215lt Aqua One Tank

[fishfin]

I'm picking up my 215 litre tank tonight.

I would really love to plant the tank out with live plants. I want something that would be suitable for a complete learner/beginner.

I have studied the plants that would be suitable like Java Fern, Java Moss so I will stick with plants like this until I get my confidence up.

My questions now are regarding the substrate. Do I add special aquarium soil then place gravel over the top? I understand that Java Fern needs to be attached to something, but I'd still like to get the best substrate set up in case I decide to get other plant types.

I have read that the aqaurium soil can be rather expensive but Bunnings does sell pond soil that might be suitable according to some reading I have been doing.

Also, do I need to add fertiliser to these plants? If so, what brand and name would be best?

Any other tips would be most welcome.

Where is the best place to buy aquarium plants from like Java Fern etc. They were quite expensive from my LFS. $15 for a TINY plant that was in really bad shape. Does anyone here live in Victoria that would be able to sell me something suitable??

[Alasse]

Bunnings sell RichGro Aquatic plant mix, i used this when first starting, was quite good. You really need to wash it and wash it some more, its a strange stuff *L* I never got any major clouding, but i have heard of others that had that problem. I topped it with around 1 1/2 inches of plain gravel. I used, if i recall correctly 2-3 bags in my 5ft. The plants grew really well.

I now use laterite (it is a bit expensive, but you really dont need that much) and Dino Dung (awesome awesome stuff). The Dino range rivals many of the very expensive additives, you can get them from Aquagreen online. You can also get plants from there.

Java fern and moss dont really need any fertz though, the fish waste is all i use in mine

Best place to get plants from is fellow aquariasts

Java fern, Java moss, Anubias, Val, Wisteria, Elodea are good starter plants.

[louu]

I have also heard great things about Dino dung and plan on using it myself when I get set up.

That's pretty neat that bunnings sell aquatic soil the more I have been on this site the more I realise just how inadvertently handy bunnings really is...