substrates and plant nutrition

[fishish]

Hi everyone,

Set up my first tank yesterday. I have some plants in there, fair bit of java moss, three Amazon swords and an Anubia nana. I have gravel about 1.5 inch thick. Its reasonably chunky and just plain gravel so no nutrients. I also bought some seachem comprehensive. Am starting to wonder if it may not be enough nutritition for the plants? If its not what should I do?

Tank is 90 litres divided in three.

There arn't any fish in there yet, am planning to get (hopefully 3) bettas tomorrow.

Advice much appreciated :)

[delyall]

Im no expert in plants.. but I dont think youll really need anything for those.. except a light.

[Bettarazzi]

The swords might benefit from a bit of root fertiliser. You can buy fertiliser tablets from the LFS. Or for a cheaper option just get some Native Plant Osmocote, wrap about 5 pellets in a small bit of paper towel then shove one of the packages into the gravel near the roots of each plant. One for each sword plant.

[fishish]

oooow I already have Australian native Osmocote! Though i think it burnt the roots of my plants in the garden because they died lol so thats not too terribly encouraging Its high in nitrogen i believe. Why do you suggest native osmocote specifically? I woudn't have thought that nutrient deficiency common to Australian soil would apply in the ocean?

The fertilizer tablets contain something different to seachem comprehensive?

I find it odd that things in the water suffice when the plants absorb nutrition via roots burried under gravel. Of course water seeps through but slowe.

The aquatic plants were really not cheap at all and I've been anxiously checking on them every other hour lol Like they'd change that fast :blush:

Edited September 23, 2010 by fishish

[Yanagi]

By chunky, do you mean large gravel? Not a good idea in general. Waste/uneaten food falls between it and rots. Finer gravel is also recommended for plants. What thickness is it? The bag should say if you aren't sure.

Moss doesn't need to be planted and nor does the anubias so you don't really need to worry about nutrient rich substrate for them. Agree with Bettarazzi on root tabs/fertilizer for the swords though.

Just keep an eye on your plants (looking once a day is fine ) and if you see anything unusual (such as yellow spots, holes, etc) compare it to the nutrient deficiency chart I linked you to and then you can run out and know exactly what you need to buy.

[fishish]

yeah i guess its pretty large gravel, bit of a mix, i mixed two different ones together but neither is super fine. I got it free with the tank so no bag its pretty average sized gravel i guess...

Anubias doesn't need to be planted?? but it has roots, and was planted in the LFS. Yeah I didn't plant the java moss, I'm not quite that silly fortunately It has a mind of its own though! Between unruly java moss and floating driftwood i thought i was going to go insane! lol

Edited September 23, 2010 by fishish

[Yanagi]

Anubias is what you see growing on driftwood in LFS (and my planted tank). No need to plant it though you can, it won't harm it, just saying it's not required.

[Bettarazzi]

With anubias you can plant the roots that trail down but make sure you keep the rhizome (the part the leaves grow out of) above the gravel.

[fishish]

thanks :)

[holycow]

anubias are not planted but tied to structures. bury the rhizome and it'll eventually rot away. the rhizome will send out roots that will eventually encircle/adhere to an object.

java moss and anubias aren't aggressive users of nutrients, whereas echinodorus, swords, are moderate users. therefore, you aren't required to fertilize too often.