New to Plants-Trying to plant my 15 gallon

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GobyGuy5

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Nov 28, 2002
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As the thread title says, I'm new to plants and am trying to plant my 15 gallon-low tank. I am pretty much restricted to a single tube strip light (which provides 1 watt per gallon) or a 55watt compact flourescent retrofit kit, (which would give me 4 watts per gallon in a 12" high tank) After doing some research, I've pretty much decided to work with the single tube light, not only is it cheaper, but for my first planted tank, I wanted to apply the K.I.S.S. (Keep It Simple......) theory, and if I got 4 watts per gallon, I'd have to deal with CO2, fertilizers and supplements or face an Algae plague like I've never seen before. So, I'm trying to plant my tank fairly heavily (not so much overgrown like European tanks, just well-planted) and I’ve narrowed down my plant picks to the following plants that are understood to do well in 1 watt/gallon conditions:

-Hygrophila
-Dwarf Sagittaria
-Jungle Vallisneria
-Ozelot Sword
-Duckweed (kept under control of course)

Also, In my tank I currently have:

-Underwater Banana Plant
-Java Fern
-Plenty of Algae

I have a fairly heavy bioload (I’ll find out just how heavy when I get my testing kits soon) With 8 fish ranging from 2-3” and more planned. Do these plants survive under these conditions? Do plants need and absorb lots of nitrates? Would I need to fertilize, or would my fish ‘provide’? What other things do I need to consider? All opinions, facts and advice is welcome, thanks for your help!
 
I am about to set up a planted 15 gallon myself with a 55 watt and CO2...Maybe we can exchange notes ;). But in the meantime, I can comment on some of your plants. I am growing Hygro like weeds in my 30 gallon at about 1.3 watts per gallon. I also have Java fern and java moss. The Java Fern grows little daughter plants right on the leaves. I started off with a single plant... now I have, errr, alot. I have what I consider to be about average bioload. Tom Barr (and others) have responded to a couple of my inquiries about plants, and among all of that useful information is the fact that plants do indeed feed off the nitrates (their source of Nitrogen). I think that your fish will indeed provide -- I add nothing as far as fertilizer is considered to any of my current setups.
 
I saw some of the setups submitted for the AGA Aquascaping Contest and felt that this was a dimension of the hobby that I wanted to explore. After a good amount of related web-surfing, I decided that I wanted to focus on fast growing stem plants, especially red ones. My (naive?) approach at the moment is that my plants are going to thrive, and not just muddle along -- hence the high light and CO2. Among the plants I am looking at are Rotala and frill. The others I put in there could get by with less, I'm sure.

I still have a lot to learn, and may discover that I could have gotten by with less. Time will tell.
 
Goby- That jungle val gets awfully tall for a 15 gallon
Click to expand...

That's what I think I wanted..................
I figured I could let some of it float at the top of the tank, giving it an overgrown look, and anything else I could just trim off weekly
Just how big would that plant get?

Also, should I supplement certain nutrients, or would my plants do fine without them?
 
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Is CO2 really a necessity for this to work?

Do I really need CO2 for the setup I wanted to work, I know it would help them to thrive but do I need it to keep them green and growing?

Won't the fish provide enough CO2 for the plants?
 
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Goby... On the jungle val, it will get like 3 feet tall. :)

As to the question on the CO2.. At 4 watts per gallon, the fish will not provide enough Co2 or other nutrition for your plants by a long shot...
 
Goby... If you are going with the low light setup, then you will not need to supplement Co2. With my low light tank, I add some fertilizer once a week when I do the water change. With a low light tank one of the prepared aquarium fertilizers will work. I use the separate ones for my high light tank so anymore I just make a small batch up for the low light ones too.
 
Okay, can anyone vouch for any of these plants growing @ 1 watt/gallon?

Also if you can, what do you do to supplement them, etc.
 
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