Can I have plants?

[goldenchld24]

Hi,

I really want to have some natural plants in my aquarium but my water is very alkaline, KH of 18, GH of 2, PH of 8.6 (well water) Is there any way plants would survive this? I take it there isn't a way to really fix this since no one really responded to my post regarding the water issue in the newbie forum.

Thankyou in advance

[z71silverado98]

try looking through here for some plants you like, then check availability at your LFS

plant index (http://species.fishindex.com/190)

[misopeenut]

you could try changing your substrate. change to aquatic soil and add some lava rocks, driftwoods to lower the ph. and also you could get peat moss to lower.

[Akysten]

Lets ask this... why is the PH so high? Is it to support a certain type of fish?
If so, what's the fish... because it might not be just a plant/PH compabability, but also a fish compatability as well.

[twig]

Sounds like his well water is just crap. If you're worried about the high pH you can add lots of driftwood and peat to soften the water up nice and natural ...

The only downside to that is your water changes hue a bit. I heard it would start taking on a slightly pinkish colour but it looks more like beer than anything ...

Easily remedied by adding activated carbon once in a while, however.

[misopeenut]

if you add carbon, there would be no sense to add peat.
you need to put a lot of driftwood, blackwater is nice. youll get used to it :)

[LunchBox]

I've read that if you soak driftwood for a long time it'll stop giving off the tannins, so eventually it may stop yellowing the water.

carbon will also remove any micronutriets from your water that your plants could use so it may not be the best idea.

[Star_Rider]

driftwood and the tannins released are more a part of the species of wood you are using..

[rrkss]

High pH reduces the plant's ability to extract certain nutrients out of the water by inhibiting certain enzymes designed to work in a lower pH environment. If you follow the EI index (adding excess of each nutrient) you get around that problem by providing enough nutrients to reduce the workload on the plants in order to extract nutrients from the water. If you inject CO2 aiming for 30 ppm you lower you pH by 1.0 getting rid of the high pH problem. Either way plants are doable in your tank regardless or not if you use CO2.

[goldenchld24]

Thankyou, I have looked at the link and have some plants in mind. Oh and I'm a girl so 'her well water is crap' :)