Planted Tank

[homestar726]

Ok, so i have the fever.. No im looking at my 10g empty tank and i thought... Maybe a planted tank..

I read the OVAS plants section and still have a few questions...

- WHats the best plants to start with?
- Sand or painted rock?
- With or without fish?
- Do i need a co2 thingy?

Help 

[BigDaddy]

Ok, so i have the fever.. No im looking at my 10g empty tank and i thought... Maybe a planted tank..

I read the OVAS plants section and still have a few questions...

- WHats the best plants to start with?
- Sand or painted rock?
- With or without fish?
- Do i need a co2 thingy?

Help 

Start with low light plants like java fern and anubias... floating plants like hornwort .. easy stem plants like hygro and water sprite

Most gravels and sands are fine for starting up.  Just stay away from very fine sands that will compact

With or without fish is up to you.  If you choose with fish, get "plant friendly" ones

CO2 is not a requirement... until you reach high light levels (which you won't get until you really get hooked on planted and start spending the $$$ on lighting )

[Adam]

It's pretty easy to go low(no)-budget medium-high tech on a 10 gallon...

Put some energy saver bulbs (the spiral bulbs) in a 10 gallon incandescent canopy.

DIY yeast, sugar, baking sode and water CO2 couldn't be easier to make.  Get a CO2 ladder from super pet or somewhere else, 2 2Litre bottles with holes drilled in the caps and airline tubing pulled a little through, some airline (or CO2 tubing), a gang valve that joins the two tubes from the bottles into one tube going to your ladder, and that's it.

You can spend lots of money on expensive plant-specific substrates from the LFS, or just go with regular old inert gravel (make sure the grain size isn't too large).  There is a difference between them in terms of growth, but you don't have to spend the money.

With this setup, you can grow most any plants.

Adam

[kennyman]

Don't forget about natural aquarium methods either. Low tech tanks run great with simple setups. I always liked http://naturalaquariums.com/ and keep a link to it in my favorites 

[nicoblue]

The substrate in my planted tank is made by Pondcare and is planting substrate. It was relatively cheap, since I was only setting up a tank 30"x12" I think I paid 10$ or 10lbs.

http://www.123ponds.com/ap187b.html

I tried it experimenting since i was not using it for its recomended purpose, but so far so good, clear water it holds the plants down nicely. I tested it daily for teh first month and then every few days since. There has been no spikes in anything and the parameters have stayed consistently ideal. It may have made a difference though that the driftwood is a 7 yr old peice that i took form the 75g.

[homestar726]

So lemme get this straight.

I add a layer of dirt, and plant the plants. Then add rocks, and than add water?

[Toss]

I would be careful with the dirt 
Maybe regular gravel with natural colour is a good start. If it only 10gal, you may like to change to geo system or flourite after you get the hang of planted tank. Then upgrade lighting and CO2 or even bigger tank 
Have fun 

[homestar726]

Thanks Toss, I have a great time this morning, and you were a big help! I think my first attempt at a planted tank will be a success. I guess then I would have to start looking into snails... Yet another new experience! Cant wait!