# Starting first planted tank -plant recommendations



## karen99 (Feb 20, 2006)

I'm starting up my first real planted tank. Hopefully I will be setting it all up and planting it tomorrow, if some gravel I ordered arrives. 
I couldn't resist getting some plants though, so I have some floating in another tank awaiting the new tank.
What I have is:
Rotala indica
Red Ludwigea 
Cyrpt wedtii 'red'
Green Hygro 
Java fern
Java moss
Melon sword
and 2 'mystery' stem plants, looking at plantfinder they might be Lysimachia nummularia and Limnophila.

I was trying to pick relatively easy and nice-looking plants, but now I'm afraid I got too much for a little tank and I realize some like the melon sword and possibly the crypts will grow too big. And I still need a foreground plant of some sort; I had been planning hairgrass but was since warned by a store that it is hard to grow and they didn't recommend it (and the store was selling it too).
Does anyone have any suggestions on what to do? Should I try to return some of the plants?
Oh, the new tank will have about 3 watts/gallon and will get fertilizer and flourish excel, plus diy CO2 if that is necessary.
Thanks for your help.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

First, at 3wpg of lighting, you need CO2. While excel is a good alternative source of carbon, I don't think it can keep up with the plants' requirements at 3wpg. You don't mention the size of the tank but at larger tank sizes DIY CO2 has difficulty keeping the CO2 concentrations where they should be and consistent.

Second, if you think you have too many plants, that's the best way to start a new planted tank: lots and lots of plants. That way the tank gets a head start, you avoid a nitrogen cycle altogether and the tank is alot more stable during the delicate first several months. You can always remove plants later once the tank is more established.

So I'd keep the plants. But yes, eventually the sword will have to go as it will quickly outgrow that tank. 

And welcome to APC!


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## karen99 (Feb 20, 2006)

Sorry, I forgot to mention it is a 29 gallon. I can adjust the lighting easily so I keep it less than 3 watts/gallon. I want to have good lighting, but I don't have the money for a pressurized CO2 system.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

DIY CO2 should be doable on a 29g and is definitely better than no CO2, even better than just Excel. DIY CO2 gets problematic once you start hitting around 55g and up...


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## azn_fishy55 (Jan 6, 2006)

Yeah,I have DIY CO2 on my 30 gallon planted,I also dose excel and my plants are growing fine.


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## Zapins (Jul 28, 2004)

Pressure CO2 was the best thing i ever bought. It was also expensive for me, but i bought it in parts, 80$ for the regulator, and 60 for the tank, and a few more dollars for tubing and that sort of stuff. But it was the best 140$ i ever spent and i would recommend it to anyone, even people just starting out.


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## spcyamada (May 13, 2005)

*CO2 and lights.*

I have to agree with every one here. CO2 and lights are very important. Once you have the lights, make sure you get pressurized CO2 eventually only because it's more consistent and you can put everything on a timer or controller. And once you get the gear, try dosing the CO2 at the highest limit possible till your fish begin to stress. It might take awhile to find the point between really stressed fish and tolerable limits. You will see your plants pearl under these conditions. I think you will find this planted tank hobby pretty enjoyable. Just don't get discouraged when algae hits and do your research for the best deals and ways of doing things. GOOGLE! I know when I first started the planted tank, I bought every gimick that didn't work hehehe. Good luck!


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

Karen,

Your plant list looks perfect for your first tank. If you something easy for the foreground you could always go with dwarf sag. It is a little too tall for some people, but if you keep it back from the glass a couple of inches it will look nice. It fills in quickly. Glosso is another idea that would probably be of 'moderate' difficulty.

Hemianthus callitrichoides is probably the 'best' groundcover-type foreground plant, but it's not exactly a beginner plant. You can also consider Riccia fluitans tied down to rocks, mesh, or something else.


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## karen99 (Feb 20, 2006)

Well, I ended up getting dwarf hairgrass since it looks nice and was available (at the moment, nothing else was available at any of the stores nearby though they often carry a variety of foreground plants). So... I know hairgrass is more difficult, but I will give it a chance.
The tank looks nice for now. I really doubt I can find the money or space for a CO2 system but I will consider it. For now, I have diy CO2 that gets bubbled through an airstone, so I have to come up with a better diffusor.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

karen99 said:


> Well, I ended up getting dwarf hairgrass since it looks nice and was available (at the moment, nothing else was available at any of the stores nearby though they often carry a variety of foreground plants).


