Berryfriendly Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 Ok. My latest task is to try and convert a 2 foot tank in a plant haven. Ideally I want somewhere where i can grow my own plants and house a few female bettas. I have a heater allocated for this tank and a 2 foot fluro. The tank is situated in a room which has a large window behind the tank and a medium window to it's right. I have put a background on this tank to try and reduce the amount of natural light it gets. How many plants should i buy and what types? How much sand/rocks do i need to cover the bottom with? Does this tank require great filtration or just normal filtration? And last but not least how do i get the plants to grow onto rocks and driftwood? All feedback will be greatly appreciated :lol: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 River sand, ummm I like 4-5cm deep. Don't buy fake plants, like purple waffle etc.. they are not aquarium plants and they will rot eventually. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted March 29, 2006 Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 a single fluoro tube is rather low Wattage per gallon, if I recall correctly from planted tank days. With that, I'd go for crypts and java fern. You can attach java fern to driftwood (you can tie it on with thread to get it started. *edit* oh, you don't need a lot of filtration for plants, IME the less the better to be honest. and the less you break the surface tension the better (so CO2 isn't all dissipated, as the plants use the carbon from CO2 as a food source/fertiliser). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berryfriendly Posted March 29, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 29, 2006 So i shouldn't use a filter at all? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 as long as your stocking levels are low and your plants are established before you introduce the females, you won't need one. If you plan to stock with more than say 5 females, you'd want to consider a small filter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 Filters are always a good idea, I like water movement!! You can always have it in there incase you buy more fish and don't have to cycle a tank :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Robbies Betta Posted March 30, 2006 Report Share Posted March 30, 2006 good idea Jess. Even if the filter isn't on, it'll save the hassle of dunking ur arm in the water to position the new filter :poke: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berryfriendly Posted March 31, 2006 Author Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 More fish ... (she thinks to herself) Great Idea! Well i went and visited the lfs last night and purchases some stones and some plants. The young guy who served me was polite but not very helpfull. I walked away with 20kg of stones and the following plants - no idea what they are though. Can you help? My Planted Tank PS - My light is 2 foot in length and has 2 tubes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Figure_8 Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Your tank is looking really nice! I'm absolutely no help when it comes to plants or IDing them. I had some of those red plants in my tank once.. for a few weeks anyways until all the leaves fell off Not sure what they are but they look pretty (and they aren't mouse-proof). The only plant I can keep alive is water sprite I envy anyone that can keep a real planted tank Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 Those thin spindly plants are val I think, I have corkscrew val in my planted tank and although it was initially a bit fussy, once a few roots took hold it's growing very well. As for the other plants, I have no idea. :cheer: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted March 31, 2006 Report Share Posted March 31, 2006 2 tubes is good! I assumed it was a single fluoro, sorry. Looks like you have some hygrophila and vals. Its a bit hard to tell what the red one is, from my monitor. The large leafed one is one they always say is easy to grow and I never had any luck growing it, I think it's called blue something (my brain deleted the name once it worked out I couldn't grow it, sorry!). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berryfriendly Posted April 1, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Thanks mouse and that's ok Lilli - no hard feelings. So now that i have the plants in place what do i need to do to keep them looking this good. What type of fertiliser/plant food do i need to use - if any? Maybe I should be asking what should I not be doing ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 The plants look really good Berry! I not sure what everyone else uses, but I use Seachem 'Flourish' in my planted tank. Apart from the Java Fern dying all the other plants are looking nice and healthy. I'm a bit of a Seachem fan though, what does everyone else use? i also add a tiny bit of acid buffer to my water once a week, because of the rocks I have in there, the water is quite alkaline. The acid buffer just takes the pH down a little, and converts the alkalinity to CO2, which helps the plants. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 I am curious - how does changing the water from alkaline to acid convery the alkalinity to CO2? Flourish adds trace elements to the tank, but there are other things plants need to really grow: adequate light (check) iron ( I recommend flourish iron) potassium (I recommend - you guessed it - flourish potassium) and carbon, usually sourced from carbon dioxide (which is why I suggested no filter/water surface disruption as disruption allows CO2 to leave the water and it then can't be utilised by the plants to make new growth). I have always used DIY co2 (the "beer in a coke bottle" method). PS I think that plant is blue stricta. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Lilli I'm not sure of the chemical equation, but adding because acid buffer lowers pH, it converts carbonate alkalinity (KH) into available CO2. It even says so on the side of the bottle. And I have to use the stuff at least once a week, the water is so terrible here. :/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 hey, if the seachem bottle says it, I believe it! LOL!! *bows to seachem*. Have you tried peat or similar, to gradually buffer the water constantly? Forgive me, I am a bit phobic about altering pH. But if I had to, I'd use seachem. That's the one that's free of phosphate, isn't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leela Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Yes, that's the one! I absolutely swear by their products, ever since I used Stability. I haven't tried peat, where do I find that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
splendidbetta Posted April 1, 2006 Report Share Posted April 1, 2006 Your local plant nursery should have peat moss, or try Bunnings. Supermarkets might have some too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted April 2, 2006 Report Share Posted April 2, 2006 Cool you got some plants The layout is looking a bit symmetrical, here is some aquascaping links that might give you some ideas http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/sl.../slideshow.html http://www.plantedtank.net/ http://naturalaquariums.com/ If you want to use Co2 & Fertilisers, you she be searching google for Co2 & plants fertilisers articles to begin with. You will have to read and read to get an understanding on how it works etc.. aaq thread on fertilisers Co2 links.. http://www.hallman.org/plant/booth1.html http://faq.thekrib.com/plant-co2.html http://www.tropicalfishcentre.co.uk/Diyco2.htm and you should end up with some knowledge on what you think you need to do. Ask all you questions and concerns here!! It's kinda hard explaining otherwise! and you seem really keen to have a planted tank :( Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Berryfriendly Posted April 4, 2006 Author Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 Thanks faewyn for the links, they were great. I know it looks a little boring so far but I couldn't buy any mosses or ferns from lfs - they were out of stock. So I had to bite the bullet and buy what they did have. And I know it looks symmetrical but i wanted to make sure i can grow plants before i spend too much on great plants that i am probably going to kill. Besides if these happen to grow they won't get wasted at my house - they will just be transplanted into someone else's tank to enjoy Back to the tank. Plants are doing ... (quick check) ok so far, but i haven't been shopping for chemicals yet - I love shopping at lfs. So the things i need to purchase are: * flourish potassium * flourish iron Is that it? Any idea of what these retail for? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuckie Posted April 4, 2006 Report Share Posted April 4, 2006 not cheap, but you only use a tiny amount per day/week (I seem to vaguely recall adding 1.5ml to a 4' tank once a week) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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