# live plants???



## bgregson8904 (Jul 6, 2009)

i posted some pics of my mac on here the other day and received a lot of comments about how i should put real plants in as opposed to the fake plants i have in there now...im not sure wat i would have to do for real plants? do i need to get special lights so the plants will live? do i need to add anything to the water? wat kind of plants should i get?

any answers/suggestions to these questions and/or any other advice u think i could find helpful is welcome


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

what are the specs on your tank now. what kind of lights size of tank, are you using fertilizers yet, CO2, substrate, how long are your lights on for, blah blah and anything else you can think of.


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## bgregson8904 (Jul 6, 2009)

umm well i just have black gravel, the lights are just normal lights not sure about them and they are normaly on for like 12 hours but i was considering getting a timer for them


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## ryanimpreza (Jul 19, 2006)

rule of thumb............if you are not going to run with co2 in your tank (which i suggest you do) you should run with no more then 1.5 watts per gallon of lighting bulbs in the range of 5500-10000 kelvins. Most people run with 6700 kelvins. After you go over 1.5 wpg you should run with co2. Your gravel should be fine to use but when you get into growing plants I recommend going with a substrate like eco complete. You should by a timer it is a lot easier and set it for 8-10 hours a day, I run mine at 8 hours a day. To much light does no good for the plants to complete photosynthesis plants need dark also. You will need to but fertilizers also, a lot of people use liquid ferts like flourish products in-fact I recommend flourish excel if you are not running with co2. I use flourish tabs for my big rooted plants.


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## bgregson8904 (Jul 6, 2009)

k thanks i will c wat i can do...lil tight on money so it will have to wait a lil


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