new plant questions

[seangelcyk]

I just received my order of plants from live aquaria.com I am wondering if these plants need to be soaked in a Potassium permanganate solution. Some of them came in potted plants and I am afraid of soaking those because I don't want to put chemicals in my tank. I don't have any Potassium permanganate but I read that it is an ingredient in Jungle water clear.
If anyone has used this I would really appreciate advice on whether or not this works and if so how much water clear to use.

Thanks in advance,
-seangelcyk

 

[malkore]

I never dip my plants in anything but cool, dechlored tap water. I inspect for snails and snail eggs before I add to the tank.

You need to remove the plants from the pots and get rid of all the plant 'wool' around the roots.

what all did you order?

 

[seangelcyk]

microsword
Java fern
Ozelot Sword
Marble Queen radican
corkscrew val
dwarf sag
Jungle val
red rubin
ruffled sword
Temple plant
japanese dwarf rush

Even though they sold it as an aquarium plant, I realize that the dwarf rush isn't for aquariums so I didn't put that in. The ruffled sword came in pretty bad shape - yellow with brown spots and a lot of decaying leaves, so that isn't in a tank either.

I am wondering where to get stronger lights. I have a 55g with 2 24in double light balasts, but the 18in lights only seem to come in 15w which only gives me a total of 60w on my 55. They are plant lights, but I realize they need to be higher wattage.

I have the same problem with my 20g 2 15w bulbs is only 30w on a 20g. I know this isn't enough but the room the 20g is in does have natural sunlight as well.

 

[Guest]

www.ahsupply.com

And normally one would want to get the lights before they get the plants.

You can put the AH Supply 55 watt kits right into your strip lights.

 

[seangelcyk]

I know. And you are right about that. I should have researched better. I bought the double light ballast thinking it would be enough. I'm new to having live plants in my aquariums and I didn't understand how powerful my lights needed to be. I had been reading about plants, lighting, etc, but obviously I didn't read enough. I tried to stick with plants that were labelled as "easy" so that, hopefully, they will be more forgiving when I goof up.
On the plus side I did make a DIY co2 using this method.
http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

 

[Guest]

Hmm.... DIY CO2 on a 55 gallon tank is pretty iffy. Take a minute and read my FAQ. I think it will help you a bunch.

 

[seangelcyk]

I have the Eheim Co2 Set For Live Aqaurium Plants shipping to me. I did build my own Co2 reactor. should I leave the DIY CO2 generator going for now?
Would the 2 x 55 watt Bright Kit be what I need?
Where do you buy the GE 9325K bulbs?

Thanks for your advice,
seangelcyk

 

[Guest]

The 2x55 kit is a good start. See this thread http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/showthread.php?t=9562 on another forum for sources of the 9325k bulbs.

 

[seangelcyk]

ok, so I ordered the 2X55 watt Bright kit and should get it Mon/Tues. I also managed to get 45w on my 20g. Is this good for the 20g?

 

[malkore]

DIY will work on a 55, i've seen it done...but...you'll need 2-3 1gallon jugs of yeast/sugar/water...and don't expect optimal, or consistent, co2 levels.

 

[seangelcyk]

ok, I guess the 2 liter I have going is not very useful. I should be getting the eheim set soon though so I will just move my DIY to a smaller tank. Maybe add a second 2 liter bottle to it.

 

[lamthuyduong]

45w on a 20g is adequate lighting. It comes out to be about 2.25 wpg. For small tanks, a DIY CO2 yeast system is a good investment.

 

[Medusa Head]

I disagree on removing the "wool" surrounding the plant roots. That material contains nutrients and also provides housing and protection for the roots, acting as a "soil." When you transplant a ground plant, what do you do... you dig out the roots and the soil surrounding them so they don't suffer root shock as the roots would have to reestabilsh themselves.

When you plant your new aquarium plant without removing this material, the plant will go in your tank with established roots and won't suffer any damage when inserting it into the substrate. The roots are also able to grow out of the material and into the substrate.

In fact, they sell this material to use for plants that don't have it:

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produ...&Ntk=All&Ntx=mode+matchallpartial&Np=1&N=2004

 

[Guest]

Yeah that wool can be saturated with nutrients. To the point where you can get a green water bloom from it. Also after time that stuff will start to break down and make a mess in your tank. I ALWAYS recommend you remove it.

Just because someone sells something doesn't mean you should use it.

 

[seangelcyk]

Thanks for all your help everyone. I did end up taking the wool off all the plants I could. I left it on one plant because it was a microsword (I believe) and I just couldn't get it apart. My new plant items should be here soon and I am glad I asked for advice before my tank got disgusting.

-seangelcyk

 

[Medusa Head]

Yeah that wool can be saturated with nutrients. To the point where you can get a green water bloom from it. Also after time that stuff will start to break down and make a mess in your tank. I ALWAYS recommend you remove it.

Just because someone sells something doesn't mean you should use it.

I'm not seeing that here.

I have had all of my plants in it for nearly a year and a half and never got any kind of algae bloom in my tank. In fact, about two months ago, one of my fish got a little too into digging around one of the swordplants and uprooted it from the substrate. The material wasn't broken down at all, in fact the roots had completely filled it in and held it together. When I replanted it, the roots in the material were protected and for the most part undisturbed as I reinserted it, it was only some of the roots outside of the material that got damaged.

Did you have a personal experience with the material causing algae bloom and breaking apart?

I recommend leaving it in because of my positive experience with it, not simply because "someone sells it."