Hey Adam, long time no speak...good to hear your getting back into the hobby
. Yeah a 33 is the perfect size to start off with for a planted tank. First off your light question...most experts will recommend roughly two watts per gallon..but this solely depends on plant species you are dealing with...i find that two watts works good for high light demanding species..most of which are in the experts realm in my opinion...even though most are widely available and cheap! Personally i use about a watt and a half for my tanks..except for the ones i grow plants in to sell..then i bump it up to about three to four...but these are rapid growth..raise them sell them kinda thing...basically just to get them to a marketable size. Your tank...i will guess will be about 18" high..so your current bulb set up will work perfectly for the depth..and for the types of plants i will suggest you purchase...plus ill suggest plants that are easy...not demanding, cheap, and nice to look at. Just to make sure you are guaranteed success and dont get discouraged.
Ill give you the most basic simple plan to naturally fertile your tank first off, and this will guarantee not only nice lush green plants, but proper strong root growth. Its somewhat of a little secret i use...actually, not really, alot of ppl do it this way...actually i recently suggested this approach to member Ash, and she told me that she noticed a huge difference. First off arm yourself with about three to four boxes of Hagan brand peat...the wool looking type...there is two styles, a granular and the wool style, the granular i find personally takes too long to break down..so i have stopped using it. When you buy your plants, you simply wash the peat, wrap some of it around the roots and dump it into the soil....or gravel. You can do the same here and there throughout the tank with the left over pieces as well....One entire box should go into the filter...so that it can break down there and release natually into the water for the plants to consume...so basically...your feeding the roots..and the rest of the plants as well. Not to mention that you are naturally going to bring the P.h. level of the tank water down to a suitable level that most plants and fish..ie the tetra's you mentions like
A little side note about the filter....im going to assume that you will use an AquaClear filter...and these work great for this size of tank..plus the available accessories..not to mention price make these very favorable. If you are using one of these..do yourself a favor and purchase a filter sock for the size of A/C that you are going to use..this way you can dump the peat right into the bag and let it soak in the filter without the risk of pieces coming out and floating into the tank. Also..if your going to keep plants..make sure you buy a filter extension pick up piece..you need to get the filter inlet as low to the ground as possible....stray leafs are a nightmare for any filter...especially a/c that seem to get clogged really fast...this will hopefully prevent most of them from finding the loose pieces and will also draw the current across the plants roots.
Okay plants...i know you will read up on these more Adam, but here is what i would suggest..first off...even though you will be temped at the stores, stay away from the red plants...trust me when i say..that if you do not have experience..you will spend alot of money for a plant that will die in about two weeks
. And you should probably read up on any plant before you purchase...we have all been caught by the "oh that looks nice" bug only to find out the plant i just payed $40 for is only semi-aquatic!!!...and dead in weeks
. Okay..here is my list...and some of these i may be able to hack a piece or two out of my tank for you to get you started free of charge..just get back to me when ready. First off rooted type plants..by that i mean ones that go directly into the gravel...most type of swords are really nice...but make sure which one..some get enormous! But for the most part they are easy to grow..i have three babies that will be ready to go in about two months time...these reach about 20-20", but if you prune them back enough...they will work in your tank...and if you want them..let me know..they are yours. Crypt species are also nice...i would stick with the dwarf species for your first time...these plants get a type of rot called crypt rot..so common its named after them...that is..if you are using the larger species..the smaller i have found to be way more hardier...although i have a large amount of the bigger variety and in two colours..again..if you like those let me know. Val..is another good beginner plant...it looks like grass and is fairly undemanding...i may be able to squeeze you some of that too...ill have to let you know on that one....i have five different varieties currently. Now for what ill call none planted plants..what i mean by that..is plants that cant have the roots burried..or should i say..do better if you dont. First off Java moss...it basically looks like moss and most fish will spaun in it..extremely easy to grow..and i have tons of it for you. Next Java ferns..these are an old aquarium favorite..beautiful leafs, slow growing, but a must as a show piece...sorry currently i have really none i can spare...but they are widely available and cheap...ill work on some for you..may take another six months or so
. Anubius is another good ones..imo there isnt to many plants that look as nice..available in several forms these two are easy and hardy..but on the expensive side...these i cannot spare...as i have yet to propigate them successfully..i have one common species and two hybrids....now i should mention that these plants you need to attach to either rocks or stones...most can be tricked to grow on the actual gravel..but this is very hard...mostly it will just happen naturally...so be patient. I usually attach mine by wrapping the roots with a natural cotton thread. A little while after the roots attach themselves..the thread will rot away and leave the plant on its own.....im writing another novel here..so ill end the plants here...if you see some you like, just email me or ask here...im sure one of us has had some experience with them.
Okay Clown loaches...i love them too, i currently have 17 of them and they are by far one of my most favorites. These can get very big..about 6 inches or so...but are slow growing. I will put my neck out on a limb here and say yes...you should have no problems with three of them in a tank that size..its pushing it..but i think you will be okay. If you want to go the tetra route..i would suggest with loaches..lemon tetras, congo, phantom, rummy nose, serpae, or even diamonds. I dont have time to go through each one..so read up on them...or ask if you are interested in a particular one..we should be able to give you a run down. Another nice fish...or specise you may want to consider is something from the barb species...i know Corr keeps them..they are always active...the tigers have the same patterns as your clowns..and the two may even school together. Cherry, Rosey, thread fin, Gold..are all nice...do some research again..and post if you have any questions...i hope this made sense..please contact me if you have any other questions about what i just wrote..lol im not even sure anymore
. I have attached a pic of one of my current planted tanks..right after i pruned it...thats a whole other side to keeping plants...all for another day
at work right now i have to read threw these when Iget in.... wow so much writting cant wait to read threw them so i can soak up all the info... shane as far as letting you know about hte plants I will get back to you on that once i can read the posts.
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