jdsunflower
Aquarium Advice Activist
I have a couple of questions concerning mail-delivered plants.
Some background, I live in Ottawa (Ontario), and have ordered some warm-water plants from AquariumPlants warehouse in Alberta. They are said to arrive in less than 2 days, and they are being delivered to my workplace (hospital--always someone to receive a shipment). I was told a few hours more in 'transit' won't hurt them as long as I keep them in a coolish place.
q: prep is unclear: I was thinking permanganate soak, but don't want to melt everything. My main worry is snails at this time, and I'm not sure that soak does anything for that (more for algae?). I'd hate to use bleach or alum...(I'd prefer snails, frankly).
q: is there a period of rest required (??? in the tank, in the dark?) before starting the lights, co2 and fertilizers etc--I'm not sure how dilapidated the plants might be and I'm trying to be realistic...right now the tank appears to be cycling nicely after several weeks. I had only 5 corys (40B tank) and yesterday added 2 baby BN and 5 black neon tetras. water parameters look fine (0 nitrites, about .25 for both ammonia and nitrates). Doing frequent 50% water changes. Currently not using my 2 fluorescent strips to avoid algae...
in case the plant type makes a difference, I've ordered various crypts, sagittaria, nana, java fern and moss, and onion plants.
Any help preparing the nursery would be appreciated!
As an aside, I have 3 new zebra danios in QT awaiting switch to main tank, but they squabble like toddlers. Something tells me they will stress the others +++ (esp BN and tetras) despite being described as peaceful. Any opinions?
JD
Some background, I live in Ottawa (Ontario), and have ordered some warm-water plants from AquariumPlants warehouse in Alberta. They are said to arrive in less than 2 days, and they are being delivered to my workplace (hospital--always someone to receive a shipment). I was told a few hours more in 'transit' won't hurt them as long as I keep them in a coolish place.
q: prep is unclear: I was thinking permanganate soak, but don't want to melt everything. My main worry is snails at this time, and I'm not sure that soak does anything for that (more for algae?). I'd hate to use bleach or alum...(I'd prefer snails, frankly).
q: is there a period of rest required (??? in the tank, in the dark?) before starting the lights, co2 and fertilizers etc--I'm not sure how dilapidated the plants might be and I'm trying to be realistic...right now the tank appears to be cycling nicely after several weeks. I had only 5 corys (40B tank) and yesterday added 2 baby BN and 5 black neon tetras. water parameters look fine (0 nitrites, about .25 for both ammonia and nitrates). Doing frequent 50% water changes. Currently not using my 2 fluorescent strips to avoid algae...
in case the plant type makes a difference, I've ordered various crypts, sagittaria, nana, java fern and moss, and onion plants.
Any help preparing the nursery would be appreciated!
As an aside, I have 3 new zebra danios in QT awaiting switch to main tank, but they squabble like toddlers. Something tells me they will stress the others +++ (esp BN and tetras) despite being described as peaceful. Any opinions?
JD
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