsmart. The plants they sell aren't aquatic from what I've learned and experienced.

 

[thominil]

Yea Petco's where I got mine. If anybody doesn't know about this, don't buy plants at Petco or it seems Petsmart. The plants they sell aren't aquatic from what I've learned and experienced.

Not entirely true..... If the plants they have avalible are in a big tank-like setup then they are aquatic. If they are in the tube things with gel covering the roots then they are generally not aquatic.

 

[DragonFish71]

Not entirely true..... If the plants they have avalible are in a big tank-like setup then they are aquatic. If they are in the tube things with gel covering the roots then they are generally not aquatic.

Some of what they carry in the plastic tubes are aquatic. Ours has sword plants, anubias and wisteria. The others in the tubes are terrestrial plants like mondo grass. Even our Petco has a good assortment of aquatic plants. They were having a sale a few months ago buy 2 get 1 free. I got some great swords, banana plants, anacharis, temple plants, crypts and anubias. (Ok yeah, I went a little plant crazy, but it was a good deal. Honest!!!

 

[thominil]

Yup the petsmart around here used to carry all aquatic plants in a plant only tank but they went to the tubes. All they have that are actually aquatic is the anubias, wisteria, and swords. Meanwhile Petco kept the display with all aquatics but also has the tubes.

 

[fisch]

The petco near me usually has true aquatic plants in a tank. They also have the gel ones too. Usually they have some swords, banana plants, anachras (sp?), and crypts. A good rule of thumb is if you aren't 100% sure if its aquatic, don't buy it.

 

[Etunes]

I have always liked planted tanks and a couple of years ago i went out on limb and bought a couple of plants. I also did next to none on research on taking care of plants. But fourtanatly i got some anubis and a onion plant which are real easy to take care of. Now i love live plants in tanks. It brings a natrual beauty to your tank. My advice to you is to do research and get the right set up and after that it is easy after that, besides the fish seem to enjoy it 10 times better.