Some Questions Before I Louse Things Up

[ilwayne]

I've never done a planted aquarium before and don't have one currently, but I'm seriously considering setting my 30 gallon (US) back up as a planted aquarium. I've read this forum through and been reading books and articles for a week now. So now I'd like to ask a few questions and reveal my ignorance

1) I kill houseplants like crazy. It's like I have a black thumb. I can't even keep pothos alive for six months. Given that track record, am I going to be ok doing a planted tank or is this going to be another plant failure for me?? I swear, I follow directions well! Whatever I'm doing wrong doesn't come from not following directions.

2) Seriously, what kind of equipment do I NEED and how much of what I'm reading is hype? Does the success of this tank depend on a CO2 injector and super-expensive light setup and a hundred bucks worth of specialty substrate? I don't want to start out getting fancy and grandiose but I want to do what I can to ensure success.

3) Is this thing going to stink? I've been around friends' planted tanks that smell awful. Even the chain petstore nearby smells HORRID in the plant section. Is it supposed to smell that bad??

OK, I'll stop there. I have more questions, but I'll save them for after I decide for sure to do this.

 

[VidVid]

For a start, you should try reading the pinned topics...if you are too overwhelmed with the requirements and the responsibility of starting a planted aquarium, you shoul reconsider...of course you can try a low tech setup with hardy plants such as anubia, java fern, java moss etc, but you do need s asource of CO2, nutrients and lighting....once again, read pinned topics and do more research before you consider starting with plants and get a better idea....
hope everything goes well if you go on with it...