woohoo! I used my Christmas gift money to do an upgrade on my tank lighting. My 90g previously had a measly 28 watts on it, which was nowhere near enough for any live plants, not even low lights. I'd bought some plants (a sword and some giant Vallasneria) not knowing that, only to watch them start to fail in my tank. Luckily, they did much better in my goldfish tank, which, although it only has a 17 watt light, is a smaller/shorter tank that receives more natural daylight.
Anyway, as I said, I upgraded my lighting on the big tank. It's now got a GLO 48" 2 x 54W T5 light on it, plus the little 48" 28W T5 also. The difference in brightness is really dramatic!
I got some more plants, and moved the big sword and the Vallasneria from the goldfish tank into the tank downstairs, then planted the new swords and Vallasneria in the goldfish tank to get them started. I also bought some Cryptocoryne. The lfs had it labelled Willisii, but I think that may be the wrong species, as these plants are quite tall (about 5" from crown to the bottom of the leaf, about 10" high total).
Anyway, any tips on keeping the Cryptocoryne planted? There's not much root on them yet, so they keep popping up out of the substrate (sand).
Also, is there anything you'd recommend I do to help the plants grow better? I've got some Flourish which I'm adding as per directions on the bottle. Do I need root tab fertilizer?
What other plants would you recommend for the tank? I'd like to stick with it being lightly to moderately planted, and am not keen to get into CO2 (sounds too complicated to me!). There's a fair amount of rock in the tank, as well as a large piece of driftwood and some caves, and I'll be adding a second piece of driftwood in the near future. pH is 7.0, and there's peat fiber in the filter. Fish are in my sig, plus a breeding pair of full grown kribs (they were a gift from my old boss at the lfs, and they're GORGEOUS)
Current plants are:
1 large (10") Echinodorus Blehri
3 small (4-6") Echinodorus Blehri
4 medium (22") Vallasneria Gigantea
8 (8-10") Cryptocoryne
java moss tied onto driftwood and coconut shell
Anyway, as I said, I upgraded my lighting on the big tank. It's now got a GLO 48" 2 x 54W T5 light on it, plus the little 48" 28W T5 also. The difference in brightness is really dramatic!
I got some more plants, and moved the big sword and the Vallasneria from the goldfish tank into the tank downstairs, then planted the new swords and Vallasneria in the goldfish tank to get them started. I also bought some Cryptocoryne. The lfs had it labelled Willisii, but I think that may be the wrong species, as these plants are quite tall (about 5" from crown to the bottom of the leaf, about 10" high total).
Anyway, any tips on keeping the Cryptocoryne planted? There's not much root on them yet, so they keep popping up out of the substrate (sand).
Also, is there anything you'd recommend I do to help the plants grow better? I've got some Flourish which I'm adding as per directions on the bottle. Do I need root tab fertilizer?
What other plants would you recommend for the tank? I'd like to stick with it being lightly to moderately planted, and am not keen to get into CO2 (sounds too complicated to me!). There's a fair amount of rock in the tank, as well as a large piece of driftwood and some caves, and I'll be adding a second piece of driftwood in the near future. pH is 7.0, and there's peat fiber in the filter. Fish are in my sig, plus a breeding pair of full grown kribs (they were a gift from my old boss at the lfs, and they're GORGEOUS)
Current plants are:
1 large (10") Echinodorus Blehri
3 small (4-6") Echinodorus Blehri
4 medium (22") Vallasneria Gigantea
8 (8-10") Cryptocoryne
java moss tied onto driftwood and coconut shell
