FishChannel Forums / Freshwater Forums / Plant Particulars

Upgrading a Planted Tank

germanblueramlover — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 14:46:30 GMT

I'm thinking of upgrading my 20 gallon Long with a better light and really getting some good plant growth going. I've kept the live plants in it for a while now, but they are mostly low-light plants, and aren't exactly flourishing. Currently I have a dual bulb light, so probably 1.5-2 watts per gallon. My substrate is just regular aquarium sand (I'd like a plant substrate, but I don't think I'll be able to get one).

The light I'm considering is the Marineland LED Aquatic Plant with Integrated Timer, but the reviews seem mixed. Any opinions on this light, or alternatives?

Also, will I need CO2? I'm a little nervous about using it, having read about the problems some others have had.

I'm hoping to keep it pretty cheap, if possible.

I posted a couple of pictures of my tank in the general freshwater section, at this link http://board.fishchannel.com/Topic238110-5-1.aspx

Thank you!

I've been doing some more looking around and I'm thinking of using Flourite Black Sand with a layer of laterite underneath. Is this overkill?

Water parameters for planted tank?

Aqua friend — Mon, 15 Apr 2013 15:44:45 GMT

Hi fishy friends,
Can someone tell me what amount of iron should be present in a planted aquarium? mg / L. I am using flourite substrate as well. The tank also has fish in it (Discus, cardinals, etc. Thank you in advance for any help offered.

CO2 system with wet dry filter?

Aqua friend — Wed, 17 Apr 2013 18:19:10 GMT

Hi everyone,
I currently use flourish excel for co2 supplement, but was thinking of going with a co2 system of some sort. I have a 215 gallon semi planted tank with a 50 gallon wet dry filter system. I was told that with this filter system it was pointless to go with a co2 system, as the water is to oxygenated? Any advice would be great. Everytime I turn around and think that I have made some progress I run into a road block it seems. I guess if it was all straight forward it would not be much of a hobby right?
Thank you as always, and for putting up with my silly questions.

Update #3. 40G Breeder

Ritch — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 11:06:40 GMT

Here is a long overdue update on my 40G breeder and a new goodie I got from my girl.

Here is my 40G breeder OVERGROWN!

Here it is again after a trim of the right side and some new planting of dwarf hairgrass and some baby tears attached to a rock. I've tried them before without co2 and they died quick, but I decided to try another round with co2.

Brazilian pennywort pearling

Crazy pink plant. I think it's called Telenthera but I could be wrong.

Pristella Tetras just hanging out.

Cherry Shrimp and Otto Cat just chilling eating some Hikari Algae wafer.

Otto, CRS, and GBR all just chilling. My friends told me GBR's should be kept with shrimp, but my GBR's have'nt touched my Amano's or my CRS.

And a new fish bowl I decided to plant in. No fish or shrimp in it just plants.

top shot

Anyways there is a few new updates for you all. If you have any questions don't be afraid to PM me. I'll add a video of the 40G breeder here soon.

I hope you enjoy!

HAs anyone kept this plant?

GRUBYGUPPY — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 11:30:25 GMT

I was at my local Big Al's store today and they had dwarf star lily's on sale for $4.99 CDN and I had read up on them so I picked up 3 for my 75g SA(angel&tetra) tank.From what I read about them they seem to do well in most aquarium(freshwater) tanks and under different water/light conditions.My tank has 216 watts of T-5 HO lighting. I read also that they tend to grow faster/slower & different colours depending on the water and light. Has anyone here had these plant? If so please let me know how yhey did in your tank.

U R B A N AQUASCAPING | 300L | Full set-up | LED Light for planted aquarium

globali — Mon, 06 Aug 2012 00:26:40 GMT

Hi there,

Since english is not my native language please
understand and I will try try 2do my best here.

U R B A N AQUARIUM

The Bottom Kal-Kar

Rear Light Table - experiment

U R B A N AQUASCAPING
Inspiration Ciudad Perdida

The New Hydor Ario 4 House

Rear Light Table with T5 21 Watt & More

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Single Shut Image Movies

U R B A N AQUASCAPING | Mangroves

U R B A N AQUASCAPING | Ario 4 House

U R B A N AQUASCAPING | The Swimming Pool

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Bit more ...

Cryptocoryne Petchii "Chair"

The intimacy bowl

Crinum Calamistratum Pillars with the 'Pendulum Ball'

Thank u in advanced
globali

Timed release fertilizers

FishCreek — Tue, 09 Apr 2013 08:11:22 GMT

I have been seeing auctions on eBay where folks are selling timed release fertilizers such as Osmocote for aquarium use. They have filled gel caps with the Osmocote. I am wondering if this type of fertilizer is safe to be used in the aquarium? Anyone know? Thanks.

