Help Me With My First Planted Tank

[x0x.love.you.x0x]

hey everybody

im looking to set up my first planted aquarium
ive had aquariums with live plants but they were just random plants in random places and the plants took over

my aquarium is 25 gallons
what will i need???
any tips will be great

im going at the end of the week to get some stuff

yay! cant wait

 

[aaronnorth]

Have a read of the pinned topics,

Lighting - see what light levels you would want - high (fast growth, CO2, ferts) or low (slow growth, no CO2, minimal ferts)
CO2 - Now you have chosen the light level, see if you will need to inject CO2, and which method

There are a few other srticles too, read them then come back and i will answer some more specific questions.

 

[MarineMoney]

hey everybody

im looking to set up my first planted aquarium
ive had aquariums with live plants but they were just random plants in random places and the plants took over

my aquarium is 25 gallons
what will i need???
any tips will be great

im going at the end of the week to get some stuff

yay! cant wait

Okay well im not an expert but my tank now is planted and is doing well with the addition of co2 injection, but as aaronnorth said think about your lighting first and what plants you want.

My substrate is sand and have had a few issues with it compacting and crushing the roots of some of my plants. So maybe substrate wise go for something a little denser than sand but not too dense. I have never used the plant substrate fertilisers that you lie underneath your gravel or sand so wouldnt be able to comment on any adverse side effects of that, but maybe with some reasearch you can decide.

As for layout when planting my aquarium I get a basic shape in mind of my aquascape, im a fan of bogwood with attached plants as i think they can give a bit of variety to the tank instead of just having plants sprouting from the substrate. I generally start from one corner and complete the basic design of that and then start at the other corner and i try to keep somewhat symmetrical, but whatever works. I then focus my attention on the centre and work outwards into each corner trying to cover middleground, foreground and background. Once the basis of the shape is in place you can adjust as you wish.

Colour and variety is nice but i dont think you need 15 different types of plant to have an effective planted aquascape. Oh and trim them frequently, I do mine, I find it helps their growth and keeps them healthy!

Good luck!