yea im just using the same plants i have now in my 75 with the same light and same filter just going to add a light and have them in alot larger of a tank and going to be doing something a little different for the substrate in the new tank. I have heard that smaller size gravel than the peat gravel i have will be better for the plants. and yes root tabs and carbon for the water will be added daily as it is in my 75 gallon for the past 5 months
is this good substrate for plants???
- Thread starter tyjo1334
- Start date
If I am reading correctly you have a 8 ft * 2 ft * 20 inch- Huge aquarium, great start.
Now the substrate is quite inert. It is true that plants can be grown with inert substrates but it is a challenge. Initially it will fail till some mulm or waste accumulates and then it would provide for some nutrients and later on the plant will/might grow. Root tabs will certainly help. Flourish tabs don't have macronutrients but have micronutrients. So the plants will rely on water column fertilization of Nitrogen, phosphates and potassium. Fish food contains most of these.
So short answer it can be done with this substrate but not the best idea.
CO2 is always a boost for plants. You would need a whole lot of flourish excel to get the plants going in such a big aquarium. If you are going for low light set up--- about 1 wpg of T5 with Hagen glow light then you would not need co2. Also slow growing plants can get by with little co2 like Anubias and crypts or Amazon sword plants.
Do reconsider your substrate. It can be done but there are better options for heavily planted tank.
Hope this helps.
Now the substrate is quite inert. It is true that plants can be grown with inert substrates but it is a challenge. Initially it will fail till some mulm or waste accumulates and then it would provide for some nutrients and later on the plant will/might grow. Root tabs will certainly help. Flourish tabs don't have macronutrients but have micronutrients. So the plants will rely on water column fertilization of Nitrogen, phosphates and potassium. Fish food contains most of these.
So short answer it can be done with this substrate but not the best idea.
CO2 is always a boost for plants. You would need a whole lot of flourish excel to get the plants going in such a big aquarium. If you are going for low light set up--- about 1 wpg of T5 with Hagen glow light then you would not need co2. Also slow growing plants can get by with little co2 like Anubias and crypts or Amazon sword plants.
Do reconsider your substrate. It can be done but there are better options for heavily planted tank.
Hope this helps.
MDK500;3830883; said:
That's completely false. Plants take in nutrients through the leaves, that's why people dose fertilizer into the water.
Root tabs and fertile substrate are beneficial though
I've got plants growing a few inches per week in my 75 with regular sand substrate (plus CO2 and fertilizer)
tyjo1334;3831260; said:
If you've got too much light then it helps a lot to keep algae under control. Even if you don't, it speeds up growth a lot.
A 20 lb tank, regulator, solenoid, needle valve, etc will probably cost around $200-$300
tyjo1334;3831740; said:
Actinic bulbs (blue, like the marineglo) produce less PAR (measure of light used for photosynthesis) than regular daylight bulbs (white). Personally I think they look a bit ridiculous on a FW tank in most cases.
The glo fixtures are decent. It doesn't have individual reflectors around each bulb, I don't think (might be wrong). You'll probably need to suspend them several inches above the tank to get adequate lighting towards the front and back.
i currently have them suspended from the ceiling 5" above the tank and about 6"-6.5" from the water level
Is this high enough or should I lower the lights closer to the tank top? And is there anything I can mix pith the unfertle substrate to help the plants out in the beginning stages of my new tank? These plants are well rooted in my 75 gallon tank currently and will be transferred in a few days
tyjo1334;3843702; said:
Yes, you can crush up root tabs and mix them in to make your substrate more fertile. Also I realize what I said before about the plants dying was false, I know plants also take up nutrients through their leaves, but a substrate with no nutritional value will just not be as good as one with it.
