How do you do a planted aquarium?

[fishymommy]

Haha, sorry for my newb question. I've never had a planted aquarium before and was curious how everything works.

1) what equipment do you need (substrate, lighting, etc...)
2) what are good newbie plants for a 90g?
3) how do I maintain my aquarium (gravel/substrate vaccuming) with plants?
4) are plants permanent wherever you put them in your tank? or can you rearrange them every so often for a new look?
5) is there anything else you can think to tell me? Remember, I AM A COMPLETE NEWB AT THIS haha

please and thank you for all your advice!!

[blacksnow]

Haha, sorry for my newb question. I've never had a planted aquarium before and was curious how everything works.

1) what equipment do you need (substrate, lighting, etc...)
2) what are good newbie plants for a 90g?
3) how do I maintain my aquarium (gravel/substrate vaccuming) with plants?
4) are plants permanent wherever you put them in your tank? or can you rearrange them every so often for a new look?
5) is there anything else you can think to tell me? Remember, I AM A COMPLETE NEWB AT THIS haha

please and thank you for all your advice!!


I'm no pro by any means, but I'd like to add my opinion =]

Substrate:
eco-complete - is one of the best for plants, but i hear complaints about things floating in the water using this =O

sand - hard for some plants to root (i am using sand now, and most my plants are doing 'ok')

fine gravel - from what i've read something like 'flint gravel #20' is perfect. especially when mixed with laterite


Lighting:
6700k bulbs for sure =]
I run a t5 unit with 2 bulbs. I use 6700k spectrum in both.

Maintenance:
Other then a a few small pieces of my plants floating in the tank I don't feel they added any maintenance to my setup. Although does tick me off when I'm trying to vacuum and I have a hard time getting poop & food pieces from around the stems of my plants =O

Permanent:
Plants can be moved, but remember once a plant is rooted pulling it up and moving it will shock the plant. A plant can take days/weeks to recover and show new growth. I wouldn't recommend moving them every week or every month. But I'm sure if you were careful moving your plants every few months wouldn't hurt ;)

Advise:
If I could start over I'd go with a 'red flint gravel #20' mixed with laterite. Every person I see write about this stuff loves it. I also love the look. For my next planted tank I'll def be ordering some.

Make sure the fish you want to use are plant friendly. Nothing worse then watching your fish eat, or abuse your plants =o.

Also before you bring any plants home make sure you are aware of their lighting requirements, and I'd also research them online to be sure they are really aquarium plants. Lot of LFS's try selling normal plants as aquarium plants. I even caught my LFS doing it =O


Best of luck <3

[fishymommy]

wow, thank you!

[MCHRKiller]

Haha, sorry for my newb question. I've never had a planted aquarium before and was curious how everything works.

1) what equipment do you need (substrate, lighting, etc...)
2) what are good newbie plants for a 90g?
3) how do I maintain my aquarium (gravel/substrate vaccuming) with plants?
4) are plants permanent wherever you put them in your tank? or can you rearrange them every so often for a new look?
5) is there anything else you can think to tell me? Remember, I AM A COMPLETE NEWB AT THIS haha

please and thank you for all your advice!!

Here is my take :)

Substrate-Definatly go for a substrate designed specifically for plant useage. I personally am not a fan of EcoComplete as its quality has went down the crapper the last few years. I do highly advocate Flourite as it has severed me well and their quality is very consistent. In my 55G tank I dont vacuum the substrate regularly first off its to densely planted and 2ndly the extra food and waste just becomes plant food. I do however like to tear into the tank and work on it thinning plants and re-aranging stuff and of course giving the substrate a vacuum every 6-8months. In tanks that arnt so heavily planted you can do a light vacuum in vacant areas be careful not to bother the root systems of plants. Do note that youll need at minimum of 2" of substrate(preferably 3-3.5") to grow plants successfully.

Lighting-I would choose a lighting system that would put you around 1.5WPG range, this level will allow you to keep a multitude of plants but keep things low maintenance so you wont have to deal with CO2 or dose heavily on ferts. Definatly pick a bulb that is in the 5000-8000K range. You have quite a few options All-Glass makes a triple tube T8 fixture which would give you around 120watts, Coralife makes a PC strip that would give you 130watt or of course there are several makers of T5s out there that work lovely. These lighting options would work well for a low light low tech tank, and are fairly inexpensive all costing around $120 online

Plant Options-With the above lighting you will still have plenty of options for growing plants. Plants such as Crypts, Swords, Apons, Abubias, Mosses, Vals, Ferns, Rotala rotundifolia, several Hygro species, Ludwigia repens, Lotus, Crinum etc. Alot of people forget that low light tanks have so many wonderful options that are easy to keep.

