# Possibly interested in getting plants for tank



## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

I'm thinking of adding some live plants to my tanks, but the concern I have is that my p's freak out so much when i turn the light on the aquarium on. I could try dimming the light a little, but I'm already working with low wattage for a 75g. Are there plants that can survive on real low wattages?

And I hope this doesn't sound too stupid...but, can you put live plants in if your substrate is sand? (one tank is sand, one is gravel)


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## redpiranhas4 (Feb 23, 2003)

just use the lights they get used to it


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## sprinter78 (Nov 24, 2003)

Java ferns are low light plants. They may work. I have my plants in gravel. I have heard of people putting plants in sand. If you really get into plants in your tanks, you may want to think of a substrate that you would put underneath of your sand or gravel. Some people use laterite, some use other materials.


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

primetime3wise said:


> And I hope this doesn't sound too stupid...but, can you put live plants in if your substrate is sand? (one tank is sand, one is gravel)


I was reading through another tread, and one member uses some type of netting to rap the roots in fluorite. The netting material was able to hold the fluorite but allow the roots to grow and break free. I think this method would work good for a sand substrate.


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## P-Power (Jan 23, 2004)

Here is my 75 gal

I use sand with peat as substrate... I also laid down a strip of black electric tape under the light (on top of the glass) to reduce direct light from the tubes..
and these stinking plants have been growing way too fast
I also have a timer set to 13 hours on, 11 off


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

what are laterite and flourite? and where do you get them? how can i go about putting something under my sand? kinda hard since it is the only thing i have in there now. i guess i'd have to take it out and then put it back in.


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## primetime3wise (Sep 28, 2003)

or maybe i should just buy white gravel and mix it in with my sand, since my sand is white.


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## smithgrind_who (Mar 26, 2004)

Here is some info I found at Seachem web site:



> Flourite™ is a red clay based gravel that is rich in ferric iron. Comparing Flourite™ and laterite on the basis of their iron content alone is not a really valid comparison since they are really quite different products (the old apple and oranges argument). Their iron content is going to be roughly pretty similar, but with each the actual content can vary from lot to lot. Since we don't market it as an iron supplement, we don't make any claims on exactly how much iron it delivers to the water per se. What it does do though is provide a rich source of iron (more than enough to last years) for rooting plants... the plants are able to extract the iron from the Flourite™.


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