Newbie

[Joe_Shafe]

I'm about to start stocking a 10 gallon tank and want to have live plants in the tank. Any tips and advice for a guy completely clueless to keeping plants alive.

Thanks,
-Joe

 

[aquariumart22]

I'll be watching this, I haven't dealt with co2 yet and really want to get something set up but I'm super clueless about it. A break down about it would be awesome.

 

[Noahs ark6]

Lighting- Lighting depends on what plant species you plan to keep. Plants such as Java fern requier low light (around 30 watts in a 100 litre tank) but plants like Glosostigma need high light (70ish watts in a 100 litre tank) so do your research about what type of plants you can keep.

Fertiliser- Fertiliser provides nutrients to the plant and is important to keep your plants green and healthy.

CO2- CO2 isn't necessary in a tank with few plants (as the fish produce CO2 during respiration) but as you get more plants, and if you have high light, CO2 would become usefull. A diy yeast CO2 system is the cheapest way to go about using CO2 (have a look on youtube for "how to set up a yeast CO2 system"

Flow- The flow of the water is very important if you plan on keeping carpet plants. With good flow, the nutrients in the fertiliser and the CO2 will be dispersed throughout the whole tank and to all the plants.
Thats it really. If you're new to plant keeping it's best to start off with some easier plants (Like Java fern, Amazon Sword, Elodea densa ETC)
Good luck

 

[Joe_Shafe]

Thanks for the informative response It helped a lot. One more question though can you have too much light? I have a 10 gallon tank and a Marineland singe bright LED lighting system and didn't know if this was too powerful for my size tank. If not what plants should I use. Thanks again.

 

[Cactusface]

Hi Joe,
Just type Jave plants or plants alive in to your browser, for a wide choice of plants. These sites also tell you about the plants and what lighting or feeding they need. I have used them both and they provide good clean healthy plants and good prices too. One of then even has a printed catalogue that they will happily send you.

Hope that helps a little.
Regards
Mel.