First planted tank

[Boxcar Muzzdogg]

Hello everyone. I am planning on starting my first planted tank. I have a 20 gallon long which I would like to have a variety of plants in. My fist issue to tackle was the substrate. I have read about several substrates, of which the most practical and readily availabe substrate was supposedly laterite. Well, I've been to hardware stores, garden centers, nusseries and supposed "pond specialty" stores, and I went to all stores within a 30 mile radius.

Well, for one thing I didn't find a single person who had ever heard of laterite. The most common reply was "what's that?" Finally I decided to get 'Pond Care Aquatic Planting Media' made by Aquarium Pharmaceuticals Inc. All I could get in terms of ingredients is that its zeolite and acrillite. Can anyone tell me if this is a good substrate to use?

My next issue is filtration. I have a penguin biowheel. Is this a good filter for planted tanks? Do I need another type of filtration in addition to the biowheel?
Thanks for all the help.

 

[swampcat]

I use nothing special and have a beutifully planted 55 gallon with about 15 plants. I use low light, and medium low light plants only. Have 70 watts of light with common aquarium bulbs 2 -15 watts for plants and 2 -20 watts that are aqua glow bulbs by hagen. Plant bulbs alone give off a terrible redish yellow color!

I use an aquaclear 500 set at its lowest flow rate. The plants will help too filter water also, you can throw away your carbon too. Your carbon may actually absorb nutrients your plants need, so i definintly would not use.

There is quite a few nice low light plants avaliable, you just need to be patient and look for them. Go to www.plantgeek.net this site seperates plants into catergories such as lighting conditions, ease of care so on and so on. I printed the lists and searched for the plants i wanted.

This is just a suggestion, and I think the most hassle free, and the cheapest way to go. Don't just go out and buy plants, research them first . Figure out what you want to do, how much money you want to invest ect.

 

[Boxcar Muzzdogg]

awesome, thanks swampcat