I want to convert my established fish tank with 6 fish in it to a Planted tank. Suggestions on how to do this

Question

I have always loved planted fish tanks. I think they are so much prettier than fish tanks with plastic plants. Plus the plants are better for the tank and fish anyways.

So i have a 30 gallon, ( (H)24"X(L)18"X(D)8" ) established tank. It currently has the usual plastic plants in it, and plastic figurines (pirate themed).

Like i said, i've always loved planted tanks, but thought that they were near impossible to keep alive. But i read this article saying that if you get the right plants, it is pretty easy.

I dont know exactly how bright the lights are, but they are about medium brightness.

I have a complete eclipse system. (fliter).

So if anyone knows of a good website that gives good advice on how to start a planted tank, or knows from personal experience, please answer to my question.

Thank you for reading, and i look forward to hearing all your suggestions!!!!

Answer 1

If you can find out how many watts the bulb is, that will help you out.  You want to then find out what types of plants can live with the amount of light you have.  Something about 2 watts per gallon would be just about perfect for low and medium light plants.  For the size of your tank and the stock lighting, I'm assuming you are probably leaning toward 1 watt per gallon.

For something like that, you could do low light plants like java fern, anubias, crypt plants, hornwort and some others.  Those would be your best bet to start with.  If you really like the plant idea, you should consider upgrading your lighting to something brighter.  Hope that helps... and believe me, you definitely can do this!!