40g planted

[huggermugger]

Fertilizer

I have a few live plants in my 29 gal. right now. They are all dying! I have NO clue why but they started to brown after I cleaned out the tank. I also want to have a AWESOME planted aquarium for my fish but since I can't keep any alive.... also what fertilizer is the best? I don't use any right now. DO I need it? THanks!

 

[gfink]

Tell us more about your tank.
How big is it, and how many watts of light do you have?
What kind of substrate, and please elaborate on "dying". (ie, are they turning yellow, getting holes, leaves becoming transparent etc...)

 

[huggermugger]

I have a 29 gallon tank. I have NO clue what the wattage is but it is the size required for the tank. We bought it about 5 months ago. It said on the box to use that certain bulb for live plants and fish. My leaves are turning yellow/brown, becoming see-through.

 

[BlazerFRS]

Sounds like you'll just be plumbing the DIY reactor straight to the bell and letting it flow as the CO2 is produced?

From what i've read the point of a bell diffuser is that it allows you to get close to 100% of the CO2 you create into the water; This is done by periodically filling the bell from the reactor (with a valve), then closing the valve to let the reactor make more CO2.

 

[rich311k]

It should say right on the bulb. If it is a standard 29 gallon hood, it probobaly has 1 20w tube.

 

[huggermugger]

ok I actually just went to look. It's a 20 W.

 

[rich311k]

The biggest problem is you do not have enough light. You can get a twin tube light for the tank, which would give you 40 watts and allow you to grow plants.

 

[huggermugger]

My tank says to have a 20 W and no bigeer 8O .Also I don't think a twin tube would fit. a 20 W won't allow them to grow? . I don't use a fertilizer. I just stick the plant in the gravel...maybe that's it? :?

 

[rich311k]

What kind of tank is it?

 

[cplawrence]

For more wattage, you would actually need to get another light fixture. If you go to Big Al's (www.bigalsonline.com), you can get a twin tube fixture for under $40 plus shipping. It also depends on what type of plants you are trying to grow. Some plants require really high light (about 3 or 4 watts per gallon). Other plants do better closer to 1 watt per gallon. Examples of lower light plants are java fern, java moss, anubias, crypts, and anacharis. I was able to grow anacharis pretty easily with the single 20 watt tube in my 29. Java fern did OK at that level of light.

 

[Purrbox]

Some basic stats about your tank would be very helpful.

1. What are your Ammonia, Nitrite, Nitrate, Phosphate levels? (I'm guessing that you're not injecting CO2, if you are what are your KH and PH levels?)
2. How much lighting does the tank have? How long do you leave it on each day?
3. What types of plants do you have?
4. How were the plants doing before the cleaning? (Thriving, Surviving, etc)
5. What exactly did you do when you cleaned out the tank? (Extra thorough gravel vac, removed everything and bleached, etc.)

The answers to these questions will help us to pinpoint the problem and determine whether fertilizers are necessary in your tank.

 

[huggermugger]

I don't know. It doesn't say the brand name on it anywhere. We bought it at a garage sale for really cheap soo...ya. Sorry. What about the fertilizer?

 

[gfink]

Don't fertilize this tank. Your plants will not grow fast enough to need it. You will just get algae.

 

[huggermugger]

My water is fine..just checked it but don't remember what the numbers are . I have a 20 W bulb and keep it on from 8-9 A.M. to 7-8 P.M. I have a few banana plants, amazon swords mostly. They were all greeen and growing. Got to snip some little plants off a big one . They were growing big until I vaccumed the tank and added 40% water into the tank. I decholorinized it too.

 

[huggermugger]

ok. I still gets algae pretty quickly. The light fixture gets soooo nasty I have to clean it off...I didn't notice how nasty it was for 4 months..that WAS not fun to clean.

 

[Steven A]

Plants for my turtle tank .... I want an indoor pond.

I am wanting to plant my turtle tank so it looks more natural, so here is the tank info.

Tank: 36 x 12 x 18 inches
Water Gal = Approximatly 15
Basking Area = Sand Substrate
Substrate = Sand
Temperate = 76*F
P.H. = 7
Lighting = Tropical UV Tube 5.0 - 25W (30 inches long)

So can I add live plants and do you think they will be ok.
I am guesing it is mainly coldwater plants I can use which i am fine with
Is there any I can put on the basking area or will the turtle not like this ?

Please reply, Thank you

 

[fish_4_all]

I have the standard lights on my 10 gallon tanks, 15 watt flourescent grow lights. My plants do ok but they thrive now that I add leaf zone. If you have the room or a way, put a second light behind the tank, another 20 watt. I have a 20 watt behind my 2 10 gallon tanks and the plants do really well. I think the extra light might the reason I have problems with blue/green water but it also gives me more than 2 watts per gallon which is way too much for 10 gallon tanks. A second 20 watt would give you just over 1.5 watts which should be fine for your tank. Assuming you have low light plants.

The key could be what type of plants? They could be high light plants and would require a much higher wattage and CO2 injection. I have anacharis and java moss in mine and they do fine with the lighting I have.

How many fish do you have in the tank? What kind of filter? An undergravel is death to plants, I know because I removed mine and my plants are finally thriving. If you use gravel, get the finer, uncoated natural gravel. The plants stay put in it much better. Also, don't be afraid to have a good 3 inches of gravel. It not only helps with keeping the plants in place but also holds nutrients better.

I am sure if I am off base here someone will let both of us know.

Don't give up, there are many in the forums that know a lot more than I do and that is where I got all my information. Someone will be able to help you succeed with live plants.

Check out the section on planted tanks and find out what your plants are and what their light requirements are. Is the first step but is probably the biggest one. The getting started part will point you in the right direction.

 

[Purrbox]

I'd say that lighting is your main problem. You have less than 1wpg which is definately low light. Even most low light plants prefer at least 1wpg, although some people do have success with less. I would definately suggest keeping the light on for the 12 hours as apposed to only 10 to give your plants the maximum benefit of what you have.

The second problem is the plants you have selected. According to PlantGeek.net they require at least medium light which would be approximately 2wpg or 60 watts for your tank.

I would recommend that you decide whether you want to keep your current setup and choose plants appropriate for the lighting, or to upgrade the lighting to suit your current plants. If you stick with the current setup you won't need fertilizer and could select plants from this list. They should survive in your lighting although they may not thrive. If you decide to upgrade your lighting to 2wpg or more then you will need to look at injecting CO2 and adding fertilizers.

 

[malkore]

I'd start by reading all the stickies at the top of this forum. They're designed to answer all the 'beginner' type questions.

 

[malkore]

What kind of and how much lighting do you have?

Most important question of all, still needs to be answered.