Hi, I just want to tell you before hand I am new to the forms. I have a 20 gallon tank with 2 gouramis. I am planning to get a few lemon tetras. I am also thinking of going with live plants. I had a question about the soil. I have had my tank for several years and never changed the rocks. It is the original rocks the tank came with. When I say rocks, its like the soil, green and black pebbles for the tank floor. Here are the live plants I am thinking of getting,
Aquatic Plants for Freshwater Aquariums: Aquarium Plant Pack - Standard

The question I have is should I change the soil on the bottom of the tank to something more nutritous for the plants? Is there a particular type of soil you need for those plants? I was looking around and couldnt find anything so maybe there isnt? I figured I should post it on this form and see what people say and go from there. Thanks for your help I look forward to your answers.

I was slightly confused about what you were saying you have currently. If you have gravel and are wanting to get live plants then in my opinion you should get some organic topsoil for your tank. As far as the gravel goes I think it looks not as good as sand. I made the switch to pool filter sand earlier this year and I am much happier with it. The way I have my planted tank set up is I have about 2-3" of Miracle Grow Organic topsoil capped with about 1 1/2- 2 1/2" of pool filter sand. If you are in fact wanting to put top soil into your tank you will need to drain the tank before you put it in, otherwise you will have a huge muddy mess in your tank. You have a 20 gallon tank so that's only 4 bucket fulls.

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75 Gallon Planted

Some folks go all out and make an aqua garden for plants, that just happen to also have a few fish.
Multiple layers of different types of substrate, fertilizers, chemicals, nitrogen etc.

You certainly don't have to do all that.

As for me, I went live simply because I think fake plants in a tank look cheesy and cheap.

My tank just has regular ole aquarium gravel.
I just cover the roots with it and watch them grow.

Some types of plants don't do so well, some do fine but grow slowly, many thrive, and some grow like weeds.

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150G, 1 shovelnose sturgeon 8", 1 polypterus endilicheri 9", 1 leopard ctenapoma 4", 1 Distichodus Sexfasciatus 6", 1 Farlowella acus algae eater 8", 2 silver dollars, 2 tank bred angelfish, 1 clown knife 11", 1 Jaguar hybrid syntadonis 4", 6 African cichlids 3+"

Your lighting will also be a deciding factor in which plants you can keep and grow. If you have a high light tank, you may need to get into CO2 for plants. I keep to low lighting and low light plants. Easy plants, no CO2, and a little fertilizer each week.

I have plain gravel in one tank and plain gravel mixed with eco complete in the other. You can see pics of my tanks/plants in my gallery - to show you that gravel can indeed grow good plants. :D

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

I have plain gravel too, and grow a lot of plants fairly well. I use a good quality light and fertilizers in the form of root tabs, and most things grow great. It's a low maintenance thing, once it's set up, and keeps the water nice and healthy for the fish.

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Lead me not to temptation...I can make it there myself just fine, thank you

I started with fake plants, went to real and love it. I use just plain sand substrate, play sand from the local hardware store. Cheap, easy, and efficient

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"Being ignorant is not so much a Shame, as being unwilling to learn".-- Benjamin Franklin

You dont have to layer substrate for plants.Think about natural rivers and such.They are not layered and still the plants grow well.They make plant specific substrate is you want to go that rout,but gravel will work with most plants.Things like heavy root feeders are the ones needing the nutrients in the substrate.Many others will get what they need from the water column,or from a bulb it grows from.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

Forgot to add anything about the plants your getting.

The anubias and java fern should not be buried.Instead tie the off to a rock or driftwood.These are low light plants.

The others,you need to be sure to space the stems a little so light will get to the bottom of the stems and they have some water movement.Depending on your lighting they should all do just fine.The crypt may melt after you plant this,but thats normal so just leave the roots in place and soon new sprouts will appear.

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http://bountifulbettas.blogspot.com/

"Come to the dark side....we have cookies...and filters/heaters/and water changes!"

I think that is a good selection of plants but I would tripple the amount of anacharis.

For lighting I use 6500K spiral bulbs from wall mart. If you have an incandescent hood just screw them in or I just put those round clip on reflectors on top of a 1/4 plastic grid (lighting diffuser for dropped ceilings). I also recommend aound 2 watts per gallon. that is the actual bulb watts not the equilivant incandescent wattage.

for a substrate I recommend 1' peat moss, 1" play sand, 1" pro choice select.from bottom layer to top. each layer filled with water, leveled, tank cleaned then next layer added.

After the last layer I plant the plants the then flll the tank with water poured over a dish.

pro choice select is a baked clay used on baseball infields and available at landscaping places. also search on line for pro choice select and contact them to get a local supplier. costa are $8 for a 50 pound bag.

The peat moss is the canadian spachnum peat moss available a 3'x1'x1' plastic cubes from building supply stores for about $11 or so.

play sand is available in 50 pound bags ofr $3 or so.

With an existing tank I would drain it then follow the above only refilling it with the water removed.

I use no filters, no water changes, no circualtion.

look up beaslbob builds here

still just my .02

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fw leiden since 1979, fo salt since 1979, mixed reef 55g 2002-2009. Strong emphasis on the tank taking care of itself. Balanced with plant life, no water changes, tap water, no filters in FW. Only dosing calcium, alk, mag in marine reef tanks. http://www.aquariumforum.com/f15/my-...ods-26410.html
recent tanks (till 2009) 7 years- 10g FW leiden 7 yrs, 55g mixed reef 7, 2 yrs, 20g FW leiden, 10 g fw leiden , 29g mixed reef, current tank 55g leiden

I use Eco-Complete and am totally happy. I don't have to do anything special as far as ferts go. I did set up a small DIY cO2 and have 8000k T8 bulbs. Plants seem happy...

