[benie]

it will be my first attempt at a planted tank..i plan on starting with a 10 gallon..my question is what do i need to start a planted tank??my LFS has many selections of plant to choose from..so what do i need in my tank??gravel??i read that you need fluorite??whats that ?and can i find it at the LFS? can you give me some brand name examples??also..i think i have the right lighting to start off.is there any more info i need to know??
actually..after reading some post..will my lighting be good enough? i have the standard light that comes with the tank setup..

 

[elTwitcho]

More likely than not your lighting isn't adequate since it's probably an incandescent light. You're going to want between 10-20 watts of fluorescent lighting with plant bulbs as your bare minimum. A good way to achieve this is to get a glass top if you don't already have one and get a strip light from home depot or walmart or whatever.

For substrate, gravel works ok, but fluorite is much better and because it will be so cheap in a small tank like a 10 gallon I'd suggest you go with the fluorite. You'll have healthier happier plants in the long run.

For plants, anubias and vals seem to have done best when I had very little lighting in the tank

 

[User]

Anubias, java fern, crypts, and java moss all would do okay. IMO