Plant choices placement- questions.

[Niki_up]

which fertilizer tabs would you recommend and which liquid fert? or a way to make my own, I was watching a couple of vids, one mixing clay and dirt then baking it in batches, one said something of gel caps and someone said Osmocote ((just be wary of ammonia spikes?))

Be careful with liquid ferts with vals. I found excel melted and killed my vals.

I only use root tabs now, Osmoses plus (not sure if that’s spelled correctly) it’s a land plant fertilizer that is put into pull capsules and then shoved into the substrate

 

[FiremouthGem]

oof alright thank you for the heads up might just swap vals with Rotela then instead.

 

[Hendre]

Vallis tends to not like gluteraldehyde (liquid carbon) but tends to do well with enough light and basic ferts.

 

[Zanzag]

if I use fertilizer its only ever the root tabs i get at the LFS i wanna say like API or something

 

[duanes]

For Vallisneria I find I don't need to use any ferts, the fish waste is enough (even with 20% daily water changes).
The Vals, and Hydrilla get about 3 hours indirect eastern sunlight in the morning, and another 2 hours indirect sun in the late afternoon.
Between time the tank is under a patio, so only ambient light.
I do occasionally pu a root tab near the lily, in the tank center.

morning above, afternoon light below Both shots taken at peak light times

 

[FiremouthGem]

That is absolutely gorgeous Duanes! And thank you all for the help!

 

[FiremouthGem]

Did some measurements of the aquarium parameters PH is sitting at 7.8 so now I’m thinking of adding a decent sized chunk of driftwood zip tied to the centerpiece of the aquarium. My question is how much would the plants change The PH? The choices of plants i want to put in are as followed, most likely not all at once due to budget constraints.

2 Red Ludwigia
Couple bunches of Hornwort
2 Rotela indica but i was reading those are not recommended for active fish?
3 Anubias bateri var. nana
2 Anubias Coffeefolia

I keep reading as much info as i can but i am looking for input those whom are more experienced then I am. Thank you again for helping everyone.

 

[Hendre]

Plants would create a negligible change on pH so don't worry too much about that.

 

[FiremouthGem]

Managed to purchase some plants, small bit of hornewort, 2 ludwigia and two vals. Also snagged 3 Anubias which should come middle of the month, just having a hard time finding tiger lotus. Also gave a couple root tabs to get the root feeders started.

 

[FiremouthGem]

I'm not sure where to find tiger lotuses that are in stock. Does anyone have any recommendations of where to look for a plant for the background that would look good? All help is greatly appreciated!!