Planted Tank Vs. No Plants

[Mako Man111]

Ok, I currently have a 20 US gallon fish tank with varius artificial plants and a nice cave with a bubble stone where I hook my air hose to and it fizes up through it. But looking through the pictures of some of these planted tanks they look amazing and it temps me to attempt my own, after I brush up on all the water and light requirements. How hard it is it set up one of these tanks and how hard is it to maintain? How would the tank(plants and fish) do with two pairs of Apistogrammas and some corrys? Is sand any better than gravel? I really want to shy away from sand due to it being hard to vacume and clean. How long should I let my plants get aclimated to the tank before adding fish? Also, would I have to add anything to the tank to keep the plants healthy and alive?

I know thats a lot of questions but any answers would really be of much help! Some suggestions for good plants to plant in my aquarium size would all be greatly appreciated

 

[Themuleous]

Sodding hell mate you certainly are inquisitive! I'll try and take it from the top

1) the setting up is easy, just like setting up any other tank

2) Maintenance is a tricky on, it depends on what you want, read the pinned Estimate Index article to get an idea of the two main types. Maintenance varies accordingly.

3) Fish stocking sounds fine

4) I dont think sand or gravel is better is down to taste really. If you dont want sand 3mm fine gravel is good

5) If you have a heavily planted tank you should really need to worry about vacuuming the gravel the plant roots take care of all the fish waste

6) As long as the tank is cycled you can add fish and plants a the same time generally speaking. The fish to avoid are the big ones like the common plec they tend to uproot the plants before they can establish. The fish you suggested would be fine I would have thought

7) You'll need to add fertiliser, how much and of what kinds depends on what type of planted tank you have.

8) The plants you can keep will depend on your lighting.

As to the two types of tank (read the pinned article too )

Low light - less than 2WPG - easy plants like java fern, java moss and anubias species, very little fertiliser needed, just a weekly addition, plants will grow but not very fast, cheap to set up and run

High light - Over 2WPG - can grow pretty much anything, will need to spend a fair amount getting CO2, a plant substrate, fertilisers (although these are quite cheap really), will have to add fertilisers daily, plants will grow like mad and will need regular pruning (almost weekly)

Sam

 

[Mako Man111]

Hmm, my lid is 19 watts, is that going to be enough for the less than 2 watt plants?

 

[George Farmer]

Stick to very easy plants with 19W in a 10G.

The pinned threads at the top of this forum are there to help too.

 

[Dude]

Ok, I currently have a 20 US gallon fish tank with varius artificial plants and a nice cave with a bubble stone where I hook my air hose to and it fizes up through it. But looking through the pictures of some of these planted tanks they look amazing and it temps me to attempt my own, after I brush up on all the water and light requirements. How hard it is it set up one of these tanks and how hard is it to maintain? How would the tank(plants and fish) do with two pairs of Apistogrammas and some corrys? Is sand any better than gravel? I really want to shy away from sand due to it being hard to vacume and clean. How long should I let my plants get aclimated to the tank before adding fish? Also, would I have to add anything to the tank to keep the plants healthy and alive?

I know thats a lot of questions but any answers would really be of much help! Some suggestions for good plants to plant in my aquarium size would all be greatly appreciated

i have a ten gall with 11wpg

and everything grows nice

but i only have the toughest of plants

javva moss
anubias nnana
and java fern

and a melon sward which oddly is thriving

i deffntly recomend a low tech tank its just alot easyer ....

but choose what ever you like...


but if you do go for high tech then go all the way (ferts cable heaters ((underground)) and pressurized co2)

good luck to ya

 

[Themuleous]

I would agree, Im going to convert my main tank to a low-tech planted tank as I cant be arsed with two tanks that both need 50% water change!