I've just started two new planted tanks. One is a 29g and the other is a 150g. I've read the sticky threads and I still have a few questions. Both of the tanks are only lightly planted at this point. The 29g has 65w coralife fixture with a 6700K bulb. The substrate is about 75% red flourite and 25% round river rocks(I realize that they will probably block root growth.) Currently in the tank the is a medium sized amazon sword, a small anubias congensis(sp.), a small dwarf lily, 2 small vallisneria, a few shoots of anacharis, and 2 stems of green cabomba. There are currently 6 female guppies and 3 Indo dats(1" each now will be moved when ready) in the tank. Also the tank is filtered by a HOB type. No CO2 or ferts yet.
The 150 has 192 watts of pc lighting at 6700K and 60 watts of regular flourescent at 5000K. The 150 has 90% red flourite substrate and 10% misc. small gravel. There are pretty much the same plants in this tank as the 29g minus the cabomba but this tank is more sparsely planted. The tank currently has 2-5" leporinus fasciatus, 2-3" kissing gouramis, and a 4" mono pbass(he'll be moved with the dats into a 180g when they are all ready.) This tank is also filtered by 2 HOB filters and there is no CO2 or ferts yet in this tank either.
Now for the questions:
1.) I read a response by wyldfya saying that someone's plants were in the emersed stage and would soon be losing their leaves. I haven't read any other information about this so I'd like to know more about it so I can understand what my plants will go through in the future.
2.) I also have seen a few posts about nitrates being too high for plants. My tap water already contains about 25ppm of nitrates from the start and 3 of my tanks regularly show 60ppm even with 50% weekly water changes. I realize this is largely due to stocking and feeding habits so I don't anticipate levels being as high in these 2 planted setups because they are less stocked and fed sparingly but I think they will still be around 40ppm of nitrate. Is this too high for plants or will they suck up enough to be okay? How will I know if my nitrates are too high for them?
3.) I'm thinking about adding a diy CO2 setup to the 29g and then expanding to the 150g based on results. My initial thoughts were to use the standard coke bottle, yeast, and sugar but if anyone has experience with a low-tech system available in stores or online I'd love to hear about it. Also, my tap water pH is around 7.5 but my tanks normally read around 7. If I do add a simple CO2 system, how careful will I need to be about making sure the ph doesn't swing too wildly due to the CO2? Will a diy CO2 system even do anything given that I have only HOB filters?
4.) Both of these tanks had air bubblers used before I planted them. I have since removed the air from both tanks and all the fish seem fine since I did this(4 days ago). Is there a time lapse between putting the plants in and when they start photosynthisizing? How long does it normally take before they start adding O2 to the water?
5.) Last but not least, I realize that my leporinus are plant eating fish and have also found out that my gouramis like to eat plants as well but I'd really like to keep them in the 150g tank. The only plants neither of them bother at all are the anubias congensis and the anacharis. Are there other plants that they will most likely ignore or should I just move the fish and get some safer inhabitants for my plants?
I'm sorry for such a long post. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
The 150 has 192 watts of pc lighting at 6700K and 60 watts of regular flourescent at 5000K. The 150 has 90% red flourite substrate and 10% misc. small gravel. There are pretty much the same plants in this tank as the 29g minus the cabomba but this tank is more sparsely planted. The tank currently has 2-5" leporinus fasciatus, 2-3" kissing gouramis, and a 4" mono pbass(he'll be moved with the dats into a 180g when they are all ready.) This tank is also filtered by 2 HOB filters and there is no CO2 or ferts yet in this tank either.
Now for the questions:
1.) I read a response by wyldfya saying that someone's plants were in the emersed stage and would soon be losing their leaves. I haven't read any other information about this so I'd like to know more about it so I can understand what my plants will go through in the future.
2.) I also have seen a few posts about nitrates being too high for plants. My tap water already contains about 25ppm of nitrates from the start and 3 of my tanks regularly show 60ppm even with 50% weekly water changes. I realize this is largely due to stocking and feeding habits so I don't anticipate levels being as high in these 2 planted setups because they are less stocked and fed sparingly but I think they will still be around 40ppm of nitrate. Is this too high for plants or will they suck up enough to be okay? How will I know if my nitrates are too high for them?
3.) I'm thinking about adding a diy CO2 setup to the 29g and then expanding to the 150g based on results. My initial thoughts were to use the standard coke bottle, yeast, and sugar but if anyone has experience with a low-tech system available in stores or online I'd love to hear about it. Also, my tap water pH is around 7.5 but my tanks normally read around 7. If I do add a simple CO2 system, how careful will I need to be about making sure the ph doesn't swing too wildly due to the CO2? Will a diy CO2 system even do anything given that I have only HOB filters?
4.) Both of these tanks had air bubblers used before I planted them. I have since removed the air from both tanks and all the fish seem fine since I did this(4 days ago). Is there a time lapse between putting the plants in and when they start photosynthisizing? How long does it normally take before they start adding O2 to the water?
5.) Last but not least, I realize that my leporinus are plant eating fish and have also found out that my gouramis like to eat plants as well but I'd really like to keep them in the 150g tank. The only plants neither of them bother at all are the anubias congensis and the anacharis. Are there other plants that they will most likely ignore or should I just move the fish and get some safer inhabitants for my plants?
I'm sorry for such a long post. Any help you can offer will be greatly appreciated. Thanks.
