I'd consider myself a novice aquarist... I've had several small 10 gallon tanks over the past 2 years. I finally bought a 38 gallon tank (the 10 is fully stocked) that I'll be setting up in a few weeks. I've kept a variety of fish and plants with a decent degree of success. My angelfish is a month shy of 2 years of age! So this upgrade can be considered her birthday present... funnily enough, until literally 2 nights ago I assumed it was male when I 'caught' her laying eggs
My main questions here concern plants and their requirements for my 38 gallon. In my current 10 gallon, I keep a few plants, many of which I'd like to transfer: Wisteria, Java Fern, Amazon Sword, and one I'm not sure of, maybe a Crypt -- can you help me identify it from a picture below?
In my 10 gallon, these plants were all purchased roughly a year to 10 months ago and are all doing okay; they are planted in a gravel substrate with two power compact bulbs in an incandescent fixture. They recieve no CO2 nor other supplements. I am pretty satisfied with their growth as is.
In the 38 gallon, I have a single strip florescent light, with just a 'default' bulb not specialized for plant growth. Tell me: will this be suitable for ANY of these plants, or will they all die immediatly? If not, what if I bought a 6500 K plant growth bulb -- would just one of those be enough to grow any of my plants? I'm able to get a double fluorescent strip tube for 79$ -- would this make a major difference?
(In case its not obvious, I don't have a huge budget to work with here!)
I know Java Ferns are 'low-light' plants and might be okay, but I'm guessing the others may be doomed. If my current plants are indeed all doomed, can you recommend any good low-light plants that can survive with just a single fluorescent strip tube light? If necessary I can get a 6500 K bulb (will it make a big difference?)? Also, are anubias suitable "low-light" plants?
Alright, next set of questions: Substrate. Clearly you can see in my pics that the 10 gallon has an ugly black/blue (looks purple) gravel. I already have an extra about 8 lb of a nicer natural brown coloured gravel I could use (but would need more). However, I'm also thinking about sand as a subtrate. Can I get some general background 'need-to-know' info on using sand as a substrate? Is it any better or worse than regular gravel for plants?
Next, if I did go for sand, I've heard I should get pool filter sand or play sand, as these are relatively cheap and pretty good quality. Where would be a good place to buy this (I live in Canada) -- Home Depot? Canadian Tire? What sort of price would this sand be? How much do I need -- an inch high, two? My tank's dimensions are 36x12x20 by the way.
That's it so far for questions. I appologize if my questions seem stupid, but I would really appreciate it if I could get answers to as many of them as possible! Thanks so much!
My main questions here concern plants and their requirements for my 38 gallon. In my current 10 gallon, I keep a few plants, many of which I'd like to transfer: Wisteria, Java Fern, Amazon Sword, and one I'm not sure of, maybe a Crypt -- can you help me identify it from a picture below?
In my 10 gallon, these plants were all purchased roughly a year to 10 months ago and are all doing okay; they are planted in a gravel substrate with two power compact bulbs in an incandescent fixture. They recieve no CO2 nor other supplements. I am pretty satisfied with their growth as is.
In the 38 gallon, I have a single strip florescent light, with just a 'default' bulb not specialized for plant growth. Tell me: will this be suitable for ANY of these plants, or will they all die immediatly? If not, what if I bought a 6500 K plant growth bulb -- would just one of those be enough to grow any of my plants? I'm able to get a double fluorescent strip tube for 79$ -- would this make a major difference?
(In case its not obvious, I don't have a huge budget to work with here!)
I know Java Ferns are 'low-light' plants and might be okay, but I'm guessing the others may be doomed. If my current plants are indeed all doomed, can you recommend any good low-light plants that can survive with just a single fluorescent strip tube light? If necessary I can get a 6500 K bulb (will it make a big difference?)? Also, are anubias suitable "low-light" plants?
Alright, next set of questions: Substrate. Clearly you can see in my pics that the 10 gallon has an ugly black/blue (looks purple) gravel. I already have an extra about 8 lb of a nicer natural brown coloured gravel I could use (but would need more). However, I'm also thinking about sand as a subtrate. Can I get some general background 'need-to-know' info on using sand as a substrate? Is it any better or worse than regular gravel for plants?
Next, if I did go for sand, I've heard I should get pool filter sand or play sand, as these are relatively cheap and pretty good quality. Where would be a good place to buy this (I live in Canada) -- Home Depot? Canadian Tire? What sort of price would this sand be? How much do I need -- an inch high, two? My tank's dimensions are 36x12x20 by the way.
That's it so far for questions. I appologize if my questions seem stupid, but I would really appreciate it if I could get answers to as many of them as possible! Thanks so much!
/www.warehouse-aquatics.co.uk/tetrap...58kg-1055-p.asp
