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Hoots : How to start building a Live Plant Aquarium? Folks I'm tropical fish lover, this time I planning to grow real plants inside my tank instead of the fake ones. Can someone please suggest me the procedure to where to get started - freshhoot.com

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How to start building a Live Plant Aquarium?
Folks I'm tropical fish lover, this time I planning to grow real plants inside my tank instead of the fake ones. Can someone please suggest me the procedure to where to get started and what are all the ingredients I need?


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For only a few, easy to keep plants, there is indeed not that much required.

Just have some lights above your tank (LED or fluorescent) and every now and then you'll have to add some fertilizer or root tabs (depending on the plants you have).

Some easy plants to start with are for example:

Java Fern. This one should be attached to a rock or some wood. The roots may not be in the gravel.
Java Moss (also needs to be attached to something
Anubias.
Cabomba.

You can already create a nice tank with such a basic setup.

But if you want to add a lot of plants, or plants that are difficult to keep (usually plants with red leafs), this might not be enough. You might need to add a CO2 installation and more fertilizer. But that doesn't mean it will be very complex or expensive.

I have quit a lot of plants (but relatively easy to keep) and I'm using a DIY CO2 installation based on sugar and yeast.

I found instructions for it on a Dutch forum, but there are some instruction video's on Youtube too I noticed.

For fertilizer I use the Estimative Index method.
My plants grow like crazy.


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There really isn't much that is technically required to start this process. Any kind of lighting will technically suffice.

But, I do suggest getting some sort of LED light bar to help plant growth. You can use fluorescent lights but LED full spectrum lights are the way to go. It really depends on what your local fish store has to offer though.

And of course, make sure the tank has cycled and the water quality is good (no ammonia or nitrite) before putting anything in the tank.


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