Hello, I am starting out with planted aquaria for the first time and am trying to add some plants to my 10-gallon freshwater tank. I selected a few small plants from my local store they had in with guppies. (Their names were listed in Japanese so I could not decipher them.) They were in little pots and bundles. I unwrapped them and buried them in the gravel in my tank (which appears to be artificial or at least not anything with nutrients in it. It's not really practical to switch the gravel for something else. I'd have to tear down the whole tank, probably.) The tank's hood has 2 25w Incandescent bulbs, which I've read aren't very good for plants. But just how bad are they? Can plants even grow with them?
I figure I do need to get flourescent lighting since one plant came up during a water change today from the suction of the container drawing the water out and it didn't seem like its roots had really developed outwards at all, as if being buried was all that held it. The plants really haven't grown a bit in a week and a half, but I'm unsure if they should grow noticably in that time. Some of the leaves appear tattered like they were chewed on, but maybe they've decayed. I'm unsure they are recieving sufficient nutrition. They don't really look wilted and are green, much like at the store, but a lot of leaves and miscellaneous plant debris are finding their way to the top of the tank, which gives me the impression something is amiss.
I am unable to locate flourecent bulbs for my hood, period. If I add flourescent lighting, I'd basically have to remove my hood and add flourescent tubes just resting on top, or a flourescent desk lamp .. I cannot use the original hood. This isn't that attractive as the lamp holder probably won't match the size of the tank. Is a powerful desk lamp positioned close to the water surface more advisable? How are the properties of Halogen lights for aquarium plants?
Should I also be looking into adding CO2 to the water? How about some sort of fertilizer for the gravel or water? I imagine the fish (6 guppies, 5 zebra danios, and 1 betta) have the nitrogen requirements covered.
UPDATE: I gave a few of the plants a light bit of a pull to see if they were rooted at all. Some came up with no resistance. One remained down and seems to be getting rooted in as far as I can tell. (I cannot see the roots yet through the glass.) It has leafy vegetation growing around where the plant stalks reach the gravel, which I would interpret as growth, it seems to be trying to anchor itself in. The shrimps have taken a liking to this plant and the region around it and seem to be quite fond of eating tiny bits of the leaves, which explains the bits missing, I suppose. This one I guess is in good shape? .. I wonder what's up with the rest, though.
I figure I do need to get flourescent lighting since one plant came up during a water change today from the suction of the container drawing the water out and it didn't seem like its roots had really developed outwards at all, as if being buried was all that held it. The plants really haven't grown a bit in a week and a half, but I'm unsure if they should grow noticably in that time. Some of the leaves appear tattered like they were chewed on, but maybe they've decayed. I'm unsure they are recieving sufficient nutrition. They don't really look wilted and are green, much like at the store, but a lot of leaves and miscellaneous plant debris are finding their way to the top of the tank, which gives me the impression something is amiss.
I am unable to locate flourecent bulbs for my hood, period. If I add flourescent lighting, I'd basically have to remove my hood and add flourescent tubes just resting on top, or a flourescent desk lamp .. I cannot use the original hood. This isn't that attractive as the lamp holder probably won't match the size of the tank. Is a powerful desk lamp positioned close to the water surface more advisable? How are the properties of Halogen lights for aquarium plants?
Should I also be looking into adding CO2 to the water? How about some sort of fertilizer for the gravel or water? I imagine the fish (6 guppies, 5 zebra danios, and 1 betta) have the nitrogen requirements covered.
UPDATE: I gave a few of the plants a light bit of a pull to see if they were rooted at all. Some came up with no resistance. One remained down and seems to be getting rooted in as far as I can tell. (I cannot see the roots yet through the glass.) It has leafy vegetation growing around where the plant stalks reach the gravel, which I would interpret as growth, it seems to be trying to anchor itself in. The shrimps have taken a liking to this plant and the region around it and seem to be quite fond of eating tiny bits of the leaves, which explains the bits missing, I suppose. This one I guess is in good shape? .. I wonder what's up with the rest, though.
