HELP this newbie ! plants purchase and conditioning

E

eylk

AC Members
Aug 5, 2007
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Hello,

as the title suggests, I am new to freshwater keeping. --> :newbie: !
I have a lot of questions that I hope you guys can help me out with...
Here goes.


Plants Purchase

First of all, I have not gotten any plants, only fake ones.. wouldn't wan real plants dying on me so here i am..

I know not to buy plants with water snails on it, but what about plants with some parts of the leaves being black? Or having holes?
Are water plants supposed to be 100% lush and 'spotless' ?
Also, if I were to buy them can I condition that back to a healthy state?

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Plants Fertiliser

I have read the Sticky thread: Fertilizer Recommendations & Info - the Informal FAQ. I was 1/2 way through the 1st page when I gave up. Lol.

I plan to just get a tablet fertiliser for the roots. Do I really need the liquid fertiliser as well? Any kind of 'ingredients' I have to look out for?

My tap water already has some of the metals in it, Potassium, Iron, Magnesium, etc. However, I do age the water, will it lose its nutrients?

I add a kind of black water than contains Ketapang Leaves , with a small dosage of Nutrafin Chlorine and heavy metals removal , and a little ocean free aquarium specially treated salt. There will be a slight tint in the water after I add it in.
My question is will the removal of metals take away the nutrients for the plants?
Will the tint affect the way the plants absorb light?

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Plants Lighting

I read about plants need different spectrum and colours of lights- and I didnt get it. Can anyone explain or provide lights to give me a basic overview?

Also, which is the most suitable lighting for plants? --> http://www.petmart.com.sg/ --> Freshwater Aquarium --> Lightings. (Sorry, It cant provide a direct link)

Will an overdose of lights kill the plants? (For example I on the lights on them 24/7) What about the fishes?


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Its really long winded, I know... haha but that really shows how much I know..
Thanks for your time !!

 
If you're worried about snails, a dip in a 1/20 part bleach to water solution for a minute or alum bath of 1tsp to 1g of water for around 20min will do it.

Even in the best conditions, plants will exhibit some damage. As long as the plant is still green and isn't mushy it will recover given good growing conditions.

Ferts - Depending on your light level, your water may not provide enough nutrients and you will need to add more. Root tabs help with heavy root feeders like amazon swords, it won't help water column feeders as much, like java ferns. If you find the ferts confusing, then look for the following products: Seachem Flourish, Flourish Excel, and Seachem's Flourish NPK pack. That should cover the macros, micros, and CO2.

Water conditioning - the tint caused by the tanin from the leaves will have very little impact on the lights, you don't have to worry about it. If you age your water you don't have to use a dechlorinator unless you have chloramine. The chlorine will gas off but the minerals and nutrients (and chloramine if it's present) will remain.

Lights - the most important thing about lights is providing enough wattage. This depends on your tank size. For beginners, I recommend around 1.5-2wpg of fluorescent lighting. So if you have a 20g tank you'll want around 30-40w of light, 50g tanks will want around 70-100w of light.

If you provide too much light, your plants will grow very fast and suck up all the nutrients. If you don't provide enough nutrients then they will start to show nutrient deficiencies with damaged leaves. You will also have an algae problem. Won't affect fishes long term unless the lights generate alot of heat.

All the talk about light spectrums are more involved than they need to be. All those lights listed at petmart will grow plants about as well as a tube found at your local hardware store or walmart. Now whether you like to color of the light matters, and most people like something in the range of 5000k or higher (often called full spectrum or daylight bulbs) because they provide less of a yellow tint than the more common warm and cool whites.
 
Plants Purchase
some times in the mail plants can wilt. they can and should come back to life and be 100% fine. as for snails i think they are very helpful in takes and welcome them.

Plants Fertiliser
many tanks can get away with out adding them. not saying they wont help but can get away with out them. i find EI method a good place to start.
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/...zing/15225-estimative-index-dosing-guide.html

also like dry ferts over liquid
http://www.bestaquariumregulator.com/ferts.html


Plants Lighting
i just try to stay in the 6500-10000k rating. depending on the size of tank.... small takes screw in power compact lighting 20+ gal reg power compact lighting like from ahsupply.com. lights should be left on 8-14 hours. i have mine on 10 hours a day.


might want to look over this site.
http://www.rexgrigg.com/

might help you with some of your questions.
 
With just the regular fluorescent lighting that most tanks come with, you should be able to keep low light plants without much worry with fertilizers if you have a decent fishload. Low maintenance plants include anubias, java fern, and java moss. And you can also try other low light plants listed on this link: http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2
 
Most plants require quite a bit of care. One plant that requires almost no care is the java fern. They require little to no lighting (a lot of lighting actually hurts them). They require no fertilizer (except your fish's poo and leftover food). They help clean the water. They grow slowly so they won't overwhelm your tank in a matter of weeks. Snails don't bother them either. They also don't require any gravel, just a piece of driftwood will do. If you don't have any driftwood? No problem, java ferns do just as well on a barebottom tank. I would defiantly suggest java fern as a beginner plant.
 
I'll 2nd the java fern or java lace fern idea. I have a very low light planted tank with those as two of the plant types. The tank takes almost 0 maintenance. I have some high light tanks that are much more work. Prettier imo but a ton more work.

You also might want to try various Anubias plants. These plants grow slow but seem to be almost unkillable. The funniest thing I've found about them is they collect some algae types since they grow slow so I've bleached them (3 min bath in 1 to 19 solution of bleach to water) and they LOVE it. I always see new growth within a week of bleaching. Wouldn't try it with anything else but these though.
 
Ok.. I think I will go on java fern for the my mid or fore ground plants...

Also, I think I will just go with fluorescent lights... Just to make sure - Fluorescent lights are the white ones right? Will it be the same if I use the orange or ultraviolet light?

Any recommendations for die hard 'neglect resisting' background plants?

When you people say bleach.. I dont suppose the bleach for clothes right?

Oh and will over-aging water drain its nutrients?

Thanks !
 
Fluorescent lights are the white ones. orange or ultraviolet light wont work.

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_list.php?category=1&filter_by=2
Anacharis maybe water sprite or guppy grass could work. there are some tall crypts like Cryptocoryne retrospiralis.

yea bleach like the ones for clothes. prime breaks it down to ammonia. anything you bleach dip should get a double or triple dose of prime.
 
uI have been reading the sources that you guys have given me.. That's really great... thx!!

So... bleach is like a better alternative to prime which is sorta like a water conditioner? Any kind of commercial bleach will do the job? haha I still cant believe it.. Bleach... next thing u noe, u'll be using detergent for fishes... haha

Oh by the way, whats NM? is it the same as K? What does it mean when its says I should "choose a fluorescent light with three required peaks of blue, red and yellow?

Thanks
 
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Oh... one more thing... I intend to get Java Fern 'Windelov' and AnHygrophila Polysperma 'Dwarf Hydro'. It says that they require medium of low light...

So are the K and watts still the same? Which 1 do I reduce -- the K, the watts or the hours of lights on?

Thanks!
 
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