My plant growth?

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chinoanoah

Aquarium Advice Freak
Joined
Feb 1, 2007
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263
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Tampa
I have some Vallis tied to some driftwood in my tank and it looks the best, the leaves are all fully richly green and the java fern (i'm actually not sure if it is java fern compared to the other.. "java fern" in my tank) on my driftwood is rooting and all the leaves are fully green.

However, the other vallis planted in my substrate AKA 50% aquarium rocks from Petsmart 50% Eco-Complete has a lot of holes in the leaves, has really yet to grow vertically and the leaves are see-through.

I have had DIY Co2 attached for about 4 days and I'm not sure why my plants aren't doing very good. My next step is java moss and I want some HC as well.

I have these lights on for about ...(14 hrs a day, yeah I just realized how much that was)
Coralife F/W T-5 Aqualight Double Strip Light-24"
28 watts = ~2.8 wpg (actually lower, right?)

I have had the vallis and a java fern for a few months but my tank still is not overrun like I feel it should!

Any ideas on how to fine-tune my set up?

Thanks, AA

(BTW, my goal is to have my 10g host healthy growing plants, 2 GBRs, otos and RCS. How far am I from this?)
 
Vals can take nutrients from both the water column as well as the substrate. I use Root tabs and IE dosing and my vals do great + CO2. What do your nitrates look like? Do you use aquarium salt? How are you diffusing your DIY CO2 into the water. Do you know how much CO2 is dissolved? What kind of filter are you using. Are your lights t5HO or just t5?
 
lights are just t5.
Regular HOB that came with the 10g kit at PetsMart
No aquarium salt
no other ferts.
No diffuser, hopefully getting a Rhinox 1000 soon - Currently the co2 is just floating to the top.
Where should I start?
 
Your CO2 is being wasted. In order for CO2 to be effective for the plants, you need to get it to disolve in the water. If you are seeing a bubble raise to the surface and then pop... its all escaping into the air above your aquarium. Diffusers and reactors help to keep the bubble under water until it disolves.

You should be fertalizing your plants too. SeaChem makes some nice macro and micro ferts in a bottle ready to go. Your plants need nitrates, phosphates, pottasium, and a whole host of micro nutrients like iron to grow. You should be able to pick up some ferts at your lfs. Skip out on the Flourish Excel product as that is liquid CO2 which you don't need.

HOB is ok on a 10 gal for a planted tank... start with those 2 and keep trying to get your nutrient levels to a good range and maintain them. For instance if nitrates should be about 15 PPM and phosphates 1.5 PPM ideally. 10:1 ratio.
 
I agree with jcarlilesiu. You can also use your HOB to diffuse the CO2. The key is to limit the agitation on the water surface. When you add co2 to a tank it basicly makes the tank a big pop bottle. if you agitate the surface of the water you gas off your precious co2. What i have had ok success with is letting the bubbles from your co2 feed directly into your inlet tube on your HOB. The impellar will churn the bubble and make it much smaller giving more surface area contact between teh gas and the water. Like I said though you MUST keep your water level high enough that one the water exits the HOB its not falling but flowing into the tank. SeaChem Flourish complete is a good macro and wont harm your vals. SeaChem Flourish Excell will sometimes melt vals.

Your lights will be fine for what you are doing. The plants may not grow that fast but with time youll get the balancing act down. W/O fertz AND co2 you may run into a algae issue if you increase your light to much.

No salt is good IMO.
You have a small bioload with what your sig says so you may not be getting enough fertz from your fish poo LOL.

Hope that helps and you will be getting some plants from me soon!
 
-Ok I put my co2 airline into the HOB inlet,
-lights down to 11 hrs/day
-I should buy this? Seachem Flourish Excel
- Will this product have easy enough directions to follow for my setup?
-Anything else I should buy while I'm out?


Thank you all for the help!

(patiently awaiting package from you jnam :D )
 
Not the excell. just the SeaChem Flourish Complete. The Excell likes to melt (bad) Vals. Very easy directions 1/2 capful a week for a well planted 10 gallon. And then watch your plants certian things will let you know if you need more Fe or K.
 
I'll be picking that product up tomorrow, thanks jnam

Can the tank I am tuning be a healthy home for 2 GBR, otos and RCS (will be removing tetras and looking to add 2 more otos)? Or am I asking too much?
 
Just flourish complete?

I would suggest testing for nitrates and phosphate, and consider picking up those lines of the flourish as well, if either is bottoming out in your tank. The Complete I believe only has trace elements, Fe, and maybe K (although flourish also makes Flourish Potassium).
 
complete is only trace Fe and K. You def want KNO3 KH2PO4 K2SO4 AND COMPLETE
 
Fertilizers For The Planted Tank | Ferts if you want dry ferts - that is the most economical method.

You can also buy Flourish N, Flourish K, and Flourish P at some LFS's, and many places online.

Being that I only have a 10g I think liquid would be more up my alley.

Are these what I should buy? How much of each do i put in? My "Flourish" ("Comprehensive Supplement for the Planted Aquarium") says to put in 5mL/60 gallons once or twice a week. Will I put in the same amount of N P and K ?

Also, should i buy root tabs?
 
N P and K will be dosed as your directions on the bottles show. You are looking at 25 dollars for the fertz from bestaquariumregulator.com thats shipped. And that much ferts will last on a 10 gallon a very long time. Price wise youll pay close to 25 every 2 months for the flourish kind.

This is my dosing schedule for my 10 gallon


1/32 tsp KH2PO4 (P) 3x a week
1/8 tsp KNO3 (N) 3x a week
1/32 tsp K2SO4 (K) 3x a week
1/32 tsp (2ml) Flourish complete 3x a week

and then a large water change at the end of the week.
hope that helps.

root tabs are a good choice but only if you have heavy root feeders in your tanks... Most of the plants you listed get there nutrients from teh water
 
Thats dry ferts dosed directly into tank. I take a small bottle fill it with tank water and disolve each dry fert in the tank water. then mix back into the tank.


I should also metion that assume medium to high light and co2 between 20 and 30ppm. and a small bioload. the N can be adjusted if you have a higher bioload. Just do a nitrates test to make sure they arent to high.
 
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