Super Marios Question Thread (Pics)

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Ethics

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Jan 5, 2006
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Toronto, Ontario
Hey guys,

I've been a huge fan of this forum for the past few years and only recently found the aquascaping section. I've always had plants in my tank but they would always die out after a few months and I'd just buy new ones.

This forum has inspired me to change that mentality and try to keep some of these plants alive.

Tank: 55 gal

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Lighting: 2x

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The lighting got me all confused, I had 1 blue bulb and a 1 regular flourecent bulb before I picked up 2 of these. The thing that gets me is they're only 25 watts each and since my tank is 55 gal that makes under 1 watt/gal. From what I gathered on this board that isn't even a bare minimum. Is there something I'm missing, will my plants be able to grow with these lights?

Fish:

5x Random cichlids (I can post pics if anybody wants)

1x polypterus senegalus (He is paralyzed and I don't think he will last much longer, a Large pleco got at him, I gave the pleco to a friend to put in his arowana tank)

6x some type of tetras that were in there for a few years now
5x guppy feeders, they were also in there for a few years now

1x Vampire shrimp (I've had him for over 2 years, he just hangs out in one of the caves collecting food all day)

4x Mystery Snails

I was also wondering about these guys. I read somewhere that they require extra calcium or else their shell will crack and they will die, is this true? What kind of calcium suppliment would you guys suggest? Also what in the world do these guys eat besides algae? I put a leaf of lettuce on the side of the tank which they seem to love to hang out on.

Plants:

I'd love it if somebody can Id these for me so I can gather some more information about them. Are these low light or high light plants? Will they survive in my tank? Do they grow fast?

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I used to think that plants would just grow in a tank with no extra effort but after reading a few threads on here boy was I wrong.

So I went out and got these 2...

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Has anybody used the Flourish Excel? The guy at my lfs said it can be used instead of a co2 device in the tank. Also would you guys reccommend following the dosage on the containers or put more or less of this stuff them recomended? Oh and I was wondering if the co2 stuff can kill off my fish?

I also have those from a few years ago, I think it's useless now, but you guys tell me - can it be used for anything?

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I read on a bunch of threads that it's pretty much useless, if so I'll just chuck it.

The only thing that I don't like about my tank so far is the new lights, before I had a VERY bright blue and white bulb and the tank was nice and bright. These new bulbs are kind of depressing and yellowish in color.

Any help would be greatly appreciated guys. And if there is anything I missed feel free to throw it in.

OH! I was also wondering if any of you guys sell any of your plants, my lfs have a tiny variety and I really love some of the moss that many of your tanks have growing all over the driftwood and substrates.

Thanks for the great forum,
Mario
 
Hey guys,

I stopped by the lfs today and picked up a Dual Lamp T5 HO which puts out 78 Watts.

So I setup the light and the tank is now glowing. So with the 2 previous Flora Sun bulbs the tank now has a total of 128 watts. Giving the tank a 2.32 watts per gallon ratio.

I also went ahead and put in the Plant Food Supplement and decided I will add 3 cap fulls every Thursday + Monday.

The Flourish Excel will be 1 cap full on a daily basis.

Looking at my tank I think I'm going to completely change the look of it next water change. Maybe remove one of the driftwood and move the plants around. I just want the plants to start looking healthy before I do anything.

Here are some more pics and forgive the bad water I moved a few things around and it kicked up some dust.

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Thanks for looking,
Mario
 
I'm far from being knowledgeable when it comes to aquascaping, but from what i've gathered in the past, plants tend to grow better when the tank uses special dirt substrate over sand/gravel...

