Plant and other questions

[jsmith24]

Hello everybody! Just bought a 29 gallon tank last week and I decided to go the dirt route. I previously had a 10 gallon and was a complete and total noob, went out and bought fish before I even had the aquarium set UP!!! I know I know terrible mistake, did no research at all and it ended in disaster with all of the fish that I bought dying Not long after I got the 10 gallon I discovered this forum but unfortunately it was too late haha. Yea this is the typical story that people hear on this forum all the time. BUT the good news is I'm learning from my mistakes and I'm literally addicted to this forum, I've been reading everything I can and am becoming more comfortable with the hobby.

So, lets discuss the 29 dirt that I mentioned at the beginning, I purchased it while on vacation in Florida, I was shopping in the local petsmart and they had a 29 gallon marineland kit on sale for $90. I read that it's better to start out with a larger aquarium so I went with this. When I got home, I set up the aquarium using miracle gro and I didn't quite know what I was getting into by doing a dirted aquarium, it's a TON of work but hopefully it will be worth it. Ok sorry for the whole story now I'll get to the questions. I bought live plants and I tried removing the soft stuff that the plant is potted in as best I could but in one of the plants, the roots were so ingrained in the soft stuff that I felt like I would damage the roots if I tried to rip it all off. This plant seems to be doing the worst of the three I bought, is it because I left too much of the stuff on or is it probably because of something else?? Also, I started cycling my tank by adding 4 ppm of Ace Hardware ammonia and I've begun testing parameters (API Master kit). I've been getting really high nitrite readings already and its only been one day since I began the cycle (I didn't begin it until 3 days after I set up my tank because I couldn't find any pure ammonia anywhere but I finally found an Ace Hardware store). Anyway, anybody have any idea of why I'm getting high nitrite levels already? (5 ppm) Should I do a pwc or is this ok?? Sorry for the novel, any advice would be appreciated!!

P.S. - In case you were wondering what types of plants I have, they are all swords, one is a melon sword, one is a rosette sword, and I'm not exactly sure what the other sword is, but its some sort of sword species.

 

[jsmith24]

Pictures

These are pictures of my tank and plants. Notice how on one plant, two of the leaves are starting to shrivel (The one on the far left). On another, several of the leaves are becoming brown and rotting (This is the one that I wasn't able to get much of the potted substrate off and it's also the biggest). The one in the middle seems to be doing the best. Also, another subject to bring up, I got two rocks from a creek close to my house and I'm going to test them and boil them all that and get them ready to put in my tank. Should I wait until the tank is cycled to do this or should I get them in there as soon as I can??

 

[jsmith24]

Ok quick update. Tested parameters today after adding 4 ppm ammonia two days ago and they dropped to 1!! I'm getting about 2 ppm of nitrites which is weird and considering I pretty much just started cycling and I'm getting a very very slight reading a nitrates. I think I figured out why maybe it appears that I'm in the middle of my cycle, its most likely because I put my filter that I was using on my 10 gallon previously onto my new tank and I'm thinking it probably still had some good bacteria it (although the 10 gallon had not been fully cycled). Anyway I still need some help with my plants they are struggling.

 

[Randi]

I can't help you with your plants - you might get a better response in the 'planted tank' forum

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Ok quick update. Tested parameters today after adding 4 ppm ammonia two days ago and they dropped to 1!! I'm getting about 2 ppm of nitrites which is weird and considering I pretty much just started cycling and I'm getting a very very slight reading a nitrates. I think I figured out why maybe it appears that I'm in the middle of my cycle, its most likely because I put my filter that I was using on my 10 gallon previously onto my new tank and I'm thinking it probably still had some good bacteria it (although the 10 gallon had not been fully cycled). Anyway I still need some help with my plants they are struggling.

I've never cycled a tank with ammo and plants, but I'm wondering if the 4ppm ammo couldn't be burning them. IMHO doing a small dosing of ammo along with a mess bag of fish food or a raw shrimp to feed the bacteria might be a better balance to complete the cycle.

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[jsmith24]

Hmm I've never heard of ammo burning plants but I suppose it could be a possibility. From all of the research Ive done over the past few days I think a shortage of co2 might be the cause of the plants not doing so well though or maybe not enough nutrients although I don't think that's the case because they should be able to get a sufficient amount of nutrition from the soil right?? I really don't wanna have to dose co2 what's the best way to naturally supply the plants with co2 without using the whole yeast sugar water mechanism??

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Hmm I've never heard of ammo burning plants but I suppose it could be a possibility. From all of the research Ive done over the past few days I think a shortage of co2 might be the cause of the plants not doing so well though or maybe not enough nutrients although I don't think that's the case because they should be able to get a sufficient amount of nutrition from the soil right?? I really don't wanna have to dose co2 what's the best way to naturally supply the plants with co2 without using the whole yeast sugar water mechanism??

I was on a thread and that came up is the only reason I mentioned it. If you have a bubbler that can lower the c02, a cover over the tank keep off gassing down. I just started using flourish excel, but can't really say what it'll do for me yet.