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20 gallon long:Amazon Swords, Ruffle Swords, Red Flame Swords, Fanwort, Wisteria,8 Lemon tetras,
6 otos, 11 Amano shrimp, 3 mystery snails, 3 Bolivian Rams, 3 black skirt tetra and 2-3 lemon tetra fry
10 gallon: 30 lemon tetra fry, give or take...1 gallon Anubias, Fish: 1 betta

FYI: Anacharis (aka: Elodea) does NOT stay planted easily! LOL! I've got a ton of it in my tanks and I'm normally replanting it each week. It just seems to uproot itself and sit on the surface of the gravel. It still faces vertical the way it should, it just doesn't stay planted - it's fine if it floats.

It also grows like the weed it is! I am trimming, replanting and even having to toss some each week!

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

All of those plants grow just fine in regular gravel as long as the rocks are not too large. No need to change unless you go with plants with higher needs.

Ya I am thinking I will buy this bunch, and go with this for a while. If I find it unbearable than I add more plants. About driftwood? What is it exactly. Is that wood that drifts on the top of the your tank. Do you know where I can get some. I was told that someone on this forum sells them or that you can find people that sell them on this forum.

btw thank you for all your input, i learned a lot. I think im going to try to starter kit, and try to pick up some drift wood soon. But overall it was good information. Thanks.

Drift wood is wood from trees that's collected from rivers, streams, lakes etc.
(Or for saltwater, found on beaches.)
The wood has been submerged, floating, drifting in the water for so long that the bark is gone, revealing the natural woodgrains, colors, and patterns.
If the right pieces are collected, tannins are usually all gone and no cloding or coloration pf the water occurs.

If the wood is cleaned properly, then its usually just as simple as adding in a new rock.
Floating wood is usually mounted to slate rock. This way it can be places however you like in the tank, and the tje slate covered with your substrate and it looks like a natural piece of wood in its natural underwater habitat.

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150G, 1 shovelnose sturgeon 8", 1 polypterus endilicheri 9", 1 leopard ctenapoma 4", 1 Distichodus Sexfasciatus 6", 1 Farlowella acus algae eater 8", 2 silver dollars, 2 tank bred angelfish, 1 clown knife 11", 1 Jaguar hybrid syntadonis 4", 6 African cichlids 3+"

Some people will mount driftwood hanging from the top to look like a root system.
Manzanita is often used for this.

I don't know where you are, but I am a driftwood and slate supplier for two of my local LFS. I've never shipped it, but if you are anywhere near central NC I could get some to you easily.

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150G, 1 shovelnose sturgeon 8", 1 polypterus endilicheri 9", 1 leopard ctenapoma 4", 1 Distichodus Sexfasciatus 6", 1 Farlowella acus algae eater 8", 2 silver dollars, 2 tank bred angelfish, 1 clown knife 11", 1 Jaguar hybrid syntadonis 4", 6 African cichlids 3+"

There are lots of different kinds - Mopani, Manzanita, Malaysian. It's all nice. You can get it at most LFS's and yes, there are some members on here who will sell it to you. If it's legal in your State, you can even collect some from lakes or rivers, but you should boil it first to kill any parasites that may be on it.

Most wood will leach tannins into your tank for a while, making it look the colour of weak tea, or a yellowish colour. Don't worry, this is not harmful to fish, and actually, many fish LOVE this kind of water. It kinda' gives the tank a more natural lake look. You can try soaking the wood in a bucket for a few weeks, with super hot water changes a few times a day to try to get some tannins out.

The wood should sink, but if it doesn't then you can attach it to a piece of slate with a stainless steel screw, or anchor it with rocks. Sometimes soaking will also help it sink.

Plants like Java Fern and Anubias will die if you bury the rhizome, so most people will anchor them to drift wood (or porous rock) with string until they root themselves there. it really looks neat actually. (I've got some pics of my 36g with some Java Fern tied to the wood in my album.)

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981

Instead of getting drift wood can I get some porous rocks and float them and tie to the anubias and java fern. Also at the moment, I am thinking of upgrading to a 30 gallon tank, and putting more soil down and more gravel down. But for now I will go with my 20 gallon tank. Any recommendations of fish, I have 2 gourmies right now, and i was looking for lemon tetras but could not find anything at petco. Also if you know better places to look for fish I am more then willing to listen. I am still a novoice when it comes to fish care. Thanks.

Something like this,
SeaClear Rectangular 29 Gallon Show Junior Executive Kits at PETCO

Really expensive is there a way to get a cheaper tank? Thanks.

Porous rocks won't float, they still sink, but you can anchor the plants to them. I used Lava rock for some of my ferns. The porousness just gives the root something to dig into.

Try Craig's list for some good tank prices - there are often insane deals!

What kind of Gourami's do you have?

In a 30g, I'd do maybe 6 Lemon Tetras and then your 2 Gourami. I wouldn't add a dwarf pleco species (clown, bushy nose, zebra) since you're not putting drift wood in. They do eat algae and veggies, but they also need wood to eat. Clown Plecs are especially big wood eaters. Most catfish - Otos, Plecos, etc... should have some drift wood. Corys may not do well on your gravel. So, bottom feeders may not be a good choice. But the Lemons and Gouramis will look nice.

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20g Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981
36g Bow Front Heavily Planted http://www.aquariumforum.com/gallery...00&ppuser=8981