First planted tank

[Khuligirl93]

I have a 10g with a 15w fluorescent light that has been set up for 4 years but I am interested in adding live plants. If I did the simple DIY yeast/sugar/water CO2 setup in a soda bottle what kinds of plants would I have luck with?

 

[Zimmanski]

I would start with some low light plants and excel or liquid carbon until you get the hang of things. Check out liveaquaria.com or aquariumplants.com and look at their low light category. Good luck! Once you go live plants you never go back, it opens up a whole new world of the aquarium hobby

 

[Khuligirl93]

Is it even possible to grow anything in a 10g with a 15w light? I'm reading a lot of things saying its not

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Is it even possible to grow anything in a 10g with a 15w light? I'm reading a lot of things saying its not

I have Java Ferns,an anubias and amazon swords in a 10 gallon with a 15 w and they do fine,i know there are loads of others I cannot grow,i havent had much luck with floating,im quite happy to have real plants as mine is a nature theme,real plants,rocks and sand,as long as you stick to whats classed as low light plants you should be ok and real plants are great !!!! Good luck

 

[Zimmanski]

Is it even possible to grow anything in a 10g with a 15w light? I'm reading a lot of things saying its not

Definitely possible. I have a planted 10g betta tank with just the standard fluorescent fixture. I've grown a different sword plants ferns and anubias. They don't grow very fast but they do pretty good

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Definitely possible. I have a planted 10g betta tank with just the standard fluorescent fixture. I've grown a different sword plants ferns and anubias. They don't grow very fast but they do pretty good

Yeah same here mate,ive had my swords for a good while,thy grow staedy away at bk,filling it out and ive got my java ferns quite big now one growing on a piece of driftwood and others growing on slatw rock

 

[Khuligirl93]

Great, thanks for the encouragement! Ill try some swords, java fern, and anubias then I would really love a Hair grass carpet- but I'm guessing that is something that requires more light.

 

[Zimmanski]

Great, thanks for the encouragement! Ill try some swords, java fern, and anubias then I would really love a Hair grass carpet- but I'm guessing that is something that requires more light.

Yea it does, for most people they use high light and co2 for carpets. If you really want a carpet you may be able to do a moss carpet, I don't like them but a lot of people do

 

[tropicalfishlady]

Great, thanks for the encouragement! Ill try some swords, java fern, and anubias then I would really love a Hair grass carpet- but I'm guessing that is something that requires more light.

No.probs,i just recently got an anubias for the centre of my tank and its growing lovely so far,they are slow growing but mines doing better than I thought mine is a Anubias Nana barteri var

 

[Khuligirl93]

I might just end up getting a stronger light because it will give me more freedom of what plants to plant..

 

[Khuligirl93]

Would a 36 watt 10,000k CFL work? I read that 6,500k is best but I don't know if there is any disadvantage to it being higher, and my lfs happens to have only the 10,000k one

 

[parrottbay]

I am not for sure, but with stronger light comes the co2, money, and ferts... The lesson I wish I learned and would have SAVED alot of money is to mix my own ferts sooner rather than buying the water down ones they sell pre mixed...

 

[Khuligirl93]

Is there a way to get all the necessary ferts in the substrate so liquid ones do not need to be added?

 

[Zimmanski]

Is there a way to get all the necessary ferts in the substrate so liquid ones do not need to be added?

You can do a organic soil layer under a layer of sand, but this can be difficult because if you ever decide to move a plant it can release the soil and dirty your tank, and you'd still have to add some ferts depending on what you have(lighting, plants.. All that stuff). Also even with a nutrient rich soil with higher light you will still need to supplement carbon