Cladophora

Ritch — Thu, 04 Apr 2013 10:23:50 GMT

I have a bunch of Cladophora growing in my java moss and some in my DHG. I didn't notice it until my last water change. It only seems to effect my DHG and my Java moss. I've been trying to manually remove most of it but it just keeps coming back. I almost want to just get rid of my java moss and DHG because of it. All my parameters are good. And from the research I've done it looks like Cladophora likes to thrive in a established planted tank. Just wondering if anyone had some tips or tricks to get rid of this nuisance.

cryptocoryne

bettasrcool — Sat, 23 Feb 2013 01:14:03 GMT

I would like to try growing cryptocorynes again as they are such neat plants and just wanted to ask if they will grow ok in cooler water (low 70s F). I was reading somewhere that claimed they won't grow below 75 degree. Maybe they were referring to emersed growth.

Also is it safe to assume they all melt when you first put them in new tank water or is this just chance? Thanks!

Brackish Plants

NeonBlue64 — Mon, 04 Mar 2013 10:56:12 GMT

What are some brackish water plants that can be either submerged or ones that are on land in a high humidity enviroment. And also floating.

37 gal planted

Hedgehog82291 — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 14:07:45 GMT

Hi there. It has been a while since I have posted on this forum and I wanted to give an update and see if I could get some more advice.
I have a 37 gal tall planted tank that I have had for a few years now. Over those few years I have gained more knowledge about planted tanks and have learned from my mistakes that I made, but some things are still bugging me.
My tank is currently home to:
Fish:
-3 Pearl Gouramis
-5 Peppered Cory Catfish
-10 Zebra Danios
-over 100 Red Cherry Shrimp and growing
Plants:
-One Large Amazon Sword Plant
-Hornwort that is growing like crazy
-Duckweed that must have hitch hiked from the hornwort (also taking over the surface)

Other Specifics:
96 Watt lighting fixture (just over 2.5 watts/gal)
Marineland 350 Canister Filter
DIY CO2 system
Liquid fertilizer every week or two.
Flourite Black Sand substrate
Temp 74-76
pH: 7.4 ish
Ammonia: ~0
Nitrates: Low
Nitrites: 0

Over a year ago, I purchased a variety of plant species that I thought would do quite well with the tank that I had set up. Well all of them have died, some much faster than others. The hairgrass that I had died within a couple weeks. Valesnaria grew fine, but then died off, same with the Cabamba and various other plants that I had.

Currently I only have one large Amazon sword, Hornwort, and the duckweed in the tank but would like to add some other species to add some variety to the tank.

What kind of plants could I add that are compatible with what I have ?
What can I do to prevent these die offs of the plants?
Is there anything I could do to help trigger healthy growth in my tank?

Thanks in advance for the help. Hopefully I did not leave anything out.

Fissidens fontanus, pheonix moss

RELLIK — Wed, 30 Jan 2013 18:37:53 GMT

Anyone know a good place to order this from? I really want some for a shrimp tank but dont trust ordering on ebay and so far thats the only place I can find it. If anyone has some advice where to get it please let me know,or has some to get rid of or sell please pm me.

Rescaping the 20G Long

Ritch — Fri, 08 Feb 2013 11:04:52 GMT

I decided to rescape my 20G long, not too sure if I'd like to go all shrimp tank or maybe a school of dwarf rasboras. Not too sure on how I want to theme it yet. Heavily planted, looking to carpet something. Just looking for ideas at the moment.

Plants & Salt

Ed's Fish Tank — Sun, 20 Jan 2013 07:07:10 GMT

Hi,

I've been wondering about how many of you add aquarium salt to their FW tanks. From long ago remember it was kind of generally accepted that adding salt was use as a "tonic" to help fish cope. And now have read that it helps with gill function and osmoregulation.

But, since never having had live plants in a tank was really wondering how safe it is for them. I have already gone ahead and added 1 tblsp salt to the 10 gal tank and 3.5 tblsp to the 37 gal. This equates to 1/2 dose as per instructions for adding API Aquarium Salt to FW. Fish and plants seem fine, so far.

Thank You for any advice about this.

Co2 Setup

Ritch — Sun, 13 Jan 2013 16:43:06 GMT

Here is a video of my Co2 setup I've been meaning to show you DeluxeChuck. Sorry about the late upload.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZxHW4jPkimg&feature=youtu.be

When To Add Plants?

