Cut the Runner?

Originally posted by DaveTMD
Hi All,

I have a Amazon Sword that has a runner that I have pinned down with a few rocks the young plants have taken root to the substrate and are growing well.

Should I cut them from the runner stem at this point and at what points on the runner should the cuts take place?

Click to expand...

I would leave about a 1/2-1/4inch of runner on each side of the new plant where possible. This would allow for an extra anchor in the substrate.

Not sure what to tell you about the chemistry though it is probably not safe for fish yet.

Dan

Are you planning for Oto Cats or Pleco's? If you were planning for Oto's I'd say you would be fine with adding at least one in. How big is your tank? Oto's are pretty hardy and if you need one, I would go for it. Or, you could just leave the lights off, but that wouldn't be too smart if you have live plants. Good Luck!!

Are you using RO water or tapwater? If you're using RO, you might want to check your tapwater's KH; it's bound to be higher than what you've got in the tank now, and that would buffer your tank a bit to eliminate pH fluctuations, either alone or mixed half-and-half with RO. If that IS your tapwater, (1) I envy you a lot; and (2) adding some crushed coral or the Estes medium-brown gravel (which contains crushed shells, by the way) would also help bring up the KH to stabilize things. You could also put a piece of sandstone in there, but I'm not sure how much that would bring it up or how it would react over time (maybe too much!).

For the algae, otos are the best! They eat it all day. If you add them, be sure to set at least three, though, because they like to be in groups. I wouldn't do that until your tank finishes cycling, though. I don't think they could take the readings you've got right now.

If your tank's big enough, a bristlenose or clown pleco would help with the algae clean-up after the nitrites go down.

-- Pat

Fishless, or fishy cycling?

If you are doing fishless, you have two options... get rid of the plants, and do a fishless cycle on a non-planted tank. After the cycle is complete, thats when you can start planting.
Option two... go the fishy route. If you go this way, cram your tank with as many fast growing and cheap plants that you can get. Give your plants a few days to settle in, then add a few herbivores (ie. C. japonica shrimp, otos, saes, etc.). During this phase be careful not to overload your tank, even though herbivores produce relatively less waste than omnivores and carnivores, they still can produce enough to overload your tank and cause an ammonia spike. Ammonia + light = algae outbreak in plant tanks. Give your tank a month or two to settle in and become established, then start to add the fish that you want. Add them slowly, a couple once a week, till you get to your wanted stocking level. After that, you can start to very slowly remove plants, add other plants, etc. etc. Be careful during this stage, the bacterial colonies in your tank is less than it would be if it was FO (fish only), so you need to give your tank time to restablish those colonies. Of course, if you go this route, you need to make sure the ammonia and nitrite levels in your tank have gone back to zero. Waiting a few days without adding ammonia, should do the trick.

HTH
-Richer