# The Basics



## niko

Ben Belton from the Dallas/Fort Worth Aquatic Plant Club wrote this very easy to read and very comprehensive article about the basics of keeping aquatic plants. All the information is available online but the article summarizes it and presents it in a very clear fashion. In addition the layout of the web-pages is very, very nice:

Read the article here.

--Nikolay


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## MatPat

Very good article! I bookmarked it and will be pointing others to it in the future.


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## stcyrwm

It is a fairly helpful article but I think there ought to be an explanation of non CO2 tanks.

Bill


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## Bruce E. Staggs

Very good article with a lot of basics


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## Beasts

Your referral to Ben Bolton's writings continues to have a very positive effect. As a new member of APC I just found your post and read his article. Very informative. Thank you for your assistance.
Bill


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## heidisue

*thanks again, Niko*

This was just what I needed.


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## cihlidi_fan

Yeah 10x ! I have learned a lot from this!
Tnaks again!


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## BlauerDrakken

Good article... I learned a lot, but I still have much to learn.


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## Batdisciple

real useful really basic and easy to understand


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## rich_one

you know, that was really interesting. I was prepared to jump on the "what about non-CO2 tanks" thing before even reading it... but now, having read it, I think I have killed so many plants, because I have taken the wrong approach... I'm going to solicit some other opinions about this, but I want to thank you for changing my perspective on how I was looking at my constant planting problems.


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## ZakkWylde

Thats the type of article I spent hours looking for.


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## Andi

Thank-you for this wonderful link. I am wanting to expand my knowledge of plants in the aquarium. This is a great start! I would like to bring up that non-CO2 planted tanks are possible and can look spectacular. Rhonda Wilson has a wonderful site called _Natural Aquariums_. Feel free to check it out and discover another method of keeping planted aquariums.
http://naturalaquariums.com/


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## Sandman

This is a fantastic article and a must read for all beginners! Thanks!!!


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## herosipet

I just discovered it just a while ago and reading few pages of it, I say this is the one I had been looking for, to help me with my two tanks and cut down my cost on plants and not killing or disintegrating the plants. This article has so much information and so easy to digest. Frankly, I say, I can understand english.
Thanks a lot mod.


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## Augus

Great link, great starting place for beginner like me. Thanks,


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## JPB13846

Great place for a newbee to start. Thanks


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## mikeskoogles

The article was easy to read and follow. Now I do not have to post questions that senior members get irritated having to answer over and over. I have had luck growing the plants I have had and now wonder what I can do with CO2 (hmmmmmmmmmmmm). 

"Tanks" for the info; I am going to put it to use.

Jennifer


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## dskirtech

Wow.... I am a HUGE Fish Hobbyist and have toyed with Aquatic plants for a couple of months and DAMN how I wish I had read that sooner. 

You guys will be seeing allot of me! My goal is to get my Plants looking as good as the rest of the aquarium!!!!

Thanks for the read!


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## FernMan

Great Site... informative and artistic ! This is a great example of what aquascaping is all about.
Awesome style.


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## c4cache

Good article... I learned a lot, thank you.


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## Pam916

I found this article very informative and helpful.


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## apm

thanks niko... great article ..find. I have a few people in my aquarium society that I have already sent it to. keep up the good work. I really like your diy hoods by the way.. their awesome


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## tenakoon

thx for the noobie guide.:bump:


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## shoalbrother

Nice article, very informative.

Thanks for sharing


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## Tex Gal

I refer this article out all the time. I think it's super!


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## migmatic

Great article, always pick up something from these informative reads. Thanks!!!


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## sahari

great article.... did read a few before and got new info from the article specially on lighting and co2.

tq


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## Alston

Hello,

Ya your suggestion is right and i am agree with that . I like your views that you express with us.

Thanks !

_______________


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## defiesexistence

This was a sticky for a reason, I see (not that we randomly sticky things on here for no reason) As a result, that article... GOT BOOKMARKED. Thanks to whoever said in years past to explore the stickies first thing! I can _easily_ see I have some work to do, however...

