growing anubias + java fern in bb tank

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fishman888888

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Apr 12, 2014
Messages
221
Never posted in the planted section before.... i'm completely new to plants/lighting.
Ive had my tank (125 gal community) for just over 1 year, and i have no issue maintaining good water conditions and parameters. My tank is barebottom (which helps with cleaning)..but it only has fake plants.....so here I am

Right now i have a coralife ....either 30" or 36"
T5 - 2 x 96w, 6700k ..
..im wondering what kind of light does that generate? Low, medium, high?

I have the light resting directly on my glass lids, so approximately 2-3 inches over the water surface, would this be an issue?

I want to grow 3 plants:
-Anubias
-Java fern
-Floating plants (looking for recommendations)

I want to attach the java ferns and anubias to my driftwood and have some questions:
Fishing line or thread?
Where to place... mid level? Lower levels? What would give these plants the best environment?
Would i be able to get away with using root tabs, and excel or would i need co2?

As for the floating plants, im looking for something thats hardy and good for my gouramis
...how would you fertilize these plants? How would my lighting need to be for these plants?
 
Never posted in the planted section before.... i'm completely new to plants/lighting.

Ive had my tank (125 gal community) for just over 1 year, and i have no issue maintaining good water conditions and parameters. My tank is barebottom (which helps with cleaning)..but it only has fake plants.....so here I am



Right now i have a coralife ....either 30" or 36"

T5 - 2 x 96w, 6700k ..

..im wondering what kind of light does that generate? Low, medium, high?



I have the light resting directly on my glass lids, so approximately 2-3 inches over the water surface, would this be an issue?



I want to grow 3 plants:

-Anubias

-Java fern

-Floating plants (looking for recommendations)



I want to attach the java ferns and anubias to my driftwood and have some questions:

Fishing line or thread?

Where to place... mid level? Lower levels? What would give these plants the best environment?

Would i be able to get away with using root tabs, and excel or would i need co2?



As for the floating plants, im looking for something thats hardy and good for my gouramis

...how would you fertilize these plants? How would my lighting need to be for these plants?


Is the T5's high output? If they are, you will get med-high light. That will not be exactly good for the plants you are gonna get. Anubias leaves are sensitive to algae and you will need to dose a lot of glut. If I were you, I would try to get a dimmer light or just use one of the T5's at a time.
For tying anubias and java fern to driftwood, I would use fishing line because it does not disintegrate as easily as thread. You also don't see it as well as thread. I would put the anubias in the more shady areas to prevent algae and the java ferns in a more lit up spot.
For floating plants, I would get frogbit or salvinia. Don't get duckweed unless you want the entire surface to be green. You will only need to dose excel.
Root tabs are not necessary because the plants you are growing will not need it. Also the plants are not main root feeders. The floating plants will feed on the water column which means they will take in nutrients from the water.
 
Just curious... why keep the tank bare bottom? If you're already making the decision to go planted, which is great BTW, go even more natural with a nice looking substrate. I'd get eco complete, but sand would be so much more appealing, IMO, to BB. Just sayin'
 
Just curious... why keep the tank bare bottom? If you're already making the decision to go planted, which is great BTW, go even more natural with a nice looking substrate. I'd get eco complete, but sand would be so much more appealing, IMO, to BB. Just sayin'


+1. Just noticed you have a bare bottom tank. I would also add a substrate. There are many, many substrates you can go for. Since your plants are easy to keep, you can just get some nice looking sand. Sand also makes cleaning easier because the waste stays on top of the sand. Some black sand will make the green plants pop, as well as a black background.
 
Just curious... why keep the tank bare bottom? If you're already making the decision to go planted, which is great BTW, go even more natural with a nice looking substrate. I'd get eco complete, but sand would be so much more appealing, IMO, to BB. Just sayin'

Im moving in december, im going to put a sand substrate in then (im thinking darker for my bosemanis - they already look gorgeous... i cant wait till they mature)... theres no room in my other 75 gal right now for temporary housing while the sand settles

Once i get the sand in is there any other low tech plants i could plant in the sand?
Not lookin for co2 just yet. That'll be the next project
 
While i wait for sand - i figure i might as well grow out some live plants :)
See how she goes
 
The light you have will work but you will need to be careful of not running it too long if you have HO-high output T5's. Since you have a lid this will cut down on the intensity and floating plants will as well but often floating plants, depending on the type you have do best in an open tank. Frogbit is great if you don't have HOB filters. I don't suggest messing with duckweed as it is messy, can get into filters, grows rapidly to a point of needing to remove some every couple to few days, and is very hard to remove from the tank if you decide you don't like it. Water Lettuce is another really good floater.

I actually use 100% cotton black thread to tie plants on as over time the thread just disintegrates and is not very noticeable. Some people use Super Glue Gel (be sure to use the gel).
 
Thanks for the advice so far guys :)

Now i need more :p

So i added the plants, 6 little anubias and 3 java fern bunches. I used fishing line, it wasnt very noticeable at all... i placed the anubias near the bottom/shadier areas, and the java ferns a little higher and exposed.

I used seachem flourish by recommendation of my lfs guy, he seems pretty knowledgeable...

Questions:

How long should i keep the lights on?
I'll only be turning on one of the lights

If i do a wc (i do 2 50%ers a week) do i need to redose the flourish?

Is flourish the best fert for my plants?

What else could i do to improve my chances of successful growth?
 
Lights can be run up to 10 hours only if no algae grows. If you begin seeing algae you need to cut lighting back by 30 minutes each week or two until the tank runs algae free again. Since you haven't said if you have T5NO or T5HO that will also effect photoperiod since HO lighting is much higher than NO bulbs.

Flourish has to be dosed after each WC. You really don't need much in the way of ferts with Java Ferns and Anubia's.
 
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