First Planted Tank! :D

[Desi]

I have a few threads started now about different areas of planning for my new 40 gallon (getting soon). So, it's time to plan about plants!
This will be my first planted tank EVER, and I'm really excited and a bit nervous at the same time. Here are the plants on my list right now:

Java Fern
Moss Ball
Amazon Sword
Anubius
Anacharis
Ribbon Plant
Water Sprite (if I can find any)

Thoughts, suggestions, tips, ideas? Thanks?

 

[ejaramillo01]

I'm not familiar with the last two of your list, for all the rest: It is a great selection to start with plants, because are not high demanding on light and can give you a good feeling of the maintenance for the planted tank.
If your tank will have some driftwood, a java moss is always a nice add to attach to the driftwood.
I will follow up your thread..

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Congrats on taking the plunge to the planted side of this hobby. It certainly makes a positive difference to have a natural looking tank for your inhabitants.

What's your plan on lighting? Fertilizers? Substrate?

The java fern and anubias will do better tied on some driftwood and/or stone. You can get some interesting Manzanita DW online..Malaysian DW is nice too but just make sure to boil the wood first to remove as much tannins as possible or else your tank will look like tea.

 

[Desi]

Thanks, and I am going to have driftwood in my tank

 

[Desi]

What's your plan on lighting? Fertilizers? Substrate?

Lighting is something I'm still trying to figure out. I'm looking online for what I'd need: something that is known to last a while, Energy efficient of course, looks good, along with gentle on the wallet. Any suggestions on something you may have used or heard about?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Well for your current plant list a Finnex Fugeray would be enough for low light plants... The Finnex Ray 2 for moderate lighting on a 40g. These are LED fixtures which would definitely be efficient without the need to replace bulbs as you would in a T5 fixture.

 

[Rivercats]

Ribbon Plant is not fully aquatic so x it off your list.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Thanks. I missed that one ^^

 

[Desi]

Ribbon Plant is not fully aquatic so x it off your list.

Thank you it is gone!

 

[Desi]

Well for your current plant list a Finnex Fugeray would be enough for low light plants... The Finnex Ray 2 for moderate lighting on a 40g. These are LED fixtures which would definitely be efficient without the need to replace bulbs as you would in a T5 fixture.

Now, I'm not a person who likes to get thing offline, so will I be able to find something like this at a fish / pet / or even hardware type store? And about what cost range?

 

[Rivercats]

Thank you it is gone!

When your new to planted tanks and don't know much of anything about aquatic plants you have to really watch what you buy as many fish places sell plants that aren't fully aquatic. It helps to reseach a plant before you buy it in the beginning. That way you don't waste money on a plant you can't use in your tank.

 

[Ilminded]

I'm in the process of getting things together for my 45 gallon planted as well. I have the plants and stock list I want, props to Rivercats for recommending the shrimp which I'm going to get, but the lighting I got was a coral life T5HO ballast from my LFS. It allows me to use 2-39W bulbs. I plan on having a 6500k with a plant enhancer bulb. Now my tank, from light to substrate, will be ~22". That is something you want to keep in mind when picking your lighting. Another thing about lighting is not to worry much about wattage (although you want to for penetration sake) but focus more on the color spectrum given off. Plants grow better with a stronger blue and red peak for lights as that is the wavelength that suits chlorophyl better. For substrate, it's up to you. There is a nice gravel I personally used for my first planted that is still doing great. It's called Eco Complete. It has good bacteria in it to help break down fish waste into fertilizers for your plants (you will notice a little liquid in the bag). The next thing you want to get are ferts and liquid CO2. They are both easy to use and unless you plan on CO2 injection, would work great for the plants you listed.

 

[Printerhands]

What helped me out was going on amazon and finding a book on aquatic plants. You can get a used one for fairly cheap. I think I paid no more then 15 for mine and that included shipping, and it was very helpful. What I have also found out is that lighting is very important, although you will have low light plants which is a good start. I would say keep doing research and using this as a good area for asking. And that Brian guy has been some good help on one threads.

 

[Printerhands]

And rivercats has also been good help on some other threads of mine.

 

[Ilminded]

The main thing you need to remember is if you have algae growing, one of the corners are out for the planted tank triangle. One corner is lighting, the other CO2, the other nutrients. If your battling something like BBA, trying cutting back lighting, if that's not working, try double dosing your liquid CO2.

 

[Desi]

[QUOTE="Ilminded;2493626"If your battling something like BBA, trying cutting back lighting, if that's not working, try double dosing your liquid CO2.[/QUOTE]

Excuse my ignorance of it, but is BBA a type of bad algae it seems like?

 

[Desi]

What helped me out was going on amazon and finding a book on aquatic plants. You can get a used one for fairly cheap. I think I paid no more then 15 for mine and that included shipping, and it was very helpful. What I have also found out is that lighting is very important, although you will have low light plants which is a good start. I would say keep doing research and using this as a good area for asking. And that Brian guy has been some good help on one threads.

And that sounds like what I'll do thanks!

 

[Desi]

There is a nice gravel I personally used for my first planted that is still doing great. It's called Eco Complete. It has good bacteria in it to help break down fish waste into fertilizers for your plants (you will notice a little liquid in the bag.).

So then you wouldn't wash it first? I'm confused about the liquid part here.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

No need to pre wash eco complete.. If you find floramax locally, its the same except for the liquid part..also floramax needs a prewash. Both are great substrates. Sometimes if you can only find certain items online, you can try a local fish store to see if they'd special order something for you..

What's your budget on lighting? I agree with getting lighting that has full spectrum. Fluval makes a nice full spectrum LED called Aqualife & Plant.. Petco started selling them. Quality LED lighting will be higher upfront cost but you won't have to replace bulbs annually, thus reducing the mercury filled bulbs in our landfills, plus the reduced power consumption. Just my 2 cents and why I'm biased toward LED.

 

[Desi]

No need to pre wash eco complete.. If you find floramax locally, its the same except for the liquid part..also floramax needs a prewash. Both are great substrates. Sometimes if you can only find certain items online, you can try a local fish store to see if they'd special order something for you..

What's your budget on lighting? I agree with getting lighting that has full spectrum. Fluval makes a nice full spectrum LED called Aqualife & Plant.. Petco started selling them. Quality LED lighting will be higher upfront cost but you won't have to replace bulbs annually, thus reducing the mercury filled bulbs in our landfills, plus the reduced power consumption. Just my 2 cents and why I'm biased toward LED.

That's actually pretty neat that you don't have to wash it. And I'm quite flexible on lighting cost, just nothing insane. Is say under $100 reasonable? Maybe that's high I'm not sure xD completely new with plants and lighting.