# Advice and Ideas Needed.



## Twisted_Angel (Oct 2, 2005)

Hi all. I'm new to the whole aquatic plants scene. As of yet my 29 and my 10 both have plastic plants. I'm interested in planting both tanks, but I'm not big on leafy plants. I was thinking I'd like to plant it more with grassy type plants. Would like to go with lots of ground cover and some taller grassy types for the background of the tanks. The 29 is lighted with fluorescent lighting(came with the tank) and the 10 as of yet has no lighting, I got it from my sister in law and she never had one for it. I am planning on purchasing a light for it, just wanted to wait to see what I would need to work for planting. Substrate in both tanks right now is regular coloured gravel, which I will change if needed to keep healthier plants. Can someone point me in the right direction?

Also on a side note, I live in Windsor, Ontario, Canada and I am very limited here for stores with healthy plant stock. I've been trying to find online resources for buying plants, but most seem to be from the U.S. Do any of you know of any Canadian based sites I can buy plants from? I will buy U.S. if I have to, just with exchange rates and shipping it gets a bit costly.


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Two good reads to get you started:

www.rexgrigg.com

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/01_intro.html

I can already tell you that the first thing you need to look at before anything else is your lighting.


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## CherylR (Aug 12, 2004)

How many watts is the light for the 29? Generally, planted tanks require more light than fish-only tanks.

What color is the gravel? Suit yourself, but I think natural-colored gravel looks better with plants. If you are satisfied with the look/color, don't change the gravel. It has a lot of icky stuff that is great for plants and changing it means re-cycling the tank for longer. Doable, but why make more work for yourself? If you want to change the gravel, I recommend Seachem's Flourite or CaribSea's Eco-Complete. But even plain gravel will work. Does the tank have a filter? What kind? You can add mulm from the filter to the gravel for a jump-start on both plant growth and cycling.

Plant heavily. Lots and lots of plants. More than you think you need. What do you mean by leafy? You don't like large-leaves? Needle leaves? I am trying to imagine a leaf-less planted tank. 

Based on what you've said, you might want to try Valisneria or Rotala rotundifolia (indica) for the back and chain sword for the front. I even have water sprite growing in the foreground of my low-light guppy tanks and it stays very low.

If the local stores don't have good plants, then you have two options: mail order or generous local aquarists. If there is a local club in your area, I highly recommend joining it. You can make friends who will give you trimmings. If you have to mail order, it will be expensive whether the company is in Canada or not because you should really use 2 - 3 day shipping when mailing plants. I imagine it's getting cool up there so that's good. We're still having summer here (TX) which is a lousy time to mail plants. Up there, you probably don't want to mail plants after The Big Freeze.

There is a sticky at the top of this forum section called The Basics. You should go read that. Also, the last issue of "The Aquatic Gardener" had a great article on Beginning Planted Tanks by Scott Hieber. Just click on the banner at the top of this section for more info on The Aquatic Gardeners Association.

Cheryl


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## Twisted_Angel (Oct 2, 2005)

By leafy, I mean plants with big broad leaves, I'm thinking more along the lines of grassy type plants. I find with the bushier broad leafed plants, it gets hard to see the fish for the plants. My main focus in aquarium keeping is for the fish, but I thought it would be nice to add some live plants to the mix instead of my totally fake looking plastic plants. 
My gravel is multi coloured, purples, blues, white, but I figure with lots of ground cover you won't really see much of the gravel anyway. 
As for lighting, I can't seem to find the book that came with my tank to find the wattage of the light, and as silly as this may sound, I can't seem to find the wattage on the light itself either. I'll read up some more on the light requirements for a planted tank and maybe take my light to where I purchased the tank in hopes they can tell me the wattage. If I don't have what I need I will certainly make sure to get what I need. 
As for filtration, i just run an HOB right not. I believe its an Aquatech 20-40(walmart brand). I've been thinking recently about upgrading my filtration system as I don't find this one is doing an adequate job. 
As you can tell I am a total newbie at plants, I'm not even familiar with the names of plants, but I will google search the ones you mentioned to start giving myself an idea of whats out there. Thanks for your reply, hope the fact that I know NOTHING isn't too annoying....LOL


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## Laith (Sep 4, 2004)

Well, we all started out knowing nothing!  

