couple questions

[Coyote5]

I have a few quick questions. I bought some amazon sword plants from the LFS and they are potted. Should I take them out of the pots or leave them in? I have gravel/Stone substrate with a undergrave filter (55gal).. I wasnt sure exactly what I should do. they look kind of wierd in the pots right now.

Also I have a 10g currently fishless cycling. I want to make this brackish and put some molly's and platy's in it. I havnt seen anything (test kit) that tests the amount of salt in the water and honestly I have no idea how much salt to put in it... when to add it etc. Id love to breed them if I could. So leaving it just FW probably isnt the best way to go about it, right?

 

[BigJim]

Take them out of the pots and plant them. Amazon swords are heavy root feeders and will spread roots from one end of the tank to the other.

Look for a hydrometer or a refractometer. Hydrometers are cheap and are probably accurate enough for a brackish tank. Refractometers are more expensive, but more accurate.

You really don't have to keep a brackish tank for mollies and platies.

 

[Coyote5]

thanks for the response. got them out of the pots and planted!

 

[DragonFish71]

Just an FYI amazons are questionable in BW depending on what you keep your SG at.

 

[HN1]

I agree with Jim and Dragon. There is no reason to go brackish with those fish.

 

[BlackMagic]

I wouldn't plant anything with root in a tank with a Undergrave filter

 

[Coyote5]

I have 2 seperate tanks.. The amazon's are in my 55g. I was looking into making my 10g that is cycling BW for some molly's and platty's, but if I dont need to then even better .

Also I understand the undergravel filter and rooted plants issue. I guess I will have to take my chances as Im not tearing the tank apart to get the plates out.

 

[mommytron]

after doing some googling, it seems that your best bet would be one of the following

1) change filters
2) keep the root plants potted
3) get rid of the root plants

the roots will grow right into the plates of the filter, which not only decreases the effectiveness of the filter but makes it impossible to move the plant if you were ever want to rescape your tank. i found this about undergravel filters and root plants on another site, thought it might be helpful:

As for the filtration method you propose, the only way I can think of that
would prevent plant roots from becoming entangled in the filter plate would
be to put them in pots and bury them to their rims in the gravel. This
method works, people have been doing it for years. It would also allow you
to rearrange your tank as you see fit, without disturbing the plant roots,
as they would be safely contained within the small containers. You can even
custom mix the material in each pot specifically for the plants you want to
keep. The containers can be anything from new clay pots to plastic storage
containers from the kitchen store.

I just don't like undergravel filters - they are dirt magnets and I prefer
to get the wastes OUT of my tank, not sequestered within the substrate (that
goes for both regular flow and reverse flow undergravel filters). But there
is no doubt that an undergravel filter, if properly maintained, will provide
a huge area for biological filtration. But in most of my tanks, the plants
do the biological filtration, not the substrate, or even the Eheim.

James Purchase
Toronto, Ontario

 

[Coyote5]

Thanks for the response mommytron, it does make sense. I have 2 Penguin 350B HOB filters running the tank, so honestly... im not too worryed about the undergravel filter. Its in the tank now and like I said im not tearing it apart to take it out and the plants are planted now... I will just deal with it, and if I cant move the plants then so be it I guess lol.

 

[BigJim]

If you're leaving the UGF plates in place, be aware that they may create a nitrate time bomb. Be sure to clean them out regularly.

 

[HN1]

You could also run them in reverse. Google RUGF.

 

[Coyote5]

I have 2 powerheads connected to tubes right now... does that mean i have RUGF now as it is? Im a little confused...

 

[HN1]

Do they force water down or up?

 

[Coyote5]

water comes out I believe making a current... thats is just regular UGF right? Is there a way to change the power heads so they force the water down?

 

[HN1]

Most of this was stolen from a post that a friend made on another board. It is also one of the top google results for "RUGF".

A normal undergravel filter uses air or a powerhead to pull water down through the gravel, basically using the gravel bed as mechanical and biological media. It uses an airstone or a powerhead to pull water out from under the plate, drawing water from under the gravel and pushing it out above.

For reverse, the powerhead pushes water down through the tube, under the plate, and up through the gravel. The powerhead usually utilizes a prefilter to catch particulates to keep the substrate from getting clogged up, effectively using the substrate for biomedia only. Reverse flow will generally avoid the nitrate accumulations that are a main drawback of UGF.

 

[Coyote5]

thanks hn1