my newbie 2ft planted tank

[diazman]

hi all. after a long hard journey.. this is my first post with regards to planted tanks. here is the picture.

not sure what other type of plant to add might add more in the later stages.

comments and critics are open!

sorry for the poor picture quality. used my phone camera as my sister is using my camera

going low tech.


after an advise from a friendly bro in the forum, i removed the red plant on the right side of the tank.. seems that the plant is not aquatic plant.

will post more pictures on the updated tank

[sandeepraghuvanshi]

You need more plants or there will be algae issues.
Also red plants need lots of light.
What lights are you using.

[aquascaping1982]

Hi there, if I not wrong your lights aren't suitable for freshwater plants. You need to purchase PL or T5 lighting to keep plants. If you want cheap plants and equipment can consider going down NA.

[diazman]

Hi there, if I not wrong your lights aren't suitable for freshwater plants. You need to purchase PL or T5 lighting to keep plants. If you want cheap plants and equipment can consider going down NA.

oh.. maybe i got duped. bought the florescent tube from a LFS and the guy told me its good for plants.. or normal industrial florescent tube is suitable for plant????

[footballe]

oh no, i think i also got that plant. got cheated again

[diazman]

gonna recover my tank now.. alot of stuff happen so will not expect to post pictures very soon.. this is getting frustrating!! guess im not suppose to start planted tanks at all..

[barmby]

It is actually very simple. Just plant as heavy as possible. CO2, and lights. Wattage is everything. Weekly water change. Focus on these issues first.

[Shadow]

gonna recover my tank now.. alot of stuff happen so will not expect to post pictures very soon.. this is getting frustrating!! guess im not suppose to start planted tanks at all..

no.. no.. no... planted tank is easy and you should go for high tech instead of low tech. Low tech is actually more difficult than high tech. There are lots of to consider in low tech.

High tech is very simple, give plenty of light, plenty of CO2 and plenty of fertilizer and all will grow nicely.

[newtank]

You planning to do low tech, still put in red plants???

[Verminator]

red plants are generally very hard to keep. Personally, i astay away from them. Too much hassel, they require silly amounts of light in terms of wattage.

[Jervis]

gonna recover my tank now.. alot of stuff happen so will not expect to post pictures very soon.. this is getting frustrating!! guess im not suppose to start planted tanks at all..

Don't be discouraged... personally I find learning from T. Amano (ADA brand) interesting especially for beginners. His works are very easy to find on the internet. Learn more about his products and try to understand what they are for... once you gained the knowledge, you can decide to get his brand or alternative product. Although I'm an ADA fan, I do use alternative products too whenever necessary.

I usually dislike asking help from LFS, they usually give out inconsistent advice which can get very confusing if you hop around from 1 LFS to the other.

[monstar]

where is na?

[diazman]

looks silly but i guess okay for now. the tank is quite stable but theres small breakout of hair algae. changed the lighting to a daylight fluorescent tube 15 watt. absolutely have no idea what to make up of this setup. hopefully it will grow well..

[Shadow]

you should not buried fern rizome. Fern should be tie to wood or rock otherwise it will melt.

[diazman]

Don't be discouraged... personally I find learning from T. Amano (ADA brand) interesting especially for beginners. His works are very easy to find on the internet. Learn more about his products and try to understand what they are for... once you gained the knowledge, you can decide to get his brand or alternative product. Although I'm an ADA fan, I do use alternative products too whenever necessary.

I usually dislike asking help from LFS, they usually give out inconsistent advice which can get very confusing if you hop around from 1 LFS to the other.

thank you for the encouragement.. well im still a student afterall so im not surprised if i dont do well for the first time.

[diazman]

you should not buried fern rizome. Fern should be tie to wood or rock otherwise it will melt.

erm.. all of them?

[diazman]

You planning to do low tech, still put in red plants???

im still noob in this lol

[diazman]

no.. no.. no... planted tank is easy and you should go for high tech instead of low tech. Low tech is actually more difficult than high tech. There are lots of to consider in low tech.

High tech is very simple, give plenty of light, plenty of CO2 and plenty of fertilizer and all will grow nicely.

actually on student budget. for now ah. planning to go high tech after i have enough experience on this first try

[Verminator]

Yes, all those plants in your tank need to be tied to something like wood or rocks. Their roots will take hold after a couple of months and it'll grow into a bunch. How you've planted them i'm afraid the rhyzome will rot and you will lose all of them. Best take them out and tie them onto something before they rot. Rhyzome plants should never be buried in the substrate. The roots can be, but the rhyzome must always be visible.

[diazman]

Yes, all those plants in your tank need to be tied to something like wood or rocks. Their roots will take hold after a couple of months and it'll grow into a bunch. How you've planted them i'm afraid the rhyzome will rot and you will lose all of them. Best take them out and tie them onto something before they rot. Rhyzome plants should never be buried in the substrate. The roots can be, but the rhyzome must always be visible.

ok thanks. now i gotta start looking for more wood..