How to start a planted tank

[Darbex]

Just my opinion but lighting is the one thing you should do right. K rating is important to the health of plants I personally wouldnt go below 8000K for health and viewing pleasure

[Somefishguy]

I think 6500 is just fine for lighting.

[FrontosaurusRex]

I think I'm gonna attempt the cheap walmart way for my first time. I'd hate to spend some real cash and then kill everything. Thanks Darbex and Mary Beth for the excellent advice. Hopefully if i can get started with a low-tech tank, I'll learn enough so that I feel confident in setting up a high-tech one later. Well, off to Walmart.....

[mark razmandi]

3 WPG, liquid ferts and diy CO2....people hate on diy co2 because they just dont know. my diy c02 pumped over 256PPM pf co2 into my tank before i regulated it. you are supposed to have 10-25. diy co2 works just as well if you have the right setup and recipe.

[Somefishguy]

I agree... I tried DIY on my 29 g for a while. It worked well and had better growth overall, but if you get lazy on the refills and changes ect ect then you can get into trouble and get BBA algae. In the end i just tossed out the DIY CO2 and have been running without ever since. Plants all do well.

Here are three articles/forums that are very helpful if you decide to go low tech

Low Tech with Excel

http://www.ultimatebettas.com/index.php?showtopic=24657

Low Tech Without Excel

http://www.ultimatebettas.com/index.php?showtopic=24656

Low Light Plant List

http://www.ultimatebettas.com/index.php?showtopic=25085

It will give you some background info on how to get started

[FrontosaurusRex]

I love the 2nd one. Thats kind of what I was wanting to do.

[wesleydnunder]

Rhett, I'd start slow. Before you dive into hi tech set-ups with expensive soils, co2 and ferts, learn how to grow plants first. Trying to balance light/co2/fert can be tricky. Lots of folks wind up with an algae farm and give up in disgust.

Aquasoil, Eco complete or the seachem substrates will all work as will some others like SMS. For lighting color temp I prefer 6700K, but as already posted, 6500K and 8000K will also work. 8000K is whiter and makes for better viewing of fish, which you say in this tank won't be an issue.

For a 10 gallon you'll want smallish plants. Anubias nana v. petite nana is a good one that stays small. Rotala and some of the hygros do ok without co2 if you want to keep stems.

Since you won't have fish to provide waste and concomitant nitrate you may need to add the teensiest amount of fert...a little goes a long way. I use the dry fert from AquariumFerilizer.com which contain macros and traces. It's called PMDD pre-mix and sells for around 10 bucks a pound. Again, go easy with fert. You'll want the tank heavily planted when you use fert or there won't be enough plants in the tank to use the available nutrients and that's when algae thrives.

I think a 20W (or close) lamp will do nicely on that tank. You can buy the fixture and 6500K lamps at Home Depot pretty cheap.

Mark

[Astex]

All my tanks are planted/have plants and all would qualify as low tech. My 10 gallons have daylight compact fluorescent lights, and I have grown tons of different plants in there no problem.

What I haven't seen mentioned, is when you plant, plant heavy to avoid most algae problems at the outset. Also, you can get a bunch of low light plants (crypts/anubias/ferns), but have some floaters in there to help out. I usually start with about a 6" piece of hornwort floating, and it grows and soaks up most of my mistakes (extra nutrients).

I have recently had great luck with Diana Walstads Natural Aquarium method and have one tank set up like that for over a year, with no ferts (although I do have fish). To add some food for the plants, you can also just drop small amts. of fish food in, let it decay and let the plants take nutrients from that.

A betta in a 10gallon planted tank is a neat site, however, if you get bored with the no fish approach.

If you need any java ferns, I have plenty and 3 types so just let me know. I can always stand to thin them out some.