live plants or fake?

[m.parker]

i think id like to get live plants instead of fake... but i am not sure if i am getting in over my head... i dont want to run a co2 injection or anything crazy, and i dont plan on using and specialized plant lights, i want to use some kind of color enhancing light, and eventually get a PC hood with moon lights...

with that said, its a 46g bowfront.. the look i am going for is tall dense plants on one side fading to open ground covering on the other.. kind of like this... maybe some one can tell me what plants i would need, or even if its do'able with my specifications...
do plants spawn? if i bought 6 can i expect them to double in a year..?

 

[JDogg]

i think id like to get live plants instead of fake... but i am not sure if i am getting in over my head... i dont want to run a co2 injection or anything crazy, and i dont plan on using and specialized plant lights, i want to use some kind of color enhancing light, and eventually get a PC hood with moon lights...

with that said, its a 46g bowfront.. the look i am going for is tall dense plants on one side fading to open ground covering on the other.. kind of like this... maybe some one can tell me what plants i would need, or even if its do'able with my specifications...
do plants spawn? if i bought 6 can i expect them to double in a year..?

first off please refer to the planted tank forum and all its helpful stickies...may a mod will move your post there

that said, you CAN grow a nice planted tank "low-tech", but your plant choices will be limited. and most ground cover plants need high light conditions.

if you aim for around 1-1.5 watts per gallon of light, you should be able to grow a decent tank, with few fertilizers and co2 requirements. look into some of the low light species such as java fern, java moss, anubis, elodea and cryps...

plants do not really "spawn" but if they are happy they can reproduce, different species do this in different ways...runners, flowers, re-plant clippings....

good luck!

HTH

 

[m.parker]

oh shoot... thanks, i didnt realize there was a planted tank section... ill should try there... thanks...

 

[Jchillin]

No need to create another, it has been moved to correct forum. The duplicate was eliminated for brevity.

I will have to interrupt this thread for one question though. If this is not your tank, whose it? There are certain copyright issues for posting pics of someone else's tank without permission or providing credit for the owner.

 

[JDogg]

Do some research on DIY CO2 methods

remember these things...

CO2 is pretty much not worth the effort IMO if you have less then 2 wpg, and with CO2 you will need to figure out a fert dosing schedule.... unless you like algae :?

There are certain copyright issues for posting pics of someone else's tank without permission or providing credit for the owner.

good point, did not even think of that... come to think of it that tank looks familiar, i think i have seen that picture before some place