All the plant gurus

[phillyofish]

I want to start a planted tank. here is what I have:
a 40 gallon, sand substrate, driftwood, have a light but need the appropriate bulb and ABNs. i want to maybe get some gold rams or africans. let me know your thoughts. Also it has to be economical. Thanks

[joe_jaskot]

What is the wattage of your light? You need 3-5 watts per gallon to grow most plants. You can grow low light plants with lighting of less wattage.

[BlondeFishGal]

Do you know what types of plants you want to keep, and/or do you have a look in mind? Do you want to have just a few plants or do you want to have a lush tank with lots of plants?

Sometimes, it's best to work 'backwards;' meaning, if you know what you want to have in the end, you then know what steps to take to get there. Saves you from being disappointed down the road.

If you have a certain 'look' in mind, then you can determine what you need to do to achieve it.

If you want just a bit of 'green' in your tank --some floating plants, or some plants attached to rocks/wood, -- that is easier than if you want to have a lush garden type of display tank. So first step is to determine what type of look you want. A tiny bit of planning ahead of time = alot of happiness down the road ;)

[phillyofish]

Joe - Zoomed ReefSun Actinic 18" bulb

BlondeFish Girl - i want a lush look with a nice piece of Driftwood. no floating plants since it may block the lights. I did order some mangroves.

Anyone keep Golden rams or any rams?

[fischfan13]

Joe - Zoomed ReefSun Actinic 18" bulb

BlondeFish Girl - i want a lush look with a nice piece of Driftwood. no floating plants since it may block the lights. I did order some mangroves.

Anyone keep Golden rams or any rams?

Sam, we will have a ReefSun 24" bulb, amongst other bulbs, at our auction.

[BlondeFishGal]

Joe - Zoomed ReefSun Actinic 18" bulb

BlondeFish Girl - i want a lush look with a nice piece of Driftwood. no floating plants since it may block the lights. I did order some mangroves.

Anyone keep Golden rams or any rams?

I might be wrong here, b/c I have no experience with them, but my understanding of mangroves is that they are best suited for brackish tanks, which is not what most plants like. Certain fish need brackish water, but not most. With regard to floating plants....I keep very lush planted tanks but I always have some floating plants in them. You just keep an eye on them and not let it get thick. I don't mean duck weed, I mean water sprite or hornwort, something like that.

As for rams.... I love this fish and have tried to keep every 'flavor' of them.... golden, electric blue, wild caught, imported, domestic, and probably a couple other versions I've forgotten to list. I have never had luck with them -- until a friend gave me some of his about 6 weeks ago. These are doing great and I may move a pair of them to a tank of their own and spawn them.

I have had much better luck with Bolivan Rams, they seem to be easier to keep and they have bred easily for me.

In any event, I wish you much success with getting a 'wet thumb' with your planted tank!

[phillyofish]

Thanks Bill and Blondefish Girl. Will the reefsun light do for plants? doubt it since it is actinic

[joe_jaskot]

Sam, your 18" zoo med reef sun actinic bulb is only 15 watts. You will not be successful trying to grow many plants with this lighting set-up. I would suggest you get a T5 or compact lighting system with more wattage.

[fischfan13]

Sam, your 18" zoo med reef sun actinic bulb is only 15 watts. You will not be successful trying to grow many plants with this lighting set-up. I would suggest you get a T5 or compact lighting system with more wattage.

Sam, there will be T5's at our auction too!

[phillyofish]

T5 setups or bulbs?

[phillyofish]

When is the auction list coming out?

[Anubias Design]

Sam,
It's very hard for us to give you good advice without more information regarding your ultimate goal. Your lighting is insufficient for the mangroves. I'm really not sure of your thought process with those. They need high light and grow out of the tank. (See the April TFH for a really good article on reducing the need for water changes through plants. The authors make extensive use of mangroves but their situation is very different from yours.) You will probably want a dual HO T5 setup that is the length of your tank. I don't think you've told us if this is a 40 breeder or a 40 long. That information is also important. You will probably have to supplement that lighting with an external spotlight for the mangrove(s).
Mark

[phillyofish]

actually got the mangroves for my sump on the 125 gallon. not sure how tall they are. The tank is a 40 breeder.

[Greenhacker]

If you want more light, but don't have the funds, look into ordering some standard screw-in compact florescent grow bulbs online. You can get a standard clamp shop light or the nicer ones from petsmart and hang them from the ceiling over the tank. You can squeeze a ton of light out of these simple fixtures and they look pretty contemporary.

Without getting too techy; just remember that as you add more light the faster the plants want to grow and in order for them to do that they need all their other macro and micro nutrients. If they don't get that then algae tends to get the upper hand, so take your time and get of some plant forums to research the plants and look your tying to create.

Sounds like a lot, but once you get your feet wet you'll love it!

[FishVixen]

I buy screw in CF 6500K 100W at Wal mart.