alia258
Aquarium Advice Addict
- Joined
- Feb 20, 2012
- Messages
- 1,319
I changed my substrate from a colorful gravel (one might call it "clown barf") to black sand (I know a certain someone who'll like this, you know who you are ) and I was wondering about a few things. Firstly, I've changed out my dechlorinator for a fertilizer and water conditioner combo. I've just put it in the tank today (which basically had a 95% pwc, will explain later) and I was wondering how helpful it'll be for me. Here's a pic of the bottle, it was the only water column one they had:
View attachment 91894
View attachment 91895
And I also have API root tabs which I'll be putting in tomorrow. I know the root tabs will work, but how soon should I expect the benefit of the liquid fertilizer to start showing in my plants?
I've also purchased some micro sword and I'm hoping it'll grow nice and thick, but does it feed more heavily from roots or the water column? And how quickly should I expect new growth?
And one more question, would adding extra of the dechlorinator stuff be more beneficial, make things go bad, or just leave things the way they are?
And now my story of changing my substrate (so you guys can check that I did everything right):
I cleaned out the sand until the water ran clear, and then I took all my fish out of the tank and put them in a bowl, and the same with the plants. Then I used a cup to put the gravel into a pasta bowl with holes in it. This knocked up lots of old root tab, now in a powdered form and fogged up my water. I did 3 pwcs (making sure my filter had the original tank water in it so the bacteria wouldn't die) and between each pwc I put in about 3-4 gallons of water. (the pwcs happened after I had gotten all the gravel out) finally I started putting the sand in and it's filled the tank to about 4-5 inches thick. Then I planted the plants and now I'm waiting for the last of the root tabs left to settle so I can suck it up. The tank should be totally clear by tomorrow so I'll post a pic of it then. Did I do everything right? And should I do the root tabs differently because of the sand?
I also forgot to add my list of plants in the tank:
Anaubis nana
Wisteria
Anacharis
Melon sword
Amazon sword
Micro sword
And I'll also be getting some frogbit in may from a very nice person on here
Ooooh! And I forgot my other tank info! It's a 10g with a peppered Cory, 2 guppies, and 3 (soon to be 6) neon tetras
View attachment 91894
View attachment 91895
And I also have API root tabs which I'll be putting in tomorrow. I know the root tabs will work, but how soon should I expect the benefit of the liquid fertilizer to start showing in my plants?
I've also purchased some micro sword and I'm hoping it'll grow nice and thick, but does it feed more heavily from roots or the water column? And how quickly should I expect new growth?
And one more question, would adding extra of the dechlorinator stuff be more beneficial, make things go bad, or just leave things the way they are?
And now my story of changing my substrate (so you guys can check that I did everything right):
I cleaned out the sand until the water ran clear, and then I took all my fish out of the tank and put them in a bowl, and the same with the plants. Then I used a cup to put the gravel into a pasta bowl with holes in it. This knocked up lots of old root tab, now in a powdered form and fogged up my water. I did 3 pwcs (making sure my filter had the original tank water in it so the bacteria wouldn't die) and between each pwc I put in about 3-4 gallons of water. (the pwcs happened after I had gotten all the gravel out) finally I started putting the sand in and it's filled the tank to about 4-5 inches thick. Then I planted the plants and now I'm waiting for the last of the root tabs left to settle so I can suck it up. The tank should be totally clear by tomorrow so I'll post a pic of it then. Did I do everything right? And should I do the root tabs differently because of the sand?
I also forgot to add my list of plants in the tank:
Anaubis nana
Wisteria
Anacharis
Melon sword
Amazon sword
Micro sword
And I'll also be getting some frogbit in may from a very nice person on here
Ooooh! And I forgot my other tank info! It's a 10g with a peppered Cory, 2 guppies, and 3 (soon to be 6) neon tetras
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