Basic Freshwater setup

andysutt

Is there such a thing?

I tried to read the sticky about fresh water plants but got lost.

Im 100% completely new to live plants.

I've had several tanks over the years and now with my 55 gallon tank I want to use some live plants.

I dont want anything extremely "big" but just some to fill in here and there. I did think about removing one of my rock decorations to plant a "tree/bush" type plant.

Anyways, my questions are:

1) Do you just plant these in the rocks you have or do you need certain type of things to plant them in

2) Co2... I seen an injection thing but didn't really want to spend the money on that. I did find a "fizz tube" thing that comes with some kind of pills you use. Cheaper but not sure how well it is.

3) If I do go the Co2 injection system, how long do the "cans" of co2 last? Weekly, monthly, more than a month?

3) I got all confused reading a thread about aquarium salt and plants. My tank is salted per the label on the box for the aquarium salt. This is the first time Ive ever used aquarium salt. I got the tank used and it had some fish already in it. So I continued the setup that was previously used and introduced my other fish to it. They seem to love it and I dont want to quit using it unless I absolutely have 2.

4) Snails... read that they don't bother them, but wanted to ask just to make sure all in one thread.

5) Readily available starter/easy to maintain plants. What would you suggest?
We only have 3 LFS here.. Petsmart, a mom and pop placed called Pet Country, and walmart. I avoid Walmart at all costs.

Any help would be appreciated.

E46er

if you just want a lightly planted tank you can use seachem excel instead of CO2 its what i use and it works for me

lights.....what kinda lights do you have?? plants requre 2 wats per gallon so your gonna need atleast 110 watts to grow anything

nutrients plants require nutrients i dose potassium nitrate, mono potassium phosphate seachem flourish and flourish iron and excel as my carbon source..

from a 55G "starter kit " which im just guessing you have will cost a few hundred to be "plant ready"

andysutt

I guess I got lied to today at the LFS.

I talked to a lady about all the different plants and she said that she has had good luck just planting them and letting them be in her own tank. That is if they get a full day of light.

I dont have a "starter kit." I have a pretty well established tank. I just bought it from someone and moved it here and re-set it up. Can you explain to me why a few hundred to be "plant ready"? I really am new to this and don't want to kill them right off the bat.


As for the lights, I'll check on wattage. I have 2 hood lights, but they also gave me a long light that covers the whole tank that she said she used when she had hers planted. but its bulky and im not 2 fond of it.

I only bought 2 small plants, and I cant recall the name of them but I will when I go back.

gregpape23

First and foremost you had two #3's.

I plant all of my plants in gravel, it works great. I have a lighly planted tank and I have never used a c02 injection system. I have never really had a problem with maintaining my plants, but a nice one that I like (sorry dont know the name) is kind of like "sea grass" but thicker grass. The fish love to eat it every once in a while, but it lasts a long time. Also, my pleco eats certain plants right at the base and then the rest of the plant floats off. I had to experiment for a while to see what the pleco would not eat.

Hope this helps!

andysutt

LOL! I did have 2 number 3's. lol

Sorry about that and thanks for the help

andysutt

Just checked my bulbs.

I have 2 15s bulbs in the fixtures that sit over my hood.

I also have a bigger light that covers the entire tank (instead of 2 smaller ones) that have two 55w bulbs in them. Only problem is w/ the filter on the back, I cant open the lids to feed.

Will the bright light hurt my fish?

And will it be ok to run it for x amount of hours a day and then the 15ws the rest of the time?

E46er

by a starter kit i ment a tank you buy in the store with filters lights heaters ect as a package not whether its established or not.... sorry about the confusion
few hudred bucks ment lights and nutrients and some source of carbon

do you mean u can use either the 2 15W or the 2 55 Watt?? but not together?? i highly doubt the 2 15W lights will grow plants as they put you just over 0.5 WPG when the reccomendations are 2 WPG which the 2 55W will give you

i dont have CO2 but my tank is fairly heavily planted so ill be going this route pretty quick.. but i read somewhere that a 20 oz bottle(paintball size) should last about a month

andysutt

Nope, cant use all 4 at once

The big light is a solid unit that holds two 55 watt bulbs

The smaller ones are 2, and each have one 15w bulb in them.

They all wont fit on top of the tank.

I have to offset one of the small ones as it is, as the Emperor 400 takes up part of the back.

The 400 fits on there, but then you can't open the lid and you have to set it off to feed, clean, etc.

I just moved my plants as I didnt like the locations, and w/ the big light set to the side it was almost impossible to see. With the 15ws I can take one completely off, remove the glass top and still have the other 15w to see.

I may try to get some brighter bulbs for my smaller lights.

As for the "start kit" Im not sure if it was bought as a kit or not, as Im not the original owner.

My heater, hood and tank are Marineland and the filter is Emperor 400. Not sure if that was offered as a kit or not.
Also, for some reason Im not getting instant email notification on replies, even tho it is checked in my user CP

Another question... My tank faces a window that the sun shines thru from early morning til about noon directly onto the area of the tank.

Will this help/hurt the tank?
If it helps does it cut down on the watts per gallon thing?

E46er

as far as i know all the sunlight will do is grow algae

andysutt

Thanks, wasn't sure on this one. Never had a tank within direct sunlight.

I guess I'll be keeping the blinde and curtain shut during the direct sunlight hours.

Thanks again