substrate plant please advise

[friendorfoe]

I posted this thread in the plant section but nobody seems to be looking at it. I was hoping that if i put it here i would get an answer.....and hopefully the modarators won't move it....anyways

what could i plant in a future 29 gallon tank with platies rasboras mollies swordtails and corydoras? My substrate would only be sand. i don't have theability to put a rich soil in for plants. My tank will have large shale rocks also. Also in my 10 gallon i have incandescant lights i may upgrade to flourescent but if i don't, what would work? I probably need some very low light plants.

Thanks!

 

[Harlock]

It all depends on the light the 29 gallon has. If it is just a stock hood and strip, likely to be a 17 watt bulb which pushes you up to about .58 watts per gallon. That's not much at all over a tall tank. You could get the usual suspects; anubias, java fern and java moss. If you have the means, you could do well with a 65 watt power compact fixture. I got one for my 29 gallon and grow plants well. It was $58 but well worth it since my plant selection went from just a handful of plants to over a hundred different types and they grow well.

 

[friendorfoe]

how will sand only substrate effect my planting abilities? I don't want to use the other stuff.....i think it startes with an f.....I wouldn't mind adding mings like flourish and what not i just don't want to deal with a different substrate...

Also if i do fishless cycle so i put the plants in before or after i finish the cycle?

 

[Harlock]

Actually, I have sand only and I don't need anchors or anything. Flourite is the name of the gravel escaping you. It's good stuff, but expensive. Really, the limiting factor will be light in most cases. I grow a few root plants just fine in my sand without any substrate ferts. I only dose water column ferts like Flourish and Flourish Excel.

If you do a fishless cycle there are a couple of ways to do it with plants. First, is standard fishless cycle, then add plants and fish when it is over. Second is something called a silent cycle. You plant so many plants that they absorb the ammonia produced by the fish. For this you have to be prepared to plant very heavily and if it is your first time with a planted tank, I would be very careful to stock fish slowly, just in case you make a mistake and suffer a die back of some kind, which would alter the plants ability to take up the ammonia. Also, for a silent cycle, you'll want lots of light for rapid development as well as CO2 to hedge your bets.

 

[Emg]

As far as switching to flourescent lights in your 10 gallon...you can do that and keep your incandescent hood.....Walmart sells compact flourescent lights for incandescent fixtures for about 4$. They are 10 watts 6500K....pretty good for a 10 gallon.