[isais]

Heya,
Just wondering if anyone out there uses a specific formula to determine how many plants they put into a tank (ie. 1/gallon, 1/watt of light etc)? The last time I set up a planted tank it was fairly sparce and focused more on fish then greenery, but it seems like lots of people have gone the opposite way now. I love having both.

 

[AquaTX01]

It all depends on the look you're trying to achieve. Lot of plants never hurts. Only thing to keep in mind, is you'll have to dose fert/CO2 according to how many plants you've got. and lots of plants does subtracts from space for fish. meaning, you'll have less room for fish (inch of fish/gallon rule)... g/luck. roud:

 

[Hoppy]

The more healthy, growing plants you have, the easier it is to avoid algae problems, but only up to the point where the plant mass is so great it blocks water circulation, which gets you back into algae problems again. I think the goal in setting up a new tank is to have a stem plant about every square inch of substrate - that is a lot of plants! Those don't need to be big plants, just so they will be growing. Then as the tank gets older you can start reducing the number of stem plants and changing to the plants you want to keep, in smaller numbers. However, if you have mulm from an established tank to add under the substrate of the new tank, and an established canister filter to install, with lots of bacteria in it, it doesn't seem to matter that you start with a lot fewer plants. When I switch tanks, but use the plants and filter from the removed tank, I have never had problems with just planting it as I like from the beginning.

 

[isais]

OK thanks. The substrate and filter I have now have both been in this tank (and being used) for over 2 years now. The biotope that Im planning on requires lots of plants and I wasnt sure if there was some estimated formula (similar to the 1" of fish/gallon) that had been used with success (unlike the 1"fish/gallon...lol). I like the idea of 1 plant /square inch idea...thanks!!

 

[Ariel301]

I've never heard any rule about it...I think it's more just what look you like. Some people want a tank with lots of fish and just a few plants, some want a tank crammed full of plants and no fish at all, others are all over in between. I just put plants in there until it looks good when I am planting a tank. Or until I run out of plants and have to get more.