i have a 125 gallon community tank and i am interested in having live plants. as a setup i have some artificial plants and 2 hunks of driftwood with a holy rock in the middle. i have 7 australian rainbows, 5 danios, 4 plattys, 2 bleeding heart tetras, 18 neons, 2 black khuli loaches, 3 clown loaches, 3 rosy barbs, 2 cories and 1 redtail shark. i do have some live plants as well but not anything that im thrilled with. ive been thinking of getting java moss and trying to get it to take root in the driftwood but i wasnt more as a backround and for hiding places. does anybody have any suggestions? for a setup i have 2 tetratec pf500 filters as well as a magnum 350 canister filter with a bio wheel. for lighting i have 2 24 inch 20 watt light fixture thingys. i have the lighting set from 9 am till 6 pm and feed the fish every other day.


miket

AHA!! Finally, the aquatic plants forum gets it's first posting..

OK, where do I begin....
Firstly, u need to do a little bit more reading up about planting a tank b4 embarking on it. Keeping fish is easy, keeping plants that thrive in an aquarium (those lush green aquariums u see in books) is another thing.

For starters, u have perfect equiptment for keeping fish (bio-wheel filtration), but absolutely lousy equiptment for plants. U see, the requirements for fish to thrive and plants to thrive are quite different (Actually quite the opposite). Fish need an abundance of oxygen, plants need an abundance of CO2. To grow plants properly, u need to artificially inject CO2 into the tank. And because you spend substantial ammounts of trouble dissolving the CO2 into the water, u want minimal surface turbulance/aggitation which would release the CO2 you put in. Bio-wheels are a big NO-NO in a planted tank. Keep the surface as still as possible.... no bubble wands or anything like that. Add CO2 and the plants will produce the O2.

I suggest you check out these 2 DIY links to get you started cheaply with a planted tank...
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html
http://www.nfis.com/~hartland/aqua/co2.htm

Next, Lighting: the recommendation for planted tanks is an average of 2W per gallon.... With your 2 light fixtures in a 125gal, u're WAY short. At your ligthing level, only Java moss would survive... barely. I would suggest you add another 2light fixtures and then, u could possibly grow the lower light plants like Java Fern, Anubias, Crypts, Bolbitus and possibly Hygrophilia Polysperma.

Just a lot to learn about planting aquatic plants b4 jumping right in... gotta add the right substrate, learn about fertilisation of cleated metals, adding Co2, substrate heating, ligting spectrum....... wow... I could write the whole night long.

Anyways... I just started learning and planting aquariums about 6months ago... so still learning as well. Absolutely fabulous to have an aquatic garden in the living room...

Actually I tend to disagree with the no bio-wheel theory. I have emporer bio-wheels on all of my tanks, and they are all heavily planted, even the 10 gallon that I have dwarf puffers in. One thing to remember is that what works in one tank will not always thrive in another tank.

You also have to remember that during the day, or when you lights are on then yes your plants will be producing O2 and using CO2. Live plants also help with keeping your nitRATEs down. Anyway, when you turn of your lights and your fishies go to sleep those same plants USE O2 and produce CO2. The way that I remedy this is by putting my lights and an airpump with a bubble wand on a timer. When the lights go off the bubble wand comes on.

The use of CO2 systems is not always neccisary, and I personally have never used one. I fertilize by the directions on the package once a week with liquid fertilizer and also place fertilizer tabs by the roots of my heavily rooted plants like my swords, litea etc. There is also a product made by Jungle laboratories that I put in on occasion, it is suppose to add CO2 to the water when it disolves, but I mainly use it for the trace elements that It contains.

The statement about the lighting is correct also, to some degree. There are low light plants out there that would do very well in the light that you already have. Lighting can get pretty expensive, both in the original purchase and the upkeep on them. I would recommend replacing your bulbs once a year because over time they lose some of their power. On my tanks I run 2-3 watts per gallon and have never had a problem.

Also one last thing. If you are using fertilizers make sure that you follow the directions and work from there. If you give too much then you might have a wonderful little algea bloom. It takes some experimenting to get things going and looking good, but in the long run you will be happy with it. Just remember to keep those dead leaves clipped off or you could have a mini-cycle from the decaying plant leaves.

Not only will you have a beautiful tank that looks much better than fake plants, but your fishies will love you too.

Below is the link to the 2002 AGA International Aquascaping Contest recently completed..... Look at the tanks and DROOOOOL!!

http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.or...=view-showcase

Well, if you have 2-3W per gallon, I suggest you try adding CO2.... even a simple DIY system with Yeast and sugar. U'll see marked results and u'll understand what the fuss is all about adding CO2.

Watch over fertilising the tank.... U'll be battling algae all the way. Made that mistake with my first tank.... Now I test for nitrates and Iron weekly.

Other than that.... a planted tank is a sight to behold.

CO2 is too much of a pain for me. Its too expensive to run if you buy the regulators and the constant refill of the tank, and DIY is kind of hit and miss. I have heard numerous horror stories of a DIY system gone totally wrong. Dont get me wrong, I am sure that they work wonders, but I have never seen the need for me to personally use them. My plants grow like weeds. I also dont have time to monitor the CO2 levels. I spend an average of 8 hours a week on just tank maint. alone between all the tanks.

I also know of alot of people from my aquarist club that have heavily planted tanks like mine that do not use CO2, and have awesome looking tanks.

We are getting ready to do an experiment and review on a product called Liquid CO2. It is suppose to work pretty good and could be another option for the aquarist that wants to use CO2 without the fuss.

Most of the important aspects had been covered in other messages. From me, choose the plant carefully. A new tank need the fast growing, hard to kill types. In the initial stage, nirate would rise up and this problem can be addressed by adding fast growing plants. Hygrophila difformis, Cabomba caroliana are my old favorites. Easy to obtain too. Later went the tank started to mature, more difficult plant may be added. As a general rule, redder the plant, more light is needed. And.... do your own experiment. Some may not believe in CO2 injection (I do!), but give it a shot. Check out how to prepare you own yeast culture.Add some floating plants too, to cut down on the light . And one more thing, keep the fish stock low.
(Peter Bradley writes excellent articles in Practical Fishkeeping, March 2002)

p/s: Anyone who's into planted tank should check Amano's work (plus AGA Aquqscaping Contest) for ideas.