40g planted

[Tiffi]

Thank you, TankGirl!

I also have to admit that like you said, a 10gal is definitely more sensible to the smallest changes! That's why I love bigger tanks, less worries, less work (not that I am lazy, you know what I mean), less trouble .

 

[xIHaKIx]

Im just gonna go for it , DOnt look back and if anything happens that I notice is negative Ill unhook the tube. I really dont think doing the test is something I wanna be doing, and after my plants grow nice Im gonna unhook the kit and see what happens.

 

[xIHaKIx]

Whats the call on this baby? http://www.drsfostersmith.com/product/prod_display.cfm?pcatid=6318&N=2004+113779

I wouldnt have to worry bout yeast and baking soda, will I still get the same results?

Im planning on ordering one of these kits tonight, Maybe Ill find a third one and post with more questions.

 

[pitt420dude]

They are doing alright. My anubias is doing wonderfully. My Hygrophila has grown big and I have now split it in to three separate plants. It is getting eaten alot but I like that. The problems I am having are with my Sword and with my Java fern.

Although the java fern is growing like crazy, the older leaves get brown spots (could be diatom algea) and holes in them. I dont think it is being eaten, yet there are still some holes in it. I know that the new growth is sometimes being eaten though. IT as firmly secured itself to a rock that I used to have it rubber banded to.

My main concern is with my Amazon. Its older leaves have turned a clearish brown. It has some new growth but grows slowly. I have one light that is half actinic I think. There is about 1-1.5 wpg.

 

[rich311k]

Amazons do need ferts. Maybe try a half dose and see how the plants respnod. Better to go slow in my opinion. It may need more light.

Do you know your nitrate and phosphate levels? Do you add CO2?

 

[Tiffi]

The reactor that comes with this kit is absoulute junk! You won't get much CO2 with it at all unless you have like your filter output pointing at it, but I think those raectors have to be at a special depth.

It's a passive reactor and not much water flows along the reactor to mix up with CO2. A bubble ladder would be much better.

 

[Hoovercat]

I wouldn't add any ferts to your water because it sounds like the substrate enrichment will give your amazon the root nutrients it needs. Your java fern doesn't sound sick as it makes brown spot spores on its leaves naturally. The holes are likely spores that have fallen off though they may not have found a spot to grow.

 

[xIHaKIx]

Ok thanks.

 

[Guest]

thanks andy and cindy for sticking up for me. i know i need to clean the outside of my tank, just havent had time, been studying alot.

I have to stick up for you, you are my fwend,

Oz

 

[FMJnaX]

Plant ID

I got some anacharis in today from JChillin (Thanks again bud!) and coupled with it was this tiny bit of some sort of plant. Can someone please ID it for me so that I can find out if it will grow and if I even planted it correctly. Ha!

Thanks!

P.S. - Sorry for the crappy pic. Camera batteries were on their way out and need to be recharged so I couldn't snap enough shots.

 

[mrkho]

trouble with java moss

hi just wanted to know if i have 192watts in a 46 gallon tank, will that be to much light for java moss? last time i had java moss it died or something, and some one told me it was too much light is taht true?

 

[czcz]

My java moss doesn't do well over medium light either. With that kind of light (and presumably CO2 and ferts), why not grow riccia? Under lower light you can grow some cool mosses. Check out Oliver Knott's Moss Matrix, which has some of the coolest looking java moss ever, and only has 11w over 7g: http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2004.cgi?&Scale=514&op=showcase&category=0&vol=0&id=14

 

[kansaschick08]

wow i have friends now??? 8O

 

[malkore]

I'd say either Myriophyllum simulans or Myriophyllum pinnatum ... commonly called Green Foxtail or Milfoil.

I could be wrong though

 

[malkore]

My really old java fern leaves will spore up, and then eventually disintegrate. If the plant seems otherwise healthy, and only a few leaves are holey, I wouldn't worry.

If anything, you might be low on potassium. Low light tanks usually have plenty of N and P from fish waste and decaying food, but K has to be added via ferts.
You don't mention discoloration that is yellow or pale green, so I don't think you're low on iron.

 

[malkore]

Tip: changing bulbs = watch your nutrients!

As many of you plant keepers know, bulbs have to be replaced. How frequently they have to be replaced isn't set in stone. Its generally agreed that NO tubes should be changed at least annually, and ODNO tubes about every 4 months.

PC bulbs are argued a lot though. Some say annually, others say 'until they burn out', and still others like myself walk the middle line. I personally think 2 years is the max you can stretch a PC bulb.

So, just recently I changed half my bulbs out one week, and the other half 2 weeks later. Plants went crazy pearling for days. SWEET!

Then heavy duty green spot algae showed up overnight, all over my glass. Plants were fine, but I've never had spot algae so bad.

Since converting my tank to house mostly African cichlids, I've not had to dose nitrate because it's always at least 10ppm, if not pushing 15-20ppm.

So I tested NO3 last night...and it was the purest yellow I've ever seen from that kit....not a spec of nitrate to be found. No wonder I've got algae showing up!

So of course, I dosed up NO3, some K, a little PO4, and iron. I'll test at lunch to see if the plants were nitrate starved, meaning I'd need to dose NO3 again tonight, or if they got their fill, and I corrected things.


The moral: Don't underestimate what new bulbs can do to increase nutrient uptake!

 

[FMJnaX]

Bah, that is a REALLY blurry pic. I guess I was too tired last night to notice. I'll put up a better pic later tonight. I've put up a rough MS Paint of the nature of the plant. It looks to me that it should be a horizontal runner instead of vertical since the "leaves" are on one side only on the long piece.... but the small piece is just a tuft. The plant also had no visible roots so it seemed to be a stem plant like anacharis. If it can't be ID'd, then I'll just float it and let it grow out....

On the pic, the green is the "stem" or "runner". The red is the individual group stem. The blue is the "leaves"

 

[Xzap]

I switched out my actinic lamps with 6500 & 10K and saw all kinds of changes.

Dave

 

[BrianNY]

Some pics of my planted 125

I've got all the params exactly where they should be. pH 6.7, KH6, CO2 35ppm, Nitrates 15, Phosphates .5. Now I'm debating whether to restock it with discus or maybe make an angel tank.

 

[Hara]

very nice.