first planted aquarium

I want to start a planted aquarium. I have a 6gallon bow front tank that i had 8 neon tetras and two rummy nose and one dwarf spotted plecostumus. I had an ich outbreak but i controlled it and killed it off using nox-ich. unfortunatly the parisite took all but two of my fish, I now have one neon and one pleco. I would love to start a planted aquarium and i just need a few pointers, like what kind of plants would you recomend for my tank. I am going to pick up a pice of mopani drift wood and seachem florite substrate. Does anybody know where i can get some live aquarium plants in lethbridge. Any help would be greatly apreciated.

thank you :)

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Comment by Robert Jango on September 5, 2012 at 3:25am: If you're using dirt and lights any plants will do well. But remember that aquarium plants can be funny. They're just like houseplants - sometimes they just don't like you. I recommend starting out with a few species to see which ones love your tank. Dustin delves into the science behind each species and, over the years, he's taught himself how to care for each one. This is too much for a beginner, I would first learn how to keep one species and then decide if you want to learn more. Personally, I take this approach because just trying to breed fish is more than I can handle right now.

I know you're way up by Calgary but try your local waterways. You can never go wrong with local plants. You can also order plants over the internet as long as they're being shipped within Canada.

Comment by Andrew Koehler on September 8, 2012 at 1:55pm: Thank you for the comment' it was very helpful. I am thinking about gettng some amazon swords ans some anubis.Do you think that these species will grow well in my tank ? Also i have a led light for my tank that emits 1400k, do you think this is enough for these plants?

Comment by Robert Jango on September 8, 2012 at 11:29pm: K stands for Kelvin. It is the color a certain metal turns (I forget which one) when heated up. At 1400 degrees Kelvin the metal turns red (I think). Your 1400K leds may look like they're emitting white light but they're giving you red light waves. You need bulbs labeled "daylight". Daylight color is a mixture of blues, greens, red and yellow. The color temperature should be in the 6000K-7000K range. 1400 is of no use. It doesn't matter if you use incandescent bulbs, florescent, leds, halogens, or candles. They should be in the 6500K range and have enough lumens (photons) to cover the 6 gallon tank.

You need between 5 - 40 lumens per square inch of surface area. If your tank is 10 inches wide and 10 inches long that's 100 sq. inches of surface area. 10 lumens per square inch means you'll need 1000 lumens for example. (100 sq inches X 10) The lights should say on the box how many lumens it emits but, if not, google the specifications of your light and "lumens". The company's web site will tell you.

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