I have a 20 gallon tank with a beautiful piece of wood and several "plastic" plants. I want to replace the plastic with live, but not sure what live planting involves. What are the easiest? Should I wait until I upgrade to a larger tank (hopefully this summer) ?
Live vs plastic plants
- Thread starter debster
- Start date
This should be in the Planted Tank section but o well.
Fo you know how much light you have on your tank? I would wait for the bigger tank, because it saves you the move.
Fo you know how much light you have on your tank? I would wait for the bigger tank, because it saves you the move.
Its really not that hard. A 20 gallon is a great size for plants. You need to get good lighting, at least 2 watts per gallon. Your substrate should be 2 1/2-3" deep and it would help a lot if you mixed in or put below the existing gravel somekind of aquatic plant soil. Fluorite is good but a MUCH cheaper and just as effective alternative is Shultz aquatic plant soil at home depot. Get a package of fertilizer tabs to stick into the gravel and a bottle of flourish plant food. Thats all you need for healthy plants. If you want more light in order to grow colorful plants you would have to do a DIY co2 setup. Its easy but not necesary. Great plants to start off with are java moss, java fern and anubias tied to driftwood, sword plants (I love ocelot swords), cobamba carolinia, hornwort, crypts, water sprite, ludwigea for some red, hygros, vals, sags, pygmy chain sword is great for the foreground.
I started my first planted tank only this year. I learned a great deal from the Aquatic Plants forum, just below this very foroum on the main forum index. There are sticky threads at the top. ALL of them are extremely informative and of great use. I suggest you make that your first stop to learning if plants are right for you. Once you've read those, if you have specific questions search or ask away. Search is really useful in turning up plants for beginners and learning about lighting. Good luck! Also, FWIW, I won't have a show tank without plants ever again, unless it is a cichlid tank or something in which plants would be stressed or just plain hassle from fish digging them up.
I agree with Harlock, read up, do searches, it will really help save you some headaches. Planted tanks can be high or low maintenance, depending on your preferences and the plants you choose to keep. Many people start with lower light (1.5-2WPG), non CO2 tanks and plants that aren't too demanding, but if you want to go high light you can do it straight away - just make sure you do your research first and are willing to put in the upkeep, high light tanks can be a lot of work.
If you want plants now, go for it - by the time you get the new tank you'll be thoroughly hooked
If you want plants now, go for it - by the time you get the new tank you'll be thoroughly hooked
Yeah I agree with everyone else. A lot of people will tell you that you need more lighting than 3 watts per gallon, but it's not true for me.
I got a 45gal, put plants in after a week of letting it sit, got my levels right, transfered fish, and it's doing awesome. The plants that really did good for me were cabomba, Hornwort, moneywort, but most of all the wisteria I bought are doing great, they're called "water-wisteria" at pet-smart. I got some anachris and I think it's gonna end up dying. :sad
I would also say you'd probably want to over-filter you tank at least by ten gallons or so for the cleanliness of the tank. I've got an Emperor 400 for a 45gal which is a little overboard, but my tank looks awesome. Also, look into CO2. Depending on the size of your tank I've heard it does wonders, and theres a very inexpensive way of doing it (read the sticky to see how). But they also make awesome systems for it around $150.00
Definitely go with live and good luck!!!
I got a 45gal, put plants in after a week of letting it sit, got my levels right, transfered fish, and it's doing awesome. The plants that really did good for me were cabomba, Hornwort, moneywort, but most of all the wisteria I bought are doing great, they're called "water-wisteria" at pet-smart. I got some anachris and I think it's gonna end up dying. :sad
I would also say you'd probably want to over-filter you tank at least by ten gallons or so for the cleanliness of the tank. I've got an Emperor 400 for a 45gal which is a little overboard, but my tank looks awesome. Also, look into CO2. Depending on the size of your tank I've heard it does wonders, and theres a very inexpensive way of doing it (read the sticky to see how). But they also make awesome systems for it around $150.00
Definitely go with live and good luck!!!
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so you've got some driftwood... perfect, go out and get some anubias plants, pick a variety that you like, you attach them to driftwood or rocks with string and they pet out heaps of roots to hold themselves in place
they are very easy plants to care for and look very nice
im barely running 1wpg and my anubias coffeefolia is doing great, its giving out heaps of new leaves... admittedly they are slow growers but that doesnt really matter
another good beginners plant is java fern, again this plant attaches to driftwood or rocks, looks really good in a bunch
they are very easy plants to care for and look very nice
im barely running 1wpg and my anubias coffeefolia is doing great, its giving out heaps of new leaves... admittedly they are slow growers but that doesnt really matter
another good beginners plant is java fern, again this plant attaches to driftwood or rocks, looks really good in a bunch
Swimfins
This is as good as it gets.
I think a garden just shows off the fish to a nicer degree.... Plus it gives us more reason to fiddle in the tanks