40g planted

[greenmaji]

sorry about that Brian.. :?
yea.. 1wpg will be less maintaince as far as keeping water chemistry NO3, PO4 and others in proper balance.
Making it easy as possible would mean keeping low to medium light requirements plants.

 

[Kim Kipper]

I wouldn't say that Blue Rams are a starer fish.......

 

[gheitman]

You have things nicely laid out right now. You could thin out some of the plants and sell the excess to your LFS. You could get a vertical piece of driftwood so that you don't have to disturb too many plants. The rocks don't have to be big ones either. You could move just a few plants to make room.

 

[Fubie]

Java moss color?

When I received my java moss there were sections that were light to dark brown already, but with quite a bit the was bright green. I have had the java moss in my tank for about 2 weeks now. I need to do some pruning to all my plants today but I wasn't sure if the brown java moss was actually dead. Any help for this new java moss owner?

TIA

 

[Fubie]

Fertilization help

I know there are a ton of threads on this topic and having read them I haven't been able to decide what would work best for me. Here are my readings:

10G planted (anacharis, microsword, java fern, java moss)
3 WPG CF 6700K
7.2 pH
0 ppm ammonia
0 ppm nitrites
5-10 ppm nitrates
0-.5 ppm phosphates
7º KH
8º GH
78º F
30% PWC once a week

Here is my fertilization schedule:

1 ml of Frourish Excel daily
1 ml of Flourish Iron 2 times a week
1 ml of Flourish 3 times a week
3 Flourish tabs spaced evenly in the gravel around the tank

Most of the time my readings mirror what I have listed above and I haven't seen my nitrates move in quite awhile. Once in awhile though I have weird nitrite readings (I am using a AP nitrite test kit* that shows an odd light purple color that isn't on the chart) that go back to 0 within a day. I guess they read like that due to one or more of the fertilizers I'm adding. I also am currently using the Hagan CO2 system. Since the Hagen's generator hasn't been giving me very reliable output I'm switching (today) over to a 2L bottle generator. And I want some more reliable CO2 output!

I guess what I am asking everyone is am I fertilizing enough or to much? After reading all the threads I could I never got a feel for what good readings should look like if you are fertilizing just right.

TIA

*I replaced my nitrite test kit after the first couple of tests showed this color because I thought the kit was bad.

 

[Purrbox]

The best way to get more stable CO2 output is to switch over to multiple reactors, staggering when you start them up. If you've got two reactors and your mix usually lasts 4 weeks, you would start one two weeks later than the other. This way as one reactor is starting to wind down you've got a fresh batch in the other that is going strong.

If you wanted to continue using the existing Hagen system, all you would need to do would be to pick up a 1L bottle and use a T airline connector to hook it up with your existing reactor. The 1L bottle would use the same mix that you've been using in the Hagen reactor.

Other than that the rest of your numbers look good to me. If your plants are growing well, look healthy, and you aren't fighting algae I'd say that your fertilization routine is good as well. If your plants are struggling or you are dealing with algae, then we'd need to know the details to determine what part of your fertilization routine needs tweaking.

 

[Zezmo]

When I was looking to improve my aquascaping I went and looked at the entries for the AGA Auquascaping contest. http://showcase.aquatic-gardeners.org/2005.cgi
The nice thing there, is you can see pics of the tanks. The entries have a layout and list all the plants. Plus, these are judged by some well known Auqascapers, Amano etc. You can read thier comments about every tank.
In my case, I picked up on the idea of spliting your tank into 5 sections to lay things out. At 48" long, i put a piece of tape every 9 1/2" along the front to give me a guide. The left 2/5 of the tankmake one foreground area, which is surrounded by taller plants. Then at that second mark from the left I put in the Driftwood (at an angle in zen garden style). The right 3/5 of the tank makes up the other foreground zone, which is also surrounded by tall plants.
As for your tank, first off those plants look great. I bet it is so cool to see those Angel fish cruising through the swords. I think that if you broke your tank up into 1/3's you can make some nice zones. It looks like maybe microsword along the front, that looks great, leave that. On the right side 1/3 you could get a nice piece of driftwood, or some rocks. If driftwood, you could lay it so the bottom is in front at that 1/3 mark, and the other end was in the top right corner. Then plant the I think it's water sprite in front and around the driftwood, and it looks like one other stem plant on the right corner (Cabomba?). That perhaps can make up the background there.
In the left 1/3 perhaps create a nice effect with those swords. Take the smallest one and put it in the front left corner. Then plant the 2 next larger ones behind that. Then 3 behind that etc. It looks like at least 6 swords there. The last row should be along the back and go to the 1/3 mark.
That leaves the center, You could put the tall grass (Val? Sag?) all allong the back in tne center 1/3. With the Pennywort in front of it. The penwort could overlap into the left 1/3 some too.
Anyways, thats what came to mind looking at your pics above
Those swords will easily hit the surface in that tank I think. Which should look real nice and fill things in more. The pennywort can be kept under control by snipping the growing tips and keeping light on the lower leaves.

