new tank what to do....

[buffbass20]

Hello

I have a 20g with fake plants and want to take them out and put new REAL plants in it. I have no real idea how to go about this and wanted to see if i could get some help and ideas. any help will be greatly appreciated!!!

 

[Bk718]

Welcome to AC!

the most important thing is light. What kind of light fixture do you currently have on the 20g?

 

[---MR.CLEAN---]

You will need good light, you could make your own CO2 using household items, there should be no plant eating fish, and you could use Eco-complete substrate.
here are 2 websites for making your own CO2 I have used both of the sites and the CO2 works!
http://www.widmer.org/aquarium/ber_anl_bioco2_1e.html
http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Diyco2.htm

And welcome to AC!

 

[buffbass20]

as of right now i made a housing to hold my halogen lights

 

[bluekrissyspike]

interesting co2 links, mr.clean. i may build myself one.
you really don't need that to start out with though, depending on the kinds of plants you want to have. you can set your tank up with low-light plants and aquatic mosses that don't need anything more than a regular aquarium bulb. a lot of plants can do well like that, but yeah, there's a lot more choice when you increase your lighting and co2

 

[buffbass20]

cool cool so i have seen a lot of wood in pic what type of wood would i use?, and also what type of plants will be good to start out with?

 

[Mgamer20o0]

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2

 

[bluekrissyspike]

lps will have suitable wood. you can use driftwood if your careful, but you need to b careful to avoid leaching and possible mold...i think pet stores have bog wood usually, which is preserved naturally and won't mess up your tank. i'm just a beginner with plants and my tank has water sprite, java and christmas moss. i also have another plant sold to me as java fern, but that's not what it is. the watersprite has multiplied like mad. the mosses are slowly growing and spreading. the other plant seems to be doing ok but only time will tell, since my tank is low-tech.

 

[Cory Keeper]

another super easy plant is Valisneria Spiralis, or corckscrew vals, I've kept hearing reports that it oes well in low light, grows like a weed in medim light and CO2.

Mine is only two weeks old, I have stripped every single one of the old leaves and split it, it has whole new leaves, and has decided to have 2 babies.

 

[buffbass20]

Yeah i really think for now I want to start with low light, would buying from the internet be safe way to get plants or is it better to get them from a local store? i have look around at a few places and there "seem" to be some good packages but i really don't know.