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First thing first I have never had REAL plants in a tank. I have been in the hobby for 25 years and have always wanted them. Since my 55 is empty I am contemplating the idea. I just set my 55 back up and cleaned the rock. The tank now has water in it. Are there any plants that I can put in that will live in rock alone? Are there any ways to get the sand/dirt into the tank without having to start from scratch with the water? Will the water be murkey for a bit. Any advice would be appreciated.

FreeBlaze

For a lush planted tank I'd advise against sand. Some plants will do well, but most of the planted tanks you see won't use something as compacting as sand.

Most people will suggest you change to a substrate such as [link=flourite]http://www.aquariumcenter.com/view_item.php?id=279&" style="COLOR: #EB4288[/link]. There are other substrate options out there as well and doing some research into them combined with knowledge of how many wpg you're likely to have may be useful.Most important thing to consider for a planted tank is the lighting, then the substrate.

Are there any ways to get the sand/dirt into the tank without having to start from scratch with the water?

Yup!
Very similar to how SW people add sand to a DSB. Turn off or move your filters to a different tank. Use a small container (I've found the large yogurt containers work well) and slowly lower a container full of your new substrate to the bottom of the tank, then slowly tip it in. Repeat as needed.

^_^
[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

So I should take the rock out? Then use the florentine?

FreeBlaze

That depends on many things. First question is how much light do you have? By rock you mean gravel substrate right And does the substrate still have the mulm (fish poo ) under the substrate or is it just gravel in the tank right now?
Florite is rather on the pricy side, there are other substrates that are similar. I use a mix of shultzes aquatic plant soil and pea gravel in my tank. Moondog has said that he uses only gravel in his tanks, you should be able to find a pic of them in photobooth.

^_^
[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

It still has fish pooh in it. It is gravel almost pea gravel and is a multicolor of light brown and black colored. The lighting I have is the standard that came with the tank.

FreeBlaze

Freeblaze,

If the substrate still has poop in it you should be good to go. The most important things is that it's deep enough. You want about 3 inches. You can also seed the gravel with some root fertilizer like Tetra's Intitial Sticks. These are designed to give a "virgin" substrate a bit of a kick start. The hassle of adding a different sand/dirt substrate to filled tank is not worth the limited benefit IMO.

After that look at the lights. If you don't intend to use Co2 1.5-2 watts per gallon (80-100 watts total) should be ideal. This will allow you to grow a nice range of plants without too much algae concerns.

Plant as heavily as possible from the start. Make sure there's a few fast growers in there as well as the slower growers.

For faster growers, any Hygro species-, Bacopa, Ludwigia Repens and Amazon Swords are very easy to grow. Slower growers like Crypts, Anubias, Java Ferns are all pretty foolproof. Throw in a few long plants like Vals, Saggitaria or Apons and you have a very good selection of shapes, sizes and colors to work with.


Last edited by bensaf at 08-Mar-2005 20:36

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Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

The lighting I have is the standard that came with the tank.

Thats' likely less than 1wpg, which is enough for silk plants. Low light plants like the ones bensaf mentioned will stay alive but won't grow all that fast (@least in my experience). If you're serious about going with a planted tank then consider how high of lights you want to start with and make sure you have that in place before planting.

Since you've got the mulm in the tank you should be good to just start planting, I just worry that if it's been sitting unused (you said that you'd just set it up again) that it might have gone bad.

^_^[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"

I want a slower growing tank. I dont want to inject co2 or have to trim the greenery too much. I guess what I am trying to say is I want something in the middle. I dont want a slowwww growing planted tank and I dont want something that grows too fast. If I need to adjust my lighting that is fine. I dont have a problem with that. So I need 3-4 w per gallon. Use the substrate that I currently have and I am home free?

FreeBlaze

Well for slower growing tanks I wouldnt' go much over 2wpg. As you get more than 2wpg of light you want to start injecting CO2 to allow the plants rather than the algae to use the excess energy.
Since you don't want the hassle of trimming and CO2 don't go higher than the 2wpg with the lights. Also stick with low light plants. IMO if you were to go with medium light plants, while they may survive, will likely look sickly.

^_^
[hr width='40%']"I'm alright, I'm alright
It only hurts when I breathe"