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aparker2005

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Hey everyone. Not sure if this goes here but I'm wanting to check and see what you guys think before I go buying stuff tomorrow.

Starting my 55g low tech planted tomorrow. Have a Coralife Compact fluorescent single strip 130 Watt light. I need to replace the original 6700k bulbs that came with it. Water temperature is around 78 degrees. 2 penguin bio wheel 350 filters. I will not be doing Co2 if I can help it due to time and cost. I'll also be picking up a light timer.

Stocking currently is 4 juvenile angels, 4 polka dot loaches, 6 julii Cory cats, 2 German rams, and 15 neon tetras.

Plants I'm wanting are Wisteria, Java Fern, maybe something to start a carpet, and Hornwort or Cambomba. Swords I may start with as well. Is this gonna be a good starter low tech plant list? Any others please recommend. I want the big bushy look.

Last time I had plants they completely failed. I used Flourish excel and Flourish comp. What all Flourish products would you get, and should i get some root tabs as well?

Also, my current bulbs are single row pin 6700k. Will 10k bulbs work in this fixture, and would there be any reason to get those over the 6700? I'll be having lots of questions since my plants did so horrible last time. Thanks!

Pic of my tank for aquascaping ideas!

uploadfromtaptalk1403196875024.jpg


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Byron Amazonas

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On the plants, forget Wisteria and Cabomba. Both are high light and high nutrients to balance. With two tubes (4-foot each) you would be OK with Wisteria, but Cabomba probably not; with just one tube neither will do well in a 4-foot 55g (assuming this is what you have). Amazon swords will thrive; I would suggest three of the common species Echinodorus grisebachii (E. bleherae). They will eventually reach close to the surface. If you want a stem plant, Brazilian Pennywort does well with moderate light, and also grows very nice floating. Carpet plants are difficult with anything but bright light, but one that does well for me is the pygmy chain sword. It remains low enough and will spread via runners all over the substrate.

On your light, a Kelvin between 5000K and 7000K is best for plants in a low-tech setup. If this is a single 4-foot tube T8, your best choice would be something like the Life-Glo or ZooMed UltraSun. Less expensive hardware-store tubes will work but only when you have two as these are less intense than those mentioned.

Flluorish Comprehensive Supplement may be all you need; probably once a week after the water change. If you do get the swords (the large ones, not the chain) substrate tabs like Flourish Tabs will help, one next to each sword replaced every three months. What is the GH of your tap water? This is important as the "hard" minerals are minimal in prepared fertilizers, so it is worth knowing the level in the source water as if it is too little you may need to add these in addition. I would not bother with liquid carbon like Excel; this highly toixic substance (glutaraldehyde) is not needed.

Hope this helps.

Byron.
 

aparker2005

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Definitely helps. I've become so confused on wisteria. I read it can do well in medium or high light with ferts. It's my favorite plant too with how big and bushy it gets.

I'm mainly wanting the tall plants for the background and lots of bushy stuff in between.

With ferns or Moss, could I just tie it to my large piece of driftwood in the photo?

What happened to my wisteria last time is all of the leaves fell off the bottom and looked brownish towards the top. The cabomba I had just made a complete mess shedding.

Trying to go for the jungle look as best I can.

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Byron Amazonas

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And my light is 2 separate tubes 21" in length, 65w a piece.

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This makes a difference. This must be T5 HO lighting, so Wisteria should be fine. [Cabomba will probably still be difficult.] Still need to know your GH, this could be the issue with the Wisteria. It is a very fast growing plant, which means good light and nutrients. I've had it fail for lack of the hard minerals and light.

The moss and Java Fern, yes you can attach these to wood or rock; poking the rhizome into a crevice can work, or using black cotton thread.

Byron.
 

aparker2005

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I am not sure what my gh is to be honest. Would Hornwort be another good one to add?

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dougall

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This makes a difference. This must be T5 HO lighting, so Wisteria should be fine.
Byron.
I am pretty confident the lights are PC bulbs as opposed to strictly t5/t5ho. So expect poorer reflectors and lots of issues with restrike.

