well its a start

The friendliest place on the web for anyone with an interest in aquariums or fish keeping!
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
See posts with no answers
Try 10 hours per day to start, you will stave off algae a bit, and the plants should do fine. The picture makes it look as if you have plenty of light. Very nice piece of wood.

The faux "bamboo" is of course a marginal plant, it will not be truly happy until it is grown above the surface.

Are you just getting into planted tanks? If so, I highly recomend reading the stickies at the top of this forum. There is some solid info there.
 
do these bamboos use up nitrates like other plants? do we need to dose?
my water is

KH 8
GH 19
PH 7.4
CO2 3
FE 0.1

BOGGERSCOTT YOU SHOULD POST THIS INFO TOO!
 
I don't want to be the aquarium police, but I'm not sure all your plants are aquatic as mentioned my Zezmo. I think there are some others in there that are bad. I'm not an expert and its kind of hard to tell from the lighting in the photo.

Zezmo said:
The faux "bamboo" is of course a marginal plant, it will not be truly happy until it is grown above the surface.
Click to expand...

Next how much light is determined by the type of plant you have and what kind of lights you are using. What are you using for tank lighting? Type of bulb and how many watts?

My first planted tank looked just like these. I was doing so much stuff wrong. Two years later I can see that now. Do lots of research and lots of reading. You guys need more plants, not lots more, just a bit more.
 
well yes this is my first tank with plants i just got these yesterday. ok so bamboo dont belong. what else? my lighting is 2- 40 watt floresent plant and aquaruim grow bulbs. ill start running them 8-10 hrs then. just give me a little time and ill have more im ordering some that you all recommended in my other post. should be in by wed.
 
PlantGeek has identified many of the non aquatic plants that are commonly sold for aquariums. This is not an all inclusive list, so you'll need to research all plants before buying.
 
boggerscott said:
well yes this is my first tank with plants i just got these yesterday. ok so bamboo dont belong. what else? my lighting is 2- 40 watt floresent plant and aquaruim grow bulbs. ill start running them 8-10 hrs then. just give me a little time and ill have more im ordering some that you all recommended in my other post. should be in by wed.
Click to expand...

How big is your tank? I know your tank is 48 inches long and I'm guessing around 13 inches high. That would make it a 33 gallons or larger. I'm guessing you have a low to medium light aquarium. I'd say 8 to 12 hours of light will be fine.

Oh you have an Under Gravel Filter. That's a NO,NO with a planted tank. Something to do with root growth I think.

What's that blue line going into the tank?

How deep is your gravel?

Don't worry we'll set you straight.

Honestly I think your going to have to get rid of a few of those plants. That looks like Dracaena and Mondo Grass not to mention the faux bamboo.
 
ok docrak, i thank you for the advice and am still looken for all i can get in advice that is. well lets see if i can ansewer all the questions. some one asked about the wood. i dont know what it is i got it at pet smart in the reptile section, i just love it ,it is awsome looking. i soked it in my tub for a day and washed it off, just to get any particals off. i will pull the undergravel filter out now or is it ok if i just shut it off? i like to see bubbles and listen to them , but if it effects the plants then its done with. this is a 55 gallon tank. i have about 2" gravel bed. i dont know which plants are which but i do know the bambo, the other 2 i dont that you say i need to take out. the blue thing was a bubble stick, but i guess that got to go too right?
 
boggerscott said:
ok docrak, i thank you for the advice and am still looken for all i can get in advice that is. well lets see if i can ansewer all the questions. some one asked about the wood. i dont know what it is i got it at pet smart in the reptile section, i just love it ,it is awsome looking.
Click to expand...
is it grapevine? if it is it is great for reptiles but not so good in the aquarium :?
 
JDogg said:
boggerscott said:
ok docrak, i thank you for the advice and am still looken for all i can get in advice that is. well lets see if i can ansewer all the questions. some one asked about the wood. i dont know what it is i got it at pet smart in the reptile section, i just love it ,it is awsome looking.
Click to expand...
is it grapevine? if it is it is great for reptiles but not so good in the aquarium :?
Click to expand...

That was my point, I thought it looked like Grapevine, you will want to remove it if it is. it will make a mess in your tank.
 
boggerscott said:
ok docrak, i thank you for the advice and am still looken for all i can get in advice that is. well lets see if i can ansewer all the questions. some one asked about the wood. i dont know what it is i got it at pet smart in the reptile section, i just love it ,it is awsome looking. i soked it in my tub for a day and washed it off, just to get any particals off. i will pull the undergravel filter out now or is it ok if i just shut it off? i like to see bubbles and listen to them , but if it effects the plants then its done with. this is a 55 gallon tank. i have about 2" gravel bed. i dont know which plants are which but i do know the bambo, the other 2 i dont that you say i need to take out. the blue thing was a bubble stick, but i guess that got to go too right?
Click to expand...