MoFish — Thu, 03 Jan 2013 13:38:45 GMT

Should my tank be fully cycled before I add any live plants?

Incompatibility Issues?

MoFish — Thu, 17 Jan 2013 10:33:22 GMT

Will all of the nutrients (that are available for plant health) interfere with the aquarium chemistry?

Java Plants

guppy girl — Fri, 11 Jan 2013 21:22:45 GMT

Hi everybody, I have one small Java plant, and it's not doing so well. If I touch it when I clean, the leaves will fall off, and I don't have enough rocks right now to completely cover the roots. What to do? I put salt in, someone said it helped. I had already put salt in for my fish anyways. But does that help? Thanks for the help and advice guys!

What kind of lighting do I need??

Deluxechuck — Sat, 03 Nov 2012 17:48:57 GMT

Started a 55 gallon planted tank this week. Just have the basic 18 inch bulbs in it. I put a few plants that I got form petsmart just to see what would grow. I also got Floramax 18" 15 watt T8 bulbs.
The tank seems dark to me. I want to brighten it up and want the plants to grow. What do I need??? What do I need to up grade?? I got the go from the wife to buy what I need, so someone hook me up please!!

Cabomba

Ritch — Sat, 12 Jan 2013 18:22:24 GMT

Was just wondering if anyone here has kept Cabomba for awhile? Enough for it to flower? My buddy gave me a bunch of stems wrapped at the bottom with a weighted flexible band. They had flowers on them reaching for the light. I wasn't really think and just planted the whole bunch without separating them from the band in the substrate. They looked okay, but it seems the flowers died. The rest of the plant looks okay, but i'm wondering if I should have separated them? Anyways thanks for the help guys.

CO2 for a 55 gal tank.

Deluxechuck — Fri, 04 Jan 2013 19:16:48 GMT

I'm looking to make a cheap do it your self CO2 kit for my 55 gal. tank. I've seen where people are using paintball canisters and such to do this. Just trying to get ideas for the easy way to do it.

brown algae

bettasrcool — Sat, 05 Jan 2013 19:21:54 GMT

Hi, I was reading that diatoms, or that ugly brown algae, is supposed to be only a temporary thing with newly set up tanks. I still get it in my established, planted (non-co2) tanks once in a while and was wondering if anyone else does too? I complete weekly water changes and don't add lots of ferts. Is it just impossible to not have some of it occasionally?

Aponogeton ulvaceus flowers

palmeri — Thu, 10 Jan 2013 05:32:29 GMT

I was wondering if it is normal for this plant to send up 2 flower stalks from the same bulb? Any info will be appreciated.

Amazon Swords

NeonBlue64 — Thu, 27 Dec 2012 19:04:11 GMT

My amazon sword look like it has hairs growing from the leaves. could this be because of bad lighting or it is something wrong with my tank.

Starting new 40 gallon planted

Ritch — Wed, 07 Nov 2012 10:28:04 GMT

So yesterday I purchased a new 40 gallon breeder tank for my new planted setup. I really like the overall width of the 40 gallon over the 55, instead of 13 inches of width the 40 comes with 18 1/4. I'll post pictures of the new setup once I'm off work.

Santa brought me a Fluval Flora

Deluxechuck — Wed, 26 Dec 2012 17:13:50 GMT

Well actually Santa came a few days early and I was able to set it up this past weekend.

I put one cryptocoryne spiralis, one bacopa monnieri (moneywort), one cryptocoryne wendtii Florida sunset, and two marsilea crenata (dwarf four leaf clover). I'm looking to add a few more as I want to fill up just about every bit of the substrate.

I'm getting way to deep in this. I'm already thinking about converting the wife's 29 gallon bow front tank in to a planted tank.

Here is the crazy thing... The tank that the LFS had the dwarf clover in it was full of feeder guppies. 20 min trip home, and another hour after that I had the clover in the tank. Once all the dust settled and I grabbed a beer to enjoy and tweak the plants a bit, I noticed a little guppy swimming around. How the heck. The bag that the plants were in had just what water had drained off the plants. Plus I rinsed off the the plants in the sink and removed them from the pots. How the heck is this little guy still going?
Anyway. I will try to post a pick.

Aquavitro

Ritch — Sun, 11 Nov 2012 08:22:21 GMT

So I purchased a set of Seachem's premium line of liquid dosing called Aquavitro. Not sure if anyone has tried this product, but I am going to give it a whirl. I've had much success with Seachem products before so I am almost certain I'll become a fan of their new planted aquarium line too =D

Restocking my 30-gallon

sam7152004 — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 14:13:05 GMT

Hi everyone! I'm restocking my 30-gallon tank with plants, and I would like some suggestions.
I would like hardy plants that look nice, and are easy to prune.
Hardscape suggestions are also welcome.

