From Plastic To Live

[Fish are friends]

Hi folks.

I am looking for as much of advice as i can as i want to make the transition from plastic plants to live ones.

90ltr tank, Ph of around 8 and the lighting is a 18w T8 which works out at about 1.3w/g. so low lighting. I am not ready to go down the whole route of co2 canisters yet so i want to know what i need to do in order to make that transition and have happy plants and fish.

 

[KittyKat]

Pick only plants which will thrive in low light. The plants will lower your pH, which most community fish benefit from, but apart from that, there should be no change. I advise you to start with Anubias, Java moss and Java fern.

 

[RadaR]

Pick only plants which will thrive in low light.

The term low light plant and high light plant doesnt really apply anymore. We can prove this by successfully growing a "high light plant" in low light tank. The difference in plant difficulty is more to do with CO2 and nutrient demands. For example, I could grow HC in low light with nutrient substrate. It would appear leggy though. However if carbon was introduced, then it would be as compact as a tank with high light. Basically, you can grow any plant in low light conditions as long as CO2 and nutrients are given.
"low light plant" also wrongly suggests that these types of plants dont do well in high light.

The plants will lower your pH

Huh?


Non-demanding plants is a good shout.
Amazon Swords
Anubias
Aponogetons
Ambulia
Java fern
Mosses
Crypts
Dwarf Sag

Fish are friends, plant up heavily and never look back to plastic
A water change of 10-25% per week is fine. It's best to do this before or after the photoperiod. This is because the changes in CO2 (there's going to be higher concentrations in the tapwater than your tank) can lead to algae such as BBA.
Dose trace elements (micro nutreints) every 2 weeks and you should be fine.
Your plants are the best test you have. If they are telling you that they need something (whether that be visible deficiencies or algae growth) then give it to them.

 

[KittyKat]

Pick only plants which will thrive in low light.

The term low light plant and high light plant doesnt really apply anymore. We can prove this by successfully growing a "high light plant" in low light tank. The difference in plant difficulty is more to do with CO2 and nutrient demands. For example, I could grow HC in low light with nutrient substrate. It would appear leggy though. However if carbon was introduced, then it would be as compact as a tank with high light. Basically, you can grow any plant in low light conditions as long as CO2 and nutrients are given.
"low light plant" also wrongly suggests that these types of plants dont do well in high light.

Did you note request for no CO[sub]2[/sub]? If there is no CO[sub]2[/sub], then what are considered "low light plants" generally do better in low light without additional CO[sub]2[/sub] and fertilisers. If one tries to keep plants which have more demands without anything extra in low light, then they will normally slowly die or not grow at all.
This is a question about 1.3wpg set-up, so it doesn't matter how the same plants do in higher lighting set-ups.

The plants will lower your pH

Huh?

Have you never compared the pH before and after plants (without addition of CO[sub]2[/sub])? Try it, you'll see what I mean. It is not the action of putting the plants into the tank which causes it, but how the plants interact with their environment.

Dose trace elements (micro nutreints) every 2 weeks and you should be fine.

It is also possible to grow plants without additional dosing as well.

Your plants are the best test you have. If they are telling you that they need something (whether that be visible deficiencies or algae growth) then give it to them.

This is true.

 

[RadaR]

Did you note request for no CO2? If there is no CO2, then what are considered "low light plants" generally do better in low light without additional CO2 and fertilisers. If one tries to keep plants which have more demands without anything extra in low light, then they will normally slowly die or not grow at all.
This is a question about 1.3wpg set-up, so it doesn't matter how the same plants do in higher lighting set-ups.

All I'm saying is that "low light plant" and "high light plant" can throw off new comers.
For instance:

"Have you tried rotala macaranda?"
"No, it needs more light than my 1.5WPG"

Or folks may assume that Anubias prefers low light to high light.

Which is rubbish.

Dose trace elements (micro nutreints) every 2 weeks and you should be fine.

It is also possible to grow plants without additional dosing as well.

Even in a EI natural tank, or a Diana Walstad tank, you will need to occasionally add some trace elements. Unless ofcourse this is present in the substrate or there's a high enough concentration in top up water/tap water.

Have you never compared the pH before and after plants (without addition of CO2)? Try it, you'll see what I mean. It is not the action of putting the plants into the tank which causes it, but how the plants interact with their environment.

In a low light tank where growth is slow (and therefore so is metabollic waste), there's barely going to be any change, especially if water changes are still performed.

 

[KittyKat]

RadaR, so can we agree that there are infinite possibilities with various plants in various set-ups? And that specific plants are better than others for a no-hassle set-up without any additives and that we may have different preferences on what these plants are?

Dose trace elements (micro nutreints) every 2 weeks and you should be fine.

It is also possible to grow plants without additional dosing as well.

Even in a EI natural tank, or a Diana Walstad tank, you will need to occasionally add some trace elements. Unless ofcourse this is present in the substrate or there's a high enough concentration in top up water/tap water.

Disagree: I have had good success with many plants, in many different tanks, over many years, in different countries (so different types of water) without any dosing and standard maintenance (under 20% water chage per week) without any dosing of any description.
Agree: the nutrients have to come from somewhere, so I would conclude that (IME, at least in UK, Germany and Japan) tap water contains enough for many plants to be grown.

Have you never compared the pH before and after plants (without addition of CO2)? Try it, you'll see what I mean. It is not the action of putting the plants into the tank which causes it, but how the plants interact with their environment.

In a low light tank where growth is slow (and therefore so is metabollic waste), there's barely going to be any change, especially if water changes are still performed.

In my experience (I know, again), most low-light aquariums will display a change of about 0.5 on the pH scale after addition of plants (which are most suited to the set-up), even with the water changes. It was a warning so the person asking for advice would not be surprised by the change, especially if their plants thrive.

 

[Fish are friends]

cool now the last thing i want to know is. Do i add the plants all at once or stagger them over a few weeks like i would do with fish??

 

[RadaR]

cool now the last thing i want to know is. Do i add the plants all at once or stagger them over a few weeks like i would do with fish??

All at once. Lots of healthy growing plants = no algae.

 

[Fish are friends]

I haven't quite made the move to live plants yet as i have been trying to find the right plants for my tank. The one thing i did notice is that I probably dont have the correct base for the plants. I have the coloured aquarium gravel, the particles are quite small but not sure if it will be solid enough for the roots... If not what could the correct substrate be?