# My First Planted Tank...HELP!!!!



## lovingod (Apr 8, 2004)

Hi everyone  ...I'm getting ready to create my first planted tank and need some help. I just bought 4 Wild Red Spotted Green Discus and 2 Peruvian Angels at an auction. My original plan was to put the Discus and Angels in the planted tank....BUT I'm a little nervous about doing this since I've never had a planted tank before.

In addition to this, I'm fairly new to the Discus Hobby (Hubby's been taking care of Discus for awhile).

I have a 45 High and the following plants:

10 ea. Saggitaria Subdulata
3 ea. Red Melon Swords
3 ea. Ludwigia Arculata "Needle Leaf"
Amazon Sword
Echinodorus Parvitlorus "Tropica"
Anubias ooffeefolia
Ludwigia Arulata x. repens
Dwarf Lilly bulbs

Hope I spelled all of them right...the writing was fading off the bags they came in!! I need to know what other materials I need to get these plants in my tank. I want to go as basic as possible at first until I get the hang of this.

Also, I've seen a lot of planted tanks and like the look of a short grassy looking plant across the bottom front of the tank..what is this called??

8-[ Well...hope to hear from someone soon!!!! Thanks!!


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## Sir_BlackhOle (Jan 25, 2004)

What kind of lighting do you have and how many watts? What kind of filtration? Have you tested your water parameters? What kind of substrate do you want to use? Flourite works great for me, so does laterite/gravel. I keep discus in with my plants and they seem to love it.


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## lovingod (Apr 8, 2004)

Sir_BlackhOle,

As I said before I am NEW at this....all I have is the tank, plants and fish!! I know...don't everyone laugh!! I know I need to get a light...is a simple aquarium flourescent light ample for this type of setup??

I was considering putting pea gravel in bottom but what else do I need to add to it? I don't have a clue what type of nutrients/additives I will need to put in the water (By the Way...I have egg smelling well water ...our discus do just fine in it). My husband has tested the PH of our water, I believe it's around 7 or 7.5???

Can I simply put the plant roots in the gravel or will I need to add some other type of material on the bottom of the tank to keep my plants alive?

Also, I would really like to put the fish in with the plants because we are simply running out of space for tanks in our house. 

I plan on doing daily water changes on this tank if I put my fish in it...is that the right way to do it with the plants? If so, will I have to add anything to the water on a daily basis to keep it up to par...or do I need to test it on a daily basis? I am open to any advice or suggestions at this point.


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

lovingod said:


> Hi everyone
> 
> 10 ea. Saggitaria Subdulata
> 3 ea. Red Melon Swords
> ...


ETenellus is what you are looking for. it's grassy and nice =)


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## Gomer (Feb 2, 2004)

well, you sure started this rather quickly without looking into things before hand  No worries, it is not too late to get on track!

1st, Lighting is critical. Without sufficiant lighting, your plants will die. Practically all stock lightings are severely lacking. You will need on the order of 100-150watts over that tank depending on your goals. No, you cannot change your bulb to get more light 

Next to that are being able to supply all the nutrient needs of the plants. CO2, macro and micro nutrients are all needed. CO2 can be done with a pressurized system or with lots of DIY 2L bottles. Macro and micro nutrients can be done either DIY (need to find the supplies) or get products like the Flourish line. You also have some big root feeders such as swords (which IME will get rather large ). Common gravel ONLY supplies a place to root. It offers ZERO nutrients. Iron is a one of the major things supplied by plant substrates. Have you considered buying a plant substrate...or is it too late?

The above is the VERY VERY short story...and incomplete. To get you completely on track would require me to write for a long long time. Luckily, someone has already done this for you 
http://rexgrigg.com/


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## lovingod (Apr 8, 2004)

Thank you hubbahubbahehe!!


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

lovingod said:


> Thank you hubbahubbahehe!!


I'm sorry Ronda,, I should give you the full name...

Echinodorus Tenellus

here's a link to learn more about it:
http://192.38.244.204/go.asp?plant=067


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## hubbahubbahehe (Mar 29, 2004)

..and moderators can get mad at me for adding this, but YES, we have a loving God!


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## lovingod (Apr 8, 2004)

Hey *Gomer*...yeah I know I kind of jumped into it...I've been talking about doing this for a while and well...you know how that goes..then I saw the plants and just went for it. Now I'm sort of panicking because I know I need to get the plants in a tank and do it right or they'll die. Right now I've got them all in a 10 gl in water until I get my act straight.

I'll look over the link you sent to me and then post any questions I have.

Thanks!! 

*hubbahubbahehe*

Thanks for the link....I'll look over it too and ditto on any questions. Thanks!!


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