First planted tank- need some input

S

Sumpin'fishy

Humble Disciple of Jesus Christ
Oct 16, 2002
673
0
0
50
Savannah, GA
I have a 20H with 40w Flour (5000k + 6500k) light. I just built my own hood to hold the double stip light and have bought several things to help with a planted tank.

I have a Penguin 125 as main filter with a Duetto DJ-100 internal filter (76gph) as a secondary for more water exchange within tank. I am using a 50/50 substrate of Flourite Red/Sand about 4" deep. I also bought the (Hagen) Nutrafin "Natural Plant System" which should do fine for my 20 gallon. There's no way I could afford the "up-front" of a pressurized system yet (although probable in the future).

I stocked with the following fish and plants:
-1 Betta Splendins (male)
-6 Ghost Shrimp
-3 Albino Corydoras Aenus (Albino Cory)
-3 Corydoras Aenus (Bronze Cory)
....will get approx 2 to 4 Ottos in a couple weeks....

-2 Amazon Swords (? specific)
-2 Crypts (wendti)
-2 Baby Tears (???)
-1 Java Fern
-1 Anubias (nana)
-1 ???....LFS said it is similar to Hornwort (looks similar too)
....will get some Java Moss and additional ground cover....

I bought Flourish and Flourish Potassium for ferts, and I need to know how much to add and how often (I don't have test kits to measure how much my tap water has already in it....so let's just make basic assumptions, please---err on side of caution, though!):D Another thing, I just added the plants, fish, CO2, turned on lights, etc today, so when should I start using ferts? Immediately? or wait?

Another question: My CO2 reactor seems to be bunching up the CO2 and it's not rolling up the "grooves" regularly. Sometimes it builds up in a spot till it "burbs" and jets to the top. Will this become more regular with time? Do I need to "fix" something?

A few last concerns: My Crypts were left floating at LFS and don't have a lead weight to keep them down. How can I "train" them into the substrate (Flourite/sand) so they will grow upwards? Should I remove the basket from the Java Fern and plant directly into substrate, or leave it? What is "baby's tears" and do I tuck the clippings into the substrate? They are currently wrapped with lead at bottoms. Do they just need to be laid on top of the substrate, or buried? Any other suggestions for starting my plants off right?

Sorry for LONG post, but had to give all the facts and ask a few questions too! Please let me know what you all think. This is my first attempt at plants, and I thought about this long and hard and planned it for a long time. Only thing not perfectly planned is the plant selection, which is due to LFS's limited supply/knowledge.:( A few of them were good choices, though, and a few are try-outs.
 
I have the same DIY CO2 system. The first batch I made did what you describe and it was about 2 - 3 days before I observed a steady 1 bubble every 1 - 2 second rate. My only problem has been hygro growing into the reactor :rolleyes: . As for ferts, I am still trying to get a handle on that myself. Too much in the watercolumn is a recipe for algae, I believe. I got some Kent (pretty weak concentrations of N and K?) and just follow the directions on the bottle -- sort of (sorry not familiar with Fluorish) . Mine states that I should add 1 - 3 teaspoons per week for 30 gallons during water changes. I've been adding 1 teaspoon to my 15 per week. The plants are growing well, but it's too 'black box' for me. I am going to make PMDD and reread plantbrain's posts.
 
If you do a search on Plantbrain's threads they will tell you exactly what and how often to dose.
Ger, be careful when considering any PMDD formula. Your tank is unique from all others and will require it's own formula. You can only find that by reading Tom's advice and tweaking it slowly to the needs of your tank. What do you mean by, "it's too black box for me"?
'fishy, I suggest that you contact your water company and ask them to send you a printout of exactly what elements, and additives are in your water, ie. pH,gH,nitrates?,phosphates etc. Ask them for everything. You may have to push for it, but tell them hey, this is my drinking water and I need to know. Some water companies are resistant to sending those reports. Keep after them. Then you know your starting point, as to what's going into the tank at water change time. Is this a newly set up tank? If so, is it cycled? Many people don't start ferilizing until the plants have a chance to establish themselves and acclimate to the tank. Give them some time.
As to your crypts, and also your stem plants, here's how I plant.
Locate the spot you want the plant to be. Grasp the plant just above the roots, right at the "crown" gently and put the plant into the water, down to the substrate about 3-4 inches away from the desired planting spot. Then gently push the roots into the gravel while moving it the 3-4 inches toward where you want it to be planted. As you drag it the roots will go under the gravel and by the time you get to the spot they should be pretty much buried. If a few are not don't worry about it. They will be ok. For crypts, make sure the "crown"(just above the top of the roots, where the greenery starts) is level with or above the top of the gravel.
For stem plants, use the above system only, since most stem plants don't yet have roots you have to bury the stems and inch or two into gravel. I try to bury at least a couple of the bottom leaf nodes as well to help anchor stem plants. In my opinion, it is best to take off any baskets, or lead weights that come attached to plants. They seem to inhibit growth over time and I don't trust the extra lead in my tanks.
Hope this has helped.
Len
 
By 'black box' I mean that I get the impression that bottled solutions like Fluorish, Kent, TMG, etc. just work without requiring insight into how it works or its formulation. PMDD, it seems, would provide for me a means of having control over what goes into the solution so that it may better suit my needs (ideally).

Do you think that I am looking at this backwards? For such a setup as ours (20H and 15 have same footprint for planting) would we be better served by sticking with an over-the-counter solution?
 
Every tank is different in my opinion so you need to know how yours works. If you end up at the end of the week with 0 nitrates, you probably are going to have to provide more than fish food for the nitrates at least and maybe even phosphate if your tap water is deficient. Most of the prepared plant foods don't contain either in any appreciable amount. Adding CO2 is going to cause more of the other nutrients to be consumed even in a lower light tank.
 
I have kits for most basic tests: ammonia, nitrite, nitrate, pH, and KH. I cannot, however find a Potassium test kit and don't want to have to check it all the time if I can help it.

I used to "micro-manage" my tanks closely, testing everything every week to two, but I'm trying to get away from that. I don't mind keeping an eye on pH, nitrates, and KH, but unless I'm cycling, I don't want to have to keep up with everything else. My tanks are stable and running well. I keep excellent water quality and I'm actually thinking of backing off to water changes every other week. I have three understocked tanks and never get more that 10ppm (detectable) before water changes, even when going two weeks. I don't even have plants in those tanks!!! It's not that I'm lazy, but "if it aint broke, don't fix it". I'd also like to save on some water bills, if possible:)

Anyways, as my posts so far have said, I have Flourish and Flourish Potassium ferts. According to directions, I figure I'll slowly work up to adding 1 mL of Flourish twice a week. I'll continue doing 50% water changes weekly on this tank, since it's small and manageable, and to keep ferts in check. I don't know how much K (potassium) I need to add though! The directions state that it raises the amount of K by 1mg/L (ppm) per 1mL added to 10 gallons. So for me 2mL will raise my K by 1ppm. I need to know how to get it to 20-30ppm (I've read that this is the target area). Are these figures right?

Am I on par for adding Flourish? What should I do about/how much should I add of Flourish K? Don't forget I can't find a K test kit around here! Any ideas would be great before I start adding anything to my tank. If I don't get responses that help, I'm just going to have to use trial and error......and that can get ugly sometimes:rolleyes:
 
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