beginners 10g fully planted for my swordtails

[CoyoteWildfire]

Love the plants! Very nice touch. Were they hard to keep planted in the large rocks of the substrate?

 

[Aspencer]

Love the plants! Very nice touch. Were they hard to keep planted in the large rocks of the substrate?

The rocks are nearly 3 inches deep. I poke my finger to the bottom and push them in. None have come out, even with vacuuming. The one real plus is that the babies can hide in the rocks since there is lots of space between them. When I put the fert tabs in, I was surprised how, after two weeks, the roots have taken hold. Probably like plant anchors once the plant grabs a few rocks.

I just got a new tube for my fixture. I am now running a 24w 6700 over my 10g for 9 hours and 45 minutes which my need adjusting. I guess I will find out soon enough with the extra light.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Indeed! Root tabs really perked up my plants too. I was pretty surprised... They're kinda expensive though...

Great to hear about the lighting though! What kind of tube is in the fixture?

 

[Aspencer]

A 24w double tube compact 4 pin FL in an old Odessa fixture.

Still looking for a name of this mystery plant, the two taller ones flanking the Java moss.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Looking closer, it doesn't look quite like Myrio.

Perhaps you might be able to find it on plantgeeks.net - plantgeeks Resources and Information.

 

[Aspencer]

Looking closer, it doesn't look quite like Myrio.

Perhaps you might be able to find it on plantgeeks.net - plantgeeks Resources and Information.

I looked...maybe it is fotala vietnam or wallichii? They look like that.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Ahhh, I think you nailed it with the fotala vietnam. The wallichii looks like its needles are more firm, like a pine tree's.

 

[fort384]

Wallichii leaves are actually very soft... But it is usually not so bright green like the plant in question. It shows a lot of reds, pinks, and browns, like the stuff in my avatar.

 

[CoyoteWildfire]

Thank you for the clarification Fort! I assume we have IDed the plant properly then, from what you can tell?

 

[fort384]

Very possible. I am not 100% on it though. Is it individual stems tied together, or are all those stems growing out of one rosette? If it is not individual stems, it's not rotala.

 

[Aspencer]

Very possible. I am not 100% on it though. Is it individual stems tied together, or are all those stems growing out of one rosette? If it is not individual stems, it's not rotala.

Each is a bunch of stems held together with an anchor weight. I wanted to get them growing and did not know where I wanted to spread them out. I just wanted the forest or jungle look to raise my babies.

I think my next tank will be a minimum 29g heavily planted like this for a pair of kribensis. I love and so do my kids (I teach high school) to watch a breeding tank.

 

[Aspencer]

I hope to that everything grows well so I can transplant into the 29g later this summer.

 

[Aspencer]

Okay, I read some threads about ferts....

I have started putting almost a capfull of excel..
I have root tabs under the red mellon and red wendtii in the back...

Should I be adding anything else or have root tabs under something I missed?

 

[fort384]

That is a good start. How often are you dosing the excel?

 

[Aspencer]

That is a good start. How often are you dosing the excel?

After reading threads last night, I did a 1/3 PWC and started this morning with almost a cap full since with my substrat, my 10g has less than 10 gallons of water. I plan to add every morning. Too much? I was given a 3 bottle starter set of which included the excel from my lfs. Are they supposed to be used in conjunction with each other?

 

[fort384]

What are the 3 different bottles?

I would dose the excel about every other day.

 

[Aspencer]

What are the 3 different bottles?

I would dose the excel about every other day.

I assume it is flourish, excel, trace...a 3 bottle set. It is at school so I will have to look tomorrow if this does not make sense...

 

[fort384]

Yes, use them in conjunction. The excel needs to be dosed much more frequently than the other 2, but it will not hurt to dose all 3.

 

[Aspencer]

Yes, use them in conjunction. The excel needs to be dosed much more frequently than the other 2, but it will not hurt to dose all 3.

Will do.

 

[Aspencer]

Okay, changed lights in my 10g a few days ago to 2.4 wpg. Lights are on 9.75 hours per day.

Started dosing 3 days ago.

Have 4 small snails from new plants.

Feeding shrimp zuchini. Swordtails eating it too.

Algae is just starting on glass. What should I be doing?