Good size tank for planted tank?

[KKAY27]

Hey everybody! I was wondering what is a good size for a planted tank? I want to do a real one this time! With dirt and rocks ontop! What is a good dirt I can get at petsmart or petco? I have heard of floramax ? I was just wondering how you clean the gravel does the dirt not make a mess? That's what I am afraid of! I have a few amazon swords and Java fern and they look like crap! The leaves are a light green an a you can almost see through them! I trim them but I don't think I have the right substrate or light! And I bought a strip light and I started to get green alge all over my plants! I want it to be bigger than a 10g but no bigger than a 40! I plan to put my guppy fry that has outgrown my fry tank! I want a bow front really bad or a corner tank for my living room but I can't find one anywere! And I would love some suggestions on
Substrate
Plants
Anything would be greatly appreciated! And I would rather not deal with Co2 machines I can handle the liquid ok

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[wildroseofky]

You sword needs root tabs. The plants you listed feed mostly from the substrate. You can get Jobe plant spikes like you would push into a potted plant and use those. I just cut them into pieces and bury in the substrate. My swords grow huge with them. You can also make your own with Osmocote plant food. A quick search will show you how to do that. What type of strip light did you buy? How long do you run it? 8 hours a day is the recommended time. If it is too bright you can raise it up higher above the tank. If you pick easy low light plants you won't need CO2. Here is a link to a long list of easy plants. Low Light Plant List | AquaScaping World Forum As for tanks, I think higher is better than wider. Most plants grow tall and you have to do a lot of trimming in a low height tank. A bow front tank and/or corner tank would work nicely for a first planted tank. Pick something you really like first and worry about planting it later. As for substrate, sand works nicely if you use root tabs. Fluorite or Organic Miracle Grow are the ones I see mentioned the most. With low light plants any substrate you like should be fine. Start easy and work you way up to more complicated plants and things.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Most ideal tanks for planted tanks are generally long and shallow than typical tanks. This is advantageous due to the ability for light to easily penetrate to substrate depth, hence not needing to buy more powerful lighting for good results. Also long tanks offer great real estate to create nice aquascapes with a variety of plants. With that said, I highly recommend either a 20 Long, 30B, or 40B (B = breeder).

The bow front and corner tanks are interesting, but not nearly as ideal. They are usually tall and need higher output lighting.

Floramax is a decent substrate IMO. It's essentially the same as Eco Complete but without the liquid in the bag. You'll also need to pre-rinse Floramax and use the included biomagnet packet to help clear the initial cloudiness that lasts 2 to 3 days. Floramax is also somewhat inert at first. Meaning, minimal nutrients so root tabs will help. After a while the substrate, due to its high CEC properties, will become more nutrient for plant growth. Keeping it clean is pretty easy. You hardly vacuum it, only when it really gets clogged up with mulm.

What's your budget on lighting? I personally like dimmable LED lights with RGB's in it. Finnex planted+ 24/7 or Current Satellite LED+ are some examples.