plants for a 29g?

[frenchpea2002]

Ok, so I just got my second 29g aquarium, and I want this one to be planted. My other is a goldfish one, hence no plants... So, for someone who knows nothing about plants, what would you suggest? I just set it up today, with play sand as the substrate (I read several posts about it, and people seemed to like it). The lighting is a fluorescent light, the one that came with the package, I honestly have no clue what the wattage is. I plan on putting a school of 9 danios and a school of maybe 6 cories or yoyo loaches, and maybe a centerpiece fish like a gourami. The temp is 78 and it has a penguin 170 HOB.

 

[krap101]

its probally a 20 watt.

personally id put loaches, but its all up to you. you have alot of plants to choose from. im upgrading my lighting on my 29 gallon so i can have a wider sleection of plants. but theres alot of low light plants too

 

[greenmaji]

you will need more light..

 

[frenchpea2002]

does upgrading my light mean just buying a new, higher wattage bulb, or will it need a whole new setup? If it needs the new setup, are there some lower light plants that would be good?

 

[krap101]

usually it means buying a new setup. green will probally tell ya about the overdriving of the light shortly

 

[greenmaji]

LOL.. there is a good ODNO thread if you are intrested.. you dont have to use 2 bulbs though he does in his setup..

 

[workfortheman]

You can purchase extra bulb/fixture combos of various lengths, probably spending $20-30 in an lfs. I did this for my 20gal tall, increasing lights from 20 watts NO to 40 watts NO, which was a good investment I thought. Then it's just a matter of fitting it over your tank

 

[greenmaji]

40 watts of NO is still low light in a 29 gallon and it doesnt really have any punch so your lower plants are not going to get much light with traditional NO. If you do a serch on ODNO there should be plenty of posts.. by me at least! LOL.. FMJax has done a great job with his rig.. Im guessing he is still working on it.. I should be working on a ODNO strip most likely for my ATS project sometime soon.. depending on when I get myself in gear! LOL