Going for the plunge.

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

Metta

Fish Crazy
Joined
Aug 28, 2020
Messages
228
Reaction score
89
Location
United Kingdom
Hi all,

So as some of you are aware, I'm going for the natural planted look. I'll be doing the full aquascape next week. I'm concerned about algae when I setup my new plants, what's the best way to avoid this?

- Metta
 
If you have some fast growing plants like anacharis and a few nerite snails you should be good as long as you do not over feed or have your lights on too long.
 
If you have some fast growing plants like anacharis and a few nerite snails you should be good as long as you do not over feed or have your lights on too long.

Hey man,

I am going for Java moss, Amazon swords, Anubis and grass. I could through some Anacharis in there too. Are all these apart from the moss Root feeding?
 
Anubias are grown attached to decor so they feed from the water. Anacharis (elodea) doesn't root well in the substrate - it can be used as a floating plant - so I imagine they are also water feeders (I stand to be corrected on that though)
 
Anubias are grown attached to decor so they feed from the water. Anacharis (elodea) doesn't root well in the substrate - it can be used as a floating plant - so I imagine they are also water feeders (I stand to be corrected on that though)

So out of all the plants I'm going for the only ones needed to be planted into the sand is the Amazon swords using root tabs?
 
You can plant elodea/anacharis but I don't think they need root tabs. Out of your list, only the swords are heavy root feeders.
 
You can plant elodea/anacharis but I don't think they need root tabs. Out of your list, only the swords are heavy root feeders.

Thanks! One thing I've not covered is LIGHTS!!! I currently have a 10W Roma LED Unit 125? Will this be sufficient enough?
 
Hi all,

So as some of you are aware, I'm going for the natural planted look. I'll be doing the full aquascape next week. I'm concerned about algae when I setup my new plants, what's the best way to avoid this?

- Metta

Shrimp, if they are compatible with your water, etc...
 
One thing I've not covered is LIGHTS!!!
You will be asked for the K rating of the light.

Not all lights are the same. In order to grow well, plants need a light with red and blue and some green in the spectrum. This spectrum has a K rating around 6500 K.
And then there's the duration of light. Too much will grow algae and too little will grow algae.

I'll leave it to members who understand these things better than me to explain it properly.
 
You will be asked for the K rating of the light.

Not all lights are the same. In order to grow well, plants need a light with red and blue and some green in the spectrum. This spectrum has a K rating around 6500 K.
And then there's the duration of light. Too much will grow algae and too little will grow algae.

I'll leave it to members who understand these things better than me to explain it properly.

I'm unsure but it costs £130 to replace! It's a Roma LED Unit 125 T-47125 | P67 | 10W | 15Vdc | 21/17

That's all it says.
 
Shrimp - depends on the type of shrimp. Neocaridina (red cherrys, blue dreams, rili shrimp, etc) accept a wider range of parameters, but apparently do better with slightly harder water (don't quote me on that though, still quite new to shrimp myself) while caridina (crystals) need softer water and are more sensitive, only okay in a narrower range. But still need minerals and things added for shell growth.

Amano shrimp are known as being brilliant algae eaters, often used by aquascapers, but I haven't kept those yet and don't know their requirements. There are also lots of other shrimp species, with quite a range of water parameter requirements. Nerite snails also widely used as algae eaters, out of the snail options, they're the best for algae control. :)


Some people elsewhere might recommend otocinclus, but as an oto lover, I'd urge you not to get any solely as clean up crew. They need a social group of five or more and an established tank, so one that's been established for three months or more. They're all wild caught and have a hard time with shipping and being in clean store tanks since they graze constantly, so have a high mortality rate which gets even higher when they're added to a new tank that doesn't have a lot of biofilm and algae for them to eat yet. They also won't eat problem algaes like brush, beard or hair algae. Lovely little fish that make a great addition to an established planted tank, I'd just urge you to wait until it's established before researching them and deciding if they're right for your tank.
 


 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Back
Top