Joined
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3 Posts
Hello to all the regulars on this aquarium board.
I am new to this specific hobbie, but not new to keeping an aquarium. I have had many fresh water aquariums, usually with plastic plants and decorations, then I jumped into salt water tank in which I kept many coral, fish, inverts etc...
Now I want to try my hand at keeping a live planted aquarium. I looked at some of the tanks from the AGA competition I believe its called and they look incredible.
So I go off to the LFS today and talk to the guy about starting up a small 10 gallon fresh water tank. I already have the lighting, heater, filters etc...from when I kept salt, so I assumed all I needed was a different substrate, lower K bulbs, and a way to get Co2 into the system. After talking to the guy for a while he told me that keeping a live planted tank is much harder than even keeping a salt water system. The reason being the balance between making plants thrive and keeping away algae is extremely hard.
I don't jump into anything without researching first, so I have been extensively reading on this site. What I would like to hear from the people on this board that have experience and nothing to gain from trying to sell me a $500 Ph monitor is whether or not what this guy told me is true.
What do I need to jump into keeping easy to care for live plants??? How do most people keep a small healthy tank that doesn't have an enormous amount of maintenance? Am I kidding myself to think that this is possible? One of the main reasons I didn't keep my salt water tank was because I just didn't have the time for all it required, plus the cost of coral and fish compared to that of fresh water is extremely different.
So if anyone could help me out with my questions that would be very appreciated.
thanks
R*
I am new to this specific hobbie, but not new to keeping an aquarium. I have had many fresh water aquariums, usually with plastic plants and decorations, then I jumped into salt water tank in which I kept many coral, fish, inverts etc...
Now I want to try my hand at keeping a live planted aquarium. I looked at some of the tanks from the AGA competition I believe its called and they look incredible.
So I go off to the LFS today and talk to the guy about starting up a small 10 gallon fresh water tank. I already have the lighting, heater, filters etc...from when I kept salt, so I assumed all I needed was a different substrate, lower K bulbs, and a way to get Co2 into the system. After talking to the guy for a while he told me that keeping a live planted tank is much harder than even keeping a salt water system. The reason being the balance between making plants thrive and keeping away algae is extremely hard.
I don't jump into anything without researching first, so I have been extensively reading on this site. What I would like to hear from the people on this board that have experience and nothing to gain from trying to sell me a $500 Ph monitor is whether or not what this guy told me is true.
What do I need to jump into keeping easy to care for live plants??? How do most people keep a small healthy tank that doesn't have an enormous amount of maintenance? Am I kidding myself to think that this is possible? One of the main reasons I didn't keep my salt water tank was because I just didn't have the time for all it required, plus the cost of coral and fish compared to that of fresh water is extremely different.
So if anyone could help me out with my questions that would be very appreciated.
thanks
R*