planted floor

[boredcpl]

i see the plants covering the bottom of the tank and im in aw.. i would love to have my 105 with my fish in it and have a solid planted floor and maybe so taller plants in the back maybe 3-5 tall plants.. ive never had plants before so my question is what plants should i get and what care do they need.. my 105 has 2 aquaclear 70 on the back and a powerhead on top of an under gravel filter in the back right hand corner facing to the middle of the tank. so is a planted tank do'able.

[sohfatfish]

Are you intending for a high tech one(with Co2 and high lighting) or just a simple one? If you are going for a simple easy to maintain one, then i reccomend plants like anubias, java fern some nanas and maybe even java moss tied to drift wood. For tall plants maybe you would like to try hydrilla, cabomba and water wysteria. These plants should be able to thrive in a tank with about 3 to 5 ppm of Co2 which can be easily attained by not having any surface disturbances on the water top. However i dont think UGFs are suitable for a planted tank as the plants are unable to root properly and also fertilizers cannot be applied. In easy maintenance planted tanks, shorter periods of lighting are required, like maybe 6 hrs only and regular water changes needs to be carried out to remove excess nitrate, ammonia, nitrite so that it does not cause an algae bloom.

If you really want to cover your whole floor with short plants then hair grass or e tannelus, but these require Co2 and average lightings. I havent tried then without Co2 tho so maybe it can be done.

[guppy]

I have never done a high tech plant tank as the plants were always secondary to the fish. I do like ugfs but as sohfatfish says they do interfere with rooted plants. I get around that by using small pots for my plants which also helps keep the fish from uprooting them. I also only use a ugf on the forward 1/2 of the tank. this lets me plant thickets of taller plants towards the rear.

[boredcpl]

thanks for your help.. im looking for a covered floor and 1 to 5 plants in the back for a back ground. hopefully no co2 or fertilizer.. just water changes and fish feeding and maybe a plant clipping everyonce in a great while.. i would like to know if thats possible..

[guppy]

To really get a complete coverage I think you will unfortunatley need to lose the ugf, I bet you could fake it with java moss tied to a wooden lattice set in the tank and it grows pretty well with out added CO2. That, a couple stands of elodea, some saggitaria, and a few potted crypticormes maybe, I have never done it that way but I have kept all those plants in community tanks with nothing special added to the water except sometimes injecting some filter gunk into the pots with a basting needle.

[mermin]

co2 isnt a real problem to set up. just use a few diy co2 injector. its easy and cheap. and it will make your plants grow alot better

[sohfatfish]

DIY CO2 will only work on small tanks. The Co2 production will be too inconsistent and too little to actually supply adequately for a large tank.

[blacktip]

I would try the dwarf sag, Sagittaria subulata, for your ground cover. In my experience, they were pretty easy to grow and didn't really need any special care. With the ugf, your results may not be as spectacular as the pictures you see of specialized planted tanks, but don't be afraid to give it a try.

[mermin]

yea i wasnt really thinking about how big that tank was.

[coyotethug]

a little extra money goes a long way when it comes to lights and CO2. Your bottom plants like the dwarf swords and other low ground covers will grow like weeks and cover the whole tank in no time. Spend a few hundred on lights and CO2, it is more than worth it.

[thunderbolt289]

I have pressurized c02 on my 75 gallon. I'm trimming 3 inches a day off some plants. Well worth it! Not as complex as it looks. Bottle and regulator was $220. Thats all I needed. I have 3 watts per gallon. No algea either.

Soon I'll be trading the LFS plants for feeders and krill. Ipost pics. Check em out!

[tothna]

Is is not necessary to vacuum the gravel if you have a ton of plants? I always see pics of tanks with tons of real plants and wonder how they clean it, it seems like vacuuming the gravel would uproot the plants

[sohfatfish]

You dont have to vaccuum untill it is super clean... most of the dead plant matter will decompose and become nutrients for the plants.