View Full Version : Scared to bother with Live Plants
WharfRat
07-09-2004, 2:03 PM
I've been keeping fish for a very long time and have had minmal success with live plants. Now , after reading through some of this forum I see its best that I do not even bother with them. I was in hopes that a decent planted tank could be had with some good light and some fertilizer. But from what I have seen I need 40 baziilion dollars worth of equipment and a degree in chemistry to plant my tank. Oh well...off to get some silk plants.
PumaWard
07-09-2004, 2:52 PM
No not really. For most of the expensive equipment, you can make yourself... for instance, CO2 diffusers. Or you can go for the low light, low maintenance tank with java fern, anubias barteri, java moss, and java fern... I think they're easier than silk plants... personally.
I have a 10 gallon tank with an amzon sword, some java moss on driftwood and a whole lot of java fern. I use 2 screw in flourescent spiral bulbs for 2.8 watts of light and rarley add ferts, maybe a little when I change the water. They grow very well and the sword is actually going to flower soon.
Just do a little research into the plant choice and you can get going for less than 10 dollars with some nice java fern.
WharfRat
07-09-2004, 3:20 PM
Ok so like I have 130 wts of light. 50 % is actin blue and the other is 10k. Its a PC light from my reef tank. Its sitting on a 55. So I can make some Vals , swords , annubias , java fern and java moss grow??
What about say..Hygro Difformis.
What kinf o basic all around liquid fertilizer would all you green thumbs recommend?
brookelyn
07-09-2004, 3:23 PM
TKOS is right. Amazon sword, jave moss, and java fern are extremely easy plants (they do not need CO2 or anything special to grow) to keep, and they are, at least in my experience, cheaper than buying a bunch of silk plants.
If you don't want to do a completely planted tank, try mixing in some of the plants mentioned above with a few fake silk ones.
aquariumplants.com and plantgeek.net are good places to check out if you're looking for some information on certain kind of plants.
Research is key, and if you have any question, I am sure just about everyone here would be more than happy to help out. :)
If you have a heavy fish load then you really don't need to add ferts. But if you have alight fish load then there are a lot of basic ferts out there by companies like hagen that are fine. As I said I often just add a dosing at water change time, though in my 20 gallon tank I never add any ferts at all and the java fern is huge with 2 watts of light per gallon.
All it means is that your plants will grow a lot slower than in a super scientific setup. But they will still grow.
Oh and stay away from Red tinted plants, which I find need a lot more than a basic setup to get going.
WharfRat
07-09-2004, 4:03 PM
Ok..I'll give the aquatic green thumb a shot. I made it to Advanced in my aquarium societies HAP program. But that was years ago. I just got a bit put off by all the talk of dosing co2 and this chemical and that mineral and this substrate..its a bit overwhelming. Think I'll find me some nice val and go from there
I am betting that actinct and 10,000K bulbs are a little too blue for planted aquariums. Most folks will probably recommend full spectrum bulbs between 5,000 and 7,000K.
WharfRat
07-09-2004, 4:55 PM
Yeah I know they were from my reef tank..but Im not going to drop 30 bucks to get new bulbs till these ones are toast in about another 8 - 10 months
They will work fine for the tank. Just alittle harsh to the human eye. As long as UV light is coming out of them plants will be fine.
Starry
07-10-2004, 8:15 AM
Originally posted by TKOS
They will work fine for the tank. Just alittle harsh to the human eye. As long as UV light is coming out of them plants will be fine.
Actually, both photosystems I and II use visible light (700 and 680 nm, respectivey, are the max red absorptions). This has nothing to do with the K rating, just wanted to correct that it's not UV light.
125gJoe
07-10-2004, 9:29 AM
Originally posted by Finaddictfred
Yeah I know they were from my reef tank..but Im not going to drop 30 bucks to get new bulbs till these ones are toast in about another 8 - 10 months That's ok, 8 months or so if they are new bulbs. Then get 6,500K or 6,700K bulbs and the color of the plants (and tank) will look great!
It's best to start with lots of plants to counter a large aglae bloom.
powrslave
07-11-2004, 2:35 AM
i had java fern and java moss growing like crazy with babies all under a 15w in a 20gal high with normal aquarium gravel.
i threw in a clipping my friend gave me...
fake plants should be banned....
If you call looking at plastic plants in your aquarium beautiful perhaps you should look towards a new hobby...perhaps R/C racing...those cars have a lot of plastic to look at...
We are talking live creatures....
No, i don't care about cichlids destroying plants either....
that's like getting upset because you reallly like those eucalyptus trees but those darn koalas keep eating them.
sigh
just my two cents....not directed at anyone
125gJoe
07-11-2004, 3:39 PM
Originally posted by powrslave
... ...fake plants should be banned....
If you call looking at plastic plants in your aquarium beautiful perhaps you should look towards a new hobby...perhaps R/C racing......
just my two cents....not directed at anyone Lots of people probably started with plastic plants. Can you imagine going back to plastic after having success with live plants?? :eek:
http://www.ibiblio.org/Dave/Dr-Fun/df9505/df950531.jpg
powrslave
07-11-2004, 4:15 PM
RIGHT ON! Awesome cartoon!
:):p
WharfRat
07-11-2004, 9:31 PM
Power..heres your two cents back. Keep it !