I'm Starting Up An Old 55 Gal As A Community Tank. I Was Wondering About Live Plants. I've Never Kept Them Before But Would Like To Try. I Have A Few Questions That May Sound Stupid To You Guys. 1. Are There Plants That Will Grow With Gravel As Substrate? 2. What Would Be Some Good Hardy Plants For A Beginner? 3. I Read About Someone Attaching Moss To Their Driftwood, Please Explain Requirements And Care. I Just Have The Bulbs That Came With The Hoods In There, Not Sure On The Wattage, But I'll Check. Please Be Help. Thanks
New To Plants
- Thread starter csm84
- Start date
Hi There,
I am a complete newbie and set up my tank origionally with fake plants (HJagen Aquascapers) after 3 weeks I thought they looked a little unnatural so started the process of replaciong with real plants. If you copy the link form my signature into a browser you'll see my tank - I have a mixture of Black and Blue medium grain gravel. I was a little worried about this substrate for growing plants myself. That picture was taken 2 days ago and I use the Hagen CO2 system.
I'm not proffesing to being Takashi Amano far from it but I think the choice of species of plant has established well in my substrate with one acception the Cabomba - Mine is the Carolina variety and I have lost nearly all of it as it takes a while to root in. Also gunked up my filter pretty badly.
If you look at the teracotta pot on the right of my tank - that is Java moss attached to it. Under advice form the guys on this forum add one bunch and wind black cotton round it a couple of times. The cotton will eventually rot away and the moss should then be attached to the decor item.
Apparently Java fern and Anubia Barteri can also be grown like this.
Hope that helps a little
Chaz
I am a complete newbie and set up my tank origionally with fake plants (HJagen Aquascapers) after 3 weeks I thought they looked a little unnatural so started the process of replaciong with real plants. If you copy the link form my signature into a browser you'll see my tank - I have a mixture of Black and Blue medium grain gravel. I was a little worried about this substrate for growing plants myself. That picture was taken 2 days ago and I use the Hagen CO2 system.
I'm not proffesing to being Takashi Amano far from it but I think the choice of species of plant has established well in my substrate with one acception the Cabomba - Mine is the Carolina variety and I have lost nearly all of it as it takes a while to root in. Also gunked up my filter pretty badly.
If you look at the teracotta pot on the right of my tank - that is Java moss attached to it. Under advice form the guys on this forum add one bunch and wind black cotton round it a couple of times. The cotton will eventually rot away and the moss should then be attached to the decor item.
Apparently Java fern and Anubia Barteri can also be grown like this.
Hope that helps a little
Chaz
Anubias, java moss, java fern are all excellent choices for beginner plants. The can all be grown either on wood or planted in the gravel as long as the rhizome (the horizontal stem-like thing from which the leaves grow) isn't buried. Although I'd say that j.fern and anubias will do best tied on to the wood. Anubias nana, in my limited experience, will cling to just about anything given a couple weeks.
Cabomba is definitely not a beginner plant, very nice with its bushiness, but can be tough to keep looking good (and not clogging filters) without reasonably high light and CO2. For stems, Egeria densa (aka. Anacharis), Hygro. polysperma, Hygro. difformis, water sprite are all pretty hardy, although they will probably want more light than you're providing.
Cabomba is definitely not a beginner plant, very nice with its bushiness, but can be tough to keep looking good (and not clogging filters) without reasonably high light and CO2. For stems, Egeria densa (aka. Anacharis), Hygro. polysperma, Hygro. difformis, water sprite are all pretty hardy, although they will probably want more light than you're providing.
Anyone Have A Planted Tank That Would Post Some Pics For Me? I Would Like To Get Some Good Ideas. I Have Lots Of Wood For Attaching The Plants To, Sounds Like That Will Help?
Click on the link in my sig to see my tanks, although the bottom one hasn't been updated in some time, the top tank is pretty newly updated.
Your wattage is probably 2X15's if it's a standard pair of hoods that come with a 55.
This will not prove adequate for growing most plants. Even 'low light plants' will struggle at that wattage magnified by the depth(top to bottom) of your tank.
If you can elevate Java Fern or Moss and/or Anubia on wood they have a shot, but don't expect much success with you lighting.
The recommended wpg is 2 and for your tank's depth, I would shoot for 2.5 - 3.0 wpg.
Len
This will not prove adequate for growing most plants. Even 'low light plants' will struggle at that wattage magnified by the depth(top to bottom) of your tank.
If you can elevate Java Fern or Moss and/or Anubia on wood they have a shot, but don't expect much success with you lighting.
The recommended wpg is 2 and for your tank's depth, I would shoot for 2.5 - 3.0 wpg.
Len
where is a good place for lighting? i went to lfs last night and can't believe how much the lights cost. anyone have a good place to get them cheaper?
ahsupply.com is great, I've used them once and am very happy with the results.csm84 said:
If you prefer to shy away from the DIY, another option with a good price, but slightly worse reflection are the Coralife Freshwater series. You can get a lot better price from BigAlsOnline.com that you can in most fish stores.
http://www.bigalsonline.com/catalog...16;page=2;sort=;pcid1=1843;pcid2=;breadcrumb=
130w would cost you $119.99, 260w $219.99.
I'm personally lucky in the fact that my LFS will actually price match to BigAls prices pre shipping, but I think that is fairly uncommon.