Been thinking of doing a planted tank in my 125 and was told planted is harder than a plan community. I was wondering how much harder it is for a novice like me. If I do it, i will have quality lights and substrate.
how hard are planted tanks to keep
- Thread starter Nate Dogg
- Start date
they are pretty simple. you just need to maintain them and keep up on what needs to be done plus buy all the correct products. its pretty expensive but looks so much more amazing when you have all live plants in your tank!
If it is a big tank and you are serious, you need c02 which can be an expensive up-front cost. After buying plants, correct lighting, and substrate, it is realitvely simple. 
If it is a big tank and you are serious, you need c02 which can be an expensive up-front cost. After buying plants, correct lighting, and substrate, it is realitvely simple.
your going to (need) to inject co2 bud. u want a list of things?Honestly, they are not hard to maintain. Research is very important and can save you a lot of time and money. I winged my planted tank(I'll post pictures) and it has turned out pretty well. The most important part imo is the substrate, make sure you have enough of it because once that tank is full, it will be a pain to add some more once everything is established. It would be best if you started out with easy plants(low light, poor/rich gravel[if you did some research on the plants you want, this wouldn't be an issue; or you could just put the best substrate for plants and you can have any plant you want in the future]/no fertilizer needed/no co2 needed). The only thing that would cost a lot for you are the lights if you chose plants that need medium-high light. The fertilizer is not a big deal. As for the CO2, you can save a lot by making a DIY CO2 reactor.
So just start out little by little instead of a big handful at one time. See what works in a small area then you'll get some more ideas of improvement for the big picture. The only thing that I'm not sure about is the cost for your light fixture on a 125.
Here are some of my tank progression pictures...
P.S. This is my first fish tank and is only 9 months old, so if I can do it, you can too!
So just start out little by little instead of a big handful at one time. See what works in a small area then you'll get some more ideas of improvement for the big picture. The only thing that I'm not sure about is the cost for your light fixture on a 125.
Here are some of my tank progression pictures...
P.S. This is my first fish tank and is only 9 months old, so if I can do it, you can too!
As soon as i got into the hobby it was not a question whether i wanted to do planted or not, i love plants. I've always hated the look of tanks that do not have live plants in them, it looks horrible. you can really make your own ecosystem in your tank, and it gets really addicting. I find it very easy to have a planted tank, get plants you like that are easy maintenance, and keep up to date on what they need and trim them often. soon enough if you try you will never have a tank without plants in it again.
