Davon
Aquarium Advice Activist
I hope I have this in the right thread....
Ok. I'm doing it! I'm going to plant my tank LOL. I'll be honest, it's a little intimidating to me only because I'm bad with plants but I'm hoping maybe it won't translate to aquatic plants. . However, I need help. I'd like to not have to 100% redo my tank if possible although I'm about to attempt a few renovations.
I have a 65gal tropical community aquarium. I have 9 red minor tetras, 7 black skirt tetras, 2 dwarf guorami, and 3 kuhli loach and I know my tank isn't the best setup for this mix and I need to make some changes. I currently have large brown gravel, plastic plants, large artificial tree stump, large artificial tree root, and a smaller artificial rock. I also have glass tops and a long LED light on top that can do bright light or blue light. I can't afford to make massive changes, for the health of my fish or for the health of my wallet LOL.
So here is my plan: Change my substrate. I've been trying to read about the best way to do this and the information is largely varied. I have 4 inches of this gravel. I'm hoping to do a slow change and remove an inch or so of the gravel every few days, vacuuming in between, so as to not stir up too much junk or stress my fish out too bad. Then when I'm down to an inch, I'll change it out with the fish IN the tank. I imagine everyone has different opinions on what is best, but that's the best plan I could come up with. I plan to change to about 80lbs of black sand substrate which will give me about 3 inches. Is that too much?
During this time, I was hoping to go ahead and purchase plants. I've been looking at beginner and low light plants because I'm not interested in a major setup at the moment. Will plants still grow if I tie them to my artificial decorations for now? Can I always move them later over to driftwood once I get some of my other changes completed? Here are the plants I've been looking at:
* Java ferns
* Anubias
* Anacharis (although I read somewhere these can't ship to SC but we will see)
* Hornwort
* Crypts
* Swords
I have no idea what "Low light" actually means or if my LED light is right or what. I know over time I will most likely learn more and buy better equipment, but I'm trying to use as much of what I have as possible.
Any advice? Am I on the right track?
Ok. I'm doing it! I'm going to plant my tank LOL. I'll be honest, it's a little intimidating to me only because I'm bad with plants but I'm hoping maybe it won't translate to aquatic plants. . However, I need help. I'd like to not have to 100% redo my tank if possible although I'm about to attempt a few renovations.
I have a 65gal tropical community aquarium. I have 9 red minor tetras, 7 black skirt tetras, 2 dwarf guorami, and 3 kuhli loach and I know my tank isn't the best setup for this mix and I need to make some changes. I currently have large brown gravel, plastic plants, large artificial tree stump, large artificial tree root, and a smaller artificial rock. I also have glass tops and a long LED light on top that can do bright light or blue light. I can't afford to make massive changes, for the health of my fish or for the health of my wallet LOL.
So here is my plan: Change my substrate. I've been trying to read about the best way to do this and the information is largely varied. I have 4 inches of this gravel. I'm hoping to do a slow change and remove an inch or so of the gravel every few days, vacuuming in between, so as to not stir up too much junk or stress my fish out too bad. Then when I'm down to an inch, I'll change it out with the fish IN the tank. I imagine everyone has different opinions on what is best, but that's the best plan I could come up with. I plan to change to about 80lbs of black sand substrate which will give me about 3 inches. Is that too much?
During this time, I was hoping to go ahead and purchase plants. I've been looking at beginner and low light plants because I'm not interested in a major setup at the moment. Will plants still grow if I tie them to my artificial decorations for now? Can I always move them later over to driftwood once I get some of my other changes completed? Here are the plants I've been looking at:
* Java ferns
* Anubias
* Anacharis (although I read somewhere these can't ship to SC but we will see)
* Hornwort
* Crypts
* Swords
I have no idea what "Low light" actually means or if my LED light is right or what. I know over time I will most likely learn more and buy better equipment, but I'm trying to use as much of what I have as possible.
Any advice? Am I on the right track?