http://forum.aqua-fish.net/ A forum devoted to aquarium fish, plants, techniques and fish keeping as a whole. en http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=planted-fish-tanks-how-to#1 Hi fellas! I would like to share my experiences with those who want to start their own planted fish tank. You’ll firstly need the tank which should be at least 200 Litres big. Besides large tank, you will need powerful filtration and top-quality aquarium lighting! How to set-up a planted tank: 1 - Put the gravel into an empty aquarium. Fine gravel or sand are perfect for this purpose. Basically, there should be enough gravel for plants’ roots. There are 13cm of gravel in my tank already. As time went by I added another 4cm or sand. Gravel is important because of roots and prevents plants from uprooting. Not only fish can uproot plants, water stream can do it as well. 2 - Add the water, turn on the filter and get some quality bulbs. My suggestion is that a planted tank should have 1W per 2 Litres. That means 50W for 100 Litres tank and 100W for 200 Litres tank. As you can see, it can easily eat more energy than refrigerators do! 3 - Wait a week until the water become stable. If necessary, buy a heater. Heaters aren’t necessary because bulbs heat the water too. Naturally if you are willing to house tropical plants which demand 28°C, you must buy a heater. 4 - Time for plants. Go to the shop and get about 3 plants from 1 species. If possible, buy less plants in the beginning. Just for your imagination, these plants are good: Anubias, Cryptocoryne, Limnophila, Ludwigia, Rotala, Rotundifolia, Java moss, Hygrophila. If you spent $200 on plants, let’s get back to your home and plant them. Don’t place plants too wide from each other. But don’t place all of them at one spot. If they adapt to new conditions, they will grow and reproduce later. 5 - Fish. Don’t buy fich which can uproot plants in a moment. Bottom-dwellers are fine if roots are deep enough. Large cichlids aren’t suitable for planted tanks. Timetable: 1-st month - Installing the aquarium, buying plants, introducing fish, etc. 2-nd - 4-th month - Monitoring the plants. You can’t await that you’ll have nicely planted tank in 4 month after starting it. If some plants die, buy another species. Those which do well, should live and reproduce. 5-th - 8-th month - Your tank starts looking terrific. Plants are nicely coloured, fish are happy and breed. 9-th month - Your planted tank should be finished now. Sugegstions and timetable are based on my personal experience . Brad original post: April 11, 2007, 12:16 pm anonymous 2008-05-02 http://forum.aqua-fish.net/?topic=planted-fish-tanks-how-to#2 Well, if anyone read my intro, you’ll know that I keep tanks that don’t use mechanical filtration. Yes, that’s right. The plants in the tank provide filtration for the tank. Here’s a few close up of some old pics : http://www.advancemetalfab.com/Aquaria/Martytankpics.html http://www.advancemetalfab.com/Aquaria/diamonds2.JPG http://www.advancemetalfab.com/Aquaria/plantsinpots2.JPG (links made active by admin) fishlady 2008-05-02