for those of you want to start planted tanks...

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inkyjenn

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i found a bit of hair algae as well. im not too worried though. i have mollies, amano shrimp, and red cherry shrimp in other tanks if i need their services
 

inkyjenn

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my rams spawned :)
 

inkyjenn

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i thought i would update this thread and reiterate that you do not need a super fancy set up to successfully keep a planted tank. i run no CO2 and i have a shoplight that gives me about 2 watts per gallon. id have to say, if youre going to spend money on something, spend it on the substrate. i have 60lbs of fluorite that makes life a lot easier. i dose with excel (1 capful) per week. thats pretty much it.

left side:


middle:


right side:


whole tank shot:


two weeks ago, the plants were half as tall as they are now
 

inkyjenn

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i know you can get it online, but you will pay an arm and a leg in shipping. i found it at a local fish store though. id start at a place like that.

and to be fair, there are other good substrates you can get like ecocomplete and laterite.
 

inkyjenn

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in reality, any substrate is fine. but it takes more work (root tabs, ferts, etc). i like the fluorite because it is created with a ton of nutrients in it, which means i get to be lazier ;)
 

drunkenmastera

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in reality, any substrate is fine. but it takes more work (root tabs, ferts, etc). i like the fluorite because it is created with a ton of nutrients in it, which means i get to be lazier ;)
same here, i really don't want to setup a co2 diy. too much work.
im try to find this today.
thaknks
 

inkyjenn

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my setup is really simple, but it works well. the plants as you can see are thriving with minimal effort on my part. the most work i do are water changes and keeping the plants trimmed down. the beauty is that by trimming my plants down, i am propagating them. i started with a handful of stems and now i have more than i know what to do with
 
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