tips on growing plants without co2

[gav]

i am still in the process of pitting gravel in my new tank, and before i finished i felt it prudent to find out if i will need any fertiliser. I am using the black silica style substrate from aqua one. have seen jbl balls and they look ok, but its been a long while since i have had a planted tank and there is so many new products around i thought i could use some advice.

details of the tank are as follows. 180cm high, 120 wide, 75cm deep. lighting is 2 6ft dalbarb lights with sylvania tubes, though the tubes are getting to be about 2 years old now (havent previously used them on tanks with plants). i also just bought a 4ft t5 with one actinic blue, one white globe that sits over the end where most of the plants will be. it can also get quite a bit of morning sun if i open the blinds near the tank

plants i am aiming to keep are anubias of different varieties, swords plus any others that will do well in a relatively low light non co2 environment.

pic of the tank as of last week to give you an idea on it

http://giantfishtank.bigblog.com.au/data/5/25288/image/tank2515220080208221404.jpg

fish going in there are still to be completely decided on but i am aiming to avoid fish that smash plants. likely though is mid sized tetras, angels, corys, non rasping plecos and likely some small south american cichlids

[gav]

oops, dimensions are 180cm long, 120cm wide, 75 deep

(not 180cm high, 120 wide, 75cm deep)

[ILLUSN]

75 deep is going to be your biggest problem, the only light that penetrates well if going to be halides.

Alternativly stock plants that grow on wood like anubias, java fern bolbitus (keep temp below 28C)and plant then at diffrent heights along the drift wood (use big anubia such as barteri and giganta at the lower levels, also a good spot for bolbitus, as they grow up. use coffefolia and javafern in the middle, and marbled nana or nana up the top as they stay small)

The trick is balance, run low light (2w/gal) pick slower growing plants like bigger swords and crypts. Try and get adults as they will be at a height that gets more light and hence will grow better.

Add a couple of faster growers like hydrophilla spp. and Val to soak up the nutrients, or even let some hornwort just trail across the top.

Try and stock ottos, they're great in numbers for controling algae, and have a bottle of florish excell handy for when BBA shows up (always a problem in non co2 tanks with slow growers)

[gav]

ok, so realistically I wont need to get any super substrates for plant growth as it wont do much. i just need to get them the light they need for growth. sounds simple enough. now i will just try and source the plants you listed.

not sure how many gallon 1600 litres is (im guessing about 300) but i am fairly sure that i wont have much more than 500 watts of light on there.

[albatrozz]

why arent you using CO2? It is extremely easy and cheap to make and maintain a DIY CO2 system for your tank.