Bogg my girlfriend works at petsmart all the wood and so on for reptiles are none aquatic products, if you read in the small print on the labels you will see that it says none aqautic for the reasons of chemicals etc. plz look into this so fish dont die.
 
PetCo does sell Malaysian Drift Wood in there Reptile Department, that is great for the aquarium (after soaking/boiling)
 
well there was no tag on this. this is why i said i soaked it in the tub to get anything loose off it. i have three test fish in there and no effect yet and its been 24 hrs. what do you guys think. if i leave it in there what will happen?
 
The malaysian that I have in my tanks is a lot darker, and sinks on its own. That looks like Grapevine to me, did you have to weight it down to get it to sink. IMO I would remove it.
 
Where do I begin?

I agree that you should remove the reptile driftwood. IMO, you are better safe then sorry. It may not be effecting your fish now, but who's to say that the chemicals (if there are any) will not leach out at a later time?

The bubble stick will be fine, since you are not running CO2. It will actually be good for your tank by maintaining the CO2 at ambient levels.

You do need to find out what plants you have and get rid of the non-aquatic ones.

If you have another filter running on your tank and a low fish load, then I don't see a problem with removing the UGF, just monitor your NH3 and NO2 levels more frequently during the first week or so.

I am glad you are here and seeking advice. We all make mistakes, but I hope you research purchases a little more in the future. That will save you money and time, let alone the frustration.

I would put up a post in the barter/trade and the classified sections for plants. You will most likely get very good quality plants from members of AA and better yet, you will know that they are aquatic ones.

HTH
 
tank001.jpg


I would get rid of the plants with red text. The others should be fine in your tank but at 55 gallons treat your tank as low light. The red plants may struggle but I'm growing Ludwigia in a 55 gallon tank with 2 watts per gallon so you should be ok. I would get rid of the banana pant and the ancharis just on principle. There's nothing wrong with them, it's just a matter of taste.

Drift wood should go.

Send me a personal message with your address and I'll send you a couple plants to start you off. Some Hygro and a crypt Wendtii should do well in this set up.
 
well boy o boy i guess i have bought just about everything i was not suppose too. ok ok the grape vine is out, thanks everyone for letting me know to get this out. but man i loved that piece of wood. undergravel filter is out. i pulled the plants in red lettering out. so let me get this straight, i can run my little 8" air stone thingy?? is 2" of gravel enough?? is there sertian fish to stay away from?? i want 1 beta/ 1 grommy/ 2 or 4 angels/ neon tetras/ cory cat/ alge cleaner/and some fancy tailed guppys. let me know. thanks again to all of you and i guess its off to the store for more......but ill ask you guys and gals first before i get somthing.
 
boggerscott said:
well boy o boy i guess i have bought just about everything i was not suppose too. ok ok the grape vine is out, thanks everyone for letting me know to get this out. but man i loved that piece of wood. undergravel filter is out. i pulled the plants in red lettering out. so let me get this straight, i can run my little 8" air stone thingy?? is 2" of gravel enough?? is there sertian fish to stay away from?? i want 1 beta/ 1 grommy/ 2 or 4 angels/ neon tetras/ cory cat/ alge cleaner/and some fancy tailed guppys. let me know. thanks again to all of you and i guess its off to the store for more......but ill ask you guys and gals first before i get somthing.
Click to expand...

Go ahead and run the air stone for now. I like lots of gravel. The main reason is it gives the tank a sense of depth when sloped rearward. I think it lets you do more visually. The plants need a minimum of I have no idea how much but 2 inches should be fine. I have no experience with bettas or gouromies. As for angels, I would get two for a 55. You can start of with more but once they mature and pair off you’ll probably end up with just two. Guppies are great and so are tetras. Just if you’re going to keep angel try to get some larger tetras because angel fish eat neons. I personally prefer a large school of tetras to having a variety of larger fish. It’s all preference. I did take my angel fish out of my 60 gallon tank because they were eating my plants, specifically my sword plants, little bastarts, but I still love them. Corrie cats are great. For algae I would recommend a bristle nose pleco and a about 6 to 8 ottos.

http://www.aquahobby.com/gallery/e_oto.php

The bristle nose does a great job cleaning algae, way better than a common, stays small and won’t harm your plants.

Good luck man.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

T
Fish in cycle
Replies
1
Views
400
Andy Sager
Andy Sager
B
Advice on starting a planted tank
Replies
9
Views
1K
BubbleGuppie
B
Toro
New Addict
Replies
11
Views
547
Toro
Toro
F
Ammonia
Replies
1
Views
213
Aiken Drum
Aiken Drum
L
Not sure whats going on...
Replies
6
Views
293
Andy Sager
Andy Sager

Latest posts

Back
Top Bottom