Planted Tank

[petunia100]

Am considering setting up another tank. I have an empty thirty gallon. My other tanks are all artifical plants, and I'd like to try a planted tank. I need to do some research, but hoped that you might have some advice to narrow it down. Are there some plants that are easier for a beginner to planted tanks, or some that I should avoid? TYIA!!

 

[Billsgate]

Well, the least light you should have above this tank is 30 w ( 1 watt per gallon). This is according to the book..........i have 15 W over my 20gal and my plants grow....but probably best to have 1W/gallon

Anyway, good plants for beginners? i would think Java Fern is one of them, some java moss, Amazon Swords are hardy plants and mine grew quite a bit in 'too low' light conditions.

Maybe an advisor can move this to the planted section?

HTH!

 

[Lowcoaster]

1Watt/gallon is quite low. A 30 gallon (36 inches long) can usually be outfitted with fixtures that contain 24"(20 watt) or 36" (30 watt) bulbs. this means, by using a glass canopy and putting several fixtures over the tank (e.g. 1 double strip and 1 single strip), you can conceivably achieve 3 watts per gallon!!!! With this intensity, you can grow just about anything. However, let's say you have somewhat less---1-2 watts per gallon---you can still grow:

Java Fern (all species)
Java Moss
Bolbitis sp (African or Asian)
Anubias (all species)
Some Ludwigia, Rotala and Hygrophila species
Many Amazon Swords
Many Cryptocoryne species

This is by no means a comprehensive list. Do your research on specific species.

I hope this helps.

 

[deeni0z]

Just make sure that you buy plants that match your lighting equipment, that is, don't buy plants that require 3 watts per gallon if you only have like .5

Once you reach about 2 or more or so watts per gallon, CO2 is a must.

Try checking out plantgeek.net

 

[Kasakato]

Will .85 WPG work to grow low light plants?

 

[SnyperP]

Although i have not tried them yet, most people say swords require a nutrient rich substrate to grow well. I, like most people, start off with low light and no substrate requiring plants.

 

[Billsgate]

I would advice against jumping in head first. I would not advice you to go out and get equipment that gives you 3Watts per gallon. Because then you'll need a CO2 installation for your tank, you'll have to battle major algae outbreaks if you don't do it right, .......

Just go for 1-1.5W/gallon IMO. This should give you plenty of options for plants. They won't grow like crazy, but they'll grow. Just ask for easy to maintain, low-light plants at your lfs. That's what i did and they gave me great plants that are doing very well (tank's been set up for 5-6 months now).

 

[malkore]

DO NOT trust the LFS to sell you the right plants! LFS's notoriously sell non-aquatic plants to customers, because neither the LFS nor the customer knows any better. LFS's make their money on fish...most stores are NOT big on plants, so the burden of 'knowing what you're getting' falls entirely on the customer.

 

[Billsgate]

Well, i have to disagree malkore, my lfs people are sometimes blunt, but they've never told me anything that wasn't true after i checked. But you are probably right in saying that most lfs will not know what are good plants for your kind of setup.
I was at my 'bad' lfs and the guy that worked there even told me some of the plants weren't aquatic so i shouldn't get them. Hows that for honesty vs sales. 8O

 

[jibboo]

If you're just starting ... pick some low-cost plants on learn-on-the-fly ... IMO that's the easiest way. Don't go spend $$$ on a CO2 system or expensive lights ... get some cheap plants (as others have listed above as low-light plants) and just give it a try. Then maybe try adding some plant fertilizers (as most are all that expensive either).

That's just my opinion as a novice plant grower. If you want to go whole hog, then go buy some high wattage lights, some nice substrate, get the CO2, etc. But I don't think you'll find all those things necessary when starting out.

There's a good possibility that you'll find some plants that will do well for you without all the extras.

I started with 30w of light in my 55g with no CO2 or additives and have my java fern growing fine. The jungle val didn't do very well, the java fern was fine. Then i decided that I like plants and went out and got a C-USA 130w Satellite unit. Now I'm pushing 3 wpg, but I don't do anything more than have pool sand in my tank and add some planttabbs every week or so. I'm not saying that fertilizers and CO2 aren't worth it, cuz I'm sure they are ... but I haven't had the $$$ to invest in all that and my plants are growing and happy (java fern, jungle + itailian val, ludwigia, cabomba, amazon sword & myrio)

 

[rubysoho]

there are a lot of light equipment that has two switches for different lights. If you get one of those, then you can start out using it only at half strength, and when you are ready to start adding CO2, you won't have to go buy a totally different set of lighting. It is what I am doing right now, and it is working great HTH!