Other Turtle Discussion :: Help with planted tank!

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I recently started a planted aquarium.
20 gallon long
small 10-20 gallon filter
Normal gravel
Anacharis, hornwort and green camboma
15 watt fluorescent bulb
1 male betta fish
DIY Co2 generator
The water is kinda cloudy, is this normal?? Also what can I do to help the plants grow faster? How long will it take till my plants start to grow? Tips please
Also where can I get duckweed? I like the way it looks and heard it grows like crazy, none of my pet shops carry it.

[rsour24]

if u replace the gravel with flourite or another plant base it will help or if u put in these like pellets u burry in you gravel for your plants. better lighting will help it grow faster. and as for duckweed i know its everywhere in the wild in PA but i have never seen a pet store carry it. and depending on your filter it might suck it all up anyway

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

Hm, It wouldn't do fine in the gravel by itself? The lakes around me don't have any duckweed for some reason. My filter waterfall doesn't hit the floating plants hard enough to reach the intake area.

[sflemin2]

I don't know about duck weed..it grows fast and all but remeber that your other plants will need light and the duck weed will block it. I am having a lot of luck with water sprite. I am having a blue green algae problem though (I think my light is too strong). My water sprite has established some very good roots with the gravel alone. Sometimes, I trim the plants when they get roots and throw the extra into a 1 gallon tank (betta tank but my betta is in the 10 gallon) that has an LED light on it and those plants have great roots and color but the plant itself doesnt grow as well as the ones in the 10 gallon. I like to put them in there, grow the roots, and then plant them in the bigger tank

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

So far it's doing pretty well. The Anachrais I bought were kinda bad, the leaves were kinda brown but I was hoping to revive them since thats what I did a long time ago. My hornwort seemed to explode, it's a lot more lush and bigger then yesterday. My green cambona looks the same though the stems have grown a little bit. The water was cloudy last night and now its crystal clear! Betta is doing great he's friendly and comes to the surface when I look over the tank.

[sflemin2]

Just a 15 watt light correct?

[Ranger The Red Ear Slider]

I replaced it with a 20 watt today.