Plant basics

Tillie Fish · New Member Joined: 20 Aug 2008 Posts: 1

Hi- Can anyone point me towards begining basic info on aquarium plants ?

I've tried unsuccessfully over the years to have a plant aquarium; but it never works ! I bought the light; the gravel; the plants and food.... I have a very VERY green thumb outside the aquarium and a housefull of plants.

I'm also an experienced fish person; with 4 tanks- I've had everything over the years exept fish that eat other fish on purpose Smile

....... I'm new to this board and my name is in memory of my tillapia butterkoferi Tillie Fish who was 14 years old when he passed last summer.

Thanks ! Tillie Fish

nebthet · Member Joined: 21 Apr 2008 Posts: 375 Location: Belleville

Hi Tillie Fish and welcome to the site.

You seem to have the opposite problem that I used to have when I started keeping fish. I couldnt keep them alive until I put plants in the tank.

There are a couple of factors you should consider when going for a planted tank.
- The type of fish you are keeping: Cichlids will destroy most plants with the exception of Java Fern.
- Lighting conditions. Not too much and not too little depending on the plants you have. Swords and java fern are low light plants needing only 1-2 watts/gallon while Val, ludwigia, and pennyword are medium light plants needing 2-3 watts/gallong while rotalla, riccia and hygro are high light plants needing 3-4 watts/gallon.
- Lights in the red and blue spectrum are best used for plant growth. Flourecent lights the best. Incandecents loose too much energy from heat than light.
- Dont do too many water changes, this will reduce the nutrients your plants need, unless you plan on adding liquid ferts and CO2 to your tank on a frequent basis.
- Once you put you plants where you want then, dont move them around. Some will die off if you do that.

Other than that, I not too sure what else you could do to keep plants healthy and alive. It is all trial and error.

If you want to try again, I have some Red Ludwigia to give away.

**ausername** · Posted: Thu Aug 21, 2008 8:26 am Post subject:

First Welcome to QAS

Like nebthet was saying light is importantant and so is color. 6700 K bulbs can make a huge difference on their own. (Daylight bulbs)

Heres a great site on planted tanks http://www.rexgrigg.com/