Starting first planted tank

[Nathanbacon]

Hey , so for my bday coming up on Friday I have been given 2 40 gallon breeder tanks and I thought it is about time that I do a planted tank setup because I have had tanks my whole life ranging from a 150 to a 20 gallon and none have had plants so I have watched soo many different videos and tutorials on the best lights and plants and I stumbled upon you’re channel. I went to you’re store and I am actually going to order a few different plants. They are ammannia gracilis, bacopa Carolinia, stellatus octopus, micro sword, Anubis barteri, Amazon sword, and baby tears. So I looked into all those plants and saw how awesome they all looked but ultimately I am wondering what would y’all recommend for a light and also what would be the beginning steps for setting up the tank and also what type of substrate best would fit those plants. Basically like when I put the plant substrate in what next and what helpful fertilizers and root tabs I might need .

 

[Nathanbacon]

Awesome thanks so much do u have any advice for the first steps after I put in the substrate like what I have to do to prep my plants for planting ?

[Nathanbacon]

Also the link for some reason isn’t working 

[Tami]

rinse your plants - I was lazy this time and gained at least one bladder snail that quickly multiplied. I believe it was hiding in my microsword since I didn't rinse it

 

[Mmiller2001]

There's some misleading information being presented to you, unfortunately. Stem plants are not all root feeders. You absolutely don't need root tabs. There's no best. Stay in your budget and in your willingness. Are you willing to break a tank down to replace a substrate that's depleted, or go with an inert substrate that will never need to be changed?. A 30 dollar light can grow plants just as well as a 300 dollar light. Pick plants that match your light, substrate and maintenance plan. Choose easy plants and learn, then step up if you want to. Do your research, every tank is different, what works for me may not work for you.

Any available substrate can grow the plants you chose.

Dry fertilizers are cheaper and just as easy to use. I recommend GLA and Nilocg.

The single most important fertilizer is CO2. And there's no substitute for CO2.

Staying low tech? Nicrew Planted is cheap and works. Want to go high tech? Depends on budget. Finnex, Fluval, Prism all work.

This picture is of a man named Greg, unfortunately, I can't remember his last name. This is in Black Diamond Blasting Sand, with only water column dosing. No root tabs. Per his words when I asked him. 

[Brandy]

10 minutes ago, Mmiller2001 said:

There's some misleading information being presented to you, unfortunately. Stem plants are not all root feeders. You absolutely don't need root tabs. There's no best. Stay in your budget and in your willingness. Are you willing to break a tank down to replace a substrate that's depleted, or go with an inert substrate that will never need to be changed?. A 30 dollar light can grow plants just as well as a 300 dollar light. Pick plants that match your light, substrate and maintenance plan. Choose easy plants and learn, then step up if you want to. Do your research, every tank is different, what works for me may not work for you.

Any available substrate can grow the plants you chose.

Dry fertilizers are cheaper and just as easy to use. I recommend GLA and Nilocg.

The single most important fertilizer is CO2. And there's no substitute for CO2.

Staying low tech? Nicrew Planted is cheap and works. Want to go high tech? Depends on budget. Finnex, Fluval, Prism all work.

This picture is of a man named Greg, unfortunately, I can't remember his last name. This is in Black Diamond Blasting Sand, with only water column dosing. No root tabs. Per his words when I asked him. 

 

This is all good advice, especially about the lights and budget. Also the part where "your mileage may vary".

I agree you don't HAVE to use root tabs and I originally resolved not to. I also discovered later that some plants do so much better with them that tucking one in now and then is very worth it to me. You can skip the root tabs, but they are also a tool that can sometimes help.

The tank which has no tabs in Mmiller2001's pic may have more minerals in the water than I have. Or they planted it less than a week ago. Note the tidy evenly spaced planting in the foreground with bare substrate between. That is not a tank that has been set up a long time with this scape. It might be a tank that had fish for a long time and had lots of nutrients built up in the substrate. But to me that is a freshly planted scape, and though beautiful, would take significant effort to maintain in this format. 

[Mmiller2001]

1 minute ago, Brandy said:

This is all good advice, especially about the lights and budget. Also the part where "your mileage may vary".

I agree you don't HAVE to use root tabs and I originally resolved not to. I also discovered later that some plants do so much better with them that tucking one in now and then is very worth it to me. You can skip the root tabs, but they are also a tool that can sometimes help.

The tank which has no tabs in Mmiller2001's pic may have more minerals in the water than I have. Or they planted it less than a week ago. Note the tidy evenly spaced planting in the foreground with bare substrate between. That is not a tank that has been set up a long time with this scape. It might be a tank that had fish for a long time and had lots of nutrients built up in the substrate. But to me that is a freshly planted scape, and though beautiful, would take significant effort to maintain in this format. 

It's a well maintained tank, maintained by a "pro". And this tank has been running for a while. 

https://scapecrunch.com/gregg-zydeck/

[Brandy]

@Mmiller2001 Nice! I like that he gives specifics of the dosing, and yeah, because he is starting from RO his water IS basically mine, and he is adding a TON of stuff, and running a very high tech system. I will give it a closer read because that is a great resource, but it sounds like he really did choose plants that liked what he wantted to do--perfect advice for anyone. Thank you for posting this!

[Mmiller2001]

7 minutes ago, Brandy said:

@Mmiller2001 Nice! I like that he gives specifics of the dosing, and yeah, because he is starting from RO his water IS basically mine, and he is adding a TON of stuff, and running a very high tech system. I will give it a closer read because that is a great resource, but it sounds like he really did choose plants that liked what he wantted to do--perfect advice for anyone. Thank you for posting this!

The biggest lesson I've learned so far. Keep the plants that work the best in my tank. I was killing myself trying to keep plants that will never work with my parameters.

[Hobbit]

1 hour ago, Mmiller2001 said:

Keep the plants that work the best in my tank.

I agree! And what’s the best way to figure out what grows best in your tank? Add a bunch of plants and see what happens! At some point it’s better to move from research to experimentation and just try things. Go ahead and get all those plants you have your eye on and see what grows. 😊

Also note that what does well at first may not do well as your tank ages. Here’s a picture of my 55 gallon one year ago and now:

You can see what did well and what didn’t. I have a very hard time supporting stem plants, though I’m still hoping to find the right fertilizer combo to grow them. I haven’t tried the Co-op’s Easy Green yet but I think it might be the ticket. 

The anubias and swords, on the other hand, are super happy!

I think @James Black’s advice is excellent and will get you off to a great start. Just know it’s not the only way to do things. That’s why you’re getting different answers here.

2 hours ago, Mmiller2001 said:

There's some misleading information being presented to you, unfortunately. Stem plants are not all root feeders. You absolutely don't need root tabs. There's no best.

@Mmiller2001 I see your root tabs and raise you CO2. 😉 You absolutely don’t need to dose CO2. I don’t use it, and yes, my tank looks very different from a high tech manicured setup, but I do have happy plants. (They get enough CO2 from the air coming through the bubbler and from the fish.)

The general principle here is that plants need several things and benefit from others. They need nutrients (either in the water or the substrate), CO2, oxygen, and light. And there are lots of ways to give it to them.

[Nathanbacon]

Thank you guys so much I will definitely get them and test out my tank parameters