Few Questions

[jayjay]

right well i have a planted 3.5g tank.

Tank - 3.5g - 12"x8"x8"
Filtration - Fluval 1 + , normal sponge , with spraybar.
Lighting - halogen 35w , 10wpg.
CO2 - none used.
Substrate - basic pea gravel, 1"-3" depending on where in the tank.
Fertilisation - none used.
Water chemistry - pH 7 , KH don't know, GH don't know, NO3 20-30ppm, PO4, temperature, 27c-30c at times
Maintenance - Water change schedule - 75% once a week sometimes more often - filter cleaning - when tank is cleaned 'squeesed' in old tank water - substrate cleaning - stirred and debris removed by gravel vac.
Fish - 3 baby BN's (bristlenose plecs) just growing to 2"so are safe to move into my 80g, will be killifish (Fundulopanchax gardneri) tank eventually.
Plants - sorry quite new to plants so not to sure, java ferns , java moss, a crypt, 2 moss balls, water lettuce, giant vallis, twisted vallis and another (the big leaved plant) unsure of name.
Decor - 3 pieces of bogwood.
Additional comments - i was expecting huge algae problems but tank was running for a long time without the plecs and there were no problems at all.

(sorry copied from something else i wrote on my tank just to tell you what i'm talking about)

1. should i try a DIY co2 i was advised against it has the margin for error in little tanks is small. also if you think i should could i have a link to step by step instructions if possible please?

2. should i be using ferts or root tabs? if yes can you advise me on this.

3. i'm looking into getting more plants. amazon swords seem fairly easy so would these work in my tank i've heard people say they need root tabs and some say they don't. also if anyone has any going spare i would be interested in it.

4. are there any other plants i could try for my tank, i'm looking for dense planting really.

5. also my moss balls i got were starting to carpet at the lfs so how do i stop this i've rolled them sort of best i could do.

6. not the best pics but any help ID'ing the big leaved plant aswel please?

and just to show you this is my tank. (webcam pics so bad quality)

cheers for any help you can give me.

 

[Loko17]

I have a 3 gallon and I'm working with some plants called Aponogeton, you can get them cheap in bulbs and just put them in the tank and they grow, I just got a fertilizer today called Plant Gro by Nutrifin. Its Iron Enriched and on another topic someone told me its good. Amazon swords i think they do need tabs for the roots but those are easy to come by and Seachem makes good ones and their pretty cheap. I dont have a Co2 system in mine either but since ures is so heavily planted I think you might need one but I'm no expert. The aponogeton plants I have need moderate light so if you were to get some I'm sure they'd do fine in your tank. hope this helped.

 

[jayjay]

thanks for your help.

anyone else got any idea's for the other questions? especially co2 and ferts

lookind around on the internet i found a package of plants :

Anacharis
Blood Stargrass
Japanese Fans
Dwarf Lily Plant
Dwarf Onions
Ambulia
Tall Sagittaria subulata
small red-spot Ozelot sword
Crypt Walkeri
Java Ferns

what are these plants like, i won't get them off this site but they said they are undemanding etc. can anyone reccommend any other easy to find and keep plants suitable for my tank. also does anyone have simple to keep plants they have inexcess?

 

[MoreCoffee]

"1. should i try a DIY co2 i was advised against it has the margin for error in little tanks is small. also if you think i should could i have a link to step by step instructions if possible please?"

I dont have experience of running DIY CO2 into a tank that small, but a single nutrafin canister is suitable for 70L and with DIY there is not obvious way to control the CO2 dose going into the tank, so I guess in a 3.5Gal tank there is some chance of seeing a problem.

Another potential option is to use Seachem Flourish Excel to provide a source of carbon ...... it would not be as good as DIY CO2, but it would provide a method that you can control through adjusting the dose to match the size of your tank.



Al

P.S. ------- Those water lettuce look familiar

 

[jayjay]

ok, still yes or no on the co2 ? lol

i'm going to lfs on weekend to pick up food and other things maybe get some root tabs if i can, i'll look for plant ferts aswel.

lol wonder where you've seen them before they are doing well, cover about 6"x4" of the surface still not as big as i need them, want whole surface covered if possible.

what about all the other questions everyone?

A DIY CO2 version would be a small coke bottle, some air tube (create hole in bottle lid, push through just a little section of tube and seal with silicone where it enters) ten add c. 5 tbl spoons of sugar, 1 tbl spoon of baking soda and an eigth tbl spoon of yeast, then half fill the bottle with luke warm water and hey presto DIY CO2 (should last c. month)!

(chris wood's from another thread)

would that work on my tank? be to strong?

also i've narrowed down my plant's i like list.

lily's
amazon swords
salvinia
onion plants?

anyone have these?

 

[jayjay]

i can get all my stats checked out on saturday so will know if it's safe for co2......

also i think i have an ID on the other plant in my tank - an echinodorus of some form.

 

[jayjay]

well didn't get to lfs today but will tomorrowf or water tests.

also has anyone got any reasons why i shouldn't get these plants -

Hygrophila polysperma - got now already.
Ceratopteris
Utricularia Graminifolia - just thought zig's looked cool.
Onion bulbs
Lilly's
Red tiger lotus
Amazon swords
Salvinia
Penny wort - not sure about these
Marsh pennywort - not sure about these

i also was looking into root tabs and plant ferts and found these
are they good?

i'm also after non return valves for co2 set-up i'm planning, 25w heaters ready for winter for my small tanks even though if anything in this weather they are too hot and i'm also after some feeder shrimp to clean up algae.

by the way i'm setting up my other 3.5g tank with light to start growing plants soon aswel.

 

[Qays]

I have heard that root tabs can leech too much nitrates

 

[mark.w.jones]

Ive got thai onion plants growing at the back of my tank you can see them better here on page 2:

http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?showtopic=111385&st=16

They come as a bulb and grow like nobodies business. You cannot fully submerge the bulb in your substrate thou as they'll rot so you need to find something to disguise the ugly row of bulbs with.

 

[BigIan]

are you wanting a huge planted tank like Jimboos with green stuff over EVERY thing... or just a tank with plants??

if you just want some plants in your tanks, then crypts, amazon swords, cabomba. java fern and moss, anubias, all are very hardy and you shouldn`t need to add any more ferts unless you see the plants start to turn yellow

 

[jayjay]

cheers jones.

my aim is to fill it with plants. so lot's of tall plants at the back down to small plants at the front.

well i'm off to have my KH tested so will up date later.

 

[jayjay]

well i have a KH reading of 6.

so i bought a co2 yeast set-up, dennerle bio-line co2 compact.

i also found quite a few good plants but didn't have much money to spend i found Utricularia Graminifolia but at £6 or £7 (can't remember) was a bit to much for me.

so now i need, plant root tabs (?), liquid ferts (?), two 25w heaters (ready for winter), feeder shrimp (clean up crew) and more plants to fill up this 3.5g and the other 3.5g i have which i will set-up for planting in a few weeks up to 2 months max. but i have no money for like a month so none of this is possible yet