# Wanting to plant my aquarium.



## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

When I set my tank up I didn't plan on having plants, however I bought some based on a recommendation and they didn't work out (the plants weren't aquatic), but I want to try again and do it right..well kinda.

I have a standard sized 30g tank with rough blue gravel and a single standard fluorescent bulb in the hood and want to know what kind of plants could I put in without changing the gravel/lighting that would do well? With the plants you suggest, how important is it to add CO2, plant food, and how important is the temperature or other water parameters? Should I invest in a new light for the plants?

I'm not looking for anything too elaborate, just want a small portion (maybe 33%?) of my tank to be planted for the aesthetic purposes, for shelter, and for the added filtration.

Thanks for any and all help.


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## ealerp (Apr 16, 2011)

I had the same problem. I bought a plant at petco marketed as an aquatic plant and i came to find out it wasnt truly aquatic and it would end up rotting in a week or so. I ended up taking it back and I explaind the problem to them and they let me exchange it for a real aquatic plant.

I now have a 30 gallon running only 1.5 watts per gallon and 25 lbs of regular aquarium gravel and I have Cryptocoryne and micro sword along with some java moss and there developing verry strong roots and look great. all I do is add 15 ml of nutrafin plant gro once every 5 days after I do my partial water change.

My only recomendation would be to upgrade your lighting since a single flouresent bulb is only about 15-20 watts. All I have is a 24in shop light fixture on top of a peice of plexi glass I had custom cut at home depot With 2 full spectrum plant and aquarium bulbs from home depot as well. Or you could get a similar set up from your lfs for about 60-80 bucks 

c02 injection isnt at all nesecary for the set up your looking for. Unless you have a high tech lighting set up and about 5-8 watts per gallon or higher I wouldnt even consider it an option.

And as far as your water params the plants I meniond and any other low light undemanding plants will do just fine with a ph lever around 7.0 (slightly higher or lower shouldnt hurt)and the water temp should be between 74 and 78. so pretty much if your fish are happy your plants will be as well. Just dont forget your fertilizer. Good luck. Hope this helped.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

The key is balance.With the standard bulb that comes with the 29 gallon,its 20 watts.With this you can indeed grow some amazon swords,java moss,java fern anubias,crypt species and microsword.The swords will appreciate a root tab every now and again for the butrients.They are heavy root feeders,and sometimes gravel isnt enough.They like light too.They will grow as long as they are not shaded,but when possible I would upgrade.CO2 will only become necessary depending on everything else.Like I said balance.If you go with a lowlight setup,the growth will be very slow,but you will not have to inject the carbon,add plant substrate and extra lighting.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Good morning Rohkey. Lighting doesn't have to be "brain surgery". If you want a planted tank with low lighting, then a T8, 6500 K bulb is all you need for a 30 G tank. You can get these at the local hardware store for a few dollars. CO2 is expensive and isn't necessary. 

If you plant low light plants like Anubias, Java fern, Cryptocoryne and most of the stem plants, mosses, etc. you can use a bulb with less than one watt per gallon of tank size.

If you go this route, then you'll need to dose a good liquid fert two to three times per week.

B


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

Thanks everyone. I was able to get my hands on Aqueon Aquarium Plant Food a while back. Is this a suitable fertilizer in your guys' opinions? I'll be looking to upgrade the lighting and find some plants soon enough, unfortunately the only LFS around here is over 30 mins away though, so I have to plan my trips.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Rohkey said:


> Thanks everyone. I was able to get my hands on Aqueon Aquarium Plant Food a while back. Is this a suitable fertilizer in your guys' opinions? I'll be looking to upgrade the lighting and find some plants soon enough, unfortunately the only LFS around here is over 30 mins away though, so I have to plan my trips.


Rohkey, 

I've never used this fert, but most of the name brand kinds will do for starters. I find my plants do best with a variety of liquids, kind of like fish do with a varied diet. I use one kind of liquid for a few weeks or months and then use another kind. There are many plant ferts on the internet that aren't expensive and still provide the standard nutrients the plants need. I can recommend two: Yamato Green and Laguna.

