jimbojonesnz Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hi all, Ive noticed alot of the members on here who have planted tanks. I was just wondering what extra care/ precautions do you have to take to have live plants in your tank? Also, do those of you who have planted tanks do gravel cleaning? It seems to me like you wouldn't be able to do that anymore for fear of uprooting the plants. Thanks, Jimbo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
meesheelly Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 I have changed to a planted tank with relative ease. Think the most important thing is getting a good substrate. I did my first gravel vac in the weekend, around the plants, and it was fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
antwan Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hey there, all you need to have a successful planted tank is balance; plants require the right lighting, CO2 concentration and macro/micro nutrients to thrive. If all these are successful, you will be successful. Personally, I never gravel vac, but that's only because I have pretty much no gravel open to vacuum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fishboi Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 hay jimbo, plants are great and ur fish would love u for it too. depending on the size of ur tank all u need is some good lights aquaone double does the trick for me with tanks up to 3 foot. ur find that ur tank is alot cleaner with plants as they feed on all the left over etc.. give it a go couldn't hurt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ljtan55 Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 Hey jimbojonez, yeah plants keep all the stuff that makes fish sick (nitrates, nitrates, phosphates) low, and kinda improves water quality. Depending on what plant you want in the tank you may not even have to do anything different - except prune I gravel vac open spaces, plants seem to grow better when I dont tho. Good luck making your decision! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alanmin4304 Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 What you vacuum up in an unplanted tank is basically what the plants feed on. I have heavily planted tanks and only vacuum the surface (of sand) when it starts to look a bit too cruddy. Too much build up of mulm can cause algae problems but other than that there is little need, if you have a good balance of plant,fish light and nutrient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zoban Posted August 24, 2006 Report Share Posted August 24, 2006 If you are wanting to try plants there is a plant index of some common one in the library of the main site compare these with what you like the look of what type of fish and size of tank (some plants grow huge) and what your LFS has in you price range.. PS: take the plants outta the lil basket if they come in one .. have seen it asked a few times and was semi unsure myself till I started searching through old posts. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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