Kim's High Planted Tank Journal

[Rivercats]

Seeing them close up I'd say where ever you got them from sent you all Rotala Wallichii.

I got mine from two different places and one came in with stems being totally beautifully pink and the other green with pink tips. Color is largely determined by the amount of light they were grown in. They are really healthy looking tho.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

I got them from arizona aquatic garden. For the most part all the plants were healthy and have done well, except the Macranda (and the blyxa is strugling, but it actually looked pretty good when I got it, lol). Im guessing they just messed up when putting my order together. It was a pretty decent size order, with amano shrimp and nerites too. They all came healthy and happy and are kickin butt in my 14g "holding tank".

 

[Kimlafeiet]

I will probably order from them again, after the tank establishes for a while. I want more shrimp and snails, and I still have a couple more plants I want to add down the road, perhaps I will order the gayi again and see what I get, lol. I am teetering on fish for the tank and am going to go with my gbr and glass cats, or a dwarf puffer species tank......

Looks like I will have some Walllichii to share before too long though, there is quite a bit of it in the tank already.

 

[Rivercats]

Just be careful when ordering from them and watch your credit card. They have a 50/50 reputation. They once charged me $90 for shipping. They also won't return phone calls or emails. Someone else on here got ripped off for an expensive UV they never sent. It seems you either luck out and have good luck with them or you get screwed. Just want you to know.

 

[Old Scales]

I suggest you try Extraplant.com. Excellent packaging & shipping and most important, communication. Also plants are excellent. OS.

 

[jetajockey]

I think I have some p.gayi tucked away somewhere, let me know when you start looking again.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Thanks all. I will look into other ideas for plants when I am ready to order more. While I was overall fairly happy with my order, obviously, there were some mistakes, lol. They also shipped my order a day earlier than all thier shipping info indicated, which put me in a scramble to make sure someone was home to recieve the order. It all worked out fine, but it was my first "live fish/plant" order, so I am not sure what the norm is.
Jeta, I do want to add some P Gayi to my tank at some point, so I will definitely touch base with you. Thank you

 

[Kimlafeiet]

1 week update:
Eveything is looking good. I cant believe how much growth has happened in just a week! Did my first water change since planting, trimmed all the melted blyxa back, roots were still good. Hopefully they will come back. Added some dwarf hairgrass to the foreground.
Started dosing PPS Pro today, and added 6 white cloud mountain minnows.

 

[Rivercats]

The plants look really good!

 

[Jbrock]

Looks awesome. I love following along people's planted builds.

 

[jetajockey]

Looks great

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Thanks! I am loving it!
I finally got my canister filter and pressurized Co2 system ordered today. I did a happy dance, my bank account cried. Lol.

I think I have my remaining plant "want" list about complete. Tell me what you guys think. I plan to re-arrange some, thin out the wallichii and add:
Rotala Macrandra
Hygro corymbosa
P Gayi (hopefully not another imposter, haha)
Golden Nesaea
Downoi
Proserpinaca Palustris (cant find much on this, except it is gorgeous! Might be one of those really want, but might not ever get kinda plants )
...and something very tall and grassy, maybe some kind of a narrow leaf val? Just a very small portion, stategically placed in the back on the "rule of thirds" line, and grown all the way to the top of the tank.

Also need a suggestion for a plant to put in the pot on the left side of the tank. I have a frans stoffel sword in the pot on the right, the left one is still empty. Was thinking vesuvius? Would prefer to keep the heavy rooters in pots so I dont cause a huge disaster if I ever have move them

 

[Rivercats]

Golden Nesaea and Proserpinaca Palustris are the biggest pains in the rear in my 220g. Maybe they just don't like my set up but I swear G. Nesaea is the slowest grower there is. I've pulled all but a couple little groups out and replaced with better growing plants. The PP is slow to change from emersed growth which is how I've always gotten it. It is also one of the slower growers in my tank for whatever reason.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Lol, I tend to lean towards the tough to grow stuff, don't I. Haha. Well, I think I will try a bunch of Nesaea on my next plant order, and if it does ok, great, but if it fails, at least I was warned.

 

[Rivercats]

I got my Nesaea emersed and it took forever for it to change leaf forms and then it just continued to poke. Could just be my tank but most plants grow like crazy in my 220. Maybe it will like your tank better!

 

[jetajockey]

I have p.palustris coming in hopefully on Friday, I'll let you know how it goes. I've also got everything else on your list. I agree about nesaea being a royal pain, but well worth it if you can get it to cooperate.

P.gayi has been good to me, the bottom stems get a little mucky from being banded together but otherwise it stays super healthy.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Thanks Jeta,
I might be ready to order as soon as next week even. I would love to get some of the Palustris from you down the road if it does well.
I am just trying to figure out how to best arrange te tank so I can get it all in. The cabomba and Wallichii are taking over! Lol. I definitely want to thin them both out soon. Do you guys think its better to thin them now and reaarange while the roots are still small, or wait longer, then reaarange? I just dont want to upset too much down the road, and now that I can see how the majority of my plants are growing, I see a lot more of what I want to move where.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Oh.......dumb question. I got my drop checker and the liquid thst goes in it, but how exactly do I set it up? I think I need to add some ph test liquid too it too, right? Anyone have a recipe I can borrow, and how I get it in the tank so the liquid stays in it?
Sorry, probably a little silly, but I am looking at this thing like "cool......now what?"

 

[Rivercats]

Oh.......dumb question. I got my drop checker and the liquid thst goes in it, but how exactly do I set it up? I think I need to add some ph test liquid too it too, right? Anyone have a recipe I can borrow, and how I get it in the tank so the liquid stays in it?
Sorry, probably a little silly, but I am looking at this thing like "cool......now what?"

Don't feel bad I looked it up on you tube! I used about 2ml of the 4dKH solution and 3-4 drops of the ph regent. Then did the tilt until it went to the bulb part of the checker. Then turned it over so the open part is to the bottom and kept it level while putting it in the tank.

As for thinning the plants... honestly you can do it now if you want to see how much room it opens up for other plants or later. It really doesn't matter.

 

[Kimlafeiet]

Alright....thanks for the tip. When I place it, from what I gather, it should go opposite wall of the diffuser, higher up in the tank right? What happens when you do a water change, do you have to take it out or anything? How often do I need to replace the test mixture?

Also. I did parameter tests tonight, just because, and I am a little disappointed to see my ph, kh and gh are still so high, even with using 10 gallons ro water. Ph is 7.6, normal from tap is 8.0. Kh is between 6-7, Gh is between 7-8. Phosphates 2, nitrates 5-10.
Im using nearly 50% ro water now.......should I increase it further or am I maybe just panicking too early?