Looking for Reccomendations/Suggestions

[aberg12012]

Greetings! I just set up my first heavily planted FW aquarium and thought I'd post here as I want to do all I can to ensure their survival. I've been keeping aquarium pets for years now, but this will be my first heavily planted FW tank. I set the tank up about 3 weeks ago. It's a 46 bowfront and has a Fluval 404 canister. I realize the 404 is a bit strong for a planted tank, but its what I had laying around. Substrate is a mixure of florite and regular gravel, about 4-5" deep. I added some baby angel fish a couple days after that I got from a fellow reef aquarium hobbiest who bred them. To help ease the biological shock, I also stuck an established Bio-wheel 330 HOB filter from another aqaurium on the tank. This was untill yesterday, when I added the plants, and I removed the HOB filter. I figured the oxygenation from the bio-wheels and surface agitation wouldn't help the plants any. So now we are at the present. I've cut back on feeding the angels to almost nothing. And I have no CO2 injection. Here is a photo of what it looks like:

Not the best aquascaping job *yet* I know. :huh:

Now for my questions:

1.) Besides a way to dose C02, what other supplements are really necessary? And would it be more cost effective for me to DIY a C02 injector with a tank and regulator, or dose one of the many C02 liquid additives available on the market... if these even truely work as claimed. Just wondering what people's oppinions are... if these liquid C02 addivites are truely any good or not, and what *other* liquid additives I *should* be dosing to keep the plants lush and healthy.

**I have a bottle of "Natural Aquarium Vital" by Marc Weiss Products. It claims, "the Carbonator for the natural freshwater aquarium with laterite extract! Liquid, time released C02 production as needed by the natural aquarium! No C02 cylinders, controllers or monitoring devices needed!" Being well versed in the reef aquarium hobby, I know to be very suspicous of claims such as this, that claim to be the perfect solution to something like C02 injection. Is there any science guys on here that have scientifically proved or disproved that products like this work or not?

2.) Is 2x96 watts enough light over a 46 bowfront for *most* plants? I know this is a loaded question... but I'm so used to looking at my reef aquarium which has just under 800 watts of lighting over it that I can't help but think 192 watts isn't enough.

3.) Any other suggestions or reccomendations? Thanks

Alan

 

[Shariukas]

Lightning is really enough, maybe too much. Considering light strength, CO2 and additional fertilizing will be needed. Fertilizer should be rich in trace elements, potassium, manganese. Depending on fish load, phosphorus and nitrogen may be also needed.

In planted tank, especially heavy planted, biological filtration is undesirable. Most plants prefer amonia to nitrates, i would suggest using a canister just for mechanical filtration.

 

[phanmc]

1. With around 4wpg, you will need additional fertilizers. You'll mainly need macro nutrients (nitrogen, potassium, phosphorus) with some micro nutrients (iron, calcium, magnesium, etc). The fish will generate nitrogen in the form of ammonia and nitrates but your plants my consume them faster than is generated.

At that high a wattage, having a CO2 tank is the best option in terms of effectiveness and cost. You'll go through the liquid carbons quickly plus its hard to tell how much carbon you have in the water. With CO2, you can measure your pH and kH levels to find the CO2 level.

2. Your light setup is enough for most plants and definately enough for the plants in the picture.

 

[aberg12012]

Thanks Guys. Wow, too much light? My fixture has a seperate switch for each 96 watt bulb, so I would assume that I could benefit from running only one bulb for 12 hours, and the other only 4 or 6 for the mid day effect? I really don't plan on adding any other plants to this tank that would require more light at this point, so could I get away with reducing light, and not needing C02 injection? What I'm really curious about... is if this "Natural Aquarium Vital" stuff really works as well as it claims. I guess I'll use it, and compare growth down the road. I'll also get my hands on some supplements for macro and micro nutrients. What do you all recommend using? Is there one supplement that provides a good balance of it all? Or is it best to get a specific product for each? Thanks again for the help... I realize these "newbe" questions are always a royal pain.

 

[phanmc]

Your ludwigia, dwarf hairgrass, and e. tenellus would benefit from having 4wpg on most of the time. You may get away with it, but the plants may not look as good as they can be.

I haven't used the "Natural Aquarium Vital" but if its similar to Flourish Excel then it should benefit plants, just not to the extent of injected CO2.

As for fert dosing, check the sticky on top about it.

 

[reiverix]

With that kind of lighting I'd say your tank needs more plants. At 4wpg you need to go all out and fill it up with a heavy plant load from the start. More fast growing stems will be your best friend at the moment.

I've read some bad stuff about Natural Aquarium Vital. Check it out HERE. For carbon I'd recommend Flourish Excel but it gets kind of pricey on a tank your size. If you set up DIY CO2 it would help a lot because your tank will become carbon limited with the light setup you have.

 

[anonapersona]

Co2

Start looking at CO2 injection, you need it with more than 2 wpg. You can get a 5 lb tank for maybe $75, a regulator/soleniod/bubblecounter/needle valve for about $85, add your choice of diffuser or reactor, internal or external. It should last for a long time, mine lasted almost 2 years on a 60 gallon before I had to refill.

Personally, I'd suggest going to the single 96 watt until you get a handle on the fertilizers and get CO2 going. It is too easy to run out of some vital nutrient, then the plants stop growing and the algae moves in to take up the excess light using the left over nutrients.

 

[Jerm]

Just a question, but why are all of your angels in that little plantless spot in the corner? Afraid of the plants? Or is there an oscar hiding in there? :

 

[aberg12012]

Thanks all for the help. I'll look into C02 injection... I need to study up to see exactly how it works. Then I gotta figure out were I could find the DIY equipment for cheep locally. How does one figure out the C02 levels in a tank? Seems there is a way calculating the PH and the KH? Guess I need to do some research!

Just a question, but why are all of your angels in that little plantless spot in the corner? Afraid of the plants? Or is there an oscar hiding in there? :

Well, they were in the tank for about 3 weeks with nothing to hide behind, so they got kinda friendly with the filter intake! But now that you mention it... it does remind me of when I throw feederfish in for my Oscar, how they all congregate in the corner! :laugh:

 

[Shariukas]

There is a method of calculating concentrations of CO2 by KH and pH. Search the web, lots of tables and even calculators exist there. CO2 tests are also comercially available. Be shure that your water is hard enough to buffer pH on CO2 injection. If water is soft, inject CO2 carefully, as you can take pH down below 6 easily in soft water.