# starting a planted tank



## Gregory (Nov 11, 2012)

I want to start growing some easy plants in my 50 gal. My questions are, 1- can I grow plants in regular pea size gravel. 2- what kind of lighting is best, my tank is about 17 inches deep. I would like to start with java fern, Anubias, amazon sword.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Those are good plants to start with. However, even the size tank you have an Amazon Sword will take up about half when it reaches full growth. It will take some time to get there, but nonetheless. I have seen their leaves on some of mine in the past get to 24". An Ozelot or Kleiner Bar Sword would be better I think but their availability may be different.

Pea gravel is good for most plants. Just remember that rooted plants will need free movement for growth through that gravel. Some will say that you'll need fert tabs to put in the gravel, but as long as you are providing some other means you should be okay. I only fertilize the water column and have never had a growth issue.

Your lighting will be the key part of what you want to do. Make sure your bulbs are in the 5500k-10000k. Anything in there is good for your plants, where you end up or where people recommend is all based on tastes. The plants will not know the difference. I would want something along the lines of 2X54W T5HO as the high end and probably no less than 75-100W of T8/T5. Not knowing the length of your tank, hard to give specific recs.


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## Gregory (Nov 11, 2012)

the tank is 48" long and 19" High and 13" deep. Currently have 2- T-8 full spectrum lamps 15 watt . As far as rooted plants,,, just gently put them in the substrate not too deep? And what brand fert do you use?


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Gregory said:


> I want to start growing some easy plants in my 50 gal. My questions are, 1- can I grow plants in regular pea size gravel. 2- what kind of lighting is best, my tank is about 17 inches deep. I would like to start with java fern, Anubias, amazon sword.


Hello Greg...

You can do all of the above. I keep planted tanks with subdued lighting. A couple of lamps is all you need. I have a 2 lamp set up. One bulb is a 10,000K, the other can be anything in the 6500 to 6700K range. This will give your plants a variety of different spectrum lights.

I use standard pea-sized gravel. The amazon swords do well planted in about 3 inches of the gravel. Anubias and Java fern should be tied to lava rock or driftwood weighed down with rocks. It's best to use some dark sewing thread and attach the plant by tying it loosely to the piece. 

Pretty simple, really.

B


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## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Gregory said:


> the tank is 48" long and 19" High and 13" deep. Currently have 2- T-8 full spectrum lamps 15 watt . As far as rooted plants,,, just gently put them in the substrate not too deep? And what brand fert do you use?


Hello again Greg...

If you keep slow growing plants, you just need a tank stocked well with fish. Feed them a varied diet and you don't need to add commercial fertilizers. There's nothing better long term, than the fertilizer the fish produce.

Include large, weekly water changes and your plants should grow well.

Just one reporter's opinion, however. If you have some extra money burning a hole in your pocket, then you can certainly add something else.

B


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

If you go to Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , , , , Planted Aquarium Fertilizer - , , and look at their micro/macro mix, it is all you need. That $12 it costs will last you for 3-4 yrs and all you have to do is mix with some water and then add a specific amount to the tank once, maybe twice a week.

It is true that fish can provide much of what plants may need, but they will do better if you supplement that with the stuff that they won't provide. Plants will grow in a tank with no fish and no ferts for that matter. If you want them to do better however, it is best to spend $12 and have all you need for years to come.

The amount of ferts needed is all driven by your light. Higher light, higher supplementation required.


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## Gregory (Nov 11, 2012)

Went yesterday and picked up another piece of driftwood and anubias and cabomba plants. Hope I did not make a mistake in buying the cabomba. Any way also bought seachem flourish tabs before getting your reply. What are your thoughts


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Cabomba may do okay. The tabs will work for well for your heavy root feeders. Very few stem plants produce a lot of roots. Cryptocorynes should do well in your tank and they are heavy root feeders. Referred to as Crypts.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Gregory said:


> the tank is 48" long and 19" High and 13" deep. Currently have 2- T-8 full spectrum lamps 15 watt . As far as rooted plants,,, just gently put them in the substrate not too deep? And what brand fert do you use?


