The 2 P's- Plants and Piranhas

[Greez]

Interesting post Otherone, thanks for the Intel I'm hoping to get a nice looking planted tank for a few reasons.
1. Mu P's seem to love the cover
2. Most of my family/loved ones aren't the biggest fan of my P's, so it gives them something to enjoy and lets me keep my RBPs.
3. I love the look of planted aquariums, and as a photographer I think you guys deserve my tank to look great, so I can get some amazing pics to you.

Anyway, I was wondering what type of plants you guys use and what are your lighting/CO2 setup for those pants? I'd love to have all my plants picked out before I even have the tank setup, that way I can get the ball rolling even quicker.

Right now I only have a small amount of java moss growing on my wood and trying to attach to my rocks as well. And some wendii(which they eat faster then I can get it to grow.

 

[HarleyK]

Howdy,

Indeed, I believe that a lush, planted tank can easily be done without CO2. That is especially the case for mainstream plants, such as Echinodorus, Crypts, Vallisneria, Anubia, Java fern & moss, floating ferns, Hydrocotyle, etc. You all see how much green I throw out every month (waiting for your pm, jp).

HERE <-- is a list of some of my set-ups and plants, all of which thrive without CO2.

Greez, make sure to check out the Planted Tank forum. As you asked for set-ups, you'll find great resources there.

i just planted a 29g tank with an amazon theme

If you want to be hardcore biotope-specific, then please consider that Anacharis (Elodea) actually originated in North America and was introduced to other continents as invasive species... C. wendtii actually comes from Sri Lanka... and with Vallisneria, it depends on which species. But all of these create awesome Amazon-like jungles, that's absolutely right

The 2 P's work well togather. Live plants feed on decomp,gases, and heavy metals all day and release oxygen at night. Piranhas are messy eaters and like super clean water. They leave food debris that can raise nitra levels - the plants eat the decompand it's gasious by-product. With a 2ft. deep tank some research into lighting, substrate, CO2, and plant choices will help greatly in the long run. Many, not all, live aquatic plants need to get their leaves to the top few inches of the tank where the gas exchange is taking place and may require a C02 additive until they get there.

Ugh, sorry, but there is so much wrong with that, please allow me to set the record straight: Plants mainly feed on one decomposition gas: CO2. You speak in the plural term, but plants leave other gases such as methane, H2S etc untouched. Besides, if you have that much decomposition in your tank, then you have serious problems. Plant uptake of heavy metals is greatly species-specific and irrelevant for our hobby (After all, we use water conditioners that chelate heavy metals). Plants as heavy metal sinks are used only in some industrial waste water treatment facilities. As for light penetration of water: If you've ever swam in a lake, you would have seen that vegetation goes far below the surface, and much more than 2 ft. Get yourself some SCUBA gear or simply as snorkel and explore before you make such statements.
Bottom line, please do a fact-check next time
HarleyK

 

[Greez]

Thanks for the info harleyk, I was only posting this here because raising plants with Piranhas seems a lot different then plants with gentler fish But I'm learning a ton from the planted section and coming up with more and more ideas for my tank everyday.

 

[Diogenes]

If you want to be hardcore biotope-specific, then please consider that Anacharis (Elodea) actually originated in North America and was introduced to other continents as invasive species... C. wendtii actually comes from Sri Lanka... and with Vallisneria, it depends on which species. But all of these create awesome Amazon-like jungles, that's absolutely right

thanks for the clarification harleyK, this is my first planted tank. I'm still learning. I read one source that said elodea was from NA after I had put it in my tank, and I chose to indulge in blissful ignorance once I saw how fast it grew. When I planted it I read another source that said it was from SA. Oh well...

I haven't added he C. wendtii yet, and I was also operating under the incorrect idea that it was SA. My bad Zander. I didn't mean to lead you wrong homie.

I wasn't being hardcore biotope specific. That doesn't seem as fun as I thought it would be at first, because for it to be legitimately biotope I would have to simulate one specific area of one specific river. I already had an idea what fish I wanted, and it would be incompatible with the strict biotope interpretation, so I started calling it a Colombia tank. Once I picked up a pair of A. agassizi (sp?) with orange tails, and saw the bright orange von rio flame tetras in the tank next to them, I pretty much threw that notion out of the window as well. That's why I was calling it an amazon theme tank, but I decided to let some hitch-hiking snails stay probably an Asian species at that, and the anacharis is NA. Hmm.... oh well.


I guess it's just an all around community tank with SA fish.

