well, not to make myself sound like a knuckle dragging uneducated troglodyte but... my approach to plants has been if i like it and i bring it home and it lives then it stays, if it dies it gets removed. this is instead of me trying to alter my tap water chemistry and stuff like that in accordance with certain plant profiles. granted, i actually have read about plants and know a thing or two about this and that and can name certain types of plants on sight ect ect ect. i actually do intend to research my floating plants before i order them from my lfs so i get specifically what i believe will work. the rest can be sort of a fun game of see what works and what doesn't... what can i say, iv been known to get bored easily and mixing it up sometimes can be fun. on a side note, i'm impressed that "troglodyte" is in my spellchecker.
ya, i had planned on possibly needing to supplement co2 and ferts. i had decided to go with DIY systems or that hagen fermentation system that petsmart sells. i thought id set the lights up and then decided whether or not to cross that bridge after seeing how the tank responds.
iv thought about having 2 co2 fermentation systems going at once... since they change the rate of co2 production as the culture of yeast grows larger and then dies off according to how much sugar is present/left in the container. ill explain. to start out iv thought about experimenting with different ratios of yeast to sugar to water in measured amounts and observing how long they last and at what rates they produce co2 throughout their productive life span. once i find a ratio that i like i can start over with the intent of adding a second fermentation bottle to the setup. so it would work like this: say i experiment with one bottle and find the right ratio to give me the output of co2 im looking for. well, i want to avoid the slow rate of co2 production at the beginning as the yeast starts to grow and i want to avoid the drop off of co2 production at the end as the sugar is about to be all used up, so what do i do? well, i divide the work up between two bottles (this is my theory anyway, iv never done diy co2 production only read about it so if you see a problem with my theory please feel free to tell me). in order to not double the amount of intended co2 being put into the tank i have to take the ratio i found that i like using in one bottle and divide it by 2 for use in two bottles running simultaneously. lets say the ratio of mixture i want gives the yeast a productive lifespan of 4 weeks, assume that the first week is the growing period and the last week is the dieing period in which sugar is running out and less co2 is being produced. i want to avoid these downturns in production. so with my ratio being cut in half between the two bottles i set my calendar and start one bottle and leave the other one empty. at week 2 this first bottle is producing co2 at its full potential, but i know that in another week it will start to slow down, and i know that it takes a week to get a second culture going to its full potential. so at week 2 i start the second bottle. by the time bottle number two reaches its peak production bottle number one is finally ending its cycle and will need to be washed out and started over again... which will cause it (bottle number one) to reach its full potential just as bottle number two is finally coming to the end of it's useful cycle... at which point you would just have to stay on top of changing them out when they are supposed to be changed out; and as they fluctuate with their rise and fall of co2 levels they will create a constant equilibrium. and since things in nature are not perfect (like the perfect rate of injection with a pressurized co2 system) it might actually be healthier for the fish.
ferts: need to learn about those. though i might just go buy a small bag of flourite (or whatever those nutrient rich substrates that are meant for planted aquariums are called) and put a .5"-1.5" layer in the bottom of a second HOB filter and just have the nutrients get circulated into the aquarium from that. maybe add some fert tabs. replacing my sand bed is not something im willing to do though for a number of reasons like money, fish requirements, looks. i need to learn more about dosing ferts if i end up needing to go that route.
what do you think?
Our local plant club has a PAR meter that we can borrow, so getting the meter for testing is not a problem.