Somewhere down the line you might consider that what you have amounts to one bulb. If I'm not mistaken you have
what looks like two separate covers each having one 18" bulb. So this means one bulb on each half of the tank.
Check to see which kind they supplied/w it. If they say "ALL GLASS" then you have good bulbs for the plants.
Depending on what other type may be in there you might want to give them a try for a while to see how they do
on the plants. If after few months you think you would like to try a different kind, I've had good results/w any of
these three. Aqueon Full Spectrum is an 8000K bulb and gives good visible light while not being all that expensive
at about $12. Then next/w good visible light is the Zoo Med Ultra Sun but at about $18
Then at about the same price but less visible light(especially at 17") would be the Zoo Med Flora Grow. I mostly
mentioned it because people see that "Flora" and just think about it being a good plant bulb, which it is but it
gives fair visible light in a ten G so in that 17" it may dissapoint you on the visible light part. I used to keep
one each of the Zoo Med's on my ten so the one having low visible light wasn't noticeable since I also had the
Ultra sun in there.
That Camoba needs a bit more light than one bulb might supply. It may grow all right but a bit thin.
The other plants mentioned grow good in low light so your bulbs may work on them well enough.
Anubia's grow very slowly so don't think it won't grow just because it don't get a new leaf every week.


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

Full spectrum bulbs will work fine as long as they are in the 5500-10000k range - anywhere within. To say that a 6000k, 6500k, or 6700k etc will work better than XX bulb is not true. You will not notice growth differences between light bulbs as long as the planted range is maintained. If there is a wattage increase then I could see there being a difference. 

If there really were differences, you'd see that even less in a low lighted tank.


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## Gregory (Nov 11, 2012)

Yes you are correct there are to hoods with lights The lights are both t-8 full spectrum 15 watt 8000k aqueon.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Gregory said:


> Yes you are correct there are to hoods with lights The lights are both t-8 full spectrum 15 watt 8000k aqueon.


I may repeat something I heard on here to pass it on but I only recommend bulbs I've tried so I listed that one before on my first reply because I've used it and it does well on plants. You won't need to get new ones with 
those bulbs in there. AND those bulbs are sold at Petsmart so getting them can usually be accomplished locally
without having to pay shipping.


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## Gregory (Nov 11, 2012)

Another question is about crypts. I did some reading on them and I am concerned that my substrate is not what they may require. I just have reg gravel, pea size. Will fert tabs deal with that?


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

With your fairly low lights it's not likely to happen but algae can be encouraged by excess ferts. Yes the Crypt will benefit but
I'd go light on using those as in perhaps half of one about 2" from the Crypt only and not all over the tank. Just a caution.
You might could just use the whole thing but I'd not use them where not needed to minimize the algae risk.
If I'm not mistaken they only suggest one for every so many square inches of floor space anyway.
I'm sure a more experienced person will reply to this soon and correct this if appropriate. As one of "those people" who like algae
I have experience/w it but not/w the root tabs...so...


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## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

I would just follow the instructions on the box if it is a area you need the ferts on. If it is just one or two plants I would cut it up some and replace every 2-3 months. If you put too much in at a time it can cause nitrate issues.

On the other side, crypts will grow anywhere in almost any light level. Light fertilization will help, however. They will get a good amount from your stock.


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## Gregory (Nov 11, 2012)

As I read the instructions for the fert tabs I thought I would just put a tab near each plant, and as of right now that is only near the cabomba. My anubias are doing fine, in fact one is producing a new leaf, I have them tied to driftwood and a rock. This weekend I will probably pick up some more plants but will still only put maybe a half of a tab next to each or maybe quarter of a tab. Maybe down the road I will look into better lighting.


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