a few plant questions

[gil_ong81]

i bought some java moss on friday and think that it'd look nice attached to my driftwood. is this the "right" way to do it?






in the java moss, i pulled out these two thing when i was cleaning it prior to attaching it to the drift.

figured no harm is sticking them somewhere and seeing what happens. any ideas what they are?



i also have some Rotala Wallichi i bought about 2 weeks ago. this is new growth?

[trashion]

Rotala wallichi is beautiful! And those little plants look like baby java ferns to me.

[JustOneMore20]

The java moss is attached nicely. Give it some time and it will attach itself to the driftwood.

Those look like Java fern plants to me too.

And yep, you wallichi looks like it has new growth.

[gil_ong81]

sa-weet!!

thanks, guys.

[Ricker]

Nice tank. Man looks real good did wife every lay back and enjoy the tank? man this tank almost makes me start a new planted a 30gal lol. But can't or I will never finish my 55.

[gil_ong81]

she is actually quite excited about it, but she does not sit and stare at it like i do.

the other thing i am slightly worried about us that some of the leaves on my indian red swords are turning brown. i know that they are supposed to be red, hence the name, and the new shoots are indeed red, but some of the leaves that were green are now looking a little drab.

any thoughts?

will the nitrogen fix this?

[jones57742]

Very, very nice photographs as well as excellent plant keeping.

TR

[JustOneMore20]

How much light do you have over the tank?

It could be the plants adjusting to being in your tank. I would trim the old dying leaves off. The fact that the new leaves are red is a good sign.

Nitrates could also be an issue as well as lack of potassium. I'd pick up some Flourish nitrogen, Flourish Potassium, and regular Flourish (for micro nutrients) whenever you can.

[gil_ong81]

thanks, TR.

Kristin, i have a 55W 6700K bulb.

i'll trim the leaves when i take care oif a few house-keeping thinsg today. i also nitrogen, potassium and phosphorus on the way.

[JustOneMore20]

Awesome. I definitely think its more the plant getting used to your tank/lighting. Ferts will definitely help keep the new leaves healthy.

[gil_ong81]

and if my wife complains about me moving the plants abotu too much and not giving them a chane to "root", i'll just say that kristin made me do it.

[JustOneMore20]

Haha....alright. I'll take the blame.

[gil_ong81]

trimmed the one leaf that was really not looking very good.

and here's a pic of the new red leaves i was talking about.

[welchrock]

great pictures - are those taken with a digital SLR?

i'm looking forward to monitoring this thread and learning what I can.

go Rochester fish people!

[gil_ong81]

thanks. it was taken with Nikon D200 i borrowed from a friend of mine.

are you from rochester too?

[welchrock]

Yes I'm from/currently living in Rochester - downtown area just of Monroe & 490.

[gil_ong81]

awesome.

which is your LFS? i'm new, so i'm still scoping out a place to frequent.

[welchrock]

i'll private message you and we can continue this conversation. see you there!

[welchrock]

Ah just realized your account doesn't allow those, well anyways:

I am happy with Pet World - there is one in Fairport and another off Ridge Road in Greece. Both are open 7 days a week and for the most part have very healthy fish and knowledgeable staff. I believe the Greece location is a bit bigger and therefore should be your first stop.

There is also ABC Pets in the Fairport/Victor area - the owner seems to really know his stuff but I've had mixed results with their fish. Whatever fish he has are usually great, but the stocking varies and his labeling is not always accurate. He does have great prices on a wide range of foods.

And a final suggestion that is right down the street for me, is Park Avenue Pets (on Monroe, not Park). The owner Lisa is awesome and although her fish section is fairly small, the fish she does have are always in tip-top condition. She also has been great about taking back fish that aren't getting along with my community.

As for the chains - go to look but don't buy their fish. It's a game of Russian roulette. Even when their fish look healthy and active, it is probably because they are scooping out floaters all day long.

What is your current setup like?

[Ricker]

As for the chains - go to look but don't buy their fish. It's a game of Russian roulette. Even when their fish look healthy and active, it is probably because they are scooping out floaters all day long.

True even though for some reason most of them down here sink lol. But I've done a little study about Pets Mart on my own haven't shared it with some one but about 8 out of 10 fish die/ or get sick down the road.