Cant keep plants alive

[fisher_guzzi]

Tim,
Still trying to digest all your information.
I have an airstone in my 5.5 gal tank. Because there is a plant in it I am thinking of taking it out like you suggest. However, I wonder if my fish/frogs will have a problem with it. They are used to it and the oxygen I assume it brings it. The fish/frogs seem to be doing well. The plant has a few brown leaves but generally seems ok. If I remove the airstone what do you think might happen?
TIA.

 

[revengeishere]

Thanx Tim!

Ive been reading and reading the past two days and I'm learning so much. Yes, i did confuse bioload with fishload...sorry bout that.

Anyways, I have a grave substrate right now, and the fact that I have to tear the tank down to put in the soil, Its too much work, and Im afraid for my fishy

I migth just use moss as I think its much easier to put in than regular soil.

Thank you for your help, and I am considering in investing lots of patients, and time in this 75 gallon, and because it sits bya window, I mgiht convert it to an all natural(using the sun, and no filters), slowly, of course. It mgiht take a while, but I think that growing it naturally is all worth it.

Again, thank you. You have introducced me into the part of the hobby that I never knew existed.

Franz

Tank update: green water is gone. Im going to think twice now before adding ANYTHING in my tank.

 

[allnatural]

Hello fish guzzi. I was reading your question. Well, of course I have questions. What kind of light do you have over your 5.5 gal? I have one of those and have the standard flourescent that is 14 watts. The plants in this tank are doing quite well. I have a small colony of the tiny livebearer Heterandria formosa, and lots of snails.

How many and what kind of fish? I am not sure about the frogs, but I think most if not all frogs are amphibious. This means they get their oxygen from the air not the water, like a turtle. The only time frogs have gills is when they are a tadpole.

What kind of plant is it? If you have adequate light, add more plants if possible before shutting off your airstone. A good fast growing plant to try is the floating plant hornwort. This plant really pumps oxygen into the water. You can always try shutting off your airstone during the day to see how things go. If you get scared, turn it back on during the night. Again, the problem with an airstone is that it agitates the surface too much which causes the carbon dioxide to escape out of the water. The plants use carbon dioxide as a main nutrient. Plants must have CO2 to produce Oxygen (photosynthesis).

--Tim

 

[Sye]

Would I be right in thinking because I have quite a few plants and light filtration I could slightly "overcrowd" the tank with out having to worry about polluting the water?

 

[allnatural]

Well, yes and no. It depends on what you want to overcrowd it with. Bigger fish or smaller fish. I have read somewhere that filtration only has a small percentage of the total nitrifying bacteria in it. This means that most of your good bacteria is within the aquarium itself. Are you going to overcrowd it suddenly or over time? Of course, over time would be best, and you can then see when enough is enough. If you have snails (which I love), they also produce quite a bit of waste. So consider that too.

If you overcrowd it too fast, you could get bacterial blooms in the water (cloudy water). You may also have to do more water changes.

--Tim

 

[revengeishere]

Ok, i was gonna post a new thred, but i decided to post this here instead. I told you guys before i only have gravel as a substrate. Im not intending to change it to soil(tho, i got a new 50 gallon, and im intending to use soil this time) as the tank is already established, and the fish are doing quite well. But I bought some laterite. Is it advisable to use that for a "natural" tank?

Also, i was gonna buy more plants, but the guy at the LFS told me they get new shipping each tuesday, and told me to wait until then so that ill have healthier plants.

 

[allnatural]

Funny I have some laterite sitting in some boxes! I bought it before I found the soil substrate so appealing so I don't have any experience with laterite, but I don't think it would be advisable to mix it with a soil substrate. I think laterite is generally used with gravel. Maybe someone with higher "tech" will pipe in.

--Tim

 

[revengeishere]

Ok, cool, thanx. I decided to use laterite instead because A) it's cheaper, I dont have to shed some cash cos I returned some stuff to petsmart(got $130 in store credits ) and B) I don't wanna mess my tank, like I said, its 75 gallon, and Its a hassle to take the gravel out, and imagine putting the soil in, without taking the fishies out .

Thank you though.

Revenge