A couple of newbie planted tank questions..

aregma

Junior Poster
Feb 12, 2009
2
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Hi,
I have been in aquariums for years, and had a few half hearted tries at planted tanks, but now I'm starting to invest the time and effort into doing it right. I have a few questions, but first my setup.

I have a 20 gallon tank i'm using as a plant nursery, it has a 65Watt power compact fixture on it, as well as yeast method co2. I change the yeast/sugar mix every 1.5-2 weeks to try to keep it sort of stable co2 (as stable as can be expected with this method). I have bacopa, water wisteria, rotala, duck weed and a few others in there. I does using the EI method described in this forum to dose my fertilizers. The only difference is that for "trace elements" instead of Plantex CSM+B, I am using another product that has 2% more iron. I have 2 SAE, 2 otos, and 6 amano shrimp in the tank. I do weekly 30-40% water changes, and use tap water.

My plan is to move my plants to my main goldfish tank which is 72 gallons, with 4 fancy goldfish, which I plan to add to 6 maximum. My goldfish tank I have installed a pressurized co2 system, as well as moved up a wisteria as it was overtaking my nursery tank. I plan to move up most of the plants in 1-2 weeks after I work out the kinks of my pressurized co2 system, and had a chance for my plants to grow. It has 4 65 watt power compact bulbs on the 72 gallon.

My questions:

1) My amano shrimp die often, I don't know why. Could it be the copper in my trace element fertilizers? I keep trying to get them, since they are super handy in getting rid of algae. They don't dart, nor do they seem to be harassed by the fish, they just end up dead one day. My temperature is set to 70F (but it goes much higher with the lights on). I usually get some die off after a few days.
2) Any suggestions on fast growing plants? Since most algae eaters are not compatible with goldfish, as in they will get eaten, or harass the goldfish, my plan is to either let it grow fast, and cut off the algae infested bits, also will help survive when my goldfish want to snack. Or I will move it back to the nursery tank every few weeks to get a cleaning.
3) I have 2 hang on the back filters on my 72 gallon, 1 emperor 280, and one emperor 400. I am planning on removing the emperor 400 once i move the plants up. I am running 3 bubbles a second and the drop checker is a dark green still, is this probably because of too much surface ripple?
4) I am currently just using 2 65watt bulbs on my 72 gallon for 10 hours a day, is this a good idea? I have another 2 65 watt bulbs that i can turn on as well.
5) Any good ideas on how to keep the plants anchored and roots protected from the goldfish?

Any other tips would be great, any answers would be great! Especially the amano shrimp problem.. as they do seem pretty handy in algae reduction.
 

behhl

Junior Poster
Jan 16, 2008
20
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You didn't say what you use for filtration - the shrimps are typically sensitive to the water quality. Have you had the 20gallon running for a long time now?
 

aregma

Junior Poster
Feb 12, 2009
2
0
1
Hi,
I was using a aquaclear HOB filter before, but after getting so many plants I figured the plants would be the filter, plus I wanted to keep as much CO2 in my tank as possible. So I took it out and just have an airstone to cause a little surface ripple. So basically there is no filter besides the plants/substrate. I also feed very little, since I assumed that they would get most of their nutrients from the algae in the tank.

The tank has been running for 2 months now.

Should I be testing ammonia/nitrites? I thought without much feeding, it should be quite low. (or they could be starving to death with not enough algae? but seems pretty fast)
 

behhl

Junior Poster
Jan 16, 2008
20
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Ahhh ... its no wonder your shrimps are kaput - without a filter I am afraid the water is almost certainly not clean enough for shrimps.