new to plants ~!!~

psychadelicdrea

psychadelicdrea

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Oct 6, 2004
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ok i have a 25-29 gallon tank not for sure but close enough.....and im plannin on getting some rams for it and i was wanting to try some plants so i was told in a earlier post that anubias and java fern were easy and are low care plants....which would be good cause i dont want alot of extra care cause i have 3 tanks to care for.....but i wouldnt mind a smaller planted tank and i hear the ramms love the cover the plants would provide ..
so will the existing floressent lamp thats on the tank provide enough light? should i just bury them in the gravel the tank has small pebble black gravel about 20 pnds i was wanting to deco it with maybe some driftwood a couple caves and the pants how many plants can i fit in and what kinda care food/fertilizer/ co2? hope not any and all info a newbie could benifit from would be helpfull ....thanks in advance
 
I don't know what your existing light is, but I know that the light that came with our aquarium (29 g) is only 20 W, which is less than 1W per gallon. I have ordered a new PC strip light for my own aquarium. We have mostly "low light" plants as it is, but from what I understand, plants need 1.5 to 2.5W per gallon at a minimum. My new light has 65 W, so that should help. We shall see. I am sorry not to be more help, but I am new at plants as well....we got our first plants about 2 months ago. So far my favorites are the Cryptocorne Wendtii, the Amazon Sword, and the Bacopa Carolinia (not sure about the Carolinia part...). Jury is still out on the Water Sprite and Hornwort. The hornwort is growing like crazy, but looking rather leggy at the bottom. I hope the light helps..I will have to trim it weekly, I think, if it keeps growing like it is. I keep breaking the Water Sprite when I try to plant it. Hopefully the one I have now will do well. I use Fluorish Excell and Fluorish fertilizer (both liquid). But like I said, I am pretty new at this and don't know how well this is all working on a long term basis.
 
yah i looked at the watts on my light strip and its a 20 watt.....but i guess that puts me off about 5 or so watts for the tank but i was told the java ferns and anruiba's were a low 1 watt per gallon plant.....you think they would survive with just a 20 watt light?
 
BUMP sorry but its been like 2 days anyone else have any input? :help:
 
Well, if you have a 25 gallon tank, then 20 watts might be enough, but if you have a 29 gallon tank, then 20 watts wouldn't really be enough, even for the low light tolerant plants like the Anubias or the Java Fern you mentionned.

I would look to buy a cheap strip light or something, then you could actually put in two 20 watt fluorescent tubes, and you would also have a wider variety of plants to choose from, if you want to "upgrade" from a low tech tank in the future.

As for the method of planting, I like to tie Anubias and Java Ferns to pieces of driftwood with black cotton thread rather than risk having their rhizomes rot if I accidently buried them too deeply in the substrate.

As for the CO2, it's always good to have some, I guess in your case, I would use DIY. As for ferts, it really depends on how many other plants you plan to have, the exact lighting, CO2 injection or not, bioload (you mentionned Rams, but will there be other fish? etc). You could probably add some ferts in low quantities to help supplement the Java Fern and Anubias though.
 
yah like 2 ramms ...some schooling fish i dunno was told i could put in like 10 smaller fish.....and like a small bottem feeder.....but as far as the plants maybe like 7to 10 plants mix them up with dirftwood and caves.... what do you think....and i was hopeing i didnt have to mess with the co2.....i was told some liquid plant food and light and they would do well what do u think?

and as far as the light goes i was hoping the 20 watt would do...unless i could find a higher watt floursent lamp strip for really cheap i wouldnt mind like a 40 watt dual tube strip so i could put 2 differnt colors in it
 
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you can get a 2 strip light for cheap at the hardware store like home depot. 20 dollars for the high grade one with electric ballest. 2 grades of light would be fine if they are the right grades for the plants. liquids are fine depending on the plants you pick and if your bioload is adiquit to keep the plants fed. Mine seems fine my plants are breeding extreemly well with leafzone added every water change and I only have a few fish in the tank.:read:
 
20 bucks for a dual light strip?....hell the lfs wanted 30 for a single 20 watt light strip....is the one at the hardware store differnt.....im sure you cant use the bulbs if it comes with them.... but i guess ill have to go check out home depot and lowes and see what they have and if it will work with my tank... cause im not gonna want to rig it up to fit.....cause i have a black plastic top on this tank
 
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