New Tank & Plants

[capper]

We have just purchased a new 90X45X45cm Nisso Aquarium. We are pretty excited and certainly don't want to make any of the same mistakes we made before. Now we'll have 4 tanks in all! Our newest aquisition in addition to our current 60X36X30cm tank, our 30X30X25cm tank, and our tiny 20X20X20cm tank.

We recently removed the few remaining plants from our present largest tank. We seem to have a lot of difficulty keeping plants for a long period of time. They either die or collect too much algae and have to be removed. Anyway, I could really use some tips on what type of gravel or soil would be best. In addition, I am considering buying a Co2 machine that would obviously allow us to have a greater variety of plant life in at least one of our aquariums.

Any advice would be great. Also, we've thought about getting some discus fish in our newest tank. However, it seems they could be extremely difficult to keep. Any advice on type of fish that you'd recommend? I think we'd be best to stick with freshwater for now???

Thanks as always...

 

[Lotus]

This article might give you some help in working out what you need for your tank: http://www.plantgeek.net/article_viewer.php?id=17

I would guess that your biggest problem is the lighting. Most tanks come with lighting that's not nearly enough for plants. You can usually get away with the stock lighting if you choose your plants carefully.

If you have decided against discus, how about rainbowfish or angels? Discus supposedly aren't that hard, but they are demanding.

 

[rhoymand]

the two most important things to consider when starting a planted tank is lighting and substrate. as a rule of thumb, 2-3 watts per gallon will let you grow a wide variety of plants. and for substrate, most people either go with flourite or eco-complete. it just really depends on what color/texture you like better.