# New to live plants



## jsack12 (Mar 4, 2013)

I have a ten gallon tank right now that has been running for at least two months, right now it has a pleco and a Cory cat in it fish wise and for decor it has a piece of drift wood. I plan on doing a medium planted tank in it. I haven't done to much to the tank to set it up for plants besides put new bulbs in it. The bulbs I put in it are two screw in type florousent bulbs that I got from Walmart. They are rated for 6500k. I had aqueon 50/50 half actinic blue and Hal natural daylight and I did not like the blueish hue. And most people on forums were saying to get rid of it. Well I'm glad I did because these new 6500k bulbs are great and have more of a white to them and should bring the green out in plants and I noticed my driftwood has a better natural color to it. Do you think these bulbs will do good for a planted tank? And what else do I need to do to get this tank going before I can put plants in. I hear from most people that co2 tablets or liquid isn't quite necessary. Good lighting is the biggest key and then after that plant food. Any help would be great. PS- the timer for the light is set up on ten hours. Comes on at 11:00 am and turns off at 9:00 pm


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

Yes good lighting is going to be your key! However too much light isn't good for some plants just the same. Just like garden plants, some are low light, some are direct light. I don't recommend the use of plant foods, I have never seen any difference in my plants, plus I don't like putting any chemicals in my tanks. One thing I would suggest is to get a few small schooling fish. Fish produce waste which the bacteria in the tank feed on. Their waste is then fed on by the plants and turned back into o2 for your fish. One thing to keep an eye in with the 6500k bulb is excessive algae. I had a bulb that bright in one of my tanks and it was over run with algae. your pleco will only take care of so much of it. Plus it will quickly out grow that tank.


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

The necessity of CO2 and plant food is dependent upon how intense your lighting is, and what kind of substrate you have. Algae thrives on imbalances in the amount of light and/or nutrients in the water, i.e. too much light and not enough CO2 will cause algae, as stated above, or too little light and too much CO2, or elevated phosphates, or elevated nitrates are usually the big causes.

With two (probably 20 Watt) 6500K CFLs like you have, I would say that CO2 isn't needed, but something like API LeafZone might go a long way to ensure your plants don't get pinholing or yellow growth from nutrient deficiencies such as low potassium or low iron.

Long story short, you're ready for plants.

Follow-up question: what's your substrate choice?


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## jsack12 (Mar 4, 2013)

i talked to a guy at a local fish store and he said they use no CO2 in there tanks and that since i have the light already that all i need is to add flourish plant food the liquid kinda once a week and then put these flourish tabs in the gravel i think he said like once a month and i should be good to go


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## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

Like I said, I don't think CO2 is necessary in your case, Flourish, root tabs, and CFL's will be sufficient. But *if* you ever decide to upgrade to higher powered lighting, you'll want to seriously consider CO2 or most of that extra light will be wasted.


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## jsack12 (Mar 4, 2013)

How long do you guys think I should keep the light on. Right now it is on a timer set for ten hours a day. And I'm also not to worried about algae because because the tank does look more natural that way it will mix in good with the live plants


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## jshiloh13 (Dec 12, 2010)

You'll just have to experiment with the light time. If you start getting too much algae then turn the lights down a bit, and if your plants start looking a little shabby turn the lights up. Its a bit of trial and error, but 10hours a day is a good place to start.


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

Ya I would agree with 10 hours. That's about how long mine are on. And I don't use carbon in my filters unless I'm cleaning out medication, but check what liquid ferts you use. Some of them will be cleaned out by the carbon. Also if you do ever decide to look at new lights, I have been using Marineland LED on my planted tanks and the plants are growing well with them. Plus I think the LED lights give a nice look to the tank.


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## WheeledGoat (Jan 29, 2013)

Hotwingz - is your Marineland LED's single- or double- brights? and what size light do you have on what size tank?


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## hotwingz (Mar 3, 2013)

Well I have an 18" strip on my 29g I'm not sure if its single or double bright. It is brighter than the other two I have. They are only 11" but they have three rows of lights. And I have that on my 65 tall along with a 18" strip light with a plant bulb in it.


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## kicksilver (Aug 9, 2012)

It really isn't hard to get adequate lighting into a 10 gallon tank. I've spent 4 times as much to make my 30 Gallon hex into a medium light, than I did to make my 10 Gallon quarantine into a high light.


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## Raymond S. (Jan 11, 2013)

Hello All,
I have no extensive experience/w this but one bulb T8 in a Zoo Med Flora grow for ten hrs a day did well for me till I added more light. I added a Zoo Med Ultra sun
on a timer for four hrs in the middle of the other light's time span. Mega hair algae. And for just a ten gal I refuse to pay $30 or more for an aquarium strip light. I just
use the "under the counter strip light" that Walmart sells for $8. I did get a piece of mirror glass cut to fit from the inside of the back rim to on top the WlMrt strip light.
You can notice a difference when you put it on top on a slant from the top of the strip down to the back of the tank. Had it cut 17"X 7"...about $11.
I could find myself wrong/w this but I believe that an aquarium plant is similar to a potted plant(except for the fish waste) in that eventually they run out of
nutrients and you need to supplement. Likely takes a long time/w a good substrate though. I'm experimenting/w them now in my ten. 1.5" of "Eco-Complete"
over 1/2" of "Pure Laterite". Was using Tetra Flora Pride and Flourish Excell/w no substrate just gravel when I had that algae outbreak. This is my conclusion
on that and I do invite scrutiny of this: Use low light for the first 8-10 months and plants labeled "low light" till you have a noticeable good growth including
lots of leaves on them that came out after you planted them. Then you can graduate to the higher light plants and supplements which you hope are in the
correct proportions. This way the plants will hopefully be using up most of the nutrients that the algae might live on.
Hope any of this helps and I did say up front that it is not based on long term exp.
BTW the common Plecto gets about 3 ft long.


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