Adding Plants to Tank

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.

KJurgelewicz

Aquarium Advice Apprentice
Joined
Nov 28, 2011
Messages
45
Location
New Jersey
I just added a small plant to my tank. Im not sure what kind of plant it is, but I can take a picture when I get home if needed. It is growing out of driftwood, not the gravel.

I also purchased Aqueon Aquarium Plant Food, which suggests I add 1 mL per gallon per week. I did this after putting the plant in the tank. Is this correct?

I also changed my light bulb to Aqueon Floramax T8 Fluorescent Lamp. I noticed that since I did this, the light isnt as bright as the original light, and also has a purplish tint. Is this normal?

Am I doing everything correct? Is there something else I need to do? I read about fertilizer, but is that the same as plant food or do I need both? I do plan on adding more plants in the future so I want to make sure I know everything I need to know.
 
I would definitely say do not do anything else until you read about adding plants, save yourself the time, money and headaches until you have an idea of what plants you have, what you want and the requirements.

The purple hue or tint is normal for that specific light, I have the T5HO version which is also purple plus the daylight (normal white light) no need to worry there. Supposedly it's a plant specific bulb that aids photosynthesis. If you liked the original color you could try to find a dual light hood.

The fertilizer method depends on the plant that you have as some draw nutrients from the substrate whereas others draw nutrients from the water column. Seeing that your plant is attached to driftwood (without seeing a picture of the plant it's a guess) it is most likely an anubias or a java fern type plant as those are both commonly attached to driftwood.

There is a wealth of information here, browse through the archives and various forums and check out the fish and plant profiles to ID your plant. I'm not a plant guru by any means but I'm happy to help in any way I can. Good luck and welcome to the planted tank world its fun, challenging, sometimes frustrating but extremely beautiful.
 
I agree with Red. The plant is most likely an anubia or Java Fern, odds being on the fern since that is the most commonly sold plant. The purplish coloration is normal for this type of bulb (I found the same thing when I put my bulbs in). If you look at the packaging you will note that it's light is in the 5500 - 6500 degree K range which is the best spectrum to aid in photosynthesis. You can change your fixture (or add another if spacing allows) and add a brighter bulb which is more pleasing to the eye, but you still want to use bulbs in the right spectrum to get your plants to grow.

I would advise you to research your plants, both for now and for what you want to add in the future, to determine what lighting you need. Each plant type has different light requirements (low, medium, high) as well as different fertilization methods. Save yourself some time and money and go ahead and buy what you will need now. Lighting can be the most expensive part of keeping your planted tank, but you cant beat the results of a well planted and maintained tank.

Keep in mind that you also have to consider tank size. Taller tanks are harder to light and require more than the shallower tanks. Just because you can see the bottom of the tank doesnt mean that the plants are getting adequate lighting (I learned that the hard way). There are a lot of places to do your research, both on this forum and online.

You will see a lot of references to watts-per-gallon and this is a good place to start, but you may need to adapt your lighting to suit your tank. I have a 37-gallon tank but couldnt get my plants to grow with 60 watts of light, even though it works out to about 1-1/2 wpg and I was growing low-light plants. I went up to 94 and the plants grew, but slowly. I added a second fixture (total of 6 bulbs) giving me over 4 wpg and the plants are finally growing fairly well, even though they are low-light plants.

If you can, I would get the lights where you can control individual or pairs of lights independently and get yourself a few cheap timers for your lighting or you can buy a power strip with timers built in. I cycle my lighting to simulate a days light cycle (including blue moon lights) twice a day with a 2 hour break between cycles. This helps control algae growth.

If you have any questions, feel free to ask on the forum. (y)
 
The tank is a 26 Gallon and the Light Bulb is only 15 W. However, I dont see how I can get more Watts because thats the most I see in an 18" light.
 
The tank is a 26 Gallon and the Light Bulb is only 15 W. However, I dont see how I can get more Watts because thats the most I see in an 18" light.

That definately isnt enough, and unfortunately the lights that are sent with tanks are woefully inadequate for aquascaping. I believe you will need a Multi-light fixture. There are several options, and again, research what you will need.

Here is a link with a few ideas of what I am talking about, but you will probably be able to get better pricing on eBay or something like that:

Coralife T5 Fluorescent Light Fixtures for Aquariums
 
Back
Top Bottom