Using Land Plants in FW Tanks

BBradbury — Tue, 25 Dec 2012 13:33:28 GMT

Hello Fish Channelites...

Have grown tired of the large, weekly water changes and am using Aglaonema to maintain pure water conditions for my freshwater tanks. Attached is a pic of a 20G with a 24 inch "Ag" Gemini plant and a couple of small Pothos plants.

The emersed plant takes in all forms of nitrogen and now, I no longer need to change half the tank water weekly. I simply trim the plants as need to stimulate new growth and replace the water lost to evaporation.

Much easier to maintain.

B

Getting into live plants

creino — Wed, 12 Dec 2012 15:00:54 GMT

Hi all, I have always kept fake plants in my aquariums, but I've been thinking of trying to switch over to live. I would like to start out with some easier, more hardy plants that are somewhat tolerant of keeper error. And I'm fairly clueless as to what sort of lighting needs to be provided, as well as substrate. Right now I have gravel, but I have been wanting to change that. Also, I would imagine the fish could play a role as to what plants I can keep. Right now I have a 3 Gouramis, a Rainbow Shark, and 3 Zebra Loaches. So can anyone help me out with getting started with all of this.

40 Gallon Planted Update

Ritch — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 09:44:34 GMT

Video Update #1

Tank: 40 Gallon Planted
Lighting: AquaticLife 48" Dual Fixture T5HO 108 Watt
Filtration: Fluval C3 HOB filter, Eheim 2236 Canister filter
Heater: Fluval M200 Mirrored.
Substrate: Eco-Complete Black

Plants: Anubias Nana, Anubias Afzelii, Green Cryptocoryne "Wendtii", Water Wisteria, Dwarf Hair Grass, Alternanthera Reineckii "Red Cardinal", Bacopa, Parrot's Feather, Onion Plant, Amazon Sword, Java Moss

Livestock: 6x Amano Shrimp, 8x Red Cherry Shrimp, 6x Glowlight Tetras, 6x Neon Tetras, 10x Pristella Tetras, 6x Black Neon Tetras, 5x Otocinclus, mated pair of German Blue Rams

Dosing Schedule: Aquavitro line from Seachem. Flourish Excel daily.
Monday: Propel, Activate, Synthesis
Tuesday: Propel, Envy
Wednesday: Propel, Activate, Synthesis
Thursday: Propel, Envy
Friday: Propel, Activate, Synthesis
Saturday: Propel, Envy
Sunday: Water Change, Carbonate, Mineralize

Here is a breakdown of the different Aquavitro products used in my dosing schedule.

Premier: removes chlorine and chloramines specifically designed for the planted aquarium. also raises potassium. 0-0-5

Activate: concentrated phosphorus source activates vital chemical reactions within plants. 0-1-1

Synthesis: synthesis of ammoniacal, nitrate, and organic nitrogen. 3-0-0

Envy: makes your plants green with envy. comprehensive carbohydrate vitamin, amino acid, and polyunsaturated fatty acid supplement for plants.

Propel: propels plant growth. concentrated mixture of readily available and time released iron. also converts existing ferric iron into ferrous form.

Carbonate: raises carbonate hardness (KH). increases potassium. 0-0-8

Mineralize: raises general hardness. (GH)

There is probably some more plants then what I named off in my tank, I just can't seem to remember them all off the top of my head. Anyways here is the video. Sorry it's not in HD I am using a Nikon DSLR, so hence the crappy video.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dpZBleNbPPY&feature=plcp

Plant anchor

Stephen G. Noble — Sat, 24 Nov 2012 17:13:17 GMT

There are a bunch of plant anchors out there but here is one I use and it is dirt cheap and works well. This one was made greatly exaggerated (including the bright color) to clearly show the concept. Take a piece of plastic milk carton and cut it to the diameter of your plants leaves. So if your plant has a spread of say, four-inches make your disk four-inches in diameter. Drill a hole in the middle that is about 1/4th inch larger than the diameter of the plant's stem. Make a single slice from the outer edge of the disk all of the way to the middle. The slice in the photo is much wider than needed but again, was made extra wide to show up well in the photo. Twist the outer edge of the disk in opposite directions and carefully place it around your plants stem just above the crown. Bury the disk in the substrate and away you go. You can also make them out of biodegradable material. Good luck!
SGN

Dwarf Lillie's melting

spritestyle — Wed, 05 Dec 2012 19:35:50 GMT

Hi all, was hoping that someone would be able to give me some advice on my plants. I have some dwarf lilys that were growing like gangbusters, but now seems to be dying off slowly.

