# what can i add?



## aweeks95 (Aug 27, 2005)

i have a 55g that has been set-up for a few years. i want to know if there are plants i can add to it as it stands. i have a gravel bottom and driftwood in it...i know i might need more specific lighting but outside of that, anything that might work in my tank?

ANDY


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

If it has been up and running with fish for several years, then you have a well aged substrate that is rich in mulm, decayed organic material which is a good source of nitrogen and a nutrient sink. The most critical issue is always light. A low light level will limit you to slow growing plants. A moderate to high light level will widen the possibilities and force the issue of how you handle C02.
I would think about what your goals are for this tank and how far you want to take it. Then you can look at different options or approaches.


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## aweeks95 (Aug 27, 2005)

i don't want to have to add any CO2....so in this case what are my otions? what type of low light plants might work?


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Even low light has a minimal thresh hold for plants. In my opinion, 2 watts of flourescent light per gallon of water is the minimum, some people have gone less.

Water ferns and Anubias plants seem to have the most consensus from people as being the most tolerant of low light conditions. The common Cryptocorynes such as wendtii, lucens, lutea, becketti and spiralis also do well under minimal light, but grow faster and taller with more light. Swords and Crinums in my opinion fall more under the moderate light range, but in well aged substrates sometimes do amazingly well under minimal light.

Most stem or "bunch" plants are much more light dependent. Egeria najas and Hygrophila polysperma are exceptions, but Hygro is now illegal and is hard to find in stores or on the net. You are in Massachuesetts right? H. polysperma and Myriophyllum is definetly illegall in that state. Vallisneria is a tall grass plant that likes hard water and does not really do that well under low light, but Sagittaria is a grass plant that can tolerate low light much better.

Bulb plants such as Aponogetons and Nymphea do fairly well under minmal light if enough nutrients are stored in their tuber. Once that is depleted they will struggle more if you have not been feeding them.


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## aweeks95 (Aug 27, 2005)

feeding them...? i will have to feed my plants? what does that entail?

ANDY


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

Plants need nutrients, fertilizer food, under any conditions. They may get some of that from your "aged" substrate but they still need trace minerals and whats called macro nutrients, (the nutrients they use in large amounts: nitrogen, phosphate, and potassium) You can add a liquid to the water or a tablet to the substrate. Bulb plants and rooted plants such as swords are heavy root feeders, so often the easiest way to go is to push a fertilizer tablet such as Seachem's Flourish tabs into the gravel next to the plant. Last I checked Flourish tabs contains some macros and some trace.


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## aweeks95 (Aug 27, 2005)

in the tank....55g....i have two under gravel filters . one on either end...will this pose a problem? i would think that it might....


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

If you don't mind doing a lil chore, then I would just take out the undergravel filters. It's not that it is totally impossible to have them in the presence of plants. But since you don't want to add CO2 at this point(or add stronger lighting), you really want to provide your plants with a slightly better environment for them to grow in given your circumstance. Having the UF(undergravel filter) is in my experience much more difficult for the plants' roots to adequately absorb all the nutrients they require. They can do this so much more effectively without the UF. I mean, we are in a hobby that already require periodic maintenance scheme anyways And to me, that is also a part of the hobby that I enjoy doing(ie:water change, fert dosing, CO2 injection, etc...)


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## aweeks95 (Aug 27, 2005)

i would be willing to purchase a better bulb for lighting but , like i said, i'm not interested in the CO2. the center of my tank has no UF so i could use this space to grow a few plants....i don't want many...just a few. i thought that maybe a few live plants would make the enviroment of my tank "healthier" with CO2 and oxogen transfer between fish and plants. i have around 30 fish in this tank....most all of the tetra family. am i wrong in thinking that the plants would take better care of the fish and vise versa?

ANDY


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## Paul Higashikawa (Mar 18, 2004)

Actually, you're not I also learned that my fish(and shrimps) do so much better after I converted my tanks to planted tanks. Not only do they live longer and look healthier, they also stopped doing their periodic suicidal bungee jumps. I used to think like you; just add a few plants here and there. Then, before I knew it I was bitten by the green bug So, who knows?! Maybe you will too or maybe you will realize that maybe keeping a tank with nothing but fish is still the most enjoyable thing 

Hope this helps


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## aweeks95 (Aug 27, 2005)

i spend enough time on my soaltwater coral tank!!!! LOL..... if i can add something that will help the tank and the tank will help it then i'll try it.


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## Robert Hudson (Feb 5, 2004)

As far as lighting goes, it is not the brand of the bulb that matters, it is the intensity. If you shoot for two watts of flourscent light per gallon of water, then you first have to know what the wattage is of the bulb or bulbs you currently have. On a 55 gallon tank you would want 110 watts. The light that came with your tank is probably only one or two 20 watt bulbs, or if you are lucky somehting a little higher wattage. You have to put whatever wattage bulb your fixture is designed for, so the only way to increase the lighting is to get a whole new fixture or a retrofit kit which would require you to do some wiring work. It can run you some money. If you are not willing to do that, then you need to make what you have work. You have to find out what you have first.


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