Setting up your first planted tank

by Curt Dunaway
of the Southern Colorado Aquarium Society, and plantgeek.net
Aquarticles

If you are just getting into planted tanks you may be overwhelmed by all the terms and equipment people say you need to have. In this article we hope to show you it does not have to be difficult and can be done without high light, CO2 injection or even the addition of fertilizer.

The key to having a successful planted tank is deciding what you want out of it and picking plants that will work in your setup. For the basis of this article we will start with a "stock" tank. This usually includes low light, no CO2, plain gravel, and no additional fertilizers.

Lighting
A "stock" tank usually consists of low to very low light. Anything from .5 wpg to 1.5 wpg. (To figure out your Watts Per Gallon, take the total wattage of all the bulbs over your tank and divide by the gallons in the tank) In these conditions you will be limited in the plants that you can keep. No fancy colors, no rapid growth and nothing too unusual. Plants that usually not only tolerate, but can grow to some degree in these conditions include:
Java moss
Java fern
Lace Java fern
Narrow leaf Java fern
Most of the Cryptocoryne sp.
Most of the Anubias sp.
Guppy grass
Hornwort

Despite what others may tell you, I have not only kept these plants, but successfully propagated them in as little as 1wpg on a "tall" tank. The growth rate is very slow, but it makes for an easy tank to keep.

Substrate
In a low tech, low light plant tank, there really is no need for a "special" plant-specific substrate such as Fluorite or Eco-Complete. Most of the plants that will survive in this type of tank just don't need it, very few will even get planted in it. Java ferns and moss both get attached to decor, anubias can be planted or attached to decor as well.

CO2 and Ferts
In this type of tank, it is just not a necessity. There is no doubt plants will grow better with CO2 injection, but it is not a must-have in a low light tank. Your tanks should stay around 3-5 ppm of CO2 just through simple filtering and any bubble wands/walls you may have. This is fine for this type of tank with the plants listed above. Once you decide you want more out of a planted tank, different plants, higher light, higher growth rate, then it starts to become a must have, until then, don't worry about it.

For those that are still skeptical, here are a few pictures of a low light tank I have. 30w of regular fluorescent lighting over a 29g "tall" tank. No CO2, no additional ferts. Just regular water changes and feeding for the fish.

You can see more examples of low light tanks in our gallery, at: http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/album.php

If this is your first attempt at a planted tank and you still have questions feel free to ask for any advice in our "just starting out" forum here: http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=26