Do read the info in the two links I posted...


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

If your main focus will be the fish, then I would go with a low light/low tech tank. The lights that come with the tank setup is not adequate for growing plants, so you will need to upgrade your lighting fixture. I would aim for between 1.5 and 2 watts per gallon. I would recommend replacing your gravel with a sand or plant gravel like Eco-Complete.


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## CherylR (Aug 12, 2004)

If it's a standard fixture that came with the tank, you probably have a single 40 watt bulb. That's 1.4 watts per gallon, definately a low-light tank. You can grow Java fern (there is a narrow-leaf variety that you might like) tied to driftwood or rocks. And Cryptocoryne species (roots planted directly into the gravel), as well as floating plants that grow near the lights, including Riccia, duckweed, and phyllanthus fluitans.

Anubias have big heart-shaped leaves but they don't get very tall. You also tie them to driftwood or rocks.

If you add another strip with a single fluorescent tube, you will have a medium-light tank. Then the possibilities open even more. (This is what I did. Some years later I decided I wanted *even more* light to grow more demanding species and replaced my perfecto strip lights with 2 55-watt kits from ahsupply.com.)

I still recommend Flourish Excel, because a carbon source will help to prevent/control algae.

Right now, the 29-gallon does not seem overpopulated. Your filter is probably fine for now. If you do add more fish, I would add a couple more cories, and maybe 5 or so Otocinclus catfish for algae control.

You have a clown pleco. That's a nice fish. Does he have any driftwood to chew on? He might like that, and plus you can tie Java fern and Aubias and Java moss to it. 

Cheryl


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## Twisted_Angel (Oct 2, 2005)

My plec doesn't have any driftwood yet, I've been in search for the perfect piece and as of yet haven't found anything I like. (oh boy, am I picky or what?) AS for lighting, I do plan on upgrading my light fixture. It seems pretty bright, but I don't want to take the chance of buying plants and killing them because its not good enough. I did read "the basics" sticky and it provided alot of helpful advice, so thanks for directing me to it. 
One question, I've heard alot about cichlids ruining plants. Will I have that problem with my Ram? He can be relocated if needed, but he is kinda my "centerpiece" fish, so to speak. 
Whatever the case, I know I have alot of reading and learning to do before I go ahead and plant my tank. Not just gonna jump into it without a clue. I am currently researching substrates and lighting. I am hoping to replace my gravel with something more aestetic and beneficial for the plants, in which case I'll relocate the fish from the 29 to my 15 gallon quarantine tank to give the 29 time to "re-cycle" with the new substrate. Yeah its alot of added work, but I'm an aquarium addict, and I actually enjoy the work I put into my tanks. Its always a great feeling to see the final outcome of all my hard work.


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## MatPat (Mar 22, 2004)

Most of the dwarf Cichlids (Rams, Apistos, etc) won't cause any problems with your plants. It is mostly the larger Cichlid species (not including Angels or Discus) that cause harm to plants.

If you are going with a higher light, heavily planted tank, there will be no need to "cycle" your tank before adding the fish. You can re-read the Rex Grigg link for moe info on this.

When you replace the substrate use a small amount of Canadian Sphagnum Peat Moss ( not the kind with fertilizers added) along with some mulm (the fish poop and what not) from your old gravel. This will get the bacteria going much quicker. There are many references on this site in regards to using peat and mulm under your gravel. The search button can be your friend


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

I recommend doing some hard research. Start with substrate (gravel) for example - use the search function of this or any other good planted aquarium website and read as much as you can stomach about that one subject. Then move to lighting and do the same, then to fertilizing, then to filtration, etc. After a month of doing this, you will be ready to decide how you want to proceed. I did this about 5 years ago and found it really fascinating, and the hobby has progressed enormously over the past 5 years. Enjoy it!


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