Planting a new Juwel Trigon 190

[spannerman]

Hi all,
I don't have a lot of luck keeping live plants in my 20gal. corner tank, so that one has artificial plants in, but I was recommended to put live plants in my new Trigon 190 tank, as due to it's larger capacity (40gal.) it should be easier to keep them alive. I'm not too sure yet which fish I am going to stock it with yet, but I will be having a cave like area on one side for my clowns, and the other side I want to plant, as a lot of the fish I am considering require a planted area in hide in. The tank is fairly deep at 21" so I would like something to give a bit of 'height' at the back and tapering downwards into the tank. Could you make a few suggestions as to which ones to look at? S.

 

[Discomafia]

What are the dimensions of you tank first of all? And since the most important factor in planting your tank is light, you'll want to get at least 2 watts per gallon for your tank, tho' 3wpg would be great, and meets the lighting requirements for a large majority of plants. You'll have to add CO2 with this much light per gallon, so make sure you do a bit of reading around. Go DIY if you think pressurised canisters is too expensive. And you'll have to give us a list of what fish you plan to get, as some fish munch on plants and you don't wanna see that!

 

[spannerman]

The approximate size is 27"x27"x21" deep corner unit with a bow front. It has 2 18w x 24" daylight tubes. I'm not very knowledgeable about CO2 requirements as I have read some conflicting opinions as to whether it is necessary or not, regarding the consequences of too much CO2 in the system. S.