New to the Planted Aquarium world but damn EXCITED about it!

I just planted my first Amazon Sword! I have black sand as my substrate because I did not know how into planted aquariums I would get. I would like any tips about them that anyone may have. Also, my next endeavor is planting an Anubias on a piece of driftwood.

Thank you

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Permalink Reply by Gray on November 10, 2013 at 11:22pm

Hey Jared

If you could tell us a little more about your tank, like size, lighting and filtration, any fish you have, things like that. Will be much easier to help you with a little more info :)

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Permalink Reply by Jordan Puckett on November 10, 2013 at 11:45pm

My first tank is:

10 gallon

I recently upgraded my lights from incandescent to two florescent bulbs.

They are 600 lumens each and 10 watts each.

I have a cheap, standard filter going through a blue charcoal pad and a bio filter.

3 Danios and 1 Black Molly and 1 Silver Molly, 1 African Dwarf Frog

I have one Amazon Sword currently that is planted into my substrate up to the crown. I read I should trim off dead leaves and roots and snip ends of good roots to promote growth, so I did that.

Substrate is black coarse sand.

I plan on slowly upgrading anything I need to as a learn more. I am super interested at this point but I want to do it correctly so I am not just going out to the store and buying everything I "think" I need.

Thanks for any help and advice. I will heed and it and greatly appreciate it.

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Permalink Reply by Gray on November 10, 2013 at 11:48pm

So are the amazon sword and the anubias your only plants?

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Permalink Reply by Jordan Puckett on November 10, 2013 at 11:51pm

Yes, and no, I do not have the Anubias yet.But yes, the Amazon sword is currently my only plant. I just planted it recently. I trimmed off any dead leaves and roots, and snipped the ends of the good roots to promote growth. I will update my specs to add my plants. I guess that's kind of a Duh.

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Permalink Reply by Gray on November 10, 2013 at 11:59pm

Well, if you plan on growing more plants, i would suggest getting some sort of substrate to put under your sand, such as dirt or eco complete or flourite. It gives your plants something to feed from. They will grow better. and i think your lighting is okay for low light plants.

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Permalink Reply by Jordan Puckett on November 11, 2013 at 12:02am

Ok, that was one of two of my main concerns. I know its newb lighting but I hoped it would do for now. Glad to hear that. OK so I guess my first mission is to upgrade my substrate. I'm guessing Ill have to remove most of my sand, put in new substrate, then recover with sand(which I like). Is one easier to keep and better for beginners than another. For instance I've read dirt is hard to keep in beginning, requiring massive water changes and what not. Thanks.

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Permalink Reply by Gray on November 11, 2013 at 12:07am

Yeah you could just put the new substrate under the sand it would work fine. Well i did something similar to that with my substrate and i had eco complete and sand. The eco complete is working pretty well so far. its also looks good with the sand. i think that would be a good way to go for a tank thats already established. you can buy it on any website that sells fish supplies one like http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=9087

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Permalink Reply by Jordan Puckett on November 11, 2013 at 12:11am

OK, I think Ill do a Eco complete substrate. Is that a substitute for tab fertilizers? As in, is that all I need to feed rooted plants?

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Permalink Reply by Gray on November 11, 2013 at 12:18am

No I would suggest using root tabs or fertilizers along with the eco complete. Plants will grow much better

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Permalink Reply by Jordan Puckett on November 11, 2013 at 11:48pm

OK. I think that will be whats next for me. Also, I think I want to get a piece of driftwood going. Ever prepared one for a tank?

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Permalink Reply by Gray on November 12, 2013 at 2:11pm

Yes I have plenty of driftwood I know how to prepare it. The best thing to do is get the driftwood before anything else so you have time to soak it. Get a good piece or even a few you like so you can have a choice when you put the tank togrther. Find a bin or tub big enough to fit the wood in and fill it with water to soak the wood. You may have to put rocks on it to keep it underwater but eventually it should sink. Once you have the supplies to do your tank I would boil the wood. You can boil it whole if you have a pot big enough but you can also do it in sections. Boiling causes sap to come out of the wood if there is any and tannins. Also, say you had some bugs or something in the wood, it would kill that too. Ill add you as a friend and we can message ill try to help you out the best I can.