# Advice needed on first plant setup



## hillmar (Sep 25, 2010)

Hi,
I'm looking into starting my first planted tank, and need some advice. I want to use low maintenance plants, as i wont be using any soil or advance lighting. I'm looking into potting these plants (tying them down with ceramic pots, but no soil underneath) . I'm planning on spending about 30 dollars on this little venture, and probly 10 various plants at the most ( have 10 pots to start atm). Any advice on which plants to go for and where I can get a starter package would be great. These plants are going into a Discus tank, so I need to make sure they are healthy and not carrying anything unwanted.

Specifications:
Tank- 55 Gallon long standard tank
lighting- Eclipse natural daylight F15T8 18" ( X 2)
Substrate- Aragonite
Fishes- Discus, Rams, Cory's, 2 BN pleco's
Filtration- Penguin 350B and a XP1
Assesory- 1 small bubble wall
Wood- 2 pieces of drift wood


----------



## Death's Sting (Apr 21, 2010)

Interesting choice of substrate... I wouldn't recommend it for a planted tank since Aragonite will raise your pH to 8+ . Most plants prefer acidic water 7 and under.. However, there's lots of plants you can still grow.

Here is a list of possible candidates: http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/plants-algae-ferts-ei-co2-lighting-13/low-light-plants-list-499/

I also have Java Fern for sale. Its very hardy and will grow in some of the worst conditions. I am selling in bulk 20 2-3'' plants for $10. If your interested call me at 604 218 1063.


----------



## relaxedfish (Apr 24, 2010)

I started my first planted tank a few months ago and it took me awhile to keep the plants from dying on me, but now they're growing like crazy. I'm not sure what kind they are but if you need plants you can have some for free. Send me your email address and I can email you some pixs of them.


----------



## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

The light level seems a bit low for growing plants in your tank. You can use floating plants or java fern/anubias attached to driftwood closer to the water surface. 36 watt over 55 gallon is not a lot of light.

That being said, aragonite does not make for a good rooting substrate. Not many plants can handle the extreme pH at the root. I have tried using crushed corals and plants that did well was anubias (was sitting on top of the crushed corals and not rooted in there), cryptocoryne affinis (rooted into crushed corals) and java moss. pH was around 7.8 in the water column. Cryptocoryne xwillisii didn't root into crushed corals.
cryptocoryne crispatula var. balansae should root into aragonite.

I had floating Heteranthera zosterifolia in the crushed corals tank and did they well. Thats about all I tested before scrapping the tank and changed it to a Corydoras tank. 

Will you be adding fertilizer into the water column? If not, you should go with heavy root feeder and put fertilizer spike in the pot to feed the plant.


----------



## hillmar (Sep 25, 2010)

This is really weird..... I never had a PH issue with my stocking, and usually it sits in the low range. I was going to do a water change tonight so I tested the water right now and have this reading twice on the PH high tester....








and again 









I'm a little bit color blind, especially with these shades of brown but it looks like I'm sitting at the lowest reading on the high PH tester ??!! 

But this setup is what I really wanted to copy, as you can see there is no roots in the aragonite ( Hope peterchow doesn't mind !  )
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/aprils-aquarium-33/wild-discus-peru-9349/index6.html

But as for lighting.... I'm always open to change it, but I did want a lower maintenance system.


----------



## kelownaguy (Jan 1, 2011)

In my experience,plants come w/unwanted hitchikers more often than not.
Only way I know to avoid them is to buy tissue culture plants from Aquaflora.
Each of thier containers contains a very large # of baby plants.I ordered 8 containers for my 72 and ended up w/way too many.

I`ve had good luck w/Java ferns in a highish ph non-CO2 tank.
Cryptocoryne balanese should do well too.

Your lighting seems on the dim side.


----------



## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

pH of up to 8 isn't a huge problem in planted tank water column. Some plants doesn't root well in aragonite or crushed corals. Could be the high electrolyte or electrical conductivity. 

If you tank is around 20" high, aim for around 1.5 to 2 wpg. You can grow a lot of plants in that.


----------

