So I've always liked gardening, but never got into it because I'm a big wuss and terrified of bugs. Imagine my delight when I got back into aquariums after being away from the hobby for 10 years, and discovering the world of planted tanks!
I'm completely hooked, as live plants add a whole other dimension to a tank.
I've got two planted tanks going, and seperate questions for each.
First, my 90 gallon (48x18x24).
Lights: 136W HO T5 lighting, spread over 3 bulbs. One 6500K, one 10000K, and one purple-looking "full spectrum" from coralife.
Filters: Penguin 350 Biowheel and a Rena XP3. Both with mechanical and bio filtration, no chemical/carbon. Peat moss in the Rena.
Water Params: pH 7.2, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0 I don't know the kH or gH, haven't been able to find a test kit that includes them in the lfs
Substrate: black sand
Fish: 6 angelfish, pair nannacara anomala, pair pelvachromis pulcher, 2 yoyo loaches, 5 glowlight tetras, 3 platys, 1 busynose pleco
Plants: echinodorus blehri, giant/jungle val, various crypts, java moss, dwarf anubia, dwarf red lily, dwarf hair grass, hygro p., hairy bacopa, wisteria, and three plants I need ID on.
Ferts: this is an area I've got questions about. I'm dosing with Excel every second day, and with trace nutrients once a week.
Water change schedule: I change out 10-20% of the water once per week.
Temp: 86 (I know this is high, my stupid heater won't turn off, no matter how I fuss with it, even though it's a good one. Fish are doing great, so I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with it, before going to the trouble of exchanging it)
Tank has been running for 2 months (cycled it using media from my goldfish tank), the low light plants (val, crypts, anubia, java moss, swords) have been in there for about a month, the rest of the plants have been added over the last few weeks.
I started dosing with ferts because I'm not running CO2, and when I added more plants, my pH went up. Nothing else had changed, and the pH in my other tanks remained at 7.0, so I deduced that the plants were using up the limited CO2 already in the water, bumping up the pH.
Questions:
1)Are ferts necessary in this tank? Since I started adding the Excel, I'm noticing some melt on my val, although it's still spreading like crazy. Also, I'm now battling algae - reddish brown spot algae, as well as dark green/black algae on the edges of my sword leaves (same color as bba, but not tufted, at least not yet). The algae's not out of control or anything, but it's there.
2)Can I achieve a lush, planted look with my tank, lighting, and the plants I have. I LOVE the look of a densely planted tank, where you can't see any substrate.
3)All the plants in there are doing very well (especially the lily and the crypts), except for the hairgrass and bacopa. Any tips for hairgrass? Or does it just really need more light? If the latter is true, is there an alternative carpet-forming plant that would do well in my tank? In regards to the bacopa, when I plant it, the bottom is tending to go soft. I keep pulling it out, pruning off the icky part, and sticking it back in, but it's not showing any inclination of rooting. Suggestions?
Now the 10 gallon:
Lights: 46W compact fluorescent
Filtration: Whisper 20 HOB filter, with mechanical and biological media, no carbon
Water Params: pH 6.4, ammonia
I'm completely hooked, as live plants add a whole other dimension to a tank.
I've got two planted tanks going, and seperate questions for each.
First, my 90 gallon (48x18x24).
Lights: 136W HO T5 lighting, spread over 3 bulbs. One 6500K, one 10000K, and one purple-looking "full spectrum" from coralife.
Filters: Penguin 350 Biowheel and a Rena XP3. Both with mechanical and bio filtration, no chemical/carbon. Peat moss in the Rena.
Water Params: pH 7.2, ammonia 0, nitrites 0, nitrates 0 I don't know the kH or gH, haven't been able to find a test kit that includes them in the lfs
Substrate: black sand
Fish: 6 angelfish, pair nannacara anomala, pair pelvachromis pulcher, 2 yoyo loaches, 5 glowlight tetras, 3 platys, 1 busynose pleco
Plants: echinodorus blehri, giant/jungle val, various crypts, java moss, dwarf anubia, dwarf red lily, dwarf hair grass, hygro p., hairy bacopa, wisteria, and three plants I need ID on.
Ferts: this is an area I've got questions about. I'm dosing with Excel every second day, and with trace nutrients once a week.
Water change schedule: I change out 10-20% of the water once per week.
Temp: 86 (I know this is high, my stupid heater won't turn off, no matter how I fuss with it, even though it's a good one. Fish are doing great, so I'm trying to figure out what's wrong with it, before going to the trouble of exchanging it)
Tank has been running for 2 months (cycled it using media from my goldfish tank), the low light plants (val, crypts, anubia, java moss, swords) have been in there for about a month, the rest of the plants have been added over the last few weeks.
I started dosing with ferts because I'm not running CO2, and when I added more plants, my pH went up. Nothing else had changed, and the pH in my other tanks remained at 7.0, so I deduced that the plants were using up the limited CO2 already in the water, bumping up the pH.
Questions:
1)Are ferts necessary in this tank? Since I started adding the Excel, I'm noticing some melt on my val, although it's still spreading like crazy. Also, I'm now battling algae - reddish brown spot algae, as well as dark green/black algae on the edges of my sword leaves (same color as bba, but not tufted, at least not yet). The algae's not out of control or anything, but it's there.
2)Can I achieve a lush, planted look with my tank, lighting, and the plants I have. I LOVE the look of a densely planted tank, where you can't see any substrate.
3)All the plants in there are doing very well (especially the lily and the crypts), except for the hairgrass and bacopa. Any tips for hairgrass? Or does it just really need more light? If the latter is true, is there an alternative carpet-forming plant that would do well in my tank? In regards to the bacopa, when I plant it, the bottom is tending to go soft. I keep pulling it out, pruning off the icky part, and sticking it back in, but it's not showing any inclination of rooting. Suggestions?
Now the 10 gallon:
Lights: 46W compact fluorescent
Filtration: Whisper 20 HOB filter, with mechanical and biological media, no carbon
Water Params: pH 6.4, ammonia