[skools717]

so i recently bought an eclipse 5 gallon hex to experiment with real plants, i have never gotten then before

so all i have in it is water its completly empty

so i wanted to know do i set the plants in and then pour the sand over it till the bottom is covered?

and i know you need a certain light but are there any other things you need?

 

[justshoe]

A 5gallon is going to be hard to light properly. I just plant mine like any plant into the substrate. Would stay away from sand w/live plant though it tends to choke the roots off. You can try some java fern tied to some rocks or driftwood. I know my 5 gallon eclipse came with a 8watt CFL bulb. Very minimal for trying to grow live plant let alone illuminate the tank. I put a 13w CFL in it but this is still only around 2w per gallon which is about the minimum for low plant plants like java fern and anubias.