Although, with that being said, maybe with the extra nutrients your adding in + stronger light source they may do okay? but i'd still wait for the pros of this section to give you a better idea of what you need/don't need...
 
okay, I don't claim to be an expert, but I've kept planted tanks awhile, so I'll take a stab at this:

plant #1 looks like dwarf baby tears; these are hi-light; I did not have good luck with these

plant #2 looks like ???; I thought maybe an anubia, but not sure . . . if it is anubia, that is a good lo-light plant

plant #3 looks like the stuff that's sold as aquarium grass (mondo grass?) but doesn't really do well in an aquarium

plant #4 looks like clover (also hi-light)

plant #5 looks like ???; I dunno

plant #6 looks like a sword, and not a very healthy one; too pale, should be much more green; these are good lo- to mid-light plants

plant #7 looks like ???; I dunno

overall, it looks to me like you have picked a mix of lo- to hi-light plants, some of which will be easier to maintain than others. some easy plants you might want to look into are:

> Java Fern
> Jave Moss
> Anubias (any kind)
> Cryptocoryne (any kind)
> Amazon swords (a little tougher, but worth it)

Excel is a good product; it is typically used as a CO2 substitute; i.e., you wouldn't use Excel and CO2 . . . dose every day or every other day, no problem. however, you won't really see the benefits until you have more plants

would tend to go easy on liquid fertilizers; they can lead to algae . . . also, when most of your plants are rooted, they get their nutrients from the substrate, not the water column

you might want to consider adding laterite to your gravel; it is an iron-rich clay that will improve your otherwise inert gravel . . . you can also add fertilizer root tabs

your lighting seems fine, although in my opinion it lends itself better to low- to mid-light plants (like some of the ones I mentioned above)

from an aquascaping perspective, I'd lose the mopani wood (even though it does look pretty cool) and use that space for a nice large Amazon sword

those are my thoughts; others will surely have their own ideas . . . either way, enjoy!
 
Fat Homer : Thanks, yeah I wish I had known about the substrate when I first setup my tank. Unfortunately it would be wayyy too much work to replace the current substrate. But if the plants have problems growing I'll be more then happy to spend a day and get that gravel replaced.

Sab_Fan : Thanks for the ID's. Next time im at my local lfs I'll see if they have any laterite or maybe I can find some online.

Do you think I should cut back the ferts to 1 day a week 2 cap fulls? or keep it at twice a week? I really don't want to run into an algae problem.

Thanks for the suggestion on the mopani wood, it's now history :)

Deaths Sting : Thanks! :D

So at around 12 last night after searching old threads on here I decided I liked the open look more then the cluttered driftwood look. I stayed up till 3am and redid the tank.

Man these strong lights don't hide any dirt when you take pictures of your tank, I'm almost ashamed to post them up lol

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Some followup question that came to mind.

1. I usually keep the tank lights on from 10am to 11pm, from other threads this seems like it's going to cause an algae problem. Is there a certain amount of time that I should be keeping my lights on?

2. Is there anyway to keep plants from scattering from a bunch besides tying them together or using a rubber band on the bottom?

My substrate is not the thickest in some places and it gets hard to keep the tanks to stay in place.

3. I removed the bubble wand cause the pump looks like it's giving in. Will I need more surface agitation in my tank? There's currently a Whisper 40i at the top that seems to be doing a decent job at moving the water.

Thanks for all the help so far guys,
Mario
 
I have my lights on about 8 hours day, but I have a lot more plants than you have . . . I'm trying to mimic natural daylight, so far it seems well-balanced

there are several ways to anchor plants that are available in most LFS; there are thin metal strips that you wrap around the roots, and there are round rubber discs - - called Plant-in-Place - - that serve the same function. go to your LFS and ask them what they have

generally speaking, surface agitation is good for the fish, but not for the plants. you want to find a balance . . . if the Whisper is doing "a decent job", that may be good enough

FYI, I do liquid ferts only 1x week . . .
 
Sab_Fan : Thanks, I have reduced my light time to 10am - 9pm. If I see any signs of algae I will cut back further to 8 hours.

I have also added another Whisper 40i on the other end of the tank to help with the surface agitation just in case.

Next time I'm at a local lfs I will check to see if they have any of the plant anchors you mentioned available.

Deaths Sting : I agree, unfortunately the local lfs doesn't carry anything that looks decent so I may look online and see if I can find anything that can help with the background of the tank.

Here's what I currently do to my tank weekly...

Thursday - 50% Water Change + 3 cap fulls of Big Als Multi Purpose Plant Food Supplement.

Daily - 1 Cap Full of Flourish Excel.

If there is anything else I can do to help improve the well being of my tank I'd love to hear your suggestions guys.

Now it's time to wait, here's the current status of the tank.

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Thanks for looking,
Mario
 
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