Is it too late for real plants?

[itsgracia]

My tank has been up for almost 2 months now and have been cycled and now contain 5danios and 6 neon tetras. My question is..is it too late for real plans? I have 4 plastic lifeless plants in there and seeing tanks with plants is getting me envious. I have the stock bulbs that came with my 29 gallon kit from walmart so light suggestions and guidance will be much appreciated.

 

[fort384]

it is NEVER too late!!

How many watts and what kind of bulb is the stock light? That will help determine what kind of plants you might be able to grow without an upgrade.

 

[the_fish_man]

Well know never late for plants. But we need to know how much wattage your bulbs are. You prob can get a couple low light plants. But if you want to get a lot of plants you should prob upgrade lights.

 

[the_fish_man]

lol fort you beat me to my post 1 minute before me

 

[itsgracia]

Just looked in there I have a single Aqueon light 8000k full spectrum daylight 17w 120v 24" that would be cool if I don't have to change it. How about the substrate? And how to care for them?

 

[fort384]

lol that's a lot of questions... check out the resources and references sticky in the plant forum. LOTS of good info there.

As for your light... it might support some low light plants, but not much. I would try and start with some java fern and java moss... maybe an anubias plant. With light that low, and low light plants, the substrate won't really matter. You won't have to worry much about fertilizer or CO2 or things like that. Ideally if you want to dive in (ha) to plants, you would want about double that light to have a nice low light tank.

 

[itsgracia]

Thanks! I'm starting to read up on it. By double up the light do you mean I need two light bulbs or the wattage?

 

[fort384]

well... florescent lights are what they are... you cant stick a higher watt bulb in your fixture... So yes... a fixture that would hold 2 bulbs instead of one would do a lot better.

A T5HO fixture would be better still... just depends on how involved you want to get, and how much money you may have to spend on the hobby...

You can also retrofit and build light fixtures if you are handy at all... LEDs are becoming popular, and relatively inexpensive for the power of the lighting.

 

[itsgracia]

Not handy at all. I was looking at some LEDs but I don't know what to look for if I want a planted tank.

 

[fort384]

well... what is your goal? How much $$ do you want to spend? Are you looking for a jungle, or just a couple of small plants?

 

[itsgracia]

I was looking at the ML double bright LED? but it didn't say that it can grow plants. Anything under $300 is fine. I don't need a jungle but do want a variety of plants.

 

[medic747]

Joining to tag along for the info!!

 

[fort384]

For around $100 you could pick up a really decent dual T5HO fixture. This would give you enough light to grow a wide variety of plants, without a requirement for CO2 injection and dosing a bunch of different fertilizers.

Nova Extreme T5HOx2 | Current What's Next

Model 1138 on that link would be a great example of a good fixture for your budget. I own 1 of those fixtures, and had it over my old 29 gal for a long time. The difference between a standard single bulb t8 and a dual T5HO fixture over a 29gal tank is stunning...

 

[itsgracia]

Wow well that's a lot cheaper than I expected and I like that. So this may sound like a stupid question but since that comes as a fixture, I have to remove my current hood right? I was looking also at those versa tops all glass covers. They would have spaces for filters or what not in the back right?

 

[fort384]

yeah... they have little cutouts for the equipment in the back. You are right on track.

Check out the plant guide on PlantGeek.net - Your Aquatic Plant Resource . You can sort by lighting requirements. With the fixture I linked above, you could grow about anything on the medium light or lower list.

 

[itsgracia]

Thanks so much for the help.

 

[fort384]

no prob. My suggestion would be do some reading... decide what you want, and go from there. It pays in spades to do the research upfront in this hobby.

 

[itsgracia]

Trust me I haven't stopped reading since I started planning my tank. Thanks again.