Is it possible??

[Georgia Peach]

Can you have live plants in a tank without having to deal with all the CO2 stuff and fancy lights and all?

[Sprite42]

Yes, depending on the type of plant. Since I am perpetually poor, I just have standard lights and fixtures. On my 10 gallons, I replace the incandescents with mini flourescent lights - They are great for plants. Most of my plants are low light. But, there are some great varieties out there for low wattage.

I don't use Co2 just because I have never tried it. But, it would have to be a DIY set up...as stated above.

I mainly started keeping plants for help with the water chemistry and fry cover. With 9 tanks and a full time job, my tanks only get water changes and cleaned once a week.

[RockabillyChick]

i have........

java fern
red ozelot sword
tiger lotus
rotalia indica
dwarf hairgrass
aponogeton
crypt wendtii bronze
hygro somethingorother
hornwort and cabomba (dying for no aperant reason and getting replaced with Myrio and wisteria)

and all with just 2.75wpg and no ferts, and no CO2. they are growing like crazy and doing great with my sand substrait. but i'm going to start adding flourish excell to boost their growth even more. i want a freaking jungle! muahahaha!

[SueM]

LOL, get em Rocky

Georgia, you can also use the small Power Compacts, they fit into the
regular incandescent fixture. A 10-watt Power compact (not to be confused with the
compact fluorescent light bulbs) will give you the power of a 100-watt bulb, last 4
times as long, and use about 75% less energy than
standard incandescent bulbs.
I use them on most my planted tanks now, Imagine 2 bulbs (equal to 200 watts) on
a 10 gal tank and only using 20 watts of power!!!
BTW they are sold at local pet stores & the plants LOVE em.

[KRIBS]

I have no Co2 in my tanks. Just powerful lights. LIght is 2 WPG.

[Damon]

A cpl of key points to add to this topic..................
Screw in pc bulbs are not the same as a true pc bulb and fixture. For one, the reflectors are horrbile meaning you're only getting approx 65% of light. While that is significantly more than the incan bulbs or even a N.O. flourescent tube, its not true PC.
Co2 isn't necessary, but it always helps, even low light plants.
Plant the tank heavy, or not at all. You WILL have problems if you dont.
You will not be able to grow all plants, even all the low light ones. Everyone's water is different.
Adding plants is never a reason to overstock a tank.
Its cheaper to light a 55 gallon tank than it is to light a 20 gallon tank.
DIY Co2 is cheap. Not as cheap as pressurized in the long run, but cheap nevertheless.

[Georgia Peach]

I was just curious.. everyones planted tanks look so good and I was thinking about maybe giving it a shot one day.. or maybe I should just stick to my hostas outside.. LOL

[RockabillyChick]

Originally Posted by Simpte

A cpl of key points to add to this topic..................
Screw in pc bulbs are not the same as a true pc bulb and fixture. For one, the reflectors are horrbile meaning you're only getting approx 65% of light. While that is significantly more than the incan bulbs or even a N.O. flourescent tube, its not true PC.
Co2 isn't necessary, but it always helps, even low light plants.
Plant the tank heavy, or not at all. You WILL have problems if you dont.
You will not be able to grow all plants, even all the low light ones. Everyone's water is different.
Adding plants is never a reason to overstock a tank.
Its cheaper to light a 55 gallon tank than it is to light a 20 gallon tank.
DIY Co2 is cheap. Not as cheap as pressurized in the long run, but cheap nevertheless.

not so! cost me $5 to light my 20g long. even if i had bought everything new it would have only cost me about $20.

[Sprite42]

I don't agree completely either. Since I the closest LFS, in any direction, is 150 miles from me (one way), I wasn't just talking costs of buying equipment. Our Walmart, which 30 miles in one direction, doesn't even have a live fish section.

I would like to know what kind of problems you are talking about if you don't plant heavy? But, then most of my plants are the Walmart bulbs or floating except a select few.

I, too, must have missed the part about adding plants to compensate for overstocking issues. Since the majority of my plants are grown in 10 gallon single betta tanks, I don't think that is a problem for me.

[goodie]

This is my 15gal tall. 15watt flourescent, plain old substrate a little fert and excel once in a while.

[RockabillyChick]

sprite, some people think that if they heavily plant a tank, they can heavily overstock it too, because the plants eat up a lot of the nitrate, if not all of it. i am slightly overstocked with my medium planted tank, but i'm still adding plants and they are still growing. you still have to keep in mind that the fish need room to move, and that plants absorb more than just nitrogen, and fish secreat more than just ammonia.

[Sprite42]

I mostly just put the plants in mine cuz the bettas like to lay in them! LOL I also keep my endlers in the community tanks, so the floating plants are good cover for the fry's. The bigger tanks have dojo's and sand substrate. They don't let anything stay rooted. LOL

I have read several times about planting heavily or not at all...I would just like to know the reasoning behind it? What kind of problems are we talking...everything will die or what?

[Lydia]

I don't know about the planting heavily or not at all. But in answer to the question GP posed, I have a 20 H with a standard hood (15 watts) plus I balanced an under-counter light behind it (15 watts). I realize I am not getting all 15 watts from the under-counter light, but with the lighting I have and plain gravel, I am growing mother swords (melon and another kind I forgot the name of), various crypts, various anubias, and some other plants I can't indentify. Anyways, my tank is pretty heavily planted and looks pretty good IMO even without ferts/CO2...so it can be done.