addition of plants

[gersheff]

is it possible to add plants once you have a stable aquarium running

[got_nailed]

It is ok to add plants before you tank is stable as long as you have a KH above 3 (54ppm). The adding of plants will use up the ammonia and stop or slow the cycling presses.

I’m thinking you have a 10 gallon tank with a 20watt light. This will give you 2WPG and is good for a lot of the “stem plants.” I didn’t find your fish load but using 2 or 3 bunches of stem plants will keep the ammonia form rising. You should not need to add fertilizers or Co2 to your tank.

If you could post all your tank info we will be able to help you more. Size, light, filter, how long it’s been set up, what fish and how long they have been in the tank, ext. Whit that info and what you’re looking to do to your tank will help a lot and will get you a better answer.

[gersheff]

I actually have not set up the tank yet. I just a=haven't figured out if I want to go through all the effort yet for real live plants.

I have a 10G tank, fuval 1 filter, will get a 20W light if i choose to go with plants.

Fish I am thinking of getting:

5-6 harlequin rasbora
1 dwarf gourami
3 corys
maybe a beta
amano shrimp

[bortsamson]

well plants can be added pretty much anytime
I recently set up a 10G, well...it was recently....lol
ANYWAYS
I set up a 10G planted tank
And heavily planted it, and it cycled REAL quick, the plants soak up any excess toxins and use to grow.
But with your fishload....which BTW I wouldnt add that many fish, my 10 gallon houses 3 cories, 2 otos and 1 male betta, currently tending to his newly hatched young:D :D :D

[got_nailed]

If you plant you would not need to do a cycle on that tank. I would set it up and just let it run for a day or 2, and then put in your plants. After a few days you can start adding fish. You will need to not over load the tank right off letting the plants work as your bio-system.

The harlequin rasbora gets a little over 1 ½ inches long so I would try to stay away form them. They need a lot of plants to hide in and need there space to swim in a 20 long would be better for them.

As for the 1 dwarf gourami, 3 corys, a beta, and some amano shrimp would be a nice stocking IMO. If you do plant or get any bottom feeders make sure you use some small sized gravel on the bottom.

I never did like a 10 gallon it was hard to stock.
Good luck to you

[Hound]

If the hood on this tank is a flourescent one you will have 15 watts of lighting over 10g. Get a good flourescent bulb in the 5000k to 6500k range and I believe you would be set nicely for a low tech planted tank. As you get up above 20 watts of light algae will start to be a bigger concern. At 15 watts you will be able to have java ferns, crypts, and anubias plants. I generally avoid anubias plants as first plants because of the slow growth. Even then you could have a java fern, a selection of crypts, and a few of the stem plants to help keep excess nutrients down. Something like anacharis works well enough and is relatively inexpensive and available pretty much everywhere.

[gersheff]

14W good enough?

[superjohnny]

Originally posted by gersheff
is it possible to add plants once you have a stable aquarium running

You should never add plants to a stable aquarium. They much prefer instability because of their wild upbringing. *cough* ;)

If you're unsure about plants and just want to try a few without having to worry about lighting, CO2 & KH try some Java Ferns, Anubias or Crypts. They're all fairly inexpensive & easily kept. You certainly don't need to buy new lights & CO2 to keep aquarium plants.

PS, got_nailed, For the most part you don't need to worry about KH until you start adding CO2. Plants themselves don't reduce your waters hardness.