Ok, so I got some plants, now what??

S

shibby

AC Members
Nov 26, 2005
26
0
0
I have a 65 gal show tank setup. I recently retrofitted the lights with 2 X 55W power compacts from ahsupply.com (10,000K temp).

today I got a shipment of some spiral val:

DSC00690.jpg


so now what? do i have to add anything else like CO2 or maybe some nutritional fertilizers? sorry i'm new at aquatic plants. thanks!
 
Vals are pretty easy to care for and don't necessarily need co2 or ferts. Of course, if you dose them, it won't hurt at all. It'll just help the vals grow faster. But even so, they will grow at a decent pace with your lighting with no extra additives.
 
I dunno about moss walls in this tank... I kinda like it being very simple. Plus, I don't think moss walls go great if you have vals acting as a background. They lose that stringy-jungle effect.
I love the school of fish too! Is this an iwagumi set-up?

I would add some kind of low foreground plant like HC or glosso and just call it. Less is better!
 
Yadokari said:
I dunno about moss walls in this tank... I kinda like it being very simple. Plus, I don't think moss walls go great if you have vals acting as a background. They lose that stringy-jungle effect.
I love the school of fish too! Is this an iwagumi set-up?

I would add some kind of low foreground plant like HC or glosso and just call it. Less is better!
Click to expand...

what's iwagumi?

thanks! yea, i'm kinda going for a sparse looking, deep river-bottom like setup. I think when and hopefully the vals grow in and to the surface of the tank, it'll look better. I'm planning on getting some freshwater pipefish to complete the effect i'm going for. I did consider some low foreground plants but then decided against it. maybe i should reconsider. whats HC? I like glosso, but would they grow in my tank with the lighting i have? I heard they need lots of light.

i was thinking of these:

http://www.aquariumplants.com/CLOVER_FOUR_LEAF_Marsilea_quadrifolia_p/mi999.htm

Marsilea quadrifolia

Marsilea%20quadrifolia.jpg
 
Great start! My suggestion is to add more plants. Start with the easy stuff. Get some Java moss and ferns, Crypt and Anubias. You might also want to add a medium size driftwood to make things look more natural. You could tie the fern and moss the the wood if you like.

Start slow and as you gain more experience then you could get complex. Ferts might be next and CO2 wouldn't hurt but not nessasary at this time.

Good luck...
 
i think it looks good now, will be even better when the plants grow.
a carpet plant would look good.. but id leave it at that, i like the simplicity of it
id maybe put a background on it
n id do some DIY co2 in there
i love it! lol good job
 
Vals are root feeders so I'd only use root tabs for ferts right now. Stay away from Excel or if you do decide to use it start with half doses and gradually build. My Vals never really recovered from Excel. The grew back but were a lot shorter then normal.
 
Easydoesit said:
i think it looks good now, will be even better when the plants grow.
a carpet plant would look good.. but id leave it at that, i like the simplicity of it
id maybe put a background on it
n id do some DIY co2 in there
i love it! lol good job
Click to expand...

thanks!

yea, simplicity is part of the effect i'm going for. like a deep riverbed setup. not a dense forest. i dont think any big leafy plants or java moss would fit well.

carpet plant, maybe. still debating

anyone know of any small, short, grassy plant?

update on plants. no growth in height it seems.:headshake2:

some of the plants are throwing off runners though. and during the day bubbles are flowing from the leaves so at least i know they are photosynthesizing. am I doing anything wrong? or should i just be patient
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
AquariaCentral.com
Top Bottom