Hey all... my girlfriend wants to do live plants in her 37g. Its stocked with 7 juvenile Angels, and a 4" Highfin Spotted Pleco. (The angels will get thinned as they mature and pair off). I know nothing about plants, so I am asking for some help. What would be some good plants for me? Hardy and easy? We purchased a plant growth bulb for the hood. And are using a sand substrate ("Medium" sand from lowes). Any info helps, as to I am knowledge-less to live plants! Thanks in advance!!!!
Good beginner plants... for this tank.?
- Thread starter Redtail Monster
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With a sand substrate and depending on plants chosen, you will likely need to use root tabs (fertilizer), or some other form of liquid ferts to give your plants needed nutrients...
Next thing, we need to know the height of the tank, and what type of bulb you have in the hood...
Is it T8, T5, T5-HO? And how many watts is it?
Lastly, have you considered adding a pressurized Co2 system in the future? If so, your plant choices become a lot wider depending on lighting
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Next thing, we need to know the height of the tank, and what type of bulb you have in the hood...
Is it T8, T5, T5-HO? And how many watts is it?
Lastly, have you considered adding a pressurized Co2 system in the future? If so, your plant choices become a lot wider depending on lighting
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
With a sand substrate and depending on plants chosen, you will likely need to use root tabs (fertilizer), or some other form of liquid ferts to give your plants needed nutrients...
Next thing, we need to know the height of the tank, and what type of bulb you have in the hood...
Is it T8, T5, T5-HO? And how many watts is it?
Lastly, have you considered adding a pressurized Co2 system in the future? If so, your plant choices become a lot wider depending on lighting
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
Thanks for the reply.
Using root tabs would be fine.
The tank is 21" tall and the light we have is a GE "plant & aquarium" 24" T12. 750 lumens, 20w.
If I need to buy a better plant bulb that isn't a big deal either.
As far as the Co2 system, if we get real serious on the planted tank, I think I will be forced to, but until then, just looking for some plants that will work well with what we got.
Thanks again!
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The way i see it right now, your light maybe the most limiting factor, being that if i'm not mistaken, T12 lights put out the least amount of light from T12 - T5, although to compensate you maybe able to leave them on longer, since i do that on my 60G tank which has T8 ballast fixed into the hood...
As for plants, depending what look you are after, anubias sp come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, and if planned well, i've seen some amazing scapes using just different species of anubias... These will be the easiest plant to work with as they are a low light plant that is very hardy and doesnt really require extra ferts to grow...
Then you have different mosses, some which grow more slowly, some that grow like weeds, again, depending on the look you are after, most mosses do pretty well in low light tanks...
Last but not least, there are also java ferns and crypts that you could also consider...
All these plants above do not require Co2, and are pretty good beginner plants to start with and see how you like it before moving on to the more tricky plants...
But do note that dosing with something like say seachem excel and flourish or root tabs should help the plants grow healthier...
Eitherway, that was just a very basic list, as i'm sure there are still quite a few plants that are probably not too hard for someone new to planted tanks
Oh and let me end by saying patience really is key with planted tanks
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As for plants, depending what look you are after, anubias sp come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, and if planned well, i've seen some amazing scapes using just different species of anubias... These will be the easiest plant to work with as they are a low light plant that is very hardy and doesnt really require extra ferts to grow...
Then you have different mosses, some which grow more slowly, some that grow like weeds, again, depending on the look you are after, most mosses do pretty well in low light tanks...
Last but not least, there are also java ferns and crypts that you could also consider...
All these plants above do not require Co2, and are pretty good beginner plants to start with and see how you like it before moving on to the more tricky plants...
But do note that dosing with something like say seachem excel and flourish or root tabs should help the plants grow healthier...
Eitherway, that was just a very basic list, as i'm sure there are still quite a few plants that are probably not too hard for someone new to planted tanks
Oh and let me end by saying patience really is key with planted tanks
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
x2The way i see it right now, your light maybe the most limiting factor, being that if i'm not mistaken, T12 lights put out the least amount of light from T12 - T5, although to compensate you maybe able to leave them on longer, since i do that on my 60G tank which has T8 ballast fixed into the hood...
As for plants, depending what look you are after, anubias sp come in a lot of different shapes and sizes, and if planned well, i've seen some amazing scapes using just different species of anubias... These will be the easiest plant to work with as they are a low light plant that is very hardy and doesnt really require extra ferts to grow...
Then you have different mosses, some which grow more slowly, some that grow like weeds, again, depending on the look you are after, most mosses do pretty well in low light tanks...
Last but not least, there are also java ferns and crypts that you could also consider...
All these plants above do not require Co2, and are pretty good beginner plants to start with and see how you like it before moving on to the more tricky plants...
But do note that dosing with something like say seachem excel and flourish or root tabs should help the plants grow healthier...
Eitherway, that was just a very basic list, as i'm sure there are still quite a few plants that are probably not too hard for someone new to planted tanks
Oh and let me end by saying patience really is key with planted tanks
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Thanks everyone, very much. I think I will go with a better T8 plant bulb. I will post pics once we get some planted.
Sent from my Motorola Triumph on the MonsterAquariaNetwork App
Sent from my Motorola Triumph on the MonsterAquariaNetwork App
^ if you can change the ballast on your tabk, and are planning to, i would recommend T5 or T5-HO, since you get more light output
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Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
^ if you can change the ballast on your tabk, and are planning to, i would recommend T5 or T5-HO, since you get more light output
Sent from my iPhone using MonsterAquariaNetwork app
As much as I know that this would be ideal... I would like to be able to use the hood I already have. I know I wont get the output the T5 has, im sure an upgrade to a good T8 from my T12 would help wonders! (I never mentioned, but this tank is located in an area that gets a few hours of sunlight throughout the day too!)