Keeping My Planted Tank Planted

[FoundMoney]

I have a newly established 30 gallon tank that is moderately planted. It contains Vallisneria, anacharis, two sword plants, some dwarf sag and some hornwort. Some of the plants have been in the tank for about a month some for about two weeks and some were just added. I'm wondering what I need to do to keep these plants alive, if not thriving. Incidently, the tank currently has 8 flame tetras and a bristlenose catfish. I plan on adding 2 dwarf cichlids in the next few weeks.

Currently, my lighting is a bit low. I have the standard aquarium light with two 25 watt florescent bulbs. This gives fairly low lighting. Should I increase the lighting? Can I put higher watt bulbs in a standard fixture? The fixture doesn't say anything about maximum wattage. Should I buy a new fixture? Any suggestions?

So far the anacharis, which has been in since the beginning, seems to be thriving. It grows fairly fast and I've already replanted some of the new growth and it's taking off. The only problem with it, is that it collects a lot of algae. Other than that everything seems fine.

Of the two sword plants, one was planted with the anacharis, the other I just planted. The first one has narrow leaves and many of the older leaves are getting raggedy. It is showing new growth but all of the new leaves are growing in red. I don't have any green leaves. It seems that the older, mature leaves are green, although there aren't many of them. The LFS salesman who sold me the plant told me it's normal that the older leaves will get ragged and to remove them. He said I should get just as many new leaves as old ones I'm removing. This is pretty much the case but I don't think this is ideal. What can I do about this?

I don't want the same thing to happen to the new sword plant. It is really a nice plant with some mini plants shooting off of it. It is a nice shade of green and has broader shorter leaves than the other sword. My gravel has laterite in it and the LFS sold me a bottle of Kent Freshwater Plant supplement. Will this help? Are there other fertilizers I should be using, such as tabs to stick in the gravel?

The hornwort seems to be doing fine in some places and having trouble in other places. I've had this for about two weeks. I noticed that some of the new growth started turning dark, almost black, soon after sprouting. I'm thinking that the laterite in the gravel is not going to help this plant since it doesn't have any roots and I'm hoping the supplement will be helpful. This is a difficult and messy plant though. I've found that it is difficult to keep in place and I just wedge it in the gravel or under rocks. This is fine until I clean the tank then it's all floating. I understand it's a floating plant but is there a better way to deal with it?

The sag is kind of a mixed bag. A couple of the plants seem to be taking hold but some of the mature leaves seem to get a bit brown at the tips, although new leaves are growing fairly rapidly. I'm having trouble rooting a couple of the plants and I found one yesterday floating at the top. The plant looked healthy enough but I'm sure that wasn't good for it. What can I do to promote root growth? How far under should I bury the plant?

The last plant is the Vallisneria which was just recently added. I understand this needs to be planted so that the white "crown" is just barely visible. Any tips on keeping this plant growing well?

I'm sorry for the long post but I want to do whatever I can to keep these plants growing as best as possible, considering the investment in time and money I've put in so far. Plus, the tank looks so good with plants in it and the fish seem to love them!

 

[tear-scar]

Right now you have plants with light needs that are not too demanding-- you'll see more growth and health if you increase your lighting, but unless you want a lot of dense, healthy growth, you'll probably be ok-- the plants will live. A couple words to say about swords:

--Most grow huge, we're talking "the thing dominates my 75 gallon aquarium" kind huge

--A lot of swords are grown emersed, meaning out of water. For this, the plant needs to develope a certain type of leaf. When plants transition from emersed to submersed conditions, they have to replace their current leaves with leaves of the new type. Most likely this is what is happening to your first sword-- it is changing into its fully aquatic form. Note that this does not always happen, because some swords are sold in their submersed form-- it really depends. Ultimately, there's nothing you can do about it.

 

[George Farmer]

Amazon Swords benefit greatly from substrate fertilisation as they obtain most of there nutrients from their roots. Root tabs are good.

Like Tear-scar says, some Echinodorus sp. will grow massive. I have two Echinodorus bleheri plants that dominate the background. The leaves grow almost to the surface and I have to remove about 15 leaves per week!! Incidently I too use a laterite/fine gravel substrate which the swords love. I insert more laterite around the roots every 12 months.

Not sure on Sagittaria sp. Never had any.

Vallis should grow well in most conditions, some Carbonate hardness is essential, I have succes with mine in KH 3. I let mine grow so the leaves touch the surface providing some shelter for fish, I give it a trim once a week.

HTH

 

[FoundMoney]

Right now you have plants with light needs that are not too demanding-- you'll see more growth and health if you increase your lighting, but unless you want a lot of dense, healthy growth, you'll probably be ok-- the plants will live.

...--A lot of swords are grown emersed, meaning out of water. For this, the plant needs to develope a certain type of leaf. When plants transition from emersed to submersed conditions, they have to replace their current leaves with leaves of the new type. Most likely this is what is happening to your first sword-- it is changing into its fully aquatic form. Note that this does not always happen, because some swords are sold in their submersed form-- it really depends. Ultimately, there's nothing you can do about it.

I don't necessarily want plants to "take over" the tank put I would like moderate growth. Do you know if it's possible to increase the wattage of bulbs in standard aquarium light fixtures? If it's just a matter of putting in better, stronger bulbs, that's a no brainer. I'd just bring it up to 2 watts/gallon.

I'm not sure if my Sword is going through a transition as you say. I bought it from my LFS out of their plant tank, but then again, I have no idea how long it was in their tank. I didn't really think about that at the time.

 

[FoundMoney]

Amazon Swords benefit greatly from substrate fertilisation as they obtain most of there nutrients from their roots. Root tabs are good.

I have a layer of laterite in my gravel but it could possibly use some supplementation as it was one package, which was supposed to be enough for a typical 20 gallon tank. I also have a fair amount of gravel, about two inches deep. It may take a while for the roots to penetrate that deeply. Can you recommend a brand of root tabs?

 

[Silly me]

Do you know if it's possible to increase the wattage of bulbs in standard aquarium light fixtures?

without removing the starter unit and replacing it with a bigger one.. I don't know..

but you might find adding a second light in your tank will increase the plant growth and decrease the algae growth..