At least if the 260w aqualights are anything to go by.

But still a decent amount of light.
 

aparker2005

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Yeah all I know is they are coralife 21" 6700k 65watt bulbs. 2 of them for 130 watts total. Has a reflector of course in the fixture.

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Byron Amazonas

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I am not sure what my gh is to be honest. Would Hornwort be another good one to add?
You can ascertain the GH of your water from the municipal water people. This is important to know as it can make a big difference for plants, not to mention the fish. If you can find their website, it should be there; post the link if it is muddling and we can take a look.

Hornwort is not a favourite plant of mine, here's a profile I authored on this plant.

Ceratophyllum demersum
[HR][/HR]
Family: Ceratophyllaceae

Common Name: Hornwort

Origin and Habitat: Originally native to North America, it can now befound worldwide [except on Antarctica] and usually occurs floating just underthe surface in stagnant and slow-moving waters (such as lakes, ponds, quietstreams and ditches) that are frequently rich in nutrients or minerals. It canvary widely depending upon its habitat conditions.

Ideal position in
aquarium

It is a submerged, free-floating aquatic plant; if planted in the substrate,the lower stem will rot and the plant will become free-floating. It is a trueaquatic and will not grow emersed. Excellent floating as a cover for fry. Doeswell in outdoor ponds.

Lighting requirements

Low to moderate. In lower light growth will be somewhat thin and bright green;in brighter light growth will be even faster and the plant will be bushier anda darker green, becoming yellow or reddish in
high light.

Growth rate

Fast

Minimum Tank Suggestion

N/A

Water parameters for Hornwort

Medium hard to hard, basic (pH around neutral and above), temperature15-30C/59-86F.

Physical Description

Hornwort is a stem plant but one that always floats and never grows roots. Thestems may be grouped together and anchored to form a background plant, butportions of the stem buried in the substrate will die and the plant stems willfloat unless weighed down. Stems can reach a length of more than one metre (3.3feet). The plant may form rhizoids that are not true roots but do serve toanchor the stem.

The rapid growth of this plant will deter algae, and some sources indicate thisplant will also combat algae alleopathically by releasing chemicals thatinhibit the growth of algae. Useful in new tanks because of its rapidassimilation of ammonia/ammonium and nutrients. Chemical additives will usuallycause the plant to decay.

Flowers may be formed occasionally; fruit is rare. Propagation is chiefly bydivision of the stems, each of which will form a new plant that may bebranched.

This plant was described in 1753 by Carl Linnaeus [often seen as Carl vonLinne], the Swedish botanist, zoologist and physician whose catalogue of allthen-known species has developed into the binomial nomenclature biologicalclassification system in use today. The genus name derives from the Greekkeras [= horn] and phyllon [= leaf]. The species epithet is Latinfor submerged. The common name hornwort derives from the "horn" partof the genus name and
the
Anglo-Saxon "wort" which means plant. Wilmot-Dear(1985) lists four varieties of C. demersum.

Ceratophyllum is the only genus in the Ceratophyllaceae family. ThePlant List includes 45 named species, of which only four are valid.Paleobotanical evidence supports a hypothesis that the Ceratophyllaceae are avestige of ancient angiosperms [flowering plants] that diverged early from theline leading to most other modern taxa. Some authors favour a closerelationship of the family to the genus Cabomba of the Nymphaeales.(Les, 1988).

References:

Kasselmann, Christel (2003),
Aquarium Plants, English edition, Krieger Publishing Company, 2003.

Les, Donald H. (1988), "The Origin and Affinities of theCeratophyllaceae," Taxon, Volume 37, No. 2 (May 1988), pp. 326-345.

The Plant List, online at http:theplantlist.org/

Wilson, Rhonda (2006), "The Stemmed Plants" in "The PlantedTank" column,
Tropical Fish Hobbyist, February 2006.
 
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