Trying to switch to real plants in my tank

[honeysuckle11]

Question i have a 29 gal tank. Its shock with fish. Its been running for about 4 months now. Whats the best way to switch to real plants? What are better plants for my fish i have now? I have 3 guppies 4glow fish 1 clown pleco 1 dwarf gourami 1 german blue ram 4 tetras and a ghost shrimp. Can anyone help me and explain what i need to start this up?

 

[Batesy82]

I just did the switch to live plants myself, so I'm definitely not an expert. Make sure that you have the proper lighting, you need enough wattage and a certain color temp of light to promote proper growth. Start with one or two plants, replace your artificial one at a time. I started with val's but there are many plants available that you can start a tank with. Anubias, crypts, java fern etc whatever your tastes are. Place them accordingly in the tank ie don't put a plant that will grow tall at the front of the tank.

I can't really think of anything else. I kept mine simple, no CO2 or ferts to start.

 

[honeysuckle11]

How mnay plants do u think would be a good amount? Do u have to do plants like u do fish so much plant per gallon?

 

[Coleallensmom]

Batesy in on the right track with his advice, although IMHO You can switch over to all live plants at one time. IME, once you switch to live plants, you're not going to want artificial plants in your tank anymore. Live plants are so much more interesting to look at and add a whole completely different feel to your tank. How many you want is add up to you.

The first thing to take into consideration when switching to live plants is your lighting. If you can tell us what type of lighting you have on your tank/how many watts it is, that will help us greatly in making plant recommendations. As mentioned before, some Vals, Anubias, and Crypts are great for low light conditions as well as Java moss and Java fern.

PlantGeek.net - Plant Guide

 

[Batesy82]

Batesy in on the right track with his advice, although IMHO You can switch over to all live plants at one time. IME, once you switch to live plants, you're not going to want artificial plants in your tank anymore. Live plants are so much more interesting to look at and add a whole completely different feel to your tank. How many you want is add up to you.

Agreed, you can't compare a planted tank to a plastic one. The live plants look 100x better! The reason I replaced them one at a time was because I wanted to make sure that my lighting/fish/water were all going to be accepting of new plants. That way I wasn't dropping $50 - $100 on all my plants only to have them die off for whatever reason.

 

[honeysuckle11]

Nothing i have says how muchs watts or looking it up does even say. Its a marinelan led 42 white and 4 blue light lamp. Im going to say pretty low. i man i have decent lighting in my tank. It all one unit there isnt bulbs. What light would u recoomend i use to grow plants. i mean im not looking to go extemely crazy with plant but like to do 5 or more for a 30 gallon tank.

 

[mfdrookie516]

It doesn't really matter if you have 1 plant or 100 plants, the lighting will be the same (as far as low, medium, or high). I'm guessing that those LED fixtures are probably on the lower end of low lighting. Anubias, Java Fern, and Java moss are 3 plants that grow good in low lighting.. Anacharis also does pretty well. If you upgraded to a T5HO fixture, the possibilites are endless, depending on the number of bulbs.

 

[honeysuckle11]

what about rotala? i think i get a new hood with better light when i save some money up.

 

[pirahna dave]

If im not mistaken Flourescent lighting has the best array of fequencys to aid in plant growth. Id have to say LED allthough bright probably wont have the best range for live plants. If I find it Ill link a ste that has some good info on lighting to switch to to let you plant whatever you want as far as the lighting goes. You could always add a light to keep on during the day to help the plants and not totally get rid of the LED light. Maybe even surrounding lighting might help.

 

[pirahna dave]

I also wanted to mention I got some Anacharis from Petco a few months ago for $2.99 a bundle. It has been fun playing with it. It can float at the top and grows anchors down into your substrate or you can plant it. I kinda made a twisty arch around a big nesting spot for my guppy frys to hide in. It has been much fun because it grows so fast. Im sure by next month Ill have enough to go in my Oscar tank and turtle tank. I think at this time its my favorite plant due to all the options I have with it and the fact that for 6 bucks in a few months Ill have enough for every tank i own. Also the fish tend to eat it and it grows so fast they wont kill it....lol my pythons water bowl might get some too when i get enough (Have to research the idea).

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Others to look at are Vals, Hornwort, Cabomba and Wisteria. I've grown all these in low/med lighting. Onions are fun and moss balls too.

Plantgeek.net is a great place to start and it'll show you which ones to avoid, since some places sell non-aquatic plants for aquariums.

 

[Aquachic4545]

You'll have to post a picture once you've got them in the tank. It sounds like it's going to look pretty cool.

 

[Oscar4life]

Does any one now if there is a plant that I can put in with four oscars it is a 72 gallon I have a 125 but am building a stand for it

 

[Homedog98]

Does any one now if there is a plant that I can put in with four oscars it is a 72 gallon I have a 125 but am building a stand for it

Oscars will most likely shred any plant you put in the tank.