Feeding

[salts155]

so are the plants ok or will they die.

should i set up a smaller tank for when/if they get ill or pregnant?



That makes for very good reading hope a lot of people read that.

how many tanks have you got?

ricky

 

[OldMan47]

The plants will be fine during a fishless cycle. They will use some of the ammonia for growth and the lights needed for plants can also lead to the need to control algae in the tank.

 

[waterdrop]

What is the wattage on your tank light (or total wattage if mult. lights) and what type is it? Also, remind us of your tank volume...

 

[salts155]

aqua one 850
2 x 30in 30W
1 x 23.5in 20W

165L

 

[waterdrop]

Assuming all three light tubes are on at once that would put you at about 1.8 watts per US gallon of volume. This puts you below the rough 2 watt dividing line between high-tech planted approach and low-light approach, but the light will still be pretty high for low-light, meaning algae may be a bit more of a challange.

I would start out very low, perhaps only 4 hours of light per day and perhaps very slowly over weeks increasing toward 6 hours per day, watching for algae problems. There's a lot of stuff to absorb about plants but you will gradually pick it up if you read around the forums.

~~waterdrop~~

 

[salts155]

thanks waterdrop. your help is brill.

will get others to sign up here

 

[salts155]

just a quick update my partner wanted to put fish in so we did and everything going ok well one had white spot and passed away, all the others are fine and now one of my dalmation mollies is pregnant and will drop soon.

 

[waterdrop]

Good to hear from you salts. Be sure to check periodically that your ammonia and nitrite(NO2) are staying at zero ppm and that your nitrate(NO3) level is not building beyond a number that is 15 or 20ppm above whatever your tap water nitrate(NO3) level is. That will tell you your weekly gravel-cleaning-water-changes are doing their job properly. Glad you are enjoying your tank!

~~waterdrop~~

 

[salts155]

yeah it looking really nice going to change from gravel to sand soon.

molly is very close to her first drop will post you some pictures when it happens

 

[salts155]

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/317610-pregnant-dalmation-molly/page__st__40

as per last post this is the link to my new fry

thanks once again for your help.

rick