Saltwater & Reef

Pluck · 10-24-2012, 03:18 PM

Hi everyone!

Glad to be here among the folks who know stuff. I've had an aquarium for probably 10 years now. Started with a 10 then a 20 now a 30. My house isn't big enough to go up from there. Yet. Anyway, I've always only had freshwater fish in my tanks. I tried a few times to add live plants but always failed. I discovered recently that this is because Petsmart sells SEMI aquatic plants. AHHH!!!

So I've been trying to "plant" my existing tank. My primary focus is on my fish so I'm not really into totally changing everything for the plants but would like to have a more heavily planted environment for my little aqua-friends.

I started reading in theplantedtank and was totally overwhelmed. Um...WHAT ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT? This forum seems a bit more relevant for someone like myself who needs help with planting but doesn't have a fortune, lots of space or much extra time.

I've gotten some plants (tank info in my profile) and they seem to be doing fine in the current setup. But the more I read the more it seems that my lighting is inadequate for my tank. Hmm...plants are growing. Fish are swimming. Do I want to change? Not sure.

Anyway, I will probably lurk much more than I post at first but I'm glad to be here!

Andrew McFadden · 10-24-2012, 03:22 PM

to AA!

meegosh · 10-24-2012, 03:45 PM

Hey there! Welcome to AA! Other side of the state here..

Well, if the plants are growing and the fish are happy, I'd say let it go. If it's not broke, don't fix it, ya know?

There are plenty of low light/low maintenance plants that will work with stock lighting so don't feel obligated to upgrade.

Pluck · 10-24-2012, 04:30 PM

Thanks meegosh.

I was also thinking along the "if it ain't broke" lines.

I guess more lighting might make things grow faster, but I'm taking a long-term approach to adding plants so I can get more knowledge without wasting money on plants that are doomed to die because of my ignorance. And so I don't change so much in the environment that my fish get stressed or my water specs fluctuate too much. So I don't know that I need my plants to grow faster.

My tank is WAY low tech but I still enjoy it.