Planted tank starter?

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duipo

Gambusia
MFK Member
Jul 10, 2010
192
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England
That's a really small tank.

The plants you are planning on stocking have a lot to do with what size and setup you require. Do you have any specific plants that you're wanting to keep? Most of them I know of will outgrow that tank (a lot of them get too tall for a 30 gallon much less a 7 something)
 
Dreamsing;4542534; said:
That's a really small tank.

The plants you are planning on stocking have a lot to do with what size and setup you require. Do you have any specific plants that you're wanting to keep? Most of them I know of will outgrow that tank (a lot of them get too tall for a 30 gallon much less a 7 something)
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I have no clue what plants i want :S i dont know anything about plants at the moment :) thats why i am asking before i buy. At the moment i only keep big fish like Oscars ect... so i would like to learn :popcorn:
 
Sure, can't fault anyone for wanting to learn. Well with a tank that size you will be looking at dwarf plants. Anubis is a good starter plant. Most plants that are going to be small enough for the tank you linked to won't need CO2. If you do want to get a tiny tank, I recommend stocking with cherry shirmp or another small shrimp variety as that is about the only way you will ever be able to keep them.

Props to Msjinkzd she sells some really nice shrimp. In all honesty, good plants are a matter of preference. You'll want to do some looking at different verities to see what you like. The more colorful ones will be harder to keep happy.

You should do some looking around on http://www.plantedtank.net/ they will have a lot of good info for starting a new planted tank. Including advice on good starter plants.

 
The 30 liter would probably be okay for a starter tank. The small one is way too tiny for anything serious. I'd suggest putting together a 10-20g tank for your first time around. You'll have more room to explore different plants and see whta grows and what dies!
 
jcardona1;4542605; said:
The 30 liter would probably be okay for a starter tank. The small one is way too tiny for anything serious. I'd suggest putting together a 10-20g tank for your first time around. You'll have more room to explore different plants and see whta grows and what dies!
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Depending on the plants you pick it could be dangerous to do a what grows and what dies experiment. Plants can be pretty pricey and if you're not wanting to break the bank you'll want to be sure and do your homework before you buy any plants. Some of them are just too difficult to keep and those can also be the most appealing and most expensive.
 
Dreamsing;4542593; said:
Sure, can't fault anyone for wanting to learn. Well with a tank that size you will be looking at dwarf plants. Anubis is a good starter plant. Most plants that are going to be small enough for the tank you linked to won't need CO2. If you do want to get a tiny tank, I recommend stocking with cherry shirmp or another small shrimp variety as that is about the only way you will ever be able to keep them.

Props to Msjinkzd she sells some really nice shrimp. In all honesty, good plants are a matter of preference. You'll want to do some looking at different verities to see what you like. The more colorful ones will be harder to keep happy.

You should do some looking around on http://www.plantedtank.net/ they will have a lot of good info for starting a new planted tank. Including advice on good starter plants.
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Another thing, Do i absolutely need special lights or will a normal bulb be ok as i don't want to spend about £200 (exaggeration) on lights :)
 
Dreamsing;4542629;4542629 said:
Depending on the plants you pick it could be dangerous to do a what grows and what dies experiment. Plants can be pretty pricey and if you're not wanting to break the bank you'll want to be sure and do your homework before you buy any plants. Some of them are just too difficult to keep and those can also be the most appealing and most expensive.
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dangerous in terms of what? your bank account? if so, I agree! The reason I say experiment is because there's no real way of knowing what a plant's light needs really are. You'll hear people say this is a "high" light plant. But what constitutes high light? WPG? That is a useless rule. 3wpg of T8 lighting is not equal to 3wpg of T5HO.

I'm growing several plants that one would consider 'high' light with 40-50 micromols of PAR at the substrate - which most would consider to be very low-medium light. There have been a few that didn't do well, but like I said, only way to find out is to give it a try :)
 
duipo;4542643;4542643 said:
Another thing, Do i absolutely need special lights or will a normal bulb be ok as i don't want to spend about £200 (exaggeration) on lights :)
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Not sure what you mean be 'normal' or 'special' lights. Best thing to do at this point is take a step back and decide what type of setup you want and what type of plants you want to grow.

If you want something like this, you'll need some fairly intense lighting, pressurized co2 and a comprehensive fert routine.

DSC00004.jpg



If you want a simple lowtech tank on the other hand, a simple T8/T12 fixture and the occasional Excel supplement will be all you need

new125p.jpg
 
Start with a low tech tank so you ge tthe hang of it. Do a 10-20 gallon. Buy some lights and Fertilizers. I suggest easy plants like crypts, java fern, java moss, anubias, wisteria, anacharis, hornwort, pennywort etc
 
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