need info on plants

[kaley822]

i was thinking of switching from fake plants to trying some real, but i dont know anything about how to grow plants. Does anyone have any tips for starting or easy types of plants to keep? do i need a different type of light bulb? if the plants die will it kill the fish?

thanks,

kaley

 

[Teelie]

You might want to ask in the Plants and Planted Tanks forum to get better advice.

 

[snowyangel]

I've now switched from fake to live plants in most of my tanks, and i just love it(so do the fish). Some of the best advice i got was from a lfs and they said to remove the carbon from your filter b/c it removes CO2 which plants need to survive. There's also special plant lights for your hood made for plants developement.

 

[fish_newbie]

where does the co2 come from? do u need to add it in the water urself?

 

[kaley822]

what do i put in there instead of the carbon, dont you need that to filter the water??

 

[fish_newbie]

no u dont really need the carbon ..all u really need carbon for is taking out medication and other things like that

 

[Jen]

So, will bacteria still form on the filter without the carbon? I was also under the assumption that you needed to carbon to 'clean' the water (like in the Brita or Pur water filters for drinking water)

 

[snowyangel]

The sponge developes most of the bacteria and debris. The carbon doesn't collect debris. If you've looked inside your filter after a month(or when u clean your filter), you will see your sponge is covored in filth, not your carbon.
CO2 gets expelled from fish.