plants for my new tank

[yu264616]

Hi All!

I've been having trouble keeping plants in my smaller tanks. They newer leaves are always green and the plant grows (slowly) but the older, lower leaves are yellow and/or almost transparent. I have fertilizer/plant food for them and keep the water at optimum levels. One tank (2 gal) has an incandescent light (25w), so I am assuming thats too much light without CO2 addition - especially when I have an airstone in there which keeps the water pretty turbulent. My 5 gal has an oversized filter and keeps the water very clean, but keeps the surfance pretty turbulent as well. ****I had an anubius plant in each of the tanks, and another beginner/low light plant in the 5 gal (I forget the name). I'm assuming that since the waters are pretty turbulent that all of the CO2 was escaping? Or was it that I had ****too much light for not supplementing with CO2? Or both? ****Both tanks have full (and maybe a bit more than full) bio levels...

Also, I am considering starting a 35 or maybe even a 50 gal tank and want it to be fairly well planted - nothing crazy, but I do want some plants in there with maybe a few plastic ones too.
Any suggestions? How many watts per gallon do you need to start supplementing with CO2? And what filters are best to use to stop the CO2 from escaping? ****A canister filter? I'd assume a bio wheel would be another nono for planted tanks... Or should you really have a bio wheel when using a canister filter?

One thing I really want is a bubble wand so theres a wall of bubbles at the back of the tank, but I don't think that's possible in the planted tank. Is current (from submerged powerheads) a major concern as long as the surface of the tank stays pretty calm?

Also, can you overstock your tanks (a BIT) if you have a well planted tank since the plants soak up the ammonia?


Thanks so much!

-James

[MyraVan]

Simpte will tell you a different story, but here are my recommendations:

1. Substrate. Get a good substrate for growing plants. I highly recommend one of the proprietary substrates for growing plants, like Flourite, Onxy sand, eco-complete, etc. I use Flourite in pots (the pots are stuck in plain gravel) in one tank and that works pretty well, but the plants grow only in the pots! It would be nice for them to just grow and propogate naturally, and you need the entire floor of the tank to have a good substrate to do that. I have another tank with a soil + gravel substrate. This works really well for growing plants, but it's messy (any time you pull up a plant or put in a new one, you stir up the bottom and the water gets cloudy for a few hours) and the decomposition of the organic matter leaves the water a very yellow color. Soil + gravel is very cheap, grows plants well, and helps provide a healthy natural environment for your fish and other critters, but I'd avoid it unless you want to mimic a blackwater environment.

2. Lighting. I would aim for 2WPG. That's 2 watts of flourescent light per gallon of tank water. Incandescent light is no good, as it generates too much heat and not enough light. Put reflectors behind your flourescent tubes to maximize the light output. If you use any more lighting, you'll just be encouraging alge unless you supplement with CO2.

3. CO2. Don't bother doing CO2 supplementation initially. Instead, concentrate on conserving the CO2 your fish and plants respire, and that means keeping surface current to a mimimum. Forget the wall of bubbles at the back. You'lll soon find that a nice bunch of tall plants in the back is more attractive, not to mention much quieter. Don't worry about the fish not getting enough oxygen. In most cases the bubbles aren't needed, and if you observe your fish carefully, they will tell you if they're not gettting enough (if they're gasping for breath at the top just before your lights come on in the morning you have a problem; if they are swimming normally there is no problem). And a good current under the surface is a good thing, as long as it doesn't disturb the ssurface too much. It makes the CO2 in the water get to the plant leaves better. (I don't know what kind of filter to recommend to you; my biggest tank is a 20 gallon and I just use an internal filter.) Also, many plants (especially those from hard water areas) can use bicarbonate in the water, so if you have hard water and get hard water plants, you're in business!

You certainly can grow plants successfully in small tanks. My 5 gallon office tank is the one with the soil + gravel substrate. It has an 11W flourescent desk lamp for lighting (it was cheaper that proper aquarium lighting). It has a nice collection of plants (2 types of crypts, dwarf 4-leaf clover, micro sag, anubia nana, twisted vallis) that are all growing well. Other than the yellow water, it looks pretty good! I have a little filter in there, but I have the outlet well below the surface of the water, and I didn't use the Venturi attachment that came with the filter, so there's minimal surface disturbance.

And yes you can overstock your tank a bit, but you still have to be sure that each fish has the space it needs (so for example you don't want 2 dozen bottom feeders...)

[DavidDoyle]

- Incan light is not good for plants.

- co2 levels in a tank w/ surface aggitation will be the same as those in the air. Supplimental co2 starts to become necessary as you approach the 2-2.5 wpg level. Any filter whose output can be below the surface and does not roil the surface will help hold co2 in the water.

- Anubias are best at low light levels. They are slow growers and when given too much light will normally become covered w/ algae

- Plants that need more than low light levels will often shade their lower leaves as they grow and bush out which will reduce the light going to the bottom parts which can then begin to die off. A correltion to this is deep tanks will have the same problem getting enough light to the bottom.

- Most low light plants need minimal to no fertilizers added. Fish poop and water changes will supply what they need.

- Many plants such as anubias, ferns and moss do not need any substrate at all. Many others will grow fine in an established tank w/o special gravel, Other plants will not grow w/o it. Do your homework to learn which are which.

-Small planted tanks do best when kept simple as you have little flexibility and almost no room for error regarding adding ferts etc. in extrememly small doses.

[Fla280zxDrifter]

darn i guess i should get rid of 5 or 6 of my plecos. . . lol jk

[Lydia]

lol

[Gunnie]

James,
Here is a really great article that explains the basics on plants. With that under your belt, when you get the larger tank, if you only have regular strip lights, you could plant with many varieties of low light plants

[yu264616]

Hi Gunnie,

Could you please paste the link to the article again? I'm not able to find the URL.

Thanks so much!

-James

[MiSo]

http://www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_...mp;filter_by=2

he used a url tag so you actually have to click where he wrote "low light"