 

[patagonia]

my honest opinion...its beautiful as it is right now... ...i wish my tank would look that nice...

 

[severum mama]

Did you buy the albino tiger barbs? I've heard that they are not as hardy as regular tiger barbs due to the selective breeding for their coloration, but I don't know if that is true. Anyway, I have kept tiger barbs, green tiger barbs, black ruby barbs, and some kind of gold barbs that I haven't yet been able to ID, and I've had great success with all of them. Maybe it would help if you tried a different variety or species of barbs- just a thought.

If you want to try some tetras, I have found pristellas and glowlights to be the hardiest species that I have kept so far.

 

[Zezmo]

I know you said your not into tetras. But in my experience, Bloodfin Tetras are very hardy and a generally good schooling fish. They are African tetras BTW, if that makes difference for you.
They have nice color and are very active. If you have a good current from your filter you will see the school playing in the current, and playing follow the leader all around the tank. I had 11 at one point and they would zoom all around in single file.

 

[severum mama]

BrianNY, your tank looks great. Good work!

 

[Fubie]

I am going to continue using the Hagan ladder. I already have the "T" connector and check valves and will setup a single 2L bottle with the current generator today. I will (most likely) have the second 2L empty (I just don't drink that much soda anymore. They need 2L bottles of coffee... ) tomorrow but I won't put it in line for a week so they are staggered.

As for algae I really don't think I have issues with it. I have some green spot (I think it's diatom) algae on my glass and some on the gravel and rocks on the bottom of the tank. But my shrimp (ghost and cherry) and my otos are taking care of most of it.

 

[caribou]

Hey Apec! There's no such thing as a stupid question, only the questions that go unasked. BTW, I'm also using a new SMS122.

 

[kristap]

The LFS said that the stability would help the tank buffer. It's a seachem product for 'rapid & safe establishment of bio-filter' and contains a synergistic blend of aerobic, anaerobic, and facultative bacteria which facilitate the breakdown of waste organics, ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate'. Furthermore, it says that it 'is completely harmless to all aquatic organisms as well as aquatic plants thus there is no danger of over use'.

The algae growth started shortly after adding plants (my first plants were from the above LFS before I found out about aquariumplants.com) and the more I researched, the less a good idea it seemed for me to start adding ferts. I thought that I would just make things worse until I got some sort of handle on the situation. I bought the comprehensive Flourish fert but haven't used it. Also have a fert tab from aquariumplants underneath a clump of corkscrew val and of dwarf sag.

I think my bio-load is pretty light, no? 48Gallons - small dwarf nugget pleco, 4 otos, 4 hatchets, 10 danios, 10 tetras.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

How do you plant them?

Thanks to JC, I am officially starting to plant my 55 gal tank. The plants have been floating in the tank since they arrived and now that I am home I am ready to plant them.

So onto my question, How do you plant Anacharis stems? I have plant weights that I've never used because after I bought them I heard that they can damage stems. But I wondered if I used string to tie the stems to the weights and then put the weights in the sand if that would help since the weight wouldn't be wrapped around the actual stem.

 

[rich311k]

I just stick mine in the gravel. After a few weeks it will root and stay down. If it keeps coming loose you may have to get creative.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

Ok. I'll try that right now.

 

[Jchillin]

The good thing about anacharis, it can survive unplanted and floating for quite awhile. I dig out a hole in the gravel, place the stem in and cover generously with gravel. By the way, they look really great when planted close together.

Take a look at my tank clicky.

 

[Fishyfanatic]

I just tried to make a post and had an error message pop up about timing out. Oh well.

I pushed them into the sand and put a root tab under each bunch. I hope they stay down. Basically I cut down the long pieces into several smaller pieces and bunched them together. There are six stems on the right side of the driftwood and 8 on the left. I figure once they really start growing I will remove all of the fake plants and just keep cutting and adding. Then eventually I'll probably end up removing most of the rocks and putting it into the 150 gal tank, then make the 55 a heavily planted tank. Then of course add in the Java Moss and the such. I'm SOOO excited. Thanks JC for the plants.

What i am concerned about is the Nitrates. They are on the low side (5 ppm). I guess basically I'll just have to experiment with dosing Nitrogen. So I want the Nitrogen to be around 20 ppm at all times?

 

[bmg213]

I was having trouble anchoring plants too. Just thought of something, have not tried yet though.

I was thinking of taking a plastic soda cap, drilling a small hole or two and feeding the roots through that. Then slip it under the gravel while letting the cupped part of it fill up with gravel.

Also, it would probably be best to boil the cap for a few minutes to make sure its clean.