Steps

[Airstreamin]

Originally Posted by Colorblizzle

And djAngo keep the tips coming. Everyone else too this is my first planted so my ears are WIDE OPEN

Make sure there's water in the tank before adding fish! lol j/k

Seriously though, if you're afraid (or gf in this case) of ammonia in the house, just pee in your tank. Yes I'm being serious, how you think most of us aquaponics / veg gardeners get our compost cycles started?

Regardless, as long as you take it slow and ease into the cycle you can go either route. Personally I prefer the fishless cycle as there's no point in a needless death, but on the other hand, get yourself a hardy fish or 2, let them cycle the tank and then sell them back to the LFS and get what you really want. That's what I did with my last tank, worked great.

Also, you stated you're running LEDs, and while PAR rating is important, so is wattage, with that low of a wattage you'll want to make sure you're not using plants that are heavy light usage plants as they won't thrive very well.

[Colorblizzle]

I'd have to stand on the dresser to pee in the tank so ill just skip that step but yeah I know wattage is important. I decided on this fixture after running all my options and coming up with nothing practical. T8 best I could do was 15w and couldn't find PAR ratings. T5 couldn't find a single tube fixture and don't wanna do a dual because with that much light I will NEED CO2 and I don't want to use it. Only other option was CFL and I don't want to use screw in bulbs. From what I hear that's what most people do in these smaller tanks but I can't bring myself to using them. Seems TOO low-tech lol. But idk which plants I'm using yet. Royals, ludwigia chain sword are my only definite choices

[Airstreamin]

See, you got this, what you need us for?

[Colorblizzle]

Lol are those plants I named low light?

[amberoze]

Look for a book called ecology of the planted aquarium by Diana walstad. Tells you everything. But basically, if you plant heavily enough with fast growing plants from the start, you can add fish within minutes. And it's completely safe.

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[Colorblizzle]

I have looked for that book and have read a lot of articles about her method and it seems for the most part that's what I'm aiming at but that book is $60 at the cheapest I've found and none of my library's carry it. And that's how I plan to stock I just hope my lighting will be adequate because like I said a few posts up options are limited

[Airstreamin]

From my understanding, your most common low-tech plants would be Java ferns / moss and Anubias varieties, Cryptocoryne, green temple, Sagittaria, Vallisneria, etc.

A lot of the sword variety plants generally require more to the medium spectrum of lighting.

Now keep in mind, this doesn't mean you "can't" grow them successfully in a low-light / low-tech setup, it just generally means you will get a slower growth rate and will have to ensure proper nutrients, water quality, etc.

[Colorblizzle]

Ok thanks. I want slow steady growth and I will be fertilizing so hopefully all goes well

[Django]

Originally Posted by amberoze

Look for a book called ecology of the planted aquarium by Diana walstad. Tells you everything. But basically, if you plant heavily enough with fast growing plants from the start, you can add fish within minutes. And it's completely safe.

Sent from my Galaxy Nexus using Tapatalk 2

Try at Amazon - that's where I bought mine. I planted my 10 gallon heavily with fast-growing plants relying on stem plants and bought seven Pristella Tetras. I think you have found a good place for answers here.

[Colorblizzle]

Cheapest I saw it on amazon was $65

[Django]

Yep, you're right. I don't know how that happened. It's a good coffee table book so maybe it's the season.

[Colorblizzle]

Maybe. Ill keep looking on occasion tho. I do want that book

[Django]

A YouTube video about Walstad's method.

http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j...57316858,d.cWE