Help With Plant Choices

[fish_keeper2]

im gonna be setting up a new 29 gal soon and im trying to decide what plants to use. im probly gonna order them from liveaquaria.com. heres a list of what they have that i like:

narrow leaf chain sword
dwarf hairgrass
java fern
broad ludwigia
rotala magenta
amazon sword
cabomba
jungle val(they are out of these right now so i may need a substitute for these)
wisteria
anancharis
green myrio

what i want to know is how many of each and what combo of plants should i get as well as general placement in the tank. oh yeah and i plan to have small natural colored gravel with some malaysian driftwood and the stock will be 1 angelfish, 1 male and 1 female german blue rams, 7 neons or cardinals, 5 corries, and 3 ottos. maybe some ghost shrimp too.

 

[Jen]

It will all depend on how far into planted tanks you want to go. Are you planning on having a lot of light and co2 in the tank, and adding fertalizers, or are you hoping to do it low tech with just the lights that came in the hood.

 

[fish_keeper2]

i have and have used fertalizers. i wont use co2. upgrading lights wont be a porb. as for plants i do want it to be pretty full. once i have the plants in i want it to look nice and lush like it has been set up for a while but still have room to grow.

i went to aquariumplants.com and made a wish list:
1 order of 10 jungle val
1 order of 10 narrow leaf chain sword
1 8-10inch amazon sword
3 pots of dwarf hairgrass
4 pots of java fern
2 rotala magenta
2 bunches of 6-8stems of green cabomba
1 red tiger lotus
and 1 baseball sized clump of java moss

does that look good? will be too much or too little? also is this stuff any good: http/www.aquariumplants.com/cgi-bin/cart/SS695.html if so will 40 lbs be enough for 29 gal?

 

[Jen]

What are your final plans for the lights then? What watt/gallon are you hopping for? If you up it too much and not add co2 you will be asking for trouble... believe me.

The tiger lotus will need a good amount of light to stay red. I have about 2 wpg, and it isn't overly red... more of a reddy brown.

 

[fish_keeper2]

will 3 wpg be good? i know of some good lighting. i have a saltwater tank that ive been looking for good lighting for corals and have come across some that would be strong enough for a planted tank. would any of these be good:
http/bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xm...1873&pcid1=1843

http/bigalsonline.com/catalog/product.xm...id1=1843;pcid2=


also just so i know the standered 29 gal is 30 inches long right?

 

[leafs]

Just like canoechiq stated, too much light and without co2 being added will cause algae. If you go with 3 wpg and no co2 you'll most likely have algae problems. Why not try a diy co2 reactor. It's pretty simple to do.

 

[Jen]

The general rule with lights and co2 is that once you hit the 2 wpg mark, co2 is necessary. Believe me it's necessary. lol. If you stick with lower light plants and say, aim for 1.5 wpg then you won't need co2, and you wont have to worry about all the dry fertalizers that we use. A basic liquid 'trace' fertalizer will be sufficient.

The Java's, and amazon sword will do fine in low light. I found my val went all mushy on me. The lotus won't say red. I don't have much experience with the other plants and lower lights.

 

[fish_keeper2]

ok thanks. how would i do a diy co2 injector/reactor or w/e its called? i read on here some where that you can use yeast for it?

will the plants i picked do good under 3 wpg?


if i decide to go low tech what other plants will work in the same ligh conditions as java and amazon swords?

 

[fish_keeper2]

bump