Never planted.

[sjjennings13]

I have a 55 gallon cichlid tank. I have never planted in an aquarium before. Can I start in the cichlid tank? What do I plant? What kind of substrate should I use? I have aquarium gravel in it now can I plant in that?

 

[Try-na]

I'm about as low tech as you can get. I have stock Aqueon lights that came with my 55g. I don't use any fertilizer. Ever. I do have a DIY CO2 in there now but really haven't noticed that it does anything. And i have standard gravel. I have 22 different types of plants in this tank ATM. I see it I buy it I plant it. So far it works for me. I'm telling you this because when I 1st wanted to get into live plants I was given a lot of really great advice about lights, water parameters, fertilizers....that quite frankly scared the bejesus out of me. I decided to try it low tech & see what happens. So far most people that have seen my tanks are impressed & a little annoyed!




And this is my 15g with stock lights, no fertilizers, no CO2. 12 different types of plants




Good luck!

 

[Oohitsae]

Really, lighting in the correct spectrum is what you need most. Depending on what plants you want to grow you may need to upgrade, you may not.
I too started out with Aqueon lights on my 28. The single tube t-8 did fairly well for me, I could grow a ton of low-light plants, but anything that needed moderate to high lighting would end up melting.
You'll want to find flourescent, power compact, or compact flourescent lighting in the 5,000-8,000 kelvin range. The rating should be on any flourescent type light you find.

What is the current lighting on the tank? It might work or you may have to upgrade, you may need to find a stronger bulb or ballast for it too.

After you figure out if your current lighting will work or not, you can decide on plants. I'd suggest starting with low light plants because most can take a beating

 

[Convict2161]

I have a 55 gallon cichlid tank. I have never planted in an aquarium before. Can I start in the cichlid tank? What do I plant? What kind of substrate should I use? I have aquarium gravel in it now can I plant in that?

I wouldn't plant a cichlid tank. They might just destroy them.

 

[sjjennings13]

I'm about as low tech as you can get. I have stock Aqueon lights that came with my 55g. I don't use any fertilizer. Ever. I do have a DIY CO2 in there now but really haven't noticed that it does anything. And i have standard gravel. I have 22 different types of plants in this tank ATM. I see it I buy it I plant it. So far it works for me. I'm telling you this because when I 1st wanted to get into live plants I was given a lot of really great advice about lights, water parameters, fertilizers....that quite frankly scared the bejesus out of me. I decided to try it low tech & see what happens. So far most people that have seen my tanks are impressed & a little annoyed!

And this is my 15g with stock lights, no fertilizers, no CO2. 12 different types of plants

Good luck!

Thanks. Your tank looks really awsome!

 

[sjjennings13]

Really, lighting in the correct spectrum is what you need most. Depending on what plants you want to grow you may need to upgrade, you may not.
I too started out with Aqueon lights on my 28. The single tube t-8 did fairly well for me, I could grow a ton of low-light plants, but anything that needed moderate to high lighting would end up melting.
You'll want to find flourescent, power compact, or compact flourescent lighting in the 5,000-8,000 kelvin range. The rating should be on any flourescent type light you find.

What is the current lighting on the tank? It might work or you may have to upgrade, you may need to find a stronger bulb or ballast for it too.

After you figure out if your current lighting will work or not, you can decide on plants. I'd suggest starting with low light plants because most can take a beating

Im not too familiar with lighting terms and numbers. I have 2 hoods on my tank I bought at petco. They are flouressant tho. I do know that.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

I'm gonna guess on a 55 with 2 hoods those are 18" 15 watt t8 or t12 bulbs prob t8 15watt 5500 Kelvin full spectrum marineland bulb, you'd be ok with those lights with low light plants, you'd get better growth with zoomeds flouramax bulbs but yours are ok plus they're 15 dollar apiece bulbs, however as the 1 person earlier posted and I agree cichlids will destroy the plants I'd advise against starting plants out in that tank, most likely you'd be wasting good money.

 

[sjjennings13]

I'm gonna guess on a 55 with 2 hoods those are 18" 15 watt t8 or t12 bulbs prob t8 15watt 5500 Kelvin full spectrum marineland bulb, you'd be ok with those lights with low light plants, you'd get better growth with zoomeds flouramax bulbs but yours are ok plus they're 15 dollar apiece bulbs, however as the 1 person earlier posted and I agree cichlids will destroy the plants I'd advise against starting plants out in that tank, most likely you'd be wasting good money.

Ok cool. Thanks.

 

[Cactuspixie]

What about anubias on driftwood for a more permanent plant that no one will want to chew on, and some cheap stem plants that won't bother you so much if they do turn out to be plant-haters?

 

[Cactuspixie]

And this is my 15g with stock lights, no fertilizers, no CO2. 12 different types of plants

Of I were a fish I'd want to live there!!!

 

[Mebbid]

I have a 55 gallon cichlid tank. I have never planted in an aquarium before. Can I start in the cichlid tank? What do I plant? What kind of substrate should I use? I have aquarium gravel in it now can I plant in that?

Cichlids will be very rough on plants, if you were intent on planting a cichlid tank you would need to stick with fairly quick growing low light plants on your current setup. While co2, fertilizers, and strong lights aren't necessary with a planted tank, they will definitely make a huge difference in growth of your plants and in fact without a strong light you can skip the ferts and co2 as the plant's growth will be limited by the amount of light.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

Anubias on driftwood would maybe be ok, it's not so much that cichlids eat them it's that they'll "dig" up not the right word but, the plants you'll fond your plants all floating on the top of tank, if you try the anubias and they don't bother it you can also then try java ferns they like to be attached to wood or rocks also and grow in just about any light

 

[Convict2161]

I had 40+ Anubias, some clued to driftwood and some glued to slate and rocks. Some were planted. If they feel like it they'll target them. Maybe it was just my tank but they destroyed my plants.

 

[Hbbambislayer]

Right that's why I said maybe, I think we all agree plants and cichlids are not like peas and carrots they just don't mix

 

[Convict2161]

There are a few members here that do have planted cichlid tanks with success. Maybe they'll stop in and give there input. It just didn't work for me.

 

[Fishperson]

Totally unrelated, but you live in Asheboro?
I live fairly near you. Like an hour away, in Cary. I go to the zoo there sometimes!

 

[sjjennings13]

Thanks guys for all the info. You guys are great.

 

[sjjennings13]

Totally unrelated, but you live in Asheboro?
I live fairly near you. Like an hour away, in Cary. I go to the zoo there sometimes!

Yeah we are from asheboro. As close as we are from the zoo we havnt been in years. Lol.