If it's true that aquatic plants produce about 5 times more oxygen than they use, and when my fish get to be ~12 inches (goldfish, very messy and oxygen users)... What I'm trying to spit out here is that my tank is not heavily planted. I have 1 two liter DIY co2. Not enough in a 55g, that much I know. However, I have an aerator: Rena-Air 200. I have seen beautifully planted goldfish tanks with an air stone and man, were his plants beautiful! He had fully grown fancies, but I can't remember if he did co2 or not. And my Rotala wallichi and sword plant are making a (slight) comeback since I started my co2. That added, what thinketh thee here in attendance about these questions: Because my tank is not heavily planted and under co2-ed, and this article says that an air stone drives out co2, do I remove it, or will my fish suffocate without it at night when plants also take in oxygen? Or will they be okay what with plants producing 5x more oxygen than they use? Should I put the aerator back in when they get ~12 inches? My plants don't pearl or anything, I give my wreck of a tank no ferts so yet another question is this: Is that five times more oxygen statistic less than 5x with my tank? Have we heard of the 5x stat here, or has my brain randomly remembered or made that up to mock me? :der:

Forgive me for a) asking questions that may be obvious beyond belief, b) a text wall of a post, and c) for my meaning being unclear. But nonetheless, I'll be looking here for answers after I get back from up north on Tuesday (We'll be swimming in lakes and fishing, so I might be taking a trophy weed bass home. Maybe I'll find some aquatic moss swimming. Anything that'll survive in the lakes up there should stand my coldwater. *Walks off dreaming of beautifully planted tank with pretty carp*)

My deepest thanks to you all!


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## Seattle_Aquarist

Hi defiesexistence,

"Stickys" are a great resource, especially for learning the basics!


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## camicov

hi!

The link is not working anymore, does anybody have a new link or something? or am I missing something?

thanx for your help!


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## NewbeeH

Thanks Ben Belton and the member who referred me to this article. Yes, this article is very comprehensive (as much as I know) and very easy to read.


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## redmary51

I agree with all the above. The article is great. I just joined this forum and have been reading, reading, reading. I thought I would have lots of questions for my soon-to-be new planted tank and I probably still will, but this is a great place for me to start!


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## Bob57

Good article for beginners.Covers all the basics.


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## Tex Gal

camicov said:


> hi!
> 
> The link is not working anymore, does anybody have a new link or something? or am I missing something?
> 
> thanx for your help!


Works for me!

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/index.html


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## Bob57

It works for me too.


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## Gor22don33

Very good article! I bookmarked it and will be pointing others to it in the future.


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## pjb9166

I'm glad i wasn't typical guy and decide to read this article. You know who ever reads the directions anyway?
I guess my tank falls under the low light tank setup. I did however setup a DIY Co2 setup tonight. It looks cool bubling in my tank and is being sucked up from my canister filter. Before reading the article I did have the question in my mind "well aren't my fish creating enough Co2?" I guess not. I hope I find more time to read more in this forum.

Paul


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## bluebirdnanny

Thank you. Printed for bedtime reading!!!!


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## john.shephard26

Hi link is not working please help?!


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## Tugg

We (dfwAPC) are moving to a new webhost. It will be back up once the DNS records finish clearing caches and update to the new server. Try in another day.


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## Tugg

Here is a temporary link that will get you to the article.

http://apc.evilknights.com/articles/basics/pages/index.html


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## fishoutofwater

Any suggestions for where to find this article?

thanks!
-the new guy ;-)


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## Michael

Welcome to APC!

For technical reasons we had to close the website, and the software used to create the website was so old that we couldn't save the contents. Please try posting any questions you have in this forum and we will try to get you started.


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## consumer

I probably should have introduced myself in the introductions sub, but I think this will be a good first post:

the DWF APC is on the Wayback machine (internet archive):

https://web.archive.org/web/2006011...c-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/index.html

This is just one snapshot, there may be others that are more recent with updated information. 
hope it helps!!


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## hoppycalif

consumer, welcome to APC!


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## Michael

Thanks for internet archaeology.


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## Dean

It is very good article for me to learn


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## Birima

Hi Nico,

Would like to read your much praised sticky but I do get a 401 forbidden message.

Anywhere else I would be able to read it?

Thank you,

Robert


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## Michael

Birima, welcome to APC! If you click on the link in consumer's post, it should take you to the series of articles. It just worked for me.


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## Birima

Michael said:


> Birima, welcome to APC! If you click on the link in consumer's post, it should take you to the series of articles. It just worked for me.


Thank you, got it.

I will later introduce myself. Just a little hectic now.

Cheers


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