A good start?

GoneFishin

So I have been thinking for the last week or so about what I want to get when I start my tank.

I looked at petsmart and they have a 29 gallon starter kit, for substrate i was thinking a 1" layer of seachem flourite natural sand and then throwing a layer of some black/darker substrate over it. So far for plants i have 4 Cabomba to go along the back and dwarf baby tears x2.. does anyone have any tips on the baby tears? or some fearful stories? well after a week, this is all i have come up with, still looking at plants and still drawing out the layout of the tank. The time is coming near though for me to at least get the tank lol.

Let me know any suggestions that you may have in mind :)

Byron

You have probably chosen the two plants requiring the most light and nutrients. So that begs the question, what light do you have?

JohnnyD44

Hi gonefishin'

I agree with Byron, I think a fellow member 'enga' had some issues with their cabomba(I believe), he needed to add a second lamp to focus specifically on that plant....

Inga

All I can tell you is that I love my Camboba. I have several planted in a thick group and it is just gorgeous! I did add some light to that planted area though. I still recommend them, they are neat looking plants, IMO

To be fair, they looked rough when I first got them from the store, but thankfully the extra light was all it needed. I do also add Flourish and root tabs. Byron suggested Flourish comprehensive and that is what I use.

aunt kymmie

Yes, Inga (she) did have that problem, and additional light corrected the problem. I have Cabomba (green version) in my display and it does well. I have CF 6700 K bulbs (approx. 1.44 WPG) on that tank.
I just picked up what was labeled "purple" Cabomba (Byron, proper genus of this species is called??) and have it in my new 75 gl. I only have 5000k bulbs (T8-approx. 1.28WPG) on that tank so it'll be interesting to see what happens with it. The lighting issues always get me confused!! So far it's doing well, knock wood!

GoneFishin

If needed I can upgrade the lights.. which plants would work best with the stock lights that come with the hood?

aunt kymmie

Are you able to look at the bulbs and give us wattage and kelvin rating??

GoneFishin

No, i don't have the tank yet. it's just a 29 gallon top fin starter set from petsmart

aunt kymmie

I just looked up the specs on the Petsmart website and the desciption (which doesn't tell us much) for the light is:
30" full hood with flourescent light

aunt kymmie

I just did a little reading and the retail price at Petsmart for that tank is $89.99.
I just picked up a 75gl (with the works) for just $200.00 off of craigslist. Have you considered maybe poking around on craigslist? Just a thought...