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Hi, today I am going down the the LFS and I am gonna switch over to real plants. I currently have a 55 gallon 20 inches deep. I have a single tube 48" hood. So if I keep this current hood can I just get a better light and do low light plants? Which low light plants can I get? If I get a new hood with two lights I think that will put me at 2 watts per gallon. What plants can I get then? My LFS carries plants and I wanna make sure I get the right ones. The store is very good but it is mostly minimum wage teenagers who work there and dont seem to know a whole lot. I would rather have the forums opinion. Also, I have had 6 platys in my tank for two weeks. Can I add 8 zebra danios to speed up the cycling or is that too many fish for cycling? Thanks.
-Ryan

Here is a like to a site where you can see all the low light plants & very good information on all the plants:-
http://www.tropica.com/default.asp

I would wait another 10 days till you add the Danios.



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Many cryptocorynes and echinodorus will do well with low light levels. In addition, anubias varietals with Java fern and Jave moss will do well. Visit the Tropica website that Jason provided to read up the different types of plants and their requirments. The site does a great job of giving you the water and temperature parameters for the plants and the ease or difficulty of the plants.

Since everything costs money, consider a rough sketch of what you want your tank to look like before you buy the plants.

__________
"To steal ideas from one person is plagiarism; to steal from many is research."
researched from Steven Wright

Yes! Another defector to the planted side...

If you stick with your current set-up - the hood, that is - then you will have limited options regarding the plants. Plants good for a tank like that include crypts, anubias and java fern. Go to Photobooth and check out keithc's 5ft anubias tank. In low light conditions anubias barteri will grow leaves that are quite large and beautiful.

If you upgrade your lighting system to give you something closer to 2 watts per gallon you're giving yourself more flexibility. As others have suggested, look through the tropica site and see what appeals to you

As for your fish, 2 platies in a 55 gallon tank will take forever to cycle... I would think you can add the danios now, especially if they're small. Keep up the water changes, and make sure to moniter ammonia levels daily.


EDIT: whoops, realized it was 6 platies... in that case maybe don't add all eight, build that school up slowly, or you can just wait.

Last edited by NowherMan6 at 11-Nov-2005 14:43

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