Questions asked by the beginners for setting up planted tanks in Kolkata

1. Which material is preferable? Glass or Plastic? Please provide the pros and cons of both.

Glass will be cheaper and easily available. If you want to spend more can go for moulded one ..aesthetically better

2. If I want to have a tank of say 2.5 ft length 1.5 breadth and 2 ft of height, will it be good enough to grow plants?

Length and breadth is ok but height better keep @18" or below, otherwise you have to spend much on lighting and electricity bills.

3. Is direct sunlight advisable or artificial light will do good?

No direct sunlight. The total environment will be created by you and will be controlled by you.

4. Will it require lot of time to maintain? ACtually me and my husband belong to IT field and everyday we don't have much time to spend. But yes in occassion basis we can spend an entire day during weekend twice a month. My question is will it demands lots of care/time everyday?

Initially it need 1 hour alternate day for water changing etc... after 2 - 3 months it will take 2 hours per week. If you have passion you can make it easily.

5. Sometimes we are out of home for 2 days.may be 1.5 days. How to cope with that without affecting aqua lives in my tank.

Not much problem. Timer for light is available not very costly too.


6. In Kolkata, where should I get the base substrate?

Collect laterite, which is at present available on the service road Lake town on VIP road. You will need about 2 - 3 kg for your set up. Collect coarse sand gravel. KA members will help you for that

10.At last, to get ready for all these, how much will it cost me. Obviously its difficult to provide exact amount but an approximation will also do.

It depends on what do you want! For low tech tank, where growth will be slower and you cannot expect to see the magic every now and then can be started @ 2.5 K for your tank size. For high tech tank sky is the limit :) But a moderate high-tech tank you should keep your budget about 5 - 6 k.