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im sorry if this is a dumb question, but if i have an established aquarium, is it too late to add live plants? i dont have any special substrate below the gravel, so do i have any options? thanks

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Back in the saddle!

The only dumbe question is the one not asked !

It's never too late.

Special substrate while beneficial is not necessary, ordinary gravel will work just fine.

Most important thing is light. If you just have the lights that came with the tank that will not be enough for almost all plants.You may have to add additional tube(s).

If you just have one bulb at least make sure it's "daylight" bulb not a "cool white", this will help.
With that you can try Java Moss, Java Fern, Anubias and most Crypts. These don't need a lot of light and are as tough as old boots. The first 3 should be tied to rock or wood so your substrate makes no difference at all.

Give it a shot, you'll be addicted. It adds a whole new dimension to fish keeping, before you know it you'll be doing everything you can to upgrade your lights and rig up a CO2 system

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

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

Hi,
Welcome to the "Planted Side."
In an established tank, your substrate is all primed
for plants. Look at your lighting, find out how many
watts your light totals up to. For instance two
40 watt flourscent bulbs = 80 watts, then divide
the total watts by the number of gallon capacity the
tank is = the number of watts/gallon.

Plants are divided into various groups. For instance
we have floating, and non floating. We also group
plants by their light demand. This is roughly another
way of saying are they found under a jungle canopy
where they get little sun, in a stream where they
get limited sun, or are they out in the open where
they get full sun. This grouping is called "low,
medium, or high" demand plants.

After you do the math you should purchase only plants
that fall into the group that equals your watts/gallon
result.
Low demand plants are .5-1 watt/gallon
medium demand are 1-2 watts/gallon
and high demand are 3+ watts/gallon

Look at websites such as Arizona Gardens, Tropica,
Drsfostersmith, etc. There you will find plants
grouped that way. If your watts/gallon works out
to be in the medium range, then you should purchase
only plants in the low and medium range.

Keep your lights on for 10 hours/day when you have
plants, and use only bulbs that are marked DAYLIGHT
or SUNLIGHT (you don't need tri-phosphor, or grow lux).
The idea is to "mimic" the noonday sun at tropical
latitudes.
The DAYLIGHT or SUNLIGHT bulbs are the right bulbs
readily available at any hardware store for far less
$$ than the other bulbs in a local fish store (LFS).

Above all, DO ASK Questions...
Everyone here will be glad to help.

Frank


[span class="edited"][Edited by FRANK 2004-07-01 09:26][/span]

-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

thank you both very much. i look forward to starting up

you mentioned anubias, java fern and java moss as good beginner plants - that is, relatively low maintainence. what about amazon sword? or is it too much trouble for a small fry like me?

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Back in the saddle!

Hi,
I'm glad that we were able to help. You did not mention
the size of your tank. Many of the swords will grow quite
large and can over power a tank. But they sure are nice
plants.
Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

my tank is 46 gallons. right now there are 11 tiger barbs in it, but i plan on adding a school of corys or USD catfish in a month or so. it has a bow front so it's kind of an irregular shape - which is i guess another good reason to get live plants since they may provide a little bit of extra airation (sp?). im not dead set on amazons, i just think they look nice. keeping them alive is more important, so ill stick with what i can

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Back in the saddle!

46gal is an ok size for Amazon Sword, as Frank said in good conditions they can grow to a huge size, lots and lots 20' leaves !

Amazons require moderate lighting, 1.5-2.0 watts per gallon should be fine. They require a lot of nutrition at the roots to do well, so you should stick a fertilizer tablet(for aquatic plants), preferably one with a lot of iron content, in the gravel at the roots of the plant (make sure the tablet is well buried)about once a month. Apart from that they require no other special attention.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

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