HELP!!! Just starting out with live plants.

705 Views 6 Replies 4 Participants Last post by GMYukonon24s, Apr 9, 2017

Adamant

Discussion Starter · Apr 1, 2017 (Edited by Moderator)

Hello my name is Adam and I have been keeping fish for more than 12 years but only recently (4mths ago) purchased my first plant and now I'm hooked! I will be working in a 46g Bowfront. (Equipment): Penn Plax Cascade 700, 36" Beamswork DA Pent LEDs, 200w submersible heater, dual air pump. (Filter media): Matrix and Fluval Bio Rings and bulk poly-fil,. (Play sand substrate). (Water perimeters): pH 6.8, 0, 0, 15-20ppm, dH 4-5°, kH 2-3° (Stock): 6 Congo Tetra, 8 Emperor Tetra, 8 Cardinal Tetra, 8 Rummynose Tetra, 6 Peppered Cory, 1 BN Pleco and 2 Nerite snails. (Plants) Assorted Anubias, Java Fern, Hygrophila Corymbosa or Polysperma?, and Hygrophila Difformis or Wisteria. I use DIY root tabs and Flourish, Advance, Trace, Excel, Potassium, Iron. I also have been using Seachem's Neutral Regulator. However that is a phosphate buffer and until I get my phosphate test today i may not be able to use any longer depending on what the test reveals. Hope that's enough back ground...Lol Like I said I'm hooked on plants now that I've seen how much better the tank looks and how much healthier it is with them. I'm ready to move up to the next level, Medium light plants and a carpet of some kind. I am looking for ideas on what plants I should try and which ones not avoid. I will not be adding a CO² system at this time but I'm sure it will come after I've mastered this level. I'm looking for something a little more challenging to grow to replace all of my beginner plants. I need background, midground, and foreground ideas. Also some color plants would be nice and different. Any suggestions and/or tips on plants, dosing, trimming, or any advice would be great and very much appreciated! Thank you in advance.

Anybody have any tips or suggestions when dosing Flourish Products, plants for medium light and NO CO², or any advice? I'm trying to grow more demanding plants that will challenge me a little more.

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Nlewis

· #2 · Apr 2, 2017

Adamant said:
Anybody have any tips or suggestions when dosing Flourish Products, plants for medium light and NO CO², or any advice? I'm trying to grow more demanding plants that will challenge me a little more.

Yeah, use up what you have and get a set of dry ferts, this will save you a ton of money. Without co2 you can look into dosing gluteraldahyde, which is the main ingredient to Flourish excel. You can puchase a product called Metricde for about twenty dollars per gallon and make your own solution comparable to Excel.

Note: the plant locted in the left front is Anubias and should not be planted in the substrate. Its a rhizome plant and if the rhizome is under the substrate it will rot.

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Adamant

Discussion Starter · #3 · Apr 3, 2017

Thanks for the advice. The Anubias isn't planted in the substrate. It's tied to a rock that is under the sand. The rhizomes are not under the sand and growing really well with a new every week. All of my plants are going very well. Anubias, Java Fern, Hygrophilia Difformis, and Hygrophilia Corymbosa. I'm using Excel already and I'm happy with the liquid fertilizers for now. Once I get the hang of this then I'll move up to dry ferts and pressurized CO². For now I'm trying to get away from the beginner plants that I have now and try some medium light plants. I'm asking for advice on that. Any suggestions on medium light plants and advise on the ferts that I do already have since I just bought them. I appreciate your advice. Any other advice or suggestions would be appreciated. Plants to try or avoid? Dosing tips? Any other advice? I just bought 2 micro swords today and going to be adding them tomorrow if anyone has experience with those?

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Adamant

Discussion Starter · #4 · Apr 4, 2017

Well I went ahead and planted the micro swords in the tank. I placed them in the front center of the tank and have my fingers crossed. I surely hope that they do well. I've noticed that my Hygrophila Polysperma has started to turn red along the outside edges of the leaves. I'm really excited about that and guess that is due to me dosing iron. My next step is to find a Red Midground Plant. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know. It needs to be able to thrive without CO² other than Excel and Medium light, sand substrate w/Root Tabs. I'd hoped to get some better help on this forum. I have heard such go things about it. If the thread needs to be moved, renamed, or anything like that please feel free to do it or let me know so that I can. Thanks!!!

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KayakJimW

· #5 · Apr 4, 2017

Hello @Adamant, greetings from the 804. Looks like your on the right track with your dosing regimen if you're 4 months in, plants doing well, and no big algae issues. Nice job on that. Check out Ludwigia repens as a candidate for a red plant. It's listed as an easy plant, but the challenge lies in how red you can get it to be. AR mini is also an impressive plant that actually stays mid-ground height but I'm not sure how well it would do (how red it gets) without CO2. Might be something to try... Also, some of the more rare Cryptocorynes (like flamingo) can have red to pink coloration and are sometimes available in the for sale threads here.

A "just starting out live plants" thread is probably OK here in the intro forum but I see more long term potential for where this might go. Consider starting a thread in the journals forum for long term chronicling and feedback of your tank's progress. Check out a few journals to see what I mean. Good luck with your planted tank, I look forward to seeing what you do with it. It's off to a good start, and I really dig your choices of fauna so far too

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Adamant

Discussion Starter · #6 · Apr 8, 2017

Thanks The Planted Tank Forum - View Profile: KayakJimW I will start a journal as suggested. That is a great idea and I way to track my progress. I found a red plant and planted it yesterday with my fingers crossed. It's a AR Cardinal I found at PetSmart. I really wanted to try an AR mini but couldn't find one locally. I've noticed that my tank has gotten cloudy and has been that way for a week now. I'm wondering if there are any ferts that I should avoid dosing on the same day. I alternate Flourish and Trace as the instructions say. I have been dosing potassium and iron on the same day and nitrogen as needed to keep my nitrates up around 20ppm. I dose Excel every day and all the other ferts ( Potassium, Iron, Flourish, Trace and I use Neutral Regulator in very small doses to keep my Phosphate around 2ppm) every other day, so 3x a week. I just can't figure out if the ferts are causing the cloudy water or if it's something else. I do a big water change on the 7th day and only add Excel, in the big dose as recommended on that day rather than doing it on day one. I do that because I read about it on Seachem's forum. The technical support guy posted that he uses it that way and would change the dosing schedule to that and the company will be changing there dosing schedule soon with that amendment. Thanks again for the reply and kind words from a fellow 804 fish keeper!

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