20 gal planted tank update

[thominil]

Any update?

[mgamer20o0]

microswords are a slow grower.

Look for Dwarf Sagittaria or Echinodorus tenellus for foreground. They are both grassy, but don't need as much light as hairgrass and other carpets.

both are great foreground plants.

[somecallmedaniel16]

yep, got some hairgrass yesterday in a pot. Just thought I'd try it out. If all fails I will look for the plants JustOneMore mentioned.

[thominil]

Cool! Good luck with it!

[somecallmedaniel16]

Well most of the hairgrass is staying in the substrate, but some of my pesky fish or snails seem to be uprooting it a bit. Frustrating. And I just came up with the brilliance to lift my hood and put my old stock lighting over the spot where my hood usually covers, getting me an extra 15w of lighting! I may use the light that way but there are a couple downturns: it puts morelighting in the foreground and it's a little unbalanced, not giving it quite the sense of depth I would normally like. It's a minimal downturn, and it's bearable. Nevertheless, the top of the tank is cluttered with wires and equipment, and it may be a hassle to remove the light for feeding, cleaning/pruning, water changes, etc..

[runninwoof]

ahhh you sound like me a while ago. i was obsessed with adding more and more light to my tank. i started with my 10g with 15 watts over it, then grew to 30 watts, and then to 45 watts using multaple lighting fixtures. after a short time i had more algae than you can shake a stick at.

so that means:

1.you have a very nice light. DONT ADD MORE LIGHT! many people get cought up in something that says a plant needs 3 watts of light, and then getting thier 3 watts and forget that all other aspects have to be raised as well, co2, ferts, and plant load.


2. stem plants suck!!!! actually they can be very visually pleasing, but only if planted in LARGE bunches, and they are a pain to trim and propigate. crypts, and anubias are very easy to get and are my personal favorites.
also if your hairgrass doesnt do well or you decide you want a faster growing forground, then definitly go with saggitaria, i had it in my 40 without co2 with same wpg (1.5 watts of t-5) and it grew like butter.

3. if you put root tabs in the gravel, then your gravel is just as good as eco- and flourite. (but not aquasoil cuz aquasoil lowers ph, and according to the plant experts, having a low ph helps plants another 0.001%)

questions!!

1. what are you dosing?

2. are you going to add more light?

3. post a pic we wanna see the tank foo!

4. what part of ga are ya in?

[somecallmedaniel16]

I have tried organizing the equipment above my tank and it's so cluttered and difficult to move around that I think I have to take your advice and not use my stock lighting.

Yeah, these stem plants are somewhat annoying because they do not have as large of a root system and there's a lot of re-planting and re-organizing going on. When I see how the plants do and they begin to grow a bit more, I may get some larger, more broad-leafed plants.

Never heard the expression "grows like butter" but I assume that means quickly?

Root tabs are expensive : ( Like 10$ for a pack of 8. How long do they last anyways? I am dosing 10mL of API Pro series Leaf Zone (liquid) twice a week. Foo, I'll have a pic up soon. And last question already answered on your profile. : )

[thominil]

I think the seachem root tabs that I get last about 3-4 months.

[timwag2001]

you can make diy root tabs. i think like $20 will make you over 200 root tabs.

[somecallmedaniel16]

woah! I'll look into it.