MudHog

OK.

I've seen real plants before and I do like the idea.

Someone tell me the pros and cons to real plants.

1. Do they add algae to the tank or dirty the tank up?

2. What kind of substrate would be involved?

3. Do they get planted or stay in pots?

4. I've read about fertilizing them, how to do that safely?

5. My light is a 17W bulb on my 39 gallon aquarium that is 22" in total height. Would this work? If not, can I just change out the bulb or do I need a new light fixture.


I'm not looking for "real plants are the only way to go" replies. Looking for good user information.

neverendingninja

Real plants are extremely beneficial to the aquatic environment, because the calm the fish, much the same way houseplants calm people. They also add fresh oxygen to the water.

The can help eliminate algae by consuming nutrients that would otherwise be left in the water to feed algae. The do not dirty the tank up if you do proper maintenance such as trimming dead leaves.

There are many fertilizers designed specifically for planted aquaria, along with dry fertilizers which are for the folks that get dragged more in depth into planted tanks.

Lastly, your lasts are not going to be sufficient. You will need at least twice that in order to grow the lowest light demanding plants. You will have to replace the hood or do a retrofit, as fluorescent bulbs come in standard watts per their length.

Hope that helps. Check out Isabella's "General Guide to Low Light Planted Tanks"

MudHog

this does help.

I would need some seriour upgrading as I only have .4 WPG currently. I would only try to achieve low light status though. Wouldn't jump all in and go High-Light plants from the start.

sirdarksol

What neverendingninja said, with one caveat. If your tank gets any natural light, it could grow plants even with that lighting. Three of my tanks are technically under-lit, but they get indirect sunlight (not necessarily a good thing, but indirect means no jump in temperature, just a larger amount of algae), so they can grow even mid-light plants.

MudHog

i get some morning sunlight, but not much.


what i would like is if someone in the plant field has some time and AIM, I'd like to chat with them.

MudHog

how do you clean/vacuum a tank with live plants? So far I've had fake plants and everytime I cleaned my tank I moved my plants around. With live plants, you have to keep them in their location as they are rooted I assume.

Barbrella

I have only 2 watts per gallon in my 5 gal tanks, and the java fern and anubias I have are growing just fine! I even have some Cabomba putting out roots in there.

Java fern and Anubias cannot have their roots buried. I have them tied to driftwood and a clay pot for now. The roots attach themselves to just about anything, so you can move them around as you please, so that's another option.

MudHog

another thing that concerns me is my banded lep. they like plants and it would probably nip at my live plants.

neverendingninja

Here goes another one...WPG rule fails. It does not work on excessively large or small tanks. 2WPG on 5 gallons is only 10 watts, and that is below the MLT(minimum light threshold) for most plants. Anubias, java fern, etc, will do ok with VERY low lighting, but anything else will suffer. But, also, 2WPG over a 240gal tank is 480 watts. Thats pretty much overkill, and you'll probably burn your plants up.

http://www.fitchfamily.com/lighting.html
http://www.rexgrigg.com/mlt.html

Check those two links out if you want a headache

Also, when it comes to cleaning...you don't vacuum the gravel in a planted tank, because the mulm(fish poop, left over food, etc etc...detritus) that settles on the bottom makes excellent plant food. You should just hover the vacuum over the top of the substrate in order to pick up loose particles.

MudHog

thanks, that clears up the cleaning part.

neverendingninja

Also, don't fret. You'll see it says over 100 watts for your 39 gallon tank, but that is for a Takashi Amano style tank, and if you've seen his work, you know he does things big Just shoot for around 40-75 watts, by doing retro fits or getting a new light fixture, and you should be able to do some excellent, beautiful aquascaping.

MudHog

my tank is 30"x12"x22", do they make universal fixtures for me to look for or would I have to do something custom?

i wouldnt attempt to put a 40w bulb in this fixture and would have to look and see how two bulbs would fit on my 12" deep tank.

MudHog

This is my current hood and light: http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...7&pcatid=13447

30" model

neverendingninja

edit; nevermind.

give me a few minutes.

MudHog

has a 24" T-8 8000degreeK bulb.

neverendingninja

You could look into getting a twin tube fluorescent and a glass versa top

And then putting your current hood in the front, and the new twin tube in the back, putting you at 51 watts.

Or, you could go for a single bulb compact fluorescent fixture, and keep your current hood, putting you at 65 watts.

MudHog

check the last link. it's the same link as the glass versa top.

neverendingninja

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...8&pcatid=11418

There you go. It comes with a lunar light too, which isn't beneficial for your plants, but its nice to watch your fish when they think you're not

Also check eBay. You can get decent lights there for relatively cheap.

I found a link to a store through ebay, and they had my 130w CF fixture for like $60+shipping