For beginner plants I would go with a couple of fast growers like moss tied to drifwood, and some Rotala rotundifolia...these fast plants will help outcompete algae and act as nitrate sponges helping your other slow growing plants(as alot of low light plants are slow growers) also outcompete the algae. I would also include some tall plants such as Vals or Crinum to take advantage of your tanks height they make a wonderful background and Vals are pretty quick growers to. I would definatly include some Crypts in the tank as they are beautiful and offer some color to low light tanks. Tiger lotus plants also add a nice splash of color and are very easy to grow. Ferns just look smashing tied to some wood or rock and are very easy to grow.

Ferts-Next to lighting and substrate ferts are the next most important element to your planted tank. Depending on how heavily you planted how much to dose. I would start out with Flourish Comprehensive(or other general fertilizer) dosed once weekly as directed and then add some root tabs around heavy root feeding plants(crypts, vals, swords). If you start your tank out with only a few plants, only do a half strength dose per week...as they wont need the full dose and it will only promote algae growth. I have found more success in setting up my planted tanks with a good amount of plants initially(like atleast 50% of the plants Id like to see in there eventually) as the larger quantity of plants will help fight new planted tank syndrome as I call it(excessive algae growth) and help choke out algae. An important thing to remember is that Vals and several other species of plants will melt if you choose to dose Flourish Excel(a CO2 alternative) so be careful if you choose to use it.

You can re-arange your tank and most plants wont care at all...just dont do it all the time. I wouldnt advocate moving plants more than every couple of months. Another important thing is water flow...you want to have a good circulation threwout your entire tank.

[Taurus]

Jenn is a pro. thumbs2: thumbs2: And I say the above write up should be a sticky! Oh William!

[Kaz]

http://www.plantgeek.net/

http://naturalaquariums.com/

http://www.aquariumplants.com/

Here are 3 websites that have info on plants.

The lighting you chose depends on what plants you want.

Some plants can easily be moved while others cannot.

What do you want your tank to look like?

[fishymommy]

sweet, thanks everyone!!

[Z Fish Man]

All the advice given seems really solid. I would say 1.5-2 watts per gallon would be fine. I have eco complete in my planted tank and regret it. It is now impossible to get perfectly clear water but it at least keeps the plants happy. I just started using flourish excel and it seems to have brightened up some of the plants and sped up growth some as well. I only wish it would kill off the algae but I'm still happy with the results.

[fishymommy]

I don't like the extremely over crowded planted tanks that a lot of the google images show. I have/am going to get a lot of tropical/amazony fish (I think) so I was thinking of something with more drift wood with a few plants here and there. Its a 90g so I want something almost as tall as that in the back/corners.. um.. a few leafy plants that could go on the drift wood.. and maybe a couple small patches mixed in the substrate that would be something short and grassy for the fish to play in.. nothing uber fancy and easy to maintain on the weekends cus I'm gone during the week at school.

I'll try to find pictures of the little things I like to see if you have any over all advice on whether its a good or bad idea.

Overall, are planted aquariums easier or harder to take care of (and keep looking nice) than fake plants? I'm still cautious about the real plants because I'm away so much out of the year.

[fishymommy]

So here are some pictures I found with little details that I like. I'm not sure if any of the plants are ones that you guys have suggested so you'll have to help me ID them.

The first I like the tall thin leafed plants that are in the way back left corner of the tank. I would like them in the same location in my 90g.

In the second picture, I like how the plants are attached to the drift wood. These plants don't have many leaves but I like how broad they are.

The last picture is the best I could find of the "grass patches" I was talking about. I want something that will be in a little area kinda in the open that is about 6" x 4" wide and deep and only about 2-3" tall. Is there a grassy plant like this that is like that or is that just a matter of keeping something maintained/cropped??

[doug z]

The first I like the tall thin leafed plants that are in the way back left corner of the tank.

Vallisnaria americana


n the second picture, I like how the plants are attached to the drift wood. These plants don't have many leaves but I like how broad they are.

