Planted Aquarium setup question

[lyinxz]

okay i bought a new glass tank.
prob about 40/50 gallon tank.

its all empty , i am slowly building up the supplies il need.
im going to use fishless cycling.
however i am intrested in Plants!

ive done some reading... but one thing i just want to make sure is:
is this how the setup for a planted aquarium is like:

on the bottom of the tank , u lay down special aquarium soil (substrate)
then u plant the plants
then u lay down your gravel over the soil and covering the plant roots?..

i know this might sound dumb , but i have got no idea of how to accutally approach this when setting it all up.
all the ebooks and stuff only tell about the plant life , how maintain , which ones are good etc..

ps: im planning on using java fern and java moss, and possible water sprite.

[Neithan]

I'm sure someone who knows about "special aquarium soil" will tell you how to use it, but as another opinion I would like to make a note that you don't actually need anything else but gravel or sand on the bottom.

When planting plants before adding fish, you'll need to fertilize the plants somehow, and I guess that's where the soil thing comes in handy, but you could just put fertilizing sticks in the sand close to the plants. I'd recommend messing about with your plants first, and once you're happy with where they are, then add the sticks or balls or whatever you use. Remember to replenish every once in a while.

Java moss would also like some liquid fertilizer, as it doesn't exactly make roots, so you might want to have a look at what your local petstores have to offer. Java Ferns also do better when stringed to a piece of wood or a stone, as their roots have a tendency of rotting away when tucked in soil, effectively killing the plant.

Basically, if you skip the (expensive?) aquarium soil and go for just gravel or sand, you fill the tank up to a nice depth - usually 1-3 inches, depending on the tank size - then plant the plants just like you would a plant in your garden. Dig a small hole that fits the roots, drop the plant in, fill it up.

[jeffs99dime]

I'm sure someone who knows about "special aquarium soil" will tell you how to use it, but as another opinion I would like to make a note that you don't actually need anything else but gravel or sand on the bottom.

When planting plants before adding fish, you'll need to fertilize the plants somehow, and I guess that's where the soil thing comes in handy, but you could just put fertilizing sticks in the sand close to the plants. I'd recommend messing about with your plants first, and once you're happy with where they are, then add the sticks or balls or whatever you use. Remember to replenish every once in a while.

Java moss would also like some liquid fertilizer, as it doesn't exactly make roots, so you might want to have a look at what your local petstores have to offer. Java Ferns also do better when stringed to a piece of wood or a stone, as their roots have a tendency of rotting away when tucked in soil, effectively killing the plant.

Basically, if you skip the (expensive?) aquarium soil and go for just gravel or sand, you fill the tank up to a nice depth - usually 1-3 inches, depending on the tank size - then plant the plants just like you would a plant in your garden. Dig a small hole that fits the roots, drop the plant in, fill it up.

you should change your username to "plantmaster"
i would love to see your tanks in person! you still got my vote for january t.o.t.m:thumb:

[Neithan]

*chuckles*

I'm definitely not an expert on plants, but I do happen to like to advertise planted tanks to anyone who will listen ;) I also like to advertise not to trust everything your local petshop tells you to do with your tank, but that's another story =P

Now if you want to see atleast the surface of an exceptionally nice tank, you should have a look around [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] on the wallpaper page, 2nd last row on the right. She IS the plant guru as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately she doesn't have pictures of her tanks on her page, but she has posted a few on our finnish aquarium forum, and man do they look nice! The entire room is practically a miniature rainforest :)

Feel free to drop by if you're ever in Finland, just give me a few days notice so I can clean up the place first! O.o

[jeffs99dime]

*chuckles*

I'm definitely not an expert on plants, but I do happen to like to advertise planted tanks to anyone who will listen ;) I also like to advertise not to trust everything your local petshop tells you to do with your tank, but that's another story =P

Now if you want to see atleast the surface of an exceptionally nice tank, you should have a look around [Only Registered Users Can See Links.] on the wallpaper page, 2nd last row on the right. She IS the plant guru as far as I'm concerned. Unfortunately she doesn't have pictures of her tanks on her page, but she has posted a few on our finnish aquarium forum, and man do they look nice! The entire room is practically a miniature rainforest :)

Feel free to drop by if you're ever in Finland, just give me a few days notice so I can clean up the place first! O.o

i "was" in your neck of the woods for quite awhile in the marine corps. that was a couple of years ago, however. i went snowmobiling on the finnish border. beautiful land and people!!!!

[redfin]

not an expert on planted tanks, my experience: The fish peck at the plants continually, some grow, some are eaten as quickly as they sprout. Which is cool, I add some new ones from time to time as they munch down.

But as far as the substrate, I only have aquarium gravel, no soil to speak of, and as the fish peck at the plants, a lot of time they become unrooted and float. In other words, there's plenty of times I wish I had something more stable for the plants to root into other than just gravel, so I can keep my arms dry more often.

BTW, by the picture you can see that some of the plants are looking pretty rough right now from all the munchin.

[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]