# Stocking heavily planted tank, what to get and where to buy?



## 2ToneArmy (Feb 8, 2003)

I'm going to run 160 watts of light in my 55 gallon tank. I'm going to run my own DIY CO2 injection via a 2 litre bottle with sugar and baking yeast and inject into the intake of one of my filters.

I want to get some really nice plants for the tank, but unfortunately this is my first real experience with plants and I don't know much of what to get. I want really tall, lush stuff for the background, and a complete carpet of plants for the foreground (red crypts, grassy plants, etc.) as well as java moss and anubias for my driftwood pieces.

Can anyone recommend a nice selection of plants for me to get, and where I can buy them in bulk at a good price?

BTW I'm stocking with a pair of discus, a small school of Congo tetras, a large (probably 20) school of neon tetras (will probably be eaten when the discus get big  ), a small crew of cories and probably a bristlenose pleco, and a few Bolivian rams.

Filtration is an Eheim 2017 canister filter, an Aquaclear 300 and an Emperor 280.

Thanks!


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## mithesaint (Oct 31, 2006)

www.plantgeek.net might get you better answers. More info on the DIY CO2 thing too. I'm not sure that the filter intake is the best spot for the CO2 outlet. Ask the pros over at plantgeek. :thumb:


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## Mustang Boy (May 2, 2008)

i would recommend against the neon tetras as they are smaller and are prone to illness i would however recommend cardinal tetras they have more color than neons and are larger and less likely to be eaten by the discus but still may be eaten


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## Dini (Dec 15, 2005)

http://www.plantedtank.net/ is another good site for the planted tank enthusiasts.....I agree with Mustang Boy on the Cardinals versus the Neonâ€™s....I originally put 150 Neonâ€™s and 100 Cardinals in my planted tank along with Angels and Discus. (I can hear the purists now...OMG, ANGELS AND DISCUS TOGETHER?!!...yea....done it for years and never lost a Discus to this so called angel disease).....anyway. I lost a good few of the really small neons to the Discus and Angels. I still have a considerable amount of Neonâ€™s.....but it was a dumb move on my part....I knew better.

I havn't lost any of the Cardinals. Anyone who owns a planted tank with Cards or Neon's will tell you that the color of these fish really makes a beautiful contrast against the green of the plants. But go with Cards if your also getting Angels and Discus.

Cheers and GL with it.

Dini


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Plants that do well for me and seem to fit your bill:

Vals
Swords
Onion plants (crinium)
Wendetii crypt
giant hygro

There are several online plant retailers that are fine, although I generally shop locally as I have several LFS that stock good plants. You might check the reviews section of this site.

I would encourage you to get some plant-friendly substrate, such as eco-complete. I find that it makes a big difference to my plants. (I have two planted tanks with virtually identical set-ups and the eco-complete tank grows better plants than the regular gravel substrate.) I'd also encourage you to consider pressurized C02. It's so much easier than messing with the yeast. It's more consistent. It's not considerably more expensive. And with your level of light, you really need a constant C02 source or you're going to get well-acquainted with black beard algae . . .


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## 2ToneArmy (Feb 8, 2003)

Thanks guys, I went ahead and got some Neon Tetras because they were cheap (1.00 apiece on sale). I got 20 of them and we'll see how it goes. If I start losing them I'll just go with the cardinals as you guys recommended.

I do have some black "plant substrate" that I bought mixed with sand. I'd say there's 70% sand and 30 of the black substrate so I do want to get that more even.

I'd rather have the pressurized C02 but it's 300 bucks that I just don't want to spend at the moment. I have many expensive hobbies that take up a lot of my disposable income (to any car tuning enthusiasts, I have an RB25 swapped S14 chassis that I'm prepping for 4-500 hp to the rear wheels  ).

I am going to try the yeast and see how it goes. If algae becomes a problem I'll back the light down to 1 or 1.5 watts per gallon and look into buying a pressurized kit.


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## Afishionado (Jun 6, 2006)

I would agree with mithesaint about the filter intake not being the best place for the DIY CO2 outlet. You don't want to compromize the O2 going into the filter any more than it already is in a heavily planted tank. I find placing it to feed into the intake of a powerhead a much better way to dissolve and distribute the CO2 (making sure that the powerhead outlet is angled so as not to create unnecessary surface turbulence). You might want to consider moving it away from the powerehead inlet at nighttime for the fishes' sake.


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## exasperatus2002 (Jul 5, 2003)

When I had a 55 gal dutch tank I got alot of plants mail ordered from that fish place. They were decent plants. [/list]


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## hollyfish2000 (Aug 23, 2007)

Not sure why you've been quoted $300 for pressurized C02. I got a regulator for about $100 online and the tank was also about $100, but most of that is a deposit. Refills cost about $25 . . .


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