 

[Otherone]

Howdy,



Ugh, sorry, but there is so much wrong with that, please allow me to set the record straight: Plants mainly feed on one decomposition gas: CO2. You speak in the plural term, but plants leave other gases such as methane, H2S etc untouched. Besides, if you have that much decomposition in your tank, then you have serious problems. Plant uptake of heavy metals is greatly species-specific and irrelevant for our hobby (After all, we use water conditioners that chelate heavy metals). Plants as heavy metal sinks are used only in some industrial waste water treatment facilities. As for light penetration of water: If you've ever swam in a lake, you would have seen that vegetation goes far below the surface, and much more than 2 ft. Get yourself some SCUBA gear or simply as snorkel and explore before you make such statements.
Bottom line, please do a fact-check next time
HarleyK

I'm sure this will be deleted to save face however you are the one spreading disinformation and your attempts at discrediting me are quite childish. I do remeber you a year ago countering a post of mine - you stated that "the PH of ones aquarium has nothing to do with the PH of the tapwater being used to fill it." - That's Ludicris!

One - Most plants are rated by Light Intesity Hi medium and low - This has EVERYTHING to do with depth. I've read numerous times On THIS site alone that the lose of leaves on newely bought plants are refered to as " Loosing their surface Leaves" - why is that? Because most of the aquatic plants sold in this industry live in the wild in 1-4 ft of water. Why ? Because they use their surface leaves to obtain C02 gas from the air.Why ? Because it can take up to 100 fish to produce enuff C02 to sustain 1 plant. These leaves are much larger than those used to obtain C02 from the water they are called - aquatic leaves.
Two - Simple basic root structure - Anchor, Shoulder, and FEEDER roots. All plant roots ingest all kinds of chemical compounds, infact a plants primary food source is not C02 obtained thru the water - it is the decomposision of their own leaves. Even when a plants leaf system is dormaint it's root stock is still feeding.
Three - Iron and other heavy metals are removed by decholorinators, that's why they sell Metal Trace elements for plants to replace what has been lost as Iron is an essential for leaf sturcture and development. Another way and the primary way a plant ingests heavy metals is thru it's root system by eating amino acids derived from decomp in the substrate.
Four - Methaine gas is comprissed of CARBON -Hydrogen and Oxygen gases. Nitrous gas is also ingested by some plants. Gases collect at the surface of our tanks. Why? Because most of us have lids slowing the gas transfer process down.
Five- You seem to be real quick to point the finger at "others skills" and knowlegde to the point where it is insulting. In one sentnce "plants eat C02" in the next "they don't need C02"."Embrace the biology" you say in one post the next " biology in the substrate is bad fish keeping skills." I've seen your Tank pics you got TONS OF DECOMP in the substrate yourself. As a moderator I don't expect you to have great knowledge in Flora however I would expect a more educational rebuttle and certainly not one that posters would find offensive. And most importantly if your gonna speak outta your *** - don't flip it around on those of us who aren't.

 

[HarleyK]

I am not even going to dignify these ludicrous statements with a response.

HarleyK

I'm sure this will be deleted to save face however you are the one spreading disinformation and your attempts at discrediting me are quite childish. I do remeber you a year ago countering a post of mine - you stated that "the PH of ones aquarium has nothing to do with the PH of the tapwater being used to fill it." - That's Ludicris!

One - Most plants are rated by Light Intesity Hi medium and low - This has EVERYTHING to do with depth. I've read numerous times On THIS site alone that the lose of leaves on newely bought plants are refered to as " Loosing their surface Leaves" - why is that? Because most of the aquatic plants sold in this industry live in the wild in 1-4 ft of water. Why ? Because they use their surface leaves to obtain C02 gas from the air.Why ? Because it can take up to 100 fish to produce enuff C02 to sustain 1 plant. These leaves are much larger than those used to obtain C02 from the water they are called - aquatic leaves.
Two - Simple basic root structure - Anchor, Shoulder, and FEEDER roots. All plant roots ingest all kinds of chemical compounds, infact a plants primary food source is not C02 obtained thru the water - it is the decomposision of their own leaves. Even when a plants leaf system is dormaint it's root stock is still feeding.
Three - Iron and other heavy metals are removed by decholorinators, that's why they sell Metal Trace elements for plants to replace what has been lost as Iron is an essential for leaf sturcture and development. Another way and the primary way a plant ingests heavy metals is thru it's root system by eating amino acids derived from decomp in the substrate.
Four - Methaine gas is comprissed of CARBON -Hydrogen and Oxygen gases. Nitrous gas is also ingested by some plants. Gases collect at the surface of our tanks. Why? Because most of us have lids slowing the gas transfer process down.
Five- You seem to be real quick to point the finger at "others skills" and knowlegde to the point where it is insulting. In one sentnce "plants eat C02" in the next "they don't need C02"."Embrace the biology" you say in one post the next " biology in the substrate is bad fish keeping skills." I've seen your Tank pics you got TONS OF DECOMP in the substrate yourself. As a moderator I don't expect you to have great knowledge in Flora however I would expect a more educational rebuttle and certainly not one that posters would find offensive. And most importantly if your gonna speak outta your *** - don't flip it around on those of us who aren't.

 

[HarleyK]

being hardcore biotope specific. That doesn't seem as fun as I thought it would be at first

I couldn't agree more If you take a close look at my P tank you'll see I snuck a few foreigners in as well, Crinum, Anubias, some are just too nice to pass. At the end, the Ps don't mind, and I like the looks