# very beginner



## eggsonrye1023 (Feb 23, 2008)

hi, I'm brand new and I've been wanting to set up a fresh water tank for awhile. I've been looking into planted tank and am very interested. However, I have no idea what kinds of plants to use. So my question is...what plants would you recommend for the beginner tank owner and why?? Thanks so much.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Well alot of that would depend on how much time and money you have to spend. Low-light tanks tend to be the least expensive and easiest to maintain. High light tanks tend to be more expensive and time-consuming.

For a planted tank you will need:
-a good light fixture that will support plant growth; most of the time tanks are sold with lights that cannot
-a substrate on the bottom of the tank that will allow the plants to grow healthy roots
-good filtration

Do you know about what size tank you are looking for?


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## kakkoii (Jan 18, 2008)

welcome to APC!!!


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## eggsonrye1023 (Feb 23, 2008)

i'm looking at about a 20-30 gallon tank.


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## eggsonrye1023 (Feb 23, 2008)

kakkoii said:


> welcome to APC!!!


thank you


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## eggsonrye1023 (Feb 23, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> Well alot of that would depend on how much time and money you have to spend. Low-light tanks tend to be the least expensive and easiest to maintain. High light tanks tend to be more expensive and time-consuming.
> 
> For a planted tank you will need:
> -a good light fixture that will support plant growth; most of the time tanks are sold with lights that cannot
> ...


I would like a 20-30 gallon tank and a medium light source probably. I want to be able to keep my head above water with the care.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

OK that's a good size to start with.

You will want to look at light fixtures that will give you 2 watts per gallon or less. Dr.Fosters and Smith
Big Als
are two good places to start pricing out supplies. You can often buy lighting online much cheaper than at an LFS...


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## tjc (Jan 17, 2006)

I recommend using the "Plant Finder" link on this forum. There I was able to find plants that don't require high amounts of light or pressurized CO2. These plants are easier to maintain. The "Plant Finder" even catorgizes plants as far as level of difficulty. 

I will be up-grading the lighting for my system to 3 wt/gal. I have a 24" tall aquarium. I had trouble in the past getting my plants growing well because they weren't tall enough to reach the good light. Their growth initially started out slow before they took off. My ground cover plants never grew thick mats. It's very important to access your needs for the system you have to be able to maintain an aquarium that you will enjoy.

I had great luck with Ludwigia, Rotala and Aponogetons that were labled easy in the "Plant Finder". Many sword plants and vals are great for beginners. Anubias is known as the plastic plant that grows.

Nutrient additives and a good substrate are very important for success especially if you have medium to strong lighting. Flourish Excel has been very important to me for controling algae.


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## eggsonrye1023 (Feb 23, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> OK that's a good size to start with.
> 
> You will want to look at light fixtures that will give you 2 watts per gallon or less. Dr.Fosters and Smith
> Big Als
> are two good places to start pricing out supplies. You can often buy lighting online much cheaper than at an LFS...


Thank you so much.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

You're very welcome!

Substrate will probably be the next thing you spend the most money on. To make your life simpler, I would go with a substrate especially made for plants like Fluorite, Eco Complete, or Onyx Sand. You can price that out online, but it's often cheaper to pick that up at the local store because the weight tends to make the shipping prices go up much higher.


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## eggsonrye1023 (Feb 23, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> You're very welcome!
> 
> Substrate will probably be the next thing you spend the most money on. To make your life simpler, I would go with a substrate especially made for plants like Fluorite, Eco Complete, or Onyx Sand. You can price that out online, but it's often cheaper to pick that up at the local store because the weight tends to make the shipping prices go up much higher.


I just googled them, they sounded really good. Eliminates the latecite needs. Eco Complete looks the best.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

I've got Fluorite in one of my tanks and Eco is going in my new one. I picked Eco because I like the color, various grain size to help root the plants, and shouldn't cloud the water like Fluorite tends to. It's also easier to work with overall than soils and sands and other inert substrates.

I do hear good things about the new black Fluorite, but I haven't tried it out yet.

Next tank I set up I'm going to try out a product developed to go under sports fields called Turface; I've been hearing mixed things about it, but I want to try it out...


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## wrkucera (Jan 6, 2008)

for me I found microsorum pteropus, lobelia cardinalis, hygrophilia difformis and bacopa caroliniana to do well with absolutely no chemical or co2 ferts at all. the Ludwigia repens is questionable. however this is in a 10 gallon tank still using the same simple 18" perfecto lighting hood and swapped out the standard flourescent for a Flora Sun Max Plant Growth Fluorescent T-8 Lamp - 5,000K - 18 in. less than $9. And I used 1 bag of eco-complete substrate that I felt was key to this setup. I keep a small group of guppies and a $2.50 economy corner box filter. the growth is slow but it's been working and that's the most important aspect for me. The fact that I do almost no maintenance at all is impressing me the most so far. I must tell you that I set this up during the last week of december as a christmas gift so you know the time frame this has been running. I also decided that I wouldn't bother at all with waterchanges and just top off with new conditioned tap water when I see the level dropping. It's already seen one birth of fry(less than 2 weeks ago) and the females are already fat again!


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## wrkucera (Jan 6, 2008)

lauraleellbp said:


> I've got Fluorite in one of my tanks and Eco is going in my new one. I picked Eco because I like the color, various grain size to help root the plants, and shouldn't cloud the water like Fluorite tends to. It's also easier to work with overall than soils and sands and other inert substrates.
> 
> I do hear good things about the new black Fluorite, but I haven't tried it out yet.
> 
> Next tank I set up I'm going to try out a product developed to go under sports fields called Turface; I've been hearing mixed things about it, but I want to try it out...


Okay the turface i have never even heard of untill this post. could you tell me more? It does sound interesting? maybe I'll look it up myself...

The eco substrate is so far a top pick for me. unfortunately I found out late about the use of this stuff, and now I have a 55 gal. tank with 100 pounds of flourite red... it's gonna be a pricey re-do for me but maybe in the future.


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Turface is inert, which means that it won't provide nutrients to the plants. It also is rather light and clouds the water when it's moved too much. It's distributed by Lesco and was developed to go under grass turf on football and baseball fields to help prevent too much soil compation. People use it because it's good for encouraging root growth and it's cheap- usually less than $25 for a 50lb bag. You can try and find a local distributor by going to Lesco.com.

If I use it, I will use a nutrient-rich underlayer and a layer of colorquartz on top to try and keep the cloudiness down. It's so light even fish swimming over it can stir it up if the tank isn't heavily planted.


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