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i would basically like to know the best way of planting a tank. Should i buy plants fully grown or should i buy them as bulbs. When i plant them should there be fish inside of the tank. After they are planted how long should i wait to get fish. Are there certain amounts and limitations to how many plants i can get. i have plenty of different questions that no one i know can really help me with so if you can help i would very very much apprciate it thanks

>chizunk<

chizunk

A lot will depend the size of the tank, the type of fish you intend to buy, also the what plants you can buy.

If I was starting out I would have a look at many tanks as I could. Read as much as possible on planting and Aquacaping.

As far as size there are many varieties and many different sizes when fully grown.

Usually the older the plant the larger not necessarly in height and the more it is going to cost you.

Some plants are quick growers while others are extremly slow growers.

Some are extremly easy to grow these are usually the cheapest to buy while the slower growing can be dearer.

I hope this has not confused you.

I have basically only Anubias in my 5ft tank reason being I have good supplers at reasonable prices and I found them easy to look after.

Keith

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thanks for your help and it wasnt confusing i understood what you meant just fine i wanted to get something along the lines as a 35-40 gallon tanks with ALOT of plants like plants everywhere and i wanted to get only like 4-5 angels with no ornaments maybe a piece of driftwood and just all plants with black gravel i think that would be nice

Hi!

Well you also want to consider light, you have to supply plants with proper light, plants also are low light and high light (like almost all red ones), so you want to have a proper illumination, there is this rule of thumb, that you target to have 3 watts of light per gallon.

Also substrate is very important, most plants won't do great in normal black gravel, they need deeper and nutrient rich substrate to grow healthier. You may want to consider using a layer of fluorite or fine pea gravel, and then do an extra layer of black gravel on top. Not recommended though, vacuuming will become a nightmare, and you'll probably end up having the gravel all the way around.

thanks alot for your help so should i just get all pea gravel in the tank because the color of the gravel isnt reallly my concern its how well the plants are going to be

Hi chizunk

I have black gravel in my planted tank and I think it looks the best for setting off the colours of the plants and fish. The tank you have planned sounds beautiful!

The hardest, most critical and probably most expensive part of the set-up is going to be the lights. You need lights of the right wattage (aim for 3 wpg like Falstaff said) and also the right spectrum. Take a look through some of the threads in this forum dealing with lighting to give yourself some idea of what you'll need.

If you can get the lights right, everything else is relatively straight forward by comparison, in my experience! :%)