Post Pictures of your Plants 2.0
- Thread starter Mgamer20o0
- Start date
I've had a rocky start to live aquarium plants, and learned some things along the way.
A couple of years ago, I had the typical mix of artificial, plastic, and tacky:
August 2009, I got some new subtrate, a fancy new T5 Fixture, and thought I'd be God's gift to water plants:
Nearly all those died a slow (or not-so-slow) death by herbivore, algae, or improper fertilizing. The following spring, I began to try again with some of the more promising varieties from the first trial:
Some of these fare a bit better, but were still getting strangled by algae. Specifically BBA. At this point I decided to get serious. I bought a spread of plants from multiple sources. You could make a game of trying to identify the hodgepodge. Installed pressurized C02 with PH controller, and drop checker for confirmation. Used root tabs, potassium sulfate. I was using CSM+B, but seemed to get algae flare-ups after every dose. Switched to Aquacare plant nutrition liquid for micronutrients. Got a small herd of Oto Cats (and useless golden algae eaters, but let's not speak of them.) One of my chronic issues with the gold fish stocking has been excess nitrates -- so I reasoned that I just needed enough plants to help absorb a lot of it between water changes. I'm still fighting BBA. The verdict is still out.
Most successful plant: Red Tiger Lotus. That thing doesn't know how to stop growing.
Least successful plant: Vallisneria (any). These things just seem to rot in my tank.
Biggest challenge: Red (black beard / BBA) algae. If anyone knows where to get some SAEs in Southwestern Ontario, I'd be most appreciative to know.
A couple of years ago, I had the typical mix of artificial, plastic, and tacky:
August 2009, I got some new subtrate, a fancy new T5 Fixture, and thought I'd be God's gift to water plants:
Nearly all those died a slow (or not-so-slow) death by herbivore, algae, or improper fertilizing. The following spring, I began to try again with some of the more promising varieties from the first trial:
Some of these fare a bit better, but were still getting strangled by algae. Specifically BBA. At this point I decided to get serious. I bought a spread of plants from multiple sources. You could make a game of trying to identify the hodgepodge. Installed pressurized C02 with PH controller, and drop checker for confirmation. Used root tabs, potassium sulfate. I was using CSM+B, but seemed to get algae flare-ups after every dose. Switched to Aquacare plant nutrition liquid for micronutrients. Got a small herd of Oto Cats (and useless golden algae eaters, but let's not speak of them.) One of my chronic issues with the gold fish stocking has been excess nitrates -- so I reasoned that I just needed enough plants to help absorb a lot of it between water changes. I'm still fighting BBA. The verdict is still out.
Most successful plant: Red Tiger Lotus. That thing doesn't know how to stop growing.
Least successful plant: Vallisneria (any). These things just seem to rot in my tank.
Biggest challenge: Red (black beard / BBA) algae. If anyone knows where to get some SAEs in Southwestern Ontario, I'd be most appreciative to know.
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This is such an awesome tank. That has to be one of the coolest angels I've ever seen.
Three months after my post above:
gorgeous!
and the plants are more beautiful!
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Swan Chair clearance sale going on now...
My Echinodorus schlueteri, aka Ozelot Sword. Received as a 3.5 inch pot and now growing like a weed! Even the cabomba in the tank can't keep up!
