Too many plants

Got home from my LFS today with yet more plants and was setting things out, getting ready to put them in the 55 when I realized I just don't have room. The 55 has a plan. I'm meant to be following it! So, since I was stuffing it all up anyways, I went ahead and added another cave, too.

I have a plan for another tank, a 10, I think. But I have to buy it first I've been haunting the used ads, waiting to find an awesome deal.

Then I can start thinking about more fish! Yes!

I have the opposite problem. I have no plants at the moment and I am very nervous about starting a planted tank but I am in the process of planning one as we speak. It is a 35G tank and I am toying withthe idea of a South American theme.

Plans, shmams, who needs them? I'm going to go pick up a 25-30G this morning. So much for the 10!

My husband held his head in despair when I mentioned this to him yesterday. Poor guy. He probably dreams about drowning in all the water I've got in the house

Well, at least all the plants will fit now, AND I've got space for more

Don't be nervous about planting your tank; just keep in mind how much lighting you have and plan accordingly. If you've got low light, get low light plants, even if you plan to get more lighting 'later'. Wait until later happens, then get high light plants, otherwise you may be wasting your money if the plants die or just do badly and look miserable.

I think I'm more of an example of what NOT to do - plain gravel and sand, DIY CO2, started out with .5wpg and - yes, I did - high light plants. One plant didn't make it and another is still recovering from my previous care - from 4 months ago! With better light, it has very slowly regained some size and red color but still not what it should be. (It's a rotala of some sort, can't remember at the moment)

I love the look of live plants and don't mind the maintenance that goes with them; I also like to think of them as being a bit of a safety buffer if something ever went wrong if I'm away over a weekend. They can take care of some extra ammonia (and look good doing it!) if my filter quit. And the fish enjoy the plants too.

What plants are you thinking about for your South America theme?

I am not too sure about the exact plants at the moment. I have been looking on another website that has a gallery of a load of plants and just making a list of those that come from South America. But a lot of stuff is quite difficult to get over here in the UK so I am going to be going round my LFS's and seeing what they have. I may even end up with a community tank if I can't get what I would like.

I have several plant species in my 20G tank, which gets no CO2 injections or any fancy fertilizers. There is just a tiny layer of plant substrate and the plants that are doing the best are:
- Anacharis
- Water Sprite
- Narrow Leaf Chain Sword

So im sure you could use these without any hesatation. Some other plants that I know will also do ok without fertilizers are:
- Java Moss
- Banana Plant

Goodluck!

If you haven't already found it, I use the tropica.com site to look up plants because it gives very detailed information: continent, region of origin, light/temp/fert requirements, etc.

As an extra bonus, they have a 'dealers' link so you can find who carries their brand of plants; over here they are expensive, but quality products.

I was in my LFS again over the weekend; I made it out of the store without purchasing any plants this time!

I came home with more ADF's and a Mystery Snail.

Agghh!

It is always very hard to resist buying something. I am lucky in that respect in that I have a 10G which is full and a 35G that I haven't ctarted as yet. So there is nothing to buy at the moment.

I am having real problems sourcing some Eco-complete or other alternative at the moment and the internet sources charge a lot because of postage costs due to weight. Still I am sure I will get there in the end.