B


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I would use the liquid fert you have already and get some root tabs, not just for the swords but for others as well. Don't vacuum your gravel either - your plants will get more from the dirty gravel than they will clean gravel.

I agree with Brad - you don't want too much light or you're going to turn your tank into a big algae vat. With T8's, aim for 1-3 Watts per Gallon (WPG). It's an old commonly used reference for fluorescent lighting. If you can't get that from a standard hood light, I would suggest you look into Home Depot's shop light fixtures, which can be had for very cheap for a 20 gallon tank.

And while you won't need CO2, I would strongly advise an air bubbler and frequent water changes to keep micro and macro nutrients coming into your water, and the bubbler will help replenish the CO2 depletion in the tank more so than just regular old gas exchange at the surface. Plus a lot of fish like bubbles and some current.


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

Root tabs, better lightning, vary the diet..gotcha. The tank has two air stones in it (one of the decorations has a moving water wheel and emits bubbles) and I usually leave the water level 1-2 cm lower than the filter as well. Thanks everyone.


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

I purchased 3 anubias and 2 swords. Wasn't able to find a higher wattage light of the appropriate type/size at the three petstores I went to, will try hardware stores tomorrow.

There is a Petsmart about 15 mins away from my house that is twice the size of the Petsmart I usually go to that has a massive display just for plants, thinking of buying some of their java ferns and perhaps a couple larger anubias.

I wasn't able to find any root tabs either, do you guys have any recommendation for what type I should get? Are the API ones any good? And how many should I add/how often (1 per month?). The tank is 30G and the left 30% or so of it will have all the plants. 

Also how often should I add the plant food and should I add the recommended amount (10 ml per 10 gallons) or a different amount?

Thanks for any/all help once again guys.


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## allaboutfish (May 18, 2011)

im just gonna say that Co2 can be very inexpensive. with DIY Co2 that is. all you need is a 2 liter bottle, some yeast, sugar, airline tubing, and some sylicon. you'd need 2 for a 30 gallon but your plants would really take off. trust me i have one on a 10 gallon. all you gave to do is change the mixture out every 2 weeks.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I would have to agree on the DIY CO2 inexpensiveness. In addition, I use a recipe found on the DIY section that causes my yeast fermentation to last about 2 months (using Jell-O and baking soda in addition to the yeast and sugar). I also want to add that you'll need a good diffuser, either a ceramic plate or a reactor. And lastly, I would warn away from CO2 in anything but a high-light high-nutrient environment otherwise you run the risk of causing anoxia and killing your fish accidentally. Keep in mind yeast fermentation CO2 systems cannot be turned off overnight.


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

Yeah I'm probably going to avoid getting into any of that. I don't want to have an elaborately planted aquarium, especially for my first tank (well, first tank as an adult).


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

> I would warn away from CO2 in anything but a high-light high-nutrient environment otherwise you run the risk of causing anoxia and killing your fish accidentally.


You don't need high light to run CO2. I only have high light on one of my tanks, but four of them have pressurized CO2. You're not going to kill anything with sugar and yeast even if it can't be turned off at night. Some people leave their pressurized systems on 24/7. If it really concerned you, you could run a bubbler at night to gas out the CO2 out of your tank. A bubbler will gas out CO2 - not help add it back in.

CO2 and light are your basic plant necessities. Given that, any time you introduce CO2 to the tank you're going to get much better growth. So if you want your plants to grow the best they can, then CO2 is the way to go. There is nothing elaborate about a DIY system. CO2 is just something to consider once you have it all in your tank and look at it all after a while and maybe want something a little more.

Later on if you wanted the pressurized route, you can be ready to go for less than $200 and get all new stuff. Buy used and get even lower. It's an investment in plants...the only way to look at it.


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## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I use one bottle of the DIY on a 29 gallon and it lasts a month.The duration depends on the mixture you use and how well you activate the yeast.I will be getting the supplies to go preassurized soon though.I have the light now so might as well!


