I am interested in taking out my fake plants and putting in real ones. The one thing that I am confused on though is how do I clean the tank once it is planted? I use the suction tube now but won't that hurt the plant's roots when I have live ones? Is there another way to clean the tank with real plants in there?
Cleaning Planted Tanks?
- Thread starter Brett6977
- Start date
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.
If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
You are right. You don't want to shove your vac down into the substrate and disturb or hurt the roots. It could cut them off and then they will rot down in your substrate. Most people that have a planted tank just sort of hover over the substrate getting any loose debris. You can also kind of swirl it around to get the debris floating and suck it up.
I don't clean my substrates, I gently run my hand over and lightly through the plants to remove and settle detris (due to my planted tank being so heavily planted) and swish some up from what little substrate I have visable (which isn't much).
What do you have for lighting?
Some beginner plants would be java fern, java moss, anubias, crypts, hornwort, wisteria. That's just what I can think of off the top of my head. Nome of them Need co2 and they don't need high light either. Rivercats probably could add to that list. In my opinion most planted aren't really difficult as long as you do a little research on them and find out what the plants need.
I like 2 fixture T5HO's but that depends on the size tank you have. I use that type fixture on my 20L but wouldn't do that on anything smaller. If you get a good commercial substrate with a high CEC (cation exchange capacity) which means the substrate can absorb nutrients from detris and the water and store them for use by the plants, get decent lights, then you can grow many plants without CO2. BUT I would strongly suggest using a product like Excel/API CO2 Booster/Glutaraldehyde to aid plants in photosynthesis and growth. It will help alot. I run my 220g on Glutaraldehyde and you can see how many plants I have if you click on the links at the bottom of the post. Also a good liquid fertilizer is also needed. You can do a liquid like Flouish Comprehensive if you have only a few plants but if you want alot of plants then using dry ferts is the way to go, it is also cheap.
As for easy beginner plants you can do water sprite, wisteria, swords, crypts, vals, ambulia, narrowleaf temple, bacopia, dwarf sag, red or green tiger lotus, and lots of others. Then good plants for attaching to DW are anubias, java ferns (regular and Wendilov), Bolbitus, and mosses.
As for easy beginner plants you can do water sprite, wisteria, swords, crypts, vals, ambulia, narrowleaf temple, bacopia, dwarf sag, red or green tiger lotus, and lots of others. Then good plants for attaching to DW are anubias, java ferns (regular and Wendilov), Bolbitus, and mosses.
Aquatic_Adam
Aquarium Advice Addict
Great list Paxdaddy. You can add various Ludwigia (Repens is probably the best for mid light) and Jungle Val (depending on tank size).
Personally speaking, Crypts are a great choice. Semi-slow growing. Do not need CO2 or high lighting. Come in a huge variety of colors, textures, and sizes. Basically there is a Crypt for any occasion.
Aquatic_Adam
Aquarium Advice Addict
Rivercats turned me on to GLA Dry Ferts. Basically they have a recipe that will explain how much you need to mix with how much water.
2 pro tips she gave me. 1: Get their 16oz fert dispensers. Makes dosing reeeeally easy. Two of them if you do the macro and micro nutrient mix. 2: add some excel (or Rivercats substitute) to the micro mix to keep it from growing fungus.
Here's the fert package I use... Micro & Macro | Aquarium Fertilizer | Green Leaf Aquariums
Here's the dosing bottles... but I have 3 now as I've found mixing micro ferts in one, nitrates in one, and the potassium and phosphates in another. I found by splitting my macro's in two dosing bottles I can better adjust my dosing to fit my tanks needs....
Fertilizer Dispenser | 1000 mL (32 oz) | Green Leaf Aquariums
Here is a good article but only read down to the dosing recipet/instructions, don't bother with the after posts.... Newbie Guide to PPS-Pro - PPS Analysis and Feedback - Aquatic Plant Central
I also mix 5ml of Excel to 250ml of micro or macro mix to keep any mold/fungus from forming during storage.
Here's the dosing bottles... but I have 3 now as I've found mixing micro ferts in one, nitrates in one, and the potassium and phosphates in another. I found by splitting my macro's in two dosing bottles I can better adjust my dosing to fit my tanks needs....
Fertilizer Dispenser | 1000 mL (32 oz) | Green Leaf Aquariums
Here is a good article but only read down to the dosing recipet/instructions, don't bother with the after posts.... Newbie Guide to PPS-Pro - PPS Analysis and Feedback - Aquatic Plant Central
I also mix 5ml of Excel to 250ml of micro or macro mix to keep any mold/fungus from forming during storage.
Billbug68
Aquarium Advice Addict
With the fertilizers recommended above, 1ml of both micro and macro for every 10 gallons daily.
https://www.sites.google.com/site/aquaticplantfertilizer/home/pps-pro
But first it helps to know what your nitrate and phosphate readings are. You are aiming on having 10-20ppm of nitrates (I run a low nitrate tank so I prefer to keep mine at the 10ppm level), and .5-1ppm of phosphates. Start your tank at the recommonded levels as stated above and monitor each week at the end of your dosing week the day before your WC to see what levels your water is reading at. You can then adjust how much you add of different ferts as needed. I always use the proper amount of micros but I use 1/2 the recommended about of nitrates and alittle more of the phosphates than recommended as I have plants that use and like higher phosphates. That is why I also suggest mixing nitrates in one bottle and the phosphate and potassium in another. It makes customizing to your tank easier.
Billbug68
Aquarium Advice Addict
Thanks for adding that. I was going to say that the great thing about it is you can customize it based on your tanks/plants needs. But that can be a little overwhelming/confusing at first, especially if you're just starting out. You can always start out with the recommended dosage, and after a while, with research and learning, customize your doses based on your plants needs or water parameters as rivercats explained.
Loading...
Aquarium Advice FINatic
+1 to water wisteria!
Similar threads
