[m.lemay]

Copied from the article section of our main web page and very well written by Buck:
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Basics-to-starting-a-Planted-Tank/4/

Marcel

 

[Scorpion]

Cool. Thanks for sharing!

 

[fiddlercrab]

that was interesting

 

[Kris]

should have read this first... sorry

 

[minnow]

At last ! I found a place where I can glean info to get a planted tank established. I read your set up article, and was curious to see there was no mentionof a heating cable below the substrata. Do you use one? Is it really recomended?

 

[harry_dhillon]

cool very informative. I have just set up a 180 gallon tank abt 2 weeks ago, planted some plants and most of them are growing well. Its a 6 foot long tank, and i am using 2 flouro tubes( Power -glo) 40 watt - 4 foot long tubes and i find that it gives enough light. My fish are happier, they seem to be behaving more naturally the more the plants grow. Although the tank is still cloudy due to the "cycle" which is still not complete. I am hoping to a few more plants laters stages to enchance the tank.

 

[jayviado12]

im just new here. can you look if this is an eggs or a plant disease

http://farm7.static.flickr.com/6056/6388616529_c2f588792f_s.jpg

 

[jayviado12]

sorry for the small pics, heres a bigger one

 

[Kathyy]

Those look like snail eggs to me and will just scrape off the leaf without damaging it at all if you don't want snails in your tank.

Most small snails eat algae, biofilm and dead plant material and don't harm plants. They can build into a real plague if plants are producing a lot of dead material or the tank is overfed. I figure if there are are too many snails it isn't their fault, I need to do something to reduce the opportunity for so many snails to survive. Have found that the numbers will drop once there isn't so much food for them because the plants are doing better.

 

[jayviado12]

thank you very very much for your help. youre right, found some of snails in my drift woods. i already scrape the eggs from the leaves and remove all the snails visible in the tank. im still about to start my planted aquarium.

heres the list of my stuff:

10gallon aquarium
20lbs eco-complete substrate
100w heater
fluval co2 kit
redsea hydrometer/thermometer 2in1
aqueon filter for 30gallon
white 48bulb LED strip (only for viewing)
anubias nana tied to my drift wood

planning to buy:
lighting bulb system
weeping moss
flame moss
philippine java fern

 

[aquaticaquarium]

Yeah I have those same eggs from snails, but I just stopped dealing with them.

 

[babydragons]

Love this article!! It finally helped me answer my questions about lighting per gallon!

 

[Murf]

Very informative, thankyou

 

[dreamchick]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[NurseKorin]

that helps, thanks =)

 

[asuran]

Thanks for sharing!

 

[migs_hernan]

Very helpful, thanks for sharing...

 

[Seadon]

Copied from the article section of our main web page and very well written by Buck:
http://www.plantedtank.net/articles/Basics-to-starting-a-Planted-Tank/4/

Marcel

love this! Thank you so much for posting this link!..I have a question though. As im sure a lot of new Planted Tank(ers) do, I used an inert substrate through inexperience, and I turned a non planted tank into one. So I started with way too little hot pink aquarium gravel, then I added a bit more aquarium sand (20lbs) so I have 10lbs of gravel mixed in with 20lbs of black sand, I would like to beef up my substrate with something with a little better CEC and some more nutrients, but I already have my tank fully up and running with plants now. I am thinking ADA Aqua Soil, Amazonia, what and how much, and what methods would anyone with more experience recomend for adding this to a 65/35 sand/gravel mix that is already established, moderately planted and livestocked??

 

[tenati]

This was very helpful. However, as a beginner to this hobby, it left me with questions on order of doing things. Should I fill the tank before adding plants? Is it okay to add plants right after filling / tie the plants to driftwood, put in place, and then fill the tank? I'm not asking for answers here, merely adding my input to the article. Luckily, it looks like I got the right lighting and nutrients for my tank!

 

[photocurio]

I've been browsing this forum, as I've been getting ready to re-plant my rather dull looking 10 gallon tank.

One question I have is how folks generally cover their tanks. I see lots of pictures with what looks like uncovered aquariums, with high powered lamps hanging over them.

Is this better than putting a glass cover on the tank, and shining the light through the glass?

(My tank has had a Marineland system cover, with built in filter and flourescent light, for years. It is now failing, which has prompted me to look into a different system, that will hopefully give me more vigorous plant growth.)