35G Hex Planted : Journal

I have already been told that the plants in this tank are not truly submersible plants and I respect your opinions, BUT I took the plants out of the tank while I was cleaning it, and just during that time they began to look horrible. The only thought I had was that they were meant to be submersed so I re-submersed them in a bucket and added a very little bit of miracle grow. They perked back up within 30 minutes. So, obviously now my opinion is that they will survive just fine underwater but :confused: only time will tell.

Well your a bit mistaken by this... the plant roots love the water and will do fine for a while in your tank. But after a month your going to see those plants wither away and die. I see at least one of the plants in your tank are not full aquatic. This plants are usually sold as terrarium plants for reptiles where they will only be partially submerged. So yes the roots need to be in water to survive but the leaves should be immersed
 
Agreed. These types of plants are often referred to as bog plants or marginals and would do well in a riparium or similar setup in the long run. There are numerous species that do well either way. ('immersed/submersed' and 'emersed/above water')
A good way to recognize which plants should not be fully submersed is to look at them underwater. If they have a waxy look to them, then they belong out of water. These plants kind of stand out like a sore thumb next to true submersible plants.
 
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Ok Ok. I'll go buy some plants of the right type.
 
Ok Ok. I'll go buy some plants of the right type.

My recommendation is to NEVER buy those plants that come in the tubes at petsmart and petco. Also 80% of the the time the employees have no idea what they are talking about when they recommend them to costumers.
 
Did another water change (20%) when I got up this morning. Considering the tank and all the scenery was bleached it's going to take some time to cycle but I have put a used filter from my wife's 14gallon in the filter of this new tank so I figure it will do fine with a fish in it. (Fish-in cycle) I'm going to add my wife's khuli loach in about an hour. I'm excited to see how he behaves in sand.
 
Neighbor has a water test kit she is gonna bring over. Dunno what type so fingers are crossed. The ones they sell at LFS are $50-70 and I still haven't found the one at walmart you all said to get.
 
Neighbor didn't pull through so I went to walmart and all they had was a litmus-type test kit that tests for everything. When I got home I immediately tested all of our tanks and surprisingly they are all safe except my wife's. I told her to do a water change today and she keeps putting it off so I'm about to do it right now. The Nitrate on the paper was screaming pink in comparison to the white of the other tanks. NO3 is at 90 or higher depending on the validity of the test. (color codes are stupid in my opinion..we don't trust them to test chemical agents in the military anymore so why trust them with things as simple as water)
 
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