Tropical Fish Forums

[Serkan]

I want to have plants in my tank. But everone here is talking about things I

[qwerty1291]

Fake plants are real easy just plop them in. if you want your tank to look natural and nice I'd start with some simple low light plants like Java Fern, anubias, and maybe some crypts.

[Sammie7]

The best way to learn something is to ask. Don't be afraid to ask the meaning of a word someone is using in a post. We are here to help each other. Is there anything specific that you would like to ask now?

[Serkan]

I want plants in my tank. It

[DF Bobo]

the plants qwerty1291 mentioned would be okay without CO2. if you want a low light, low tech planted tank without all the complexities of CO2 and fertilizer regimes and testing for everything that come with high tech tanks, here's some reading that you may find helpful

http://lowlightlowtechplanted.blogspot.com/
http://www.aquariaplants.com/lowlighttank.htm
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[Rex Grigg]

First thing to ask yourself is how much light do you have over the tank.
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Link to my Guide www.rexgrigg.com


Semper Fi

[Serkan]

It is a 58W Light. Or at least I'm pretty sure it is. It

[Rex Grigg]

If it's a standard florescent light that is 4' long then it's 40 or 32 watts depending on the diameter of the bulb. If it's a T5 light it might be a 54 watt bulb.

But even if by some freak of nature it's actually 58 watts you would be better off going with plastic plants. 58 watts of light in a 4' package over a 5' long tank is not a lot of light. 0.38 wpg. And if it's actually the other wattages then even less. That's not enough light. Period, end of story. There are some plants that will decay extremely slowly under those lighting conditions. But they will never actually grow. Some plants with a rhizome might actually "grow" a bit while they utilize the energy in the rhizome. But once that energy is gone they will start to die.

I would highly suggest you take a few minutes and read my Guide.
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Link to my Guide www.rexgrigg.com


Semper Fi

[Serkan]

The tank is in front of a large window and gets a lot of sunlight. Does this affect the outome at all?

[Rex Grigg]

It sure does. It heats the tank up and causes algae problems. One of the main rules for ANY aquarium is to set the tank up out of direct sunlight. Also due to the axial tilt of the earth the amount of sunlight is never constant.
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Link to my Guide www.rexgrigg.com


Semper Fi