plants and usual aquarium maintenance

[agrasyuk]

Hi all,
I just started my first 55gallon. Well, first to me but I got it already cycled with fish , filter and managed to carry over 10 gallons of original water. And a gorgeous huge anubias bush that reached the surface. Light is just a stock single bulb fixture. Yesterday I added 15lbs of planting substrate, split the plant into 3(according to guide), added some java fern and dwarf grass patches from petsmart. Used 4 API root tabs, and only after that I read that this stuff is for serious growing with powerful lights etc. Well I assume it will not hurt as the gravel is new and everything will get absorbed.

Couple questions : now that the tank has more plants in it how do I go about the usual gravel vacuuming? Also I assume that the leaf zone liquid fertiliser is safe for fish?

While I at it I wonder about DIY led lighting, ordinary 5mm LEDs can be had for ~8 per 200 shipped from China. Staggering about 800 or so creates a very cheap fixture. Any thoughts on how use full that kind of light?

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Congrats on your 55g.

I'm not sure about the DIY LED stuff, but since they're so much variation in the quality of diodes, heat sinks, etc... you'd need to be more specific and know your stuff to assemble something that would be a good fit in terms of intensity (e.g. being strong enough for photosynthesis, while not over doing it to cause an algae farm).

As for the anubias reaching the surface, are you sure it's an anubias? I never knew of any them to get that tall?

Dwarf hair grass needs to have at least moderate light, a single fluorescent tube wouldn't cut it. Co2 injection preferably...if not, at least liquid carbon dosing like Excel or Glut alternative.

The API Leaf Zone is only potassium and iron. You're missing a lot of key nutrients, if used alone. I suggest picking up a bottle of flourish comprehensive for now. To keep cost down for a larger tank, I recommend learning dry ferts down the road. Like the PPS-PRO pack from GLA.

Edit:
Leaf zone is safe for fish. Substrate vacuuming is done seldomly, if at all, the more heavily a tank gets planted.

 

[agrasyuk]

Thank you for quick reply.
Well, that grass is soon to be no more then( I could swear it said low light on the box,) oh well , not very expencive mistake.

I am absolutely unsure it is Anubias ) if picture attachment worked (posting from mobile) that's the plant and that's after original aquarium owner took about half of it before giving it to me. it is 1.5 years old as I was told.

l did apply root tablet fertiliser to start something in fresh gravel, will read into it about better frets.
I was told about liquid co2 supplement , I just don't understand how is it OK for fish.. While I like plants I think fish is the priority for me. I assume it is somehow safe for fish as well. It seems that recommendations about tank aeration also conflict.
Sigh, I'll slowly get it.

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

I don't see an attached picture.

But yes, we've all been there. Takes time, patience, and a good amount of research and reading to understand it all. I'm still leaning myself and I've been doing this for a few years now.

Just start off with low light tolerant plants if your focus is fish. Put root tabs under specific root feeding species like Amazon Swords or Crypts. Dose with flourish excel and flourish comp per instructions on the bottle and you'll be good to go for now.

 

[agrasyuk]

attachement didn't work for the mobile app, sorry.
attached now. so what is this plant?
(again , structure will get out of the tank soon)

 

[Brian_Nano12g]

Wow... I guess it might be an anubias. Sorry I'm not a plant expert and my limited experience was telling me that anubias don't get that tall. It kind of looks like Anubias barteri 'Coffeefolia', which is said to get as tall as 9 to 10".

 

[Mebbid]

Thank you for quick reply.
Well, that grass is soon to be no more then( I could swear it said low light on the box,) oh well , not very expencive mistake.

I am absolutely unsure it is Anubias ) if picture attachment worked (posting from mobile) that's the plant and that's after original aquarium owner took about half of it before giving it to me. it is 1.5 years old as I was told.

l did apply root tablet fertiliser to start something in fresh gravel, will read into it about better frets.
I was told about liquid co2 supplement , I just don't understand how is it OK for fish.. While I like plants I think fish is the priority for me. I assume it is somehow safe for fish as well. It seems that recommendations about tank aeration also conflict.
Sigh, I'll slowly get it.

Excel is primarily a glutaraldehyde solution. It was originally created for sterilization of medical tools but in low concentration it has no effect on macro organisms. The plants can also slowly utilize it for a source of carbon. It's not as good as co2 supplementation but it is still useful.

A DIY fixture like that wouldn't work very well. The biggest problem is that they wouldn't get any penetration down into the tank which is something LEDs have an issue with.

 

[agrasyuk]

Perhaps a silly question about filtering in planted tanks - Does activated carbon filter absorbs any of the fertilizer elements? Do you run AC cartridges in your filter on regular basis?

 

[aqua_chem]

Perhaps a silly question about filtering in planted tanks - Does activated carbon filter absorbs any of the fertilizer elements? Do you run AC cartridges in your filter on regular basis?

That is a subject of intense debate within the community. I think the general consensus is that it might, but only when fresh, and you won't need to be replacing carbon in planted tanks. As such, it doesn't really matter unless you're replacing you carbon biweekly.

 

[bshenanagins]

I'm going to jump on aquachems debate wagon and side with "no" on this one. I've found carbon is not necessary for a tank unless removing medications etc. It really is an expensive long term investment for which it's beneficial properties are relatively short term. Purigen is a much better option but even that is not required in my tank. For a planted tank, I think a well cycled, strong filter with tons of biomedia, some sponges for mechanical, and polyfill are the best answer for a "glass like" clean and healthy tank.

 

[agrasyuk]

Thank you. That does make sense.

 

[Mebbid]

I'm going to jump on aquachems debate wagon and side with "no" on this one. I've found carbon is not necessary for a tank unless removing medications etc. It really is an expensive long term investment for which it's beneficial properties are relatively short term. Purigen is a much better option but even that is not required in my tank. For a planted tank, I think a well cycled, strong filter with tons of biomedia, some sponges for mechanical, and polyfill are the best answer for a "glass like" clean and healthy tank.

I always think that my planted 55g has crystal clear water but as soon as I reactivate the purigen I run in it I can see the difference it makes overnight. Is it necessary? No. But it does make a noticeable difference and that makes it well worth running purigen in my tanks.

 

[bshenanagins]

I think it just depends on the tank. I added purigen and didn't see a difference so I removed it with no ill effect. To each their own I guess

 

[agrasyuk]

Did some gardening - i just might have overdid it with plant numbers... new stuff is after 30 seconds 5% bleach bath to hopefully kill any hitchhikers . root tabs were buried in key places. ordered some flourish and flourish excel so there will be some elements and co2...

hopefully something out of this will survive until rearrangement...

 

[Mebbid]

Good stuff! I think it could use a little arranging and you definitely need some hard scape but you could pack quite a few more plants in there.

 

[agrasyuk]

Thank you , but let's be honest here, it could use a Major arranging ... When I was planting that stuff I had sort of idea "groop these, group these in the back..." But frankly it came out looking randomly stuffed. Well, I'll learn, maybe...

 

[Khuligirl93]

I have found that grouping plants of the same species together, and arranging them with taller plants in the back and shorter plants in the front looks the most natural. You're off to a good start!