new planted tank

[hacknet]

hey guys,

i just put sand and plants into my 12.5 gallon tank. i made the huge mistake of buying the fish first then thinking about the plants.

anyway, i took the fish out for a couple hours while i did the sand and plants.

the water is really murky because i didnt wash the sand.. i hope it clears out in a couple days.

now the million dollar question! do i need co2 for this 12.5gal tank? i have 6 tiger barbs swimming in there and i have a 15w fluorescent tube over it.

thanks guys!

 

[Ketso]

Needing Co2 would depend greatly on your lighting. How many watts per gallon of lighting do you have over the tank and what color (kelvin)? I won't be able to answer your question very well as I am new to all this myself. But I do know that knowing about your lighting will be necessary for an answer from the pros.

Knowing what kind of plants those are might be beneficial as well.

Regards,
DeMonZ

 

[hacknet]

i dont know what kelvin my light is. its the very white type. something like the kind you seein the office.

its a 15 watt light. it probably works out to alittle more than a watt per gallon, still on the low side if ive not mistaken.

thanks guys!

 

[TKOS]

You won't need CO2 to control things in this setup. I would let things settle down a bit and see how the plants are doing. They probably won't grow fast with such a small amount of light, so adding ferts may end up leading to algae at this point.

 

[Astramorgaine]

If the water doesn't clear, you're probably just a couple of water changes away from cearer water.

 

[TKOS]

Adding some filter floss to your filter will also help pull some of the particles out faster.

 

[Sammie7]

Hate to say it, but even with the clouding I can tell that the plant on the left is not a true aquatic. It is a white ribbon plant and will die if left underwater indefinately. http://www.briansgarden.com/houseplants/000425h.html

 

[Mgamer20o0]

you wont need co2 or ferts. how come your water is so low?

 

[hacknet]

Hate to say it, but even with the clouding I can tell that the plant on the left is not a true aquatic. It is a white ribbon plant and will die if left underwater indefinately. http://www.briansgarden.com/houseplants/000425h.html

the picture isnt really clear, i'll try to get a clearer one to make sure. what can i do now? throw the plant away?

 

[hacknet]

is my water really low? its about 80% of the entire tank height. should it be higher? any hight and my ohf doesnt produce much bubbles, i dont know if thats going to be a problem for the fish.