Update!

[Fishyfanatic]

I searched all of the lfs and did not find any of the root tabs, excel, comprehensive suppliment, or nitrogen that was recommended to me from my past thread. In addition, they didn't have any live plants. SO, I just got done ordering all of that stuff online from Big Al's. After the stuff gets here I wanted to start right away with planting my 5 gal. I'll have to drive a bit further (about 2 hours) to get plants but I'm SO excited.

I also bought weights for the plants because the only decor that is in my tank is this little ceramic thing. It doesn't have a place to tie down the plants onto. Will the weights be ok to use?

I guess my main question is once I get the plants home, tie them down, do I need to add anything else to the tank right away?

What is the schedule like for using the tabs, excel, suppliment, and nitrogen? Is this stuff that I just use once a week or on a daily basis? I am a complete newbie to all of this and the people at the lfs had NO clue about live plants. They just recommended plastic ones.

If this seems like a lot of questions, I'm sorry. I am just so anxious to get started.

 

[malkore]

well, I never use plant weights, especially not the metal strip type that you wrap around the stems. This simply kills the stem and the plant floats away. you need to put the plants down into the gravel so they can root properly.

You didn't mention what plants you bought or plan to buy...that's a major factor in how they need to be planted. Java fern you don't plant, but anubias you do, or you can tie it to rock work or driftwood.
Give me some specifics.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I haven't completly decided yet what I want to plant. I have been looking at the ones that were suggested in the other post. I believe Java Fern, Java Moss, Crypts, and a couple others. I'd idealiy like to have the carpet look, but I think I'll save that for a later date. I just want something that is easy to have and will be a tall plant that can cover the back of the tank. It's a hex so I can't use a background and you can see the airline from the airstone in addition to the air pump and cords from the hood and filter. It's sitting on a counter so theirs no way to hide it.

There isn't any driftwood in the tank. I'm trying to keep it simple by having just the plants and the one piece of decor. My betta is the only fish in there right now, but I am going to toss in some ghost shrimp this weekend. I figured that the weights might be good since I don't have anything to tie the plants to. But, it's not a big loss if I can't use them. They were $1 for 6 so if I need to toss them, it's fine.

So far I haven't bought any plants. I want to have all of the supplies before buying any plants.

 

[malkore]

An idea for the background, use black posterboard, painted to your choice of color if desired. Then you can cut strips the right width to cover some of the back, and it would wrap correctly. Maybe one whole panel, and half of two others...like 40% is all. Still gives you lots of viewing angles, but the plants will look better with something solid in the back to contrast.
If it happens to be a glass hex and not acrylic, you could paint the glass with craft paint, and it removes easily.

None of the plants you listed will use plant weights. Crypts can be very tempermental, especially when it comes to disturbing their roots. Do not weight them. Java moss needs to be tied, stapled, weighted with rocks, or left to float. Java fern...you could use the weights around the brown hairy roots, until those roots attach to your decor. The thicker, green rhizome should not be buried.

 

[czcz]

fwiw, I think you shouldn't dose ferts unless it looks like the plants need it, assuming regular pwc and low light. Just keeps things simple and avoids excess nutrients/algae (I only have one low light tank, 20gal long, and I'm a novice, but this philosophy has worked well for me). Experimenting with Excel is fun though

 

[Fishyfanatic]

That was one of my main questions. I don't know when it is appropriate to treat the plants. I read in the earlier post that someone gave some of the stuff to their plants twice a week. I don't recall the exact stuff they put in the water. I'll have to go back and re-read the post. But, is there something that I should put in with the root? I read the sticky at the top of the forum but that didn't help me. I'm using a 10 Watt bulb. That's 2 watts per gallon. It's a plastic tank and I'd prefer not to paint it. Actually, I don't want a background at all on it because you can see all of the sides except for the back piece. That one would be fine to put a panel on, but I think it might look a little odd.

By putting the tank on the counter, it will be alot easier for me to do pwc. It used to be upstairs on the desk and I would only do them when I thought about it. YIKES I know. But now that it's downstairs 2 feet from the kitchen sink, it is alot easier. I'd like to have some dark green plants to really show off the blue, red, and white colors of the Betta. He really reminds me of the American flag with his colors. Beautiful thing.

czcz, that's what I'm looking for. Something simple. I plan on planting my 55 gal with some more complicated plants later on, but thats much later on.

 

[czcz]

2wpg may be deceiving depending on bulb shape (loss to restrike, iirc malkore has posted a bit on this topic in archives) and reflector. Adding recommended amount of whichever root tab wouldn't hurt if you're doing crypt I think, but you don't need it for java and anubias. Suggest you just let nature do it's thing when starting and learn the tank and plants. Later if you end up dosing a high ammount of CO2 to promote plant growth, I wouldn't be surprised if you end up dosing other macros then trace regularly to keep them growing and healthy, possibly more than the twice a week experience you read about. At this point you would invest in test kits and dose macro to measurement. Again, when keeping it low light I think its easier to control how much work the tank requires. I suggest this because I did it the opposite way and started with high light in my first planted tank, and had to learn the rest to keep algae away. Still learning. Good luck

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I ordered a test kit with my order. Are their any brands that you guys recommend? Big Al's only had 1 from what I could tell.

 

[Jchillin]

AP Master Test Kit...has everything including GH and KH

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I have an Aquarium Pharmacuticals Master Test Kit and all it has is Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, and pH. We bought the GH and KH test kit seperately already. Big Al's had a test kit for Plants. I got it. Wasn't sure if it was needed or not. If I needed it, I hate to pay the shipping again. If I don't need it, I can always return it. I got the
Red Sea Plant Care Mini Lab. It tests for iron & carbon dioxide. The info said that those are the two most important levels to test in plant care. Is that correct?

 

[Jchillin]

With the plants you've mentioned (low light) and you're not going CO2 and heavily planted, I would say no, you wouldn't need it right now. The most you need now is nutrient rich water and you should have this naturally.