Currently have a 20G tank with a green spot algae problem (but that's another story). A few weeks ago I added almond leaves to my tank thinking that this will make the environment better for my betta and cardinals. Everything seems to be doing well, but then algae stared growing, and plants are not looking as good as it once were. I have since removed the leaves, and have cleaned the tank as well as I can.

I've had my plants for a few months now, but just about a week ago the dwarf lilies leaves turned glassy looking, then just melted away. Now the younger leaves are getting green spot algae growing on it. I've tested the water for phosphate, and it was barely traceable. So, I added Seachem phosphorus to see if this will help, also added liquid iron to boost it up. Am I on the right track, or should I waited out. Before you mention pwc, I do a 50% water change 2x a week.

Sorry for the long disjointed post. Any help you can give me would be greatly appreciated.

sword/small tanks

bettasrcool — Sat, 01 Dec 2012 12:30:09 GMT

Is it possible to keep echinodorus plants in smaller tanks (10-20 gallon) and regularly prune them to keep them tall and skinny or are they just too big? I am thinking of a new tank set-up with open swimming space and only tall plants in the corners. Would Vallisneria be better; if so, what type? I don't have enough light for stem plants.

Frogbit

RELLIK — Thu, 22 Nov 2012 19:23:32 GMT

I have 2 heavy planted aquariums and wanted a floating plant for my 75 gallon. So i looked online and bought FROGBIT (Limnobium spongia) from aquariumplants.com. What i seen online was little floating plants maybe the size of a half dollar with small leaves bunched together and what i received was long stemmed plants the size of my hand. Were these possibly grown emerged and thats why they are huge and will they produce the smaller versions that you see on youtube after floating awhile? I cant find any info on these so please if anyone knows.

Local pond/stream

Ritch — Thu, 29 Nov 2012 11:37:50 GMT

So this last weekend I took a little walk down to a pond and stream by my house to look for some rocks/driftwood. It's pretty cold here in Colorado so I wasn't expecting to see any aquatic plants growing, but to my amazement the pond was filled with duckweed/ some sort of underwater grass looking plant, and also a floating plant the resembles frogbit. I'm 90% positive it's not frogbit, but has some similar qualities. Anyways, it ended up being a pretty fun little nature hike. Got to see some Bald Eagles swooping in on the remaining fish in the ponds, and I didn't even realize that there were some hardy aquatic plants growing in the ponds/streams around my house, pretty cool

Killing snails

Rebel1970 — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 07:25:43 GMT

Has anyone had o dip plants to rid them of snails? I want to start a 75 gallon free of snails, but use the plants out of my 2-20 gallon tanks. If I use the bleach method, what do I do with the plant roots? I am thinking of wrapping them in wet paper towels and then wrapping them with saran wrap. Any other ideas? Yeah I know just buy snail free plants. Tried that and ended up with zillions of snails anyway. Thanks

Lighting(Hairgrass or Baby Tears)

NeonBlue64 — Sun, 25 Nov 2012 18:32:46 GMT

Ok i am wondering if hair grass will grow with a CLF light bulb
I have on my 10 gallon a desk lamp with a CFL bulb in it.
Atm my amazon sword plants look like they are greener than when i was using my T8 light. I am using black sand so that my be helping instead of blue gravel.

I want to know if it would be bright enof to grow hair grass or even baby tears. Befor i grow more stuff i will be removing the sand and putting flourite or some other base substrate down if that helps you make a decision.

If i need better lighting i will eventually invest in a led lighting for planted aquariums.

Large Red Sword Melon

Deluxechuck — Mon, 19 Nov 2012 18:09:08 GMT

I got 3 large Red melon swords tonight. They are potted and have very long roots. Being new to live plants I'm havering some trouble. I can't get all the roots under the gravel. Should I trim them down a bit to get them all the way under??

Algae

Ritch — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 11:23:10 GMT

I just noticed today that my Anubias plants are beginning to get brown/black spots on them. The leaves with the spots are starting to yellow also. I'll post some pictures once im off work today. I believe it may be that they are getting too much light, I may have to put them somewhere there is less light. All my medium to high lighting plants all seem fine.

Ammonia : 0
Nitrate: 0
Nitrite: 0
PH 6.8
Temp: 81
55 Gallon Planted Tank
Lighting: 108 Watt AquaticLife Dual T5HO
Light Cycle: 9 Hours daylight

I am also dosing Seachem's Flourish 2x week and API CO2 Booster daily.
I also have a co2 tank hooked up to this tank too.