# New guy from Keller



## b1fcs (Apr 8, 2010)

Hi, I am definitely a new guy to this sort of thing. I recently completed my new 90gal Paludairum for some P. Terribilis dart frogs. I have probably a 25 gallon section of "pond" where I fully cycled it and put in some neon tetras, MT snails and cory cats. I plan to get a few ottos to help clean up the algae as well that my driftwood is making. The land area and walls are completely planted, but they need lots of light, which might be an issue for me trying to go with a planted water portion. So I am using a lot of light for them. I use 4x 4ft T5HO lights, 55wx4=220w on a 12/12 cycle. I don't have any CO2, but did purchase a giant bottle of Flourish, although I dont have any liquid fertilizer yet. My water substrate is 2" of Carib-Sea freshwater sand.

I would really like to try the "planted water" thing for the first time ever. This site came up and definitely peeked my interest. I bought a few plants from Petco but I will just say... they are not doing so well. I have no clue in plant placement or anything, so even before I partially killed the plants, it didn't look very good .

I am really bummed that I missed the last meeting, I think I would have really enjoyed it, but will definitely make it to the next one! In the meantime, any pointers would be useful, I am just starting to go through the forums on here and soak up some more knowledge as well.


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## alta678 (Mar 24, 2009)

Glad to have you join us! Petco is not the best place to get plants as I am sure you have figured out by now. The members here have an amazing variety of plants and are more than happy to share. If you are impatient to get started and don't want to wait until the next meeting, I would suggest calling or going to The Fish Gallery in Dallas or try Dallas North Aquarium. Of the two, Fish Gallery usually has the better selection. You might also contact Cindy ****ens of Vivarium Concepts. If you google Vivarium concepts you will find her location. She can also help you find the right plants.


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## b1fcs (Apr 8, 2010)

I am familiar with Cindy from the PDF community, I had no idea she did the planted aquarium thing too. That is great to hear, definitely a bit daunting to take on a new hobby


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## alta678 (Mar 24, 2009)

If it is true aquarium plants you want, I can give you a few java ferns to get started. These are very hardy and should do well for you. Are you interested in mosses? I am probably not that far from you.


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## MacFan (Jul 30, 2006)

Very cool! My own setup is more of a terrarium as it doesn't have sides to keep critters in. 

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https://flic.kr/p/4629025857

FYI, if that's Val, don't use Excel or it will melt it. Anacharis will melt too. Other plants seem ok. Depending on what you're wanting to grow, CO2 isn't critical. I have stopped using it on my breeding tanks, they're not pretty, but they grow ok. I rarely fertilize or do water changes on them. They grow some algae, but the fish seem happy. My other tanks however, I do CO2 and estimative index fertilizing and discard tons of extra plants on a regular basis. They don't quite get the attention they once did, but I manage to keep them in decent shape.

Michael


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