Hello! It's been awhile, and I'm planning to take care of plants now! :)

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sholi

Aquarium Advice Activist
Joined
Jul 5, 2011
Messages
141
Hello Guys! XD

Been 2 years since I was here haha. Looking back at my old posts, I laughed at how much of a kid and noob I was. Being an adult now and finally posting again is a new refreshment to this community for me!

Welp, about my fish keeping, I've been going back and forth with them.
I've successfully taken care of 2 baby goldfish for a whole year in my 10 gallon and sent them off to live with my friend when they became bigger!
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I've also taken care of a beautiful Halfmoon betta but he died from an accident... :( Not a pretty sight though...
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Long story short, now I'm holding an angelfish for my same friend in my 10g which I need him to hurry up and take him as his growth is being stunted. Hopefully it'll be soon though.
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Anyways, I've been very obsessed with marimo and have 3 of them in my 10g along with the angel and an otto (he keeps the artificial plants very clean from the brown algae!) I love how he leaves the specs of green algae behind, it makes the tank look more natural.

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Alright, enough of the memoir-anecdote of me. Well, I finally want to start raising some of my own live plants. I've researched some stuff about fertelizing and CO2, but I can't seem to make up how to use the two. I got some nice and bright flourescent lightbulbs so that's not a worry.

The plants I want only contain completely sumberged plants (unlike bamboo) and all at petsmart; my lfs.
Live Plants for Fish Tanks & Aquariums | PetSmart

I was wondering about which fert or CO2 supplement products to use in order to grow these rich and healthy plants. I found these three products and wondered if they were the best things to make my plants thrive:
1) API CO2 Booster Freshwater Aquarium Plant Supplement | Fertilizers & Supplements | PetSmart
2) Aqueon® Freshwater Aquarium Plant Food | Plant Food | PetSmart
3) Nutrafin® Plant Gro Aquatic Plant Essential Micro-Nutrient Supplement | Fertilizers & Supplements | PetSmart

So how and which ones should I use to make my plants beautiful and thriving!?

The questions I have;

  • I read that all plants need lighting, fert, AND CO2 boost. But some people say that it doesn't need CO2 boost or fert, but just one of the two and lighting. What should I know about this?
  • Is there any combo of these 3 products I can use together/independently to make the plants healthy?
  • Does the kind of plant depend on the things they need? Is this crucial? (Like i know the Red Ludwigia needs iron as it is said in the customer review in petsmart).
  • Iron plays a huge roll in plant growth, do any of these products give iron to the plants?
  • If I use more than 1 of these products at the same time, is it bad if I use them at the same time (like add one dose of this product in the water then add a dose of this next product right after)?
  • Am I absolutely doing everything wrong and need to add more or less to the care of these plants? If so, what is it?
A little help with the maintenence of cleaning the plants off of snails and bugs/stuff, I read this and it told me to use either alum (this is some kind of spice?) or Potassium P (I heard bleach is your last resort though.)
http://freshaquarium.about.com/od/snailsandworms/a/killingsnals.htm

So which one is a better/more preferable method or is either method fine? And should I use dechlorined water to clean these plants?

Thank you very much again! It's great to be back here! :)
 
Alright, enough of the memoir-anecdote of me. Well, I finally want to start raising some of my own live plants. I've researched some stuff about fertelizing and CO2, but I can't seem to make up how to use the two. I got some nice and bright flourescent lightbulbs so that's not a worry.

The plants I want only contain completely sumberged plants (unlike bamboo) and all at petsmart; my lfs.
Live Plants for Fish Tanks & Aquariums | PetSmart

I was wondering about which fert or CO2 supplement products to use in order to grow these rich and healthy plants. I found these three products and wondered if they were the best things to make my plants thrive:
1) API CO2 Booster Freshwater Aquarium Plant Supplement | Fertilizers & Supplements | PetSmart
2) Aqueon® Freshwater Aquarium Plant Food | Plant Food | PetSmart
3) Nutrafin® Plant Gro Aquatic Plant Essential Micro-Nutrient Supplement | Fertilizers & Supplements | PetSmart

So how and which ones should I use to make my plants beautiful and thriving!?

The questions I have;

  • I read that all plants need lighting, fert, AND CO2 boost. But some people say that it doesn't need CO2 boost or fert, but just one of the two and lighting. What should I know about this?
  • Is there any combo of these 3 products I can use together/independently to make the plants healthy?
  • Does the kind of plant depend on the things they need? Is this crucial? (Like i know the Red Ludwigia needs iron as it is said in the customer review in petsmart).
  • Iron plays a huge roll in plant growth, do any of these products give iron to the plants?
  • If I use more than 1 of these products at the same time, is it bad if I use them at the same time (like add one dose of this product in the water then add a dose of this next product right after)?
  • Am I absolutely doing everything wrong and need to add more or less to the care of these plants? If so, what is it?
A little help with the maintenence of cleaning the plants off of snails and bugs/stuff, I read this and it told me to use either alum (this is some kind of spice?) or Potassium P (I heard bleach is your last resort though.)
Tips for Removing Aquarium Snails

So which one is a better/more preferable method or is either method fine? And should I use dechlorined water to clean these plants?

Thank you very much again! It's great to be back here! :)

First off, what lighting system do you have over your tank. "Bright Bulb" doesn't really help us at all as the types of fluorescent bulbs aas well as the number really effects how much light it gives the plant. The measurement we need for our tanks is "PAR" and all fixtures will have different levels. Offhandedly a single T8 bulb will put you at a low light level in a 10g planted tank.

1 - What you need really depends on your lighting. With low light you can get by with no additives. With medium light fertilization and carbon supplementation is important. With high light pressurized CO2 is almost necessary although liquid carbon can work and fertilization is 100% necessary.

2 - Again, this depends on your light level. For medium light I would suggest dry fertilizers dosed according to either a PPS Pro method or Estimative Index (EI). For carbon supplementation you can buy a gallon of Metricide 14 day Sterilizing solution on ebay and add it to your tank daily at 1ml / 10 gallons. This amount can be increased slowly over time to 1ml / 2 gallons. Fertilizers I would look at Green Leaf Aquariums.

3 - Plants have very different care needs. The red ludwigia is a fairly easy plant but worry less about Iron and worry more about comprehensive fertilizers. Some plants are harder to keep than others and some have very specific needs. You will have to do some research on this.

4 - See number 3. Iron is a micro nutrient. Potassium, Nitrate, and Phosphate are FAR more important.

5 - Most can be combined. However if you use either PPS Pro or EI then you won't need to add anything else other than carbon in some source (If you have medium or higher light)

6 - Research is good, good research is better. Customer reviews are probably the worst place you can go for plant care information. I would suggest reading more on this forum and posting some more specific information about specific plants.

7 - Snails - Its pretty standard that planted tanks will have snails. They really aren't that big of a deal and will only have huge population explosions if you overfeed the tank. That being said they are great at eating uneaten food that the fish miss so imho they are beneficial. There aren't any snail killing plant treatments that won't harm plants in some way.

5 -
 
Sorry for the late reply, but thank you lots!
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I have 2 of these in my tank.

Aqueon® Mini Compact Fluorescent Aquarium Lamp | Lights | PetSmart

And Im afraid about the bugs or water insects that may show up if i put the plants in. I really dont like snails too haha. I prefer a bit of algae to make the tank look more natural, but not too much.

Is the chance of getting bugs in my tank by the plants almost the same chance as if I buy a fish with a disease u cant rlly see when buying it?
 
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