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## Fearmancer (Apr 24, 2011)

I've been thinking about planting my tank as well. This thread has been pretty helpful. Thanks guys.


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Good morning Rohkey... You can have a nicely planted tank with less than a watt per gallon of tank size. A standard 6500 K, T8 tube is all you need. CO2 isn't needed, but a couple of good liquid ferts is helpful.

Many plants will do well in low light. I have several large, low light tanks and have Java fern, Anubias, Peace lily, Crypts, etc. as foreground/midground plants and stems, like Pennywort, Water Sprite, Water Wisteria, Rotala and Ludwigia in the background.

Low tech (no CO2) and low light is extremely inexpensive and requires little effort to maintain.

B


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## fishguardian40 (May 13, 2011)

I've been using something called Aqueon Aquarium Plant Food and it seems to do very well. I put in my plants 3 weeks ago and it has made a huge difference. I even have new Amazon Sword sprouts I found this morning.


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## benitahigg (May 22, 2011)

BBradbury said:


> Good morning Rohkey... You can have a nicely planted tank with less than a watt per gallon of tank size. A standard 6500 K, T8 tube is all you need. CO2 isn't needed, but a couple of good liquid ferts is helpful.
> 
> Many plants will do well in low light. I have several large, low light tanks and have Java fern, Anubias, Peace lily, Crypts, etc. as foreground/midground plants and stems, like Pennywort, Water Sprite, Water Wisteria, Rotala and Ludwigia in the background.
> 
> ...


Hi! Wow I was just reading your post. I was wondering about the peace lily? So do you put a peace lily in your aquarium under water? That sounds cool. I did'nt know they could grow under water? Can you post a picture?


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello Benita. Yes, the Peace lily is completely submerged. It's not a true aquatic plant, but it will grow and remain healthy as long as most true aquatic plants.

It's a slow grower, but is easy to care for and has no specific lighting requirements. I dose a couple of different kinds of liquid ferts two to three times a weeks when I top off my tanks. 

I've hopefully successfully downloaded a couple of pics for you. Just single click on the thumbnail. I have several in my low light tanks. This one is in a 30 G.

B


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## benitahigg (May 22, 2011)

BBradbury said:


> Hello Benita. Yes, the Peace lily is completely submerged. It's not a true aquatic plant, but it will grow and remain healthy as long as most true aquatic plants.
> 
> It's a slow grower, but is easy to care for and has no specific lighting requirements. I dose a couple of different kinds of liquid ferts two to three times a weeks when I top off my tanks.
> 
> ...


Wow! Those are beautiful! I might try that. So can I just buy one and take it out of the dirt and wassh off the roots and stick it into the tank? O yeah I only have aquarium gravel substrate, do you think that would be ok?


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

benitahigg said:


> Wow! Those are beautiful! I might try that. So can I just buy one and take it out of the dirt and wassh off the roots and stick it into the tank? O yeah I only have aquarium gravel substrate, do you think that would be ok?


Benita..

I just took some of the potting soil out of the plastic pot it came in and replaced it with some pea gravel I had left over from a tank I set up. I carefully lowered the pot with the plant into my tank so it slowly filled with water and put it in an empty area of the tank. 

It's really messy to try to repot the plant and you really don't need to do it, just put enough gravel in the pot, so the potting soil doesn't come out. The potting soil will fertilize the plant for quite a while. I just add a little liquid fert to the tank a couple of times a week.

B


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## Rohkey (Apr 25, 2011)

BBradbury said:


> Hello Benita. Yes, the Peace lily is completely submerged. It's not a true aquatic plant, but it will grow and remain healthy as long as most true aquatic plants.
> 
> It's a slow grower, but is easy to care for and has no specific lighting requirements. I dose a couple of different kinds of liquid ferts two to three times a weeks when I top off my tanks.
> 
> ...


Those plants (or that plant) are/is beautiful.


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