Rookie at plants questions

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Paulbearer

Paulbearer

Fire Eel
MFK Member
Jul 1, 2008
1,340
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Marion, NC
As some may know that I'm turning the 75 to a planted tank. I have two swords and an anubias in the driftwood right now. The tank had a 36" led beamswork on it that started to dim, however tomorrow I'm going to pick up an 48" dual t5 ho glo light. It has a 10k and acinic in it now and I was going to take out the acinic and put in a 6700k.

1) Does this sound right for a low to mid light tank?

2) Does these plants sound ok gor those conditions?

3) Do I need to add tablets or liquid nutrition to the tank and there will be fish?

4) I would really like to not do co2 if I don't have to unless its easy to do.

5) Advise on other plants...

After 30+ years of fish keeping I thought about trying it. The swords and anubias seem to be ok and sprouting however the swords have brown on the leaves on the tips. Thanks ahead of time.

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I use Excel for all my planted tanks instead of CO2. It works well and is alot easier than pressurized or yeast systems.

You get slow steady growth which results in less pruning.

excel flourish is a nice all around easy to use fertilizer

Some swords can be tricky and need more light than you would think. Wait and see.

Wisteria is a good low tech plant that looks nice.

I only use wisteria, swords, Anubis and Lacey java fern in my tanks at this time. All low tech, low light set ups.




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Thanks for the replies and after reading some stickies I will use excel. I'm not really looking to keep hard plants but just want to have a nice planted tank with some community fish if that makes sense. I will not be using co2 for ease of care of the tank. I do water changes every 3 days on all my tanks. Yes the fake one will come out in the back middle when I find something for its place.uploadfromtaptalk1342663136193.jpg

Keep the advice coming and thanks again.

uploadfromtaptalk1342663094706.jpg

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From your pics, it looks like the plants are in sand, this could inhibit growth as there arent much nutrients to be found. Experimenting with root tabs may be an option.

Another option which I have used is filling a clear plastic dish with plant specific substrate, sticking the plant in the dish, and then burying the dish beneath the sand. This way you keep the look of the tank and the plants get the nutrients they need.


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orkimedes said:
From your pics, it looks like the plants are in sand, this could inhibit growth as there arent much nutrients to be found. Experimenting with root tabs may be an option.

Another option which I have used is filling a clear plastic dish with plant specific substrate, sticking the plant in the dish, and then burying the dish beneath the sand. This way you keep the look of the tank and the plants get the nutrients they need.
Click to expand...
sound advice^^^ I started with one sword and at one point it turned so brown that I thought I would have to trash the whole plant, I started dosing with root tabs, and Flourish (the verdict is still out on the flourish). Just remeber that You have to feed the Plants where they "eat" Root tabs are the way to go when dealing with swords. as the Root system will grow as large as You give it room to grow. Here Is a Vid. I started with one plant, within 2 months I split that one into 3 plants. and Now I am looking to split each plant again. I have a ton of runners. Like a rookie I cut the early ones off, and didn't nurture them. Had I been on top of my Game I would easily have at least 50 sword plants. this vid is about a month old. Use ferts, try not to trim. and get a decent schedule for lighting... Cant go Wrong.[video=youtube_share;R0t5l_zqnQY]http://youtu.be/R0t5l_zqnQY[/video]


* this started as one plant. within a Year I can make a 100 gl. look like a jungle.
 
Thanks for the advise and I'm getting tabs and excel today. Your video didnt come up for me. Any particular plants besides swords and anubis?

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2) Does these plants sound ok gor those conditions?
Those plants will do well in low-medium light and are not very demanding. Javva fern, as said above, would also be a good low demanding plant

3) Do I need to add tablets or liquid nutrition to the tank and there will be fish?
You don't need to but it is nice to add. If you have a basic substrate with no fertilizer, than root tabs will help the swords do better. Liquid ferts will also work, but you're better off getting dry ferts and dosing (much cheaper) as liquid ferts are essentially water with some dry ferts in it. You're paying for a lot of water and a tiny amount of dry ferts :)

4) I would really like to not do co2 if I don't have to unless its easy to do.
Those plants would do well without co2. I'd try the light fixture and if you feel it's too much light maybe turn off a bulb to lower it some :). co2 really just allows the plants to get an additional edge over the algae when the light is too bright (it allows the plants to use more light, and more ferts)
 
Thanks...if I go get this 48" ho t5 glo do I stick with the 10k/acinic combo or should I do 10k/6700 or even 6700/6700? Sorry about all the questions and I've been doing a lot of reading, however there just seems to be a lot of conflicting advise out there, but isn't there in everything lol. You don't learn unless you ask :)

I have a 36" t8 on there now that I had laying around and I just don't think its enough even if I put a 6700 in it.

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