largeheaded1 Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 hey have a spare 2 foot tank and decided to make my first proper planted tank as i have the perfect spot in the house for it! Whats some plants that are good and look good. Do i need a special light for them? What fish would you recommend? Was thinking tetras and corys? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gingerbeer Posted July 13, 2008 Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 Whats some plants that are good and look good. Do i need a special light for them? Plants have varied requiremetns for the amount of light. Some like lower (anubias, crypts, swords) and some higher (anything red). First thing to do when you buy a plant is make sure it is aquatic and not a bog plant that will survive for a while. Anything that stands up too well out of the water is likely to be a bog plant - like aluminium (green with silver markings) and another common one has green on one side of leaf and red on the other (can;t remember name). Some even sell Mondo grass as an aquatic Plants like swords, anubias and crypts are great plants. I like to use a good substrate fertiliser (aquasonic have a tablet form as do science products on a card) I like a foreground plant that grows lower. Chain swords are great. There is a big one and a little one (tennulus). I would go hunting the tennulus. Be aware when you buy plants some are grown emerged (outside of water) This can give them a different shape leaf. Chain swords are a classic like this having a stalk with a spoon shaped leaf on the end when grown emerged. When you plant it in your tank the first thing it does is die - as all the emerged leaves don;t like the water - then the submerged growth starts and grows like a grass. When you buy a bunch plant - seperate out the bunch and remove the rubber band/ lead weight from the base of the plant. Plant in a group at spacings. I like to use a water carried fertiliser for bunch plants. Depending on plants you choose you may want to get two lights on top of the tank to have enough light for the plants. Plants need fertiliser, CO2 and nutrients. We fertilise for the nutrients (or use expensive fancy substrate), we put more lights over (but make sure you have a 10-12 hour on period only or you will have algae) We now need CO2. Co2 is not real dislovable and exists in a balance with water hardness. There is a scool of though that keeping hardness OK will keep CO2 OK. You can pump CO2 into your tank by either getting a CO2 bottle and regulator, or DIY - using a sugar and yeast mix - ferments and gives CO2. I like to pump through a canister filter to smash the bubbles and give them time to disolve. What fish would you recommend? Was thinking tetras and corys? I like to have a good algae cleanup crew. I do not use bristlenose for this as they will go for a flat leaf plant as readily as algae. I like Ottos and Whippies. Also I am a big fan of Siamese algae eaters for getting rid of the black algae that you can get. I also believe every tank needs a "feature fish" which is normally a cichlid. Hence go have a look at apistos, rams, curviceps, nannacara, checkerboards With the tetras remember that a big school of one fish looks heaps better than a small school of three or four species. I love black phantoms but never find they schoold well. Finally - you can get a great result with low light and no CO2 by selecting the right plants. The photo below is my 6 footer as it used to look - no CO2 and only three tubes for middle section - not really enought for a 6 footer. Note the use of the driftwood to anchor the plants in the tank. In nature plants tend to grow near something - a rock orr bit of root - hence this tends to work well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
largeheaded1 Posted July 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted July 13, 2008 wow awesome response dude! will be looking for somethis week does the tank need to be cycled to add plants? is 2 foot to small, these fish are more of a community fish so you can have a few more? an avenue of fishkeeping ive never really been down! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dem0n Posted July 14, 2008 Report Share Posted July 14, 2008 I too will plug the awesomeness of crypticons ... my planted tank is half covered by them & i only bought one! after ~6months there is now about 10 crypt blooms (they send off runners under the substrate). They are pretty hardy plants & thier giant root systems prevent them from being easily pulled out by angry fish. I have java fern (new), some kinda sword plant (new) & crypts in my planted tank... there used to be american cichlids in there too but they have sinced been moved to another tank & I now keep australian rainbows & a bn & a pleco in my planted tank... they rule! :geek: I don't use fertiliser or extra CO2 (creating more carbondioxide makes Al Gore sad :lafhard: ) & have a 39W 4' fluro with a gro tube & a 3' fluro with a gro tube on a 4'x18"x20" tank & all the plants are going great guns. (java fern & sword are new though so i am really just talking about the crypts) I just have a river pebble substrate too. I thought about doing one of those hardcore aqua design armano planted tanks but after reading heaps on the 'net about people trying it for the first time & failing miserably i thought i'd go for something a little easier! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
