overstocking plants?

bluemeate

AC Members
Sep 9, 2008
323
0
16
39
so i live in san jose which apparently has really hard water, high ph, (8.0) from the tap and i guess this makes my c02 levels also really low.

does this mean i cant too many plants as theyll be competing for the low amounts c02 or c03 or something?

I have
60wpg over a 55gal
pea gravel
seachem flourish tabs


planted with:
Micro Sword (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis)
Anacharis
an amazon sword
wendtii
and a bit of java moss spread around the tank that doesnt look like its growing

another question: I had Ludwigia ovalis but it all seemed to die really really fast like one leaf after another would just end up floating at the top of the tank and rotting. do you think bn plecos eat them or they just didnt wanna live or what?
 
Last edited:
co2 levels are low in all tanks unless you are adding co2 to the tank. hard water soft water doesnt mean much.

another question: I had Ludwigia ovalis but it all seemed to die really really fast like one leaf after another would just end up floating at the top of the tank and rotting. do you think bn plecos eat them or they just didnt wanna live or what?
might be just too low of light to support it.

i live in so cali we have the same hard water high ph and i grow tons of plants no problem. there are a few plants that dont do good but those tend to be the higher light type plants.
 
Yep, Mgamer is correct. That ludwigia needs 2+wpg to grow. Also, I live in your area, just pick up some of Seachem's PH down and it should do the trick.
 
so then im not really lacking anything and I can go ahead and get a few more plants and not have to worry about anything? I mean all I really gotta do is find some nice low light and hard water friendly plants and im set, right?

how long does it take java moss to grow? its been in there for like a month and hasnt seemed to grab hold to anything, i still see lots of bits of it just free floating along the gravel
 
how long does it take java moss to grow? its been in there for like a month and hasnt seemed to grab hold to anything, i still see lots of bits of it just free floating along the gravel

Not sure if it'll attach on it's own unless it gets stuck on something for a while. I have one planted in the sand (rhizome hovering above the sand), but it has very (a few inches) long roots compared to the others and was the only one in the bunch capable of this. The rest are either tied down like Mgamer suggested or wedged into holes in the driftwood/rocks.
 
Not sure if it'll attach on it's own unless it gets stuck on something for a while. I have one planted in the sand (rhizome hovering above the sand), but it has very (a few inches) long roots compared to the others and was the only one in the bunch capable of this. The rest are either tied down like Mgamer suggested or wedged into holes in the driftwood/rocks.


You are referencing Java Fern, the OP is talking about Java Moss.


@OP - the Ludgwina you speak of is a stem plant and in my experiance, next to ground covering plants, these are the hardest. I finally tried some stems again (ludgwina repens) and I finally did something right. It might have been the root tabs, but it takes them a while to grab on.
 
AquariaCentral.com