Archivarium 2004

kjh90 · Regulars Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Location: Ohio

Hi, I have a 29 gallon freshwater tank, and have about an 1.5" of gravel. I was wondering whether this would be suitable substrate for any common freshwater plants. I have a card at a lfs that lets me have a free fish, invertabre, or plant up to $2.98 for free, or $2.98 off a purchase of one of the things listed above. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thanks for the help!

Rex Grigg · Members Joined: 26 Feb 2005

How much light do you have? That's the real thing you need to worry about.
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kjh90 · Regulars Joined: 15 Mar 2005 Location: Ohio

I have the light that comes in the 29 gallon All-Glass Kit. I am not sure what it is beyond that.

Rex Grigg · Members Joined: 26 Feb 2005

Then my advice is to forget about plants. You most likely have a single 15 or 18 watt bulb on the tank. You would really need at a minimum of 4X as much light as you have to actually grow even low light plants.
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Balance · Members Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Location: Providence, RI

I have successfully grown A. Nana, Hornwort and Various Crypts in a 29 all glass standard setup, the light is 20w and provides adequate light for those plants. they of course grow slowly but that does not mean the won't grow. I added no supplemental ferts or co2 b/c they aren't needed. I had 1" of gravel at the time. Get some plants!! the ones I listed are VERY easy. Don't be alarmed when you plant the crypts and they start to die, thats called crypt rot, they will come back stronger than ever! a. nana doesn't get planted, loosely tight it to something or use a rubberband, just don't bury the big green thing on the bottom.

use a weight to hold down hornwort or it will cover the top of your tank

ENJOY! Happy planting!
Balance.

StormRavin · Members Joined: 30 Mar 2005 Location: Burlington, NC USA

I agree with Balance. You don't need a ton of light to grow plants. I have less that 1.3 wpg and I grow low light plants. I have the following plants:
Anacharis
Cobomba
Anubia Nana
Moneywort
Java Fern

All are doing wonderful and like Balance I use no CO2 or ferts or any other additives. So it can be done. At this point my anubias has bloomed, my java fern has sprouts all over it, and I am constantly cutting back my Anacharis and Combomba. I would definitely go get some plants as they can often help water quality and give your tank a more natural look! Do some research on what plants would work best for you!
Good luck!!

Balance · Members Joined: 28 Dec 2004 Location: Providence, RI

I've posted it before, you can find it if you don't want to do the search yourself but head over to www.plantgeek.net and do a search for low light easy plants and very low light easy plants in their database. Just put a space in the description field and it will show you all of them. That will atleast get you started.

Balance.