Anubias barteri v. coffeefolia


The last picture is the best I could find of the "grass patches" I was talking about

Sagitaria subulata, probably.. Or some sub-type of Echinodorus tennelus..

[fishymommy]

So are either of these good types of plants for beginners? If not, do you have any suggestions for ones that are similar that would have the same general effect?

Is there such thing as an underwater flowering plant? My mom would absolutley love me if there was...

[doug z]

Vals are ok in low light, but prefer higher wattages (2 wpg minimum)..

A. barteri is pretty much indestructible..

S. subulata and E. tennelus are pretty hardy, too..

You could for sure give them a shot..

Not really any plants that "flower" underwater..

There ARE plants that send up shoots that flower when they reach the water surface, though..

What kind of lights do you have for this tank?

[Kaz]

There are grass type plants an example being dwarf hairgrass.

Another plant that attaches to driftwood is the java fern.

Amazon swords, Anubias, Java ferns and Java moss are all lowlight plants that are tougher than weeds. Anubias grow slowly though.

I do really like moss so I advise you look into it.

Wisteria also fits into the above category although in lower lights, such as 1 WPG you may not like the look of it.

Dwarf hairgrass:

http://www.plantgeek.net/plant-115.htm

One more super tough plant:

http://www.aquahobby.com/garden/e_cwgreen.php

Man I'm so addicted to plants, I just love how it makes the aquarium look so natural. I have MTS for plants alone, lol.

[fishymommy]

I'm not sure what light is on it right now. I'm not home so I can't check until friday night but it is just the very typical light that comes with a 90g kit. um... it looks like a really long one of these:

http://www.petco.com/product/107313/All-Glass-Aquarium-Fluorescent-Single-Tube-Strip-Light.aspx?CoreCat=LN_Shopping_FishSupplies_Hoodsa ndLighting

it has whatever light bulb that came with it in it right now. Sorry I can't tell you much more than that.

If this isn't enough, I just won't be able to have the plants because I don't think I can afford to spend 120 on a new light when I have one now that works just fine for the fish..

[doug z]

If this isn't enough, I just won't be able to have the plants

Where would you get the plants?

Yeah, best not to bother with vals or hair grass, sag, or tennelus if you can't get another light to bump you up to 2wpg..

But the anubias and java ferns and mosses would be fine..

[MCHRKiller]

Tall plants-Vals or Crinum
Plants attached to wood-Java fern and Anubias
Short grassy plants-Dwarf Sag

They are appropriate for what you want and compatible with low light conditions and also easy to take care of...you may also want to look into Tropica swords or some regular Amazon swords for a centerpiece and really give it that "amazon" vibe. IME these plants will do well with ~130watts min on that 90G.

[fishymommy]

Ok, I'll look into those types. As for substrate, right now I have a mix of small (abt 3-5mm) and large (abt 1-1.5cm) gravel. Is that good or bad?

[rich311k]

For the plants you want, that substrate will be fine.

[fishymommy]

haha yay again from you :o) Thanks

[troy]

Haha, sorry for my newb question. I've never had a planted aquarium before and was curious how everything works.

1) what equipment do you need (substrate, lighting, etc...)
2) what are good newbie plants for a 90g?
3) how do I maintain my aquarium (gravel/substrate vaccuming) with plants?
4) are plants permanent wherever you put them in your tank? or can you rearrange them every so often for a new look?
5) is there anything else you can think to tell me? Remember, I AM A COMPLETE NEWB AT THIS haha

please and thank you for all your advice!!
Well some people haven't had the same success I have had but here is my take on it.
1. I've grown plenty of plants with just gravel, but you'd be better off getting a substrate made for plants. Shoot for about 2wpg of light.
2. I've had good success with java fern, java moss, amazon swords, hornwort, duckweed,anubius, aponogeton, and cryptocoryne wendettii under 2wpg of light, gravel substrate, and not much ferts added.
3. Stay away from the base of the plant so the roots will not get disturbed.
4. You can change plants around but it will 'shock' them.
5. Get a good fertilizer for your plants. Check the maximum size of the plant to make sure it doesn't get too big. Also research the plants you want to buy to make sure they are actually aquatic plants and that they will grow under your tank conditions.

[MCHRKiller]

I would mix in 2 55oz boxes of laterite into your gravel as it will help your plants out some as it naturally gives them iron at the roots :)