Where are you located? I ask since there are not very many stores that carry ANY foreground plants let alone a variety of them. Sounds like you may be in an area with a good sized Aquarium/Plant Club and you may want to look into joining them for some good plants and advice  A club may also be a good source of some used CO2 equipment...


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## vetter (Feb 20, 2006)

Make sure you add lots of plants at the Beginning like Laith said. I did not do this when I started my 75 gallon and I am now running into numerous problems first I am adding fully automatic co2 with almost 4 watts per gallon, AND I AM ONLY ADDING FLOURISH EXCEL AND MASTERGROW WITH 8 PLANTS. The only reason why I did not add the plants is because I just couldn't find any good ones, and trust me around here glossistigma elatinoid is a difficult plant to find as well as hair grass. I am looking to find a place where I can stock up on plants, and I will purchase more flourish supplements greatly needed with the amount of light I have. Not having the right supplements and not enough plants has made my tank UGLY. I had a huge algae boom with brown algae, took care of it, but then I got green and some type of other algae because no plants were competing with the algae. You would think my plants would be thriving with 3.7 watts per gallon and a fully automatic co2 system well, WRONG. Some (of the few) are covered in algae, loss of colour and look like I just stuck them in a toaster oven with all the light I have. I best advice that I can give is make sure you have some good flourish supplements for the tank, add lot and lots of plants especially at the beginning. Otherwise good luck with your tank! (I spelt colour with the u cause im canadian)


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## karen99 (Feb 20, 2006)

I'm in the Milwaukee area. There are a few good aquarium stores nearby, and in the last few weeks I've looked around and found microsword, riccia, glosso, clover, dwarf sag and hairgrass - of course when I was ready to actually plant the groundcover they were out of everything but the hairgrass and riccia. I do like the look of hairgrass, so if it survives for me, I will be happy. I found the Milwaukee aquarium society is having in auction soon, so I might go and see if I can get a used CO2 system.

I decided to take out a bulb so my tank's only around 2.6 watts/gal because even like this, it's so bright that it's actually painful to look at for more than a moment. And the light is so intense the plants look yellow (rather than the nice green they look under dimmer lighting). I never realized plant lighting would be SO bright.


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## BryceM (Nov 6, 2005)

What exact type of lighting do you have? What is the K rating of the bulb? If you are using incadescents or fluorescents with a K rating of less than 5500K or so then the plants might look a little yellowish.

The other possibility is that they are nutrient deficient. A shortage of nitrates would be the most likely and often shows up as yellowing of older leaves. The entire plant might become invovled if the shortage is severe.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Karen you mentioned you were bubbling in the CO2 via an airstone. I didn't see what type of filter you have, but when I had a 29 with an hob (hang on back) type filter, I used the filter as my reactor. You can do this by placing the CO2 line into the intake of your filter. It worked well for me.


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## karen99 (Feb 20, 2006)

I don't know what the K rating of the bulbs is. There's nothing about it on the packaging or on the bulbs themselves. The bulbs are compacts, the kind with an incandescent-type socket - meant as household bulbs not as aquarium bulbs.
I think the plants themselves are fine for now; they just look bad because of the lighting.


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## bergzy (Feb 18, 2006)

if you can describe your automated co2 system, that may help a lot. if there is one thing that reef aquarists know is equipment.

if you decide to go with a diy co2 system...

a lot of the times, diy stuff is more effective than premade things. the only problem in making diy equipment is that you usually need some (and sometimes a lot) fabricating equipment. this is where things can get expensive unless you have a lot of this already.

diy stuff also can consume a lot of time to design, plan, acquire parts and finally construct.

my personal taste is that any equipment, purchased or diy, should appear decent. diy shouldnt equate fugly but functional.

i believe that 24/7 monitering and regulation is better than the 'peek in every so often' method of keeping aquaria. i have done that in reefkeeping and it is not only time consuming, tedious and 'oh man, i forgot to check it today'...it creates an unstable and inconsistent environment. 

imo, a stable environment leads to success in anything whether it be a reef tank, a fw planted tank, the stock market or home life...stability is, and always be, the key to success in any field.

thus...

a pH controller is an essential key to stability! it moniters and 'regulates' 24/7...something that we cant even remotely do even with a pH moniter!


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