"Zion Hill" wrote in message
...
I have a 10 gallon planted tank which I operate opposite from every
advice
that you have heard.

Here are some rules that I break:
-Don't use under gravel airstone setups with plants, the roots don't
like
it: I do and it works great. I believe the system actually pulls fish
waste
and uneaten food toward the roots which they find nourishment from

Root need O2......you are giving it to them.


- Don't use power heads with plants, they don't like water that moves
too
much: I use a dual-riser under gravel setup with low powered
powerheads. The
water is always fresh with oxygen, and last I checked plants out in
the wild
grow in moving water.

Plants need water movement in order to have nutrients available, else
the area next to the plant becomes void of the nutrients they need.


-Use soil or flourite: I just use fine stone and the roots are nicely
dispersed in them.

Sure, gravel and sand......why not....


-Use CO2 for growth: I use lower lighting so I don't have to monkey
with
CO2. The plants grow, but slowly which is fine by me. I keep the tank
away
from the window so I don't get any algae. The water always smells
fresh when
I do water changes. It's not what you would call a show quality tank
but
it's nice and it's low maintenance.

They get CO2 from your water. It keeps enough CO2 disolved from your
water circulation.


Oh, yes the fish - just assorted kinds of gold fish, colorful but low
maintenance. Thinking of trying shrimp.


Sounds like you are covering all the bases......whom preaches against
these things, except the goldfish?


"Eric Schreiber" wrote in message
...
JuanMa wrote:

My LFS told me that to have a planted tank I need to have the
bottom of
the
tank with potting soil and gravel on top.

If you follow their advice, you're going to have an unholy mess on
your hands. There are several brands of aquarium gravel specifically
for planted tanks, most well-know being Flourite from SeaChem. These
gravels are much easier to work with than potting soil would be.

The tank will have two 36W PC lights, maybe a power head and a HOB
filter.

That's a lot of light for a ten gallon tank. That's not a bad thing,
but you're going to have to battle algae until you get the CO2 and
fertilizer balance worked out.


--
www.ericschreiber.com