plants but no fish yet..

nursie

nursie

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Jan 15, 2005
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Peoria, IL
Real Name
michelle
I have set up a nice little 5 gallon tank in my office. I have brought some plants in: java fern on a small piece of driftwood, a small red wendti crypt, dwarf sag and some fontainalis. I put a couple of trumpet snails in..it looks nice. BUT..I have no fishs yet. What do I need to add for the plants to keep them healthy until the fish are added? I have flourish excel to add, also fluorish, I mean I have the usual plant stuff, but is that enough to keep them going?
 
They will be fine without anything for a week or two, living off stored nutrients, but after that will need supplemental nutrients unless you add fish.
The quantity of extra nutrients depends on the lighting.
Tell us what you have in mind for the tank.

Len
 
Well I think you should be ok add flourish and flourish excel...flourish has Nitrate and Phosphate as well as other trace elements and the excel will be your carbon source....so that plus light is all you need to grow plants.
 
djlen said:
They will be fine without anything for a week or two, living off stored nutrients, but after that will need supplemental nutrients unless you add fish.
The quantity of extra nutrients depends on the lighting.
Tell us what you have in mind for the tank.

Len
Click to expand...
I have the eclipse 5 gallon corner tank..with filter and lite, and I put a small heater in it too.
My plans are for low lite plants...it has the pc bulb in it that came with it.
I just dropped a couple of MTS's and a couple of algae wafers in this am too. I'm still trying to dedcide on fish. Either Spotted Blue eyes or Endlers livebearers if I can find one of them. If not, maybe a betta and a few neons.
 
For a low tech tank with 5 - 7 small fish, you may not need to dose much extra nutrients, other than a small quantity of Flourish and Excel.
I always suggest starting light and see what the plants tell you. I find that there are less issues this way. If you start to see signs of deficiencies it only takes a few doses of whatever is needed to set things right.
A great little fish for a 5 gallon, especially if you have some floating material, is a Sparkling Gourami. They are only about 1" long, very community friendly and breed at the drop of a hat....and obviously don't take up a lot of space. Check them out.
Your mention of spotted blue eyes reminded me of the Sparklers. :)

Len
 
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