First Timer, Need Some Help.

[slakey]

Right so as the title says I need some help. I'm not a first timer to keeping live plants, I've done that in the past, but this will be the first time I attempt a carpet.

But first some info about the tank.

I haven't bought it as yet, but I'll most likely be buying a Boyu ZJ-601A, it's 84 litres, so it's of reasonable size for me to start getting back into fish keeping.

I'm not sure if that light would be any good or if I can get better ones to help the plants more?

I will be looking to put about 1" of TetraTec Complete Substrate and then about 1"-2" of sand on top, and like I said earlier I would like a carpet of something in one corner, I was thinking along the lines of Dwarf Hairgrass, is this possible, is it easy to do, are there other better alternatives?

I'd like to go for the natural look but not overdue it.

I also want to have a piece of marsh root or mopani wood with a plant on, possibly java moss? Lol sorry I'm really clueless about all the plant side of things, I also know that I want some slate to make some kind of caves.

Another question: Should I look into getting a CO2 system, if yes, which should be good enough for an aquarium of that size?

Should I start thinking/discussing which fish would be suited for the planted aquarium I'm after?

 

[RadaR]

24W over 84 litres is fine.
Growth will be slowish if you just dose trace elements every few weeks. But the plants will survive.
If you wanted faster growth then you can simply dose Easycarbo everyday. Carbon addition will also increase the plants demand for nutrients though, in which case you;ll have to dose Tropica Plant Nutrition+.
You wont need to inject gaseous CO2.
Most community fish are acceptable in planted aquariums. Possible plant destroyers wouldnt fit in your tank anyway (e.g. silver dollers).

Hairgrass would be fine to use. Marsilea Crenata is worth a look too.

 

[slakey]

Okay cool, thanks for the fast reply.

Any advice on other plants, I'm not really a fan of tall plants.

I really just want low - medium plants really.

Nothing too hard to keep as I'm not all that experienced.

 

[RadaR]

You can try Staurogyne repens. I intend to use this is my next 125litre scape. Fantastic plant.
Hydrocotyle sibthorpioides is another great plant.

 

[slakey]

Ooo the Staurogyne repens is a nice planthis is a picture of some:

Ages ago I knew a good site to buy live plants but over time I have since forgotten, it was highly recommended by many fish keepers.

I suppose a lot of planning the aqua scaping is down to going out and see what stock are at the fish stores, and then seeing if it'd look good in your tank?

 

[RadaR]

Ages ago I knew a good site to buy live plants but over time I have since forgotten, it was highly recommended by many fish keepers.

Well, there is Aquaessentials.co.uk
There is also thegreenmachine
Java plant is ok for the usual stuff.

I suppose a lot of planning the aqua scaping is down to going out and see what stock are at the fish stores, and then seeing if it'd look good in your tank?

Yeah, kind of. Looking through Aqua Journals (online or magazines) and pics of other peoples tanks is also good. You can see what fish work well with different scapes etc.

 

[slakey]

I've found some more plants I'm fond of.
Riccia fluitans
Eleocharis acicularis < Is that the Dwarf Hairgrass? I don't know the scientific? names.
Hemianthus micranthemoides

 

[RadaR]

Yes, that is Hairgrass.
With some of these plants, you may find that they wont be as compact without carbon addition. Only one way to find out though.

 

[slakey]

Hmm okay.

Need to find somewhere that does slate now.