What kind of lights do you have? IMO 6700K with 1 - 1.5 wpg is the way to go to avoid c02 & ferts. Some plants need those though, go to plantgeek.net and see what your plants need.

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[daileene]

Seachem Excel will help you with that.

But since your plants are pretty recent in your tank, maybe they are just trying to adjust with your water parameters, once they are all adjusted, they will all bounce back, I am sure..I have swords too and for the first few days they are just blah and then they started doing good...

oh, what is your lighting by the way?

 

[daileene]

mr. limpet beat me to it..(lighting) LOL

 

[jsmith24]

Ok I might try the flourish excel. One question about that, can it potentially be harmful to fish??

And well I'm not exactly sure what wattage my lighting is, I bought the marineland deluxe aquarium kit and it came with a hood with built in lighting (one fluorescent bulb) but I looked through all of the manuals and on the bulb itself and I never found any info about wattage so idk about that. I did place my aquarium by a window because i read that this was ok with a dirted aquarium and I've been keeping the light on during the day too so I really don't think lighting is the cause of the issue (especially since I'm having algae problems).

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Ok I might try the flourish excel. One question about that, can it potentially be harmful to fish??

And well I'm not exactly sure what wattage my lighting is, I bought the marineland deluxe aquarium kit and it came with a hood with built in lighting (one fluorescent bulb) but I looked through all of the manuals and on the bulb itself and I never found any info about wattage so idk about that. I did place my aquarium by a window because i read that this was ok with a dirted aquarium and I've been keeping the light on during the day too so I really don't think lighting is the cause of the issue (especially since I'm having algae problems).

It won't hurt your fish, but I can't say how it will react with the ammo dosing. The LFS that I get most of my plants from told me dosing at 1/2 to 2/3's, 2-3 times a week to start then adjust as needed is a good way to start out. I've heard here that it can burn vals and anacharis if put directly on them, so I take 2 cups of tank water out mix it to that and then pour it back in spreading it around. So far so good with my anacahris.

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[Frognugget]

I don't reccomend boiling rocks, especially sedimentary rocks. They can have pockets of water in them which can cause them to explode when boiled.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

I don't reccomend boiling rocks, especially sedimentary rocks. They can have pockets of water in them which can cause them to explode when boiled.

The trick to boiling or baking rocks is to put them in when the pot of water/oven is cold. I've done both and it worked for me just fine once I learned from my first mistake, which was cold rock+hot oven=bad mix :\.

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[xxwolfpackof1xx]

The trick to boiling or baking rocks is to put them in when the pot of water/oven is cold. I've done both and it worked for me just fine once I learned from my first mistake, which was cold rock+hot oven=bad mix :\.

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what happnd im very curious to find out the answer

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[Mr. Limpet]

what happnd im very curious to find out the answer

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With the first one? It exploded lol.

Since then I learned and the 1/2 dozen or so since (different kinds), no problem at all. I prefer to boil lava rock because it's porous, the black rocks from my yard (don't know what they are) go into the oven (350 for an hour at temp). I just keep my eye on them, so far no problems.

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[xxwolfpackof1xx]

ouch explosion glad to hear your ok lol im nerveous to add rocks from yard to tank especially because my parents wont let me boil /bake them

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[Mr. Limpet]

ouch explosion glad to hear your ok lol im nerveous to add rocks from yard to tank especially because my parents wont let me boil /bake them

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I was more worried about the oven, my GF would of killed me lol.

I'm experimenting with baking DW now. Boiling does me no good since I want the tannin's for pH control.

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[jsmith24]

It won't hurt your fish, but I can't say how it will react with the ammo dosing. The LFS that I get most of my plants from told me dosing at 1/2 to 2/3's, 2-3 times a week to start then adjust as needed is a good way to start out. I've heard here that it can burn vals and anacharis if put directly on them, so I take 2 cups of tank water out mix it to that and then pour it back in spreading it around. So far so good with my anacahris.

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Sounds like a good method, thanks for the advice!

I ordered some flourish excel last night from amazon and it's supposed to be here Monday. The only thing I'm worried about with using excel is, will I eventually be able to stop using it or will my plants become adjusted to having it and rely on it once I start using it?? I would rather not have to keep a supply of it since it's pretty expensive haha.

 

[Mr. Limpet]

Sounds like a good method, thanks for the advice!

I ordered some flourish excel last night from amazon and it's supposed to be here Monday. The only thing I'm worried about with using excel is, will I eventually be able to stop using it or will my plants become adjusted to having it and rely on it once I start using it?? I would rather not have to keep a supply of it since it's pretty expensive haha.

I'm still in the testing stages for my tank too. Some dose with all kinds of stuff and I'm not inclined to agree with all of it being needed. That's why I'm starting slow and keep a log of what I put in, how often and the results. For me, fast growth isn't good because it can't be sustained forever (the old adage, the light bulb that burns twice as bright, burns half as long applies here IMHO).

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[jsmith24]

Well I just want to be able to have healthy plants without having to be worried about them all the time, my primary concern is on the fish and the plants are there for the fish. I want my plants to eventually be able to do fine without any extra stuff added no co2, excel or anything but this might not be possible idk??