Going Natural

[onidrase]

I've pretty much always had plastic decorations, they're not cheap, they don't look all too great, but they work, and I won't have to worry about them effecting the water chemistry, which is the only plus.

But looking at all the beautiful planted tanks with the slate stones and the driftwood and whatnot, I'm just dying to do for it

My birthday is coming up in a week, followed by christmas, so I'll be using these to fund this project

This is all going to my 37 gallon for now, which is stocked accordingly:

1 firemouth cichlid
6 tiger barbs (might take them back after the convict got removed from the tank, they were mainly as a schooler fish for her that she wouldn't pick on. But she picked on them. So much for that. Might go for something less nippy if they get too rambunctious for the other fish. Bleeding hearts or black skirts seem better.)
5 upside down catfish
1 juvenile Raphael (temporary. Had a mishap with my 55 gallon and had to take it down.)

(please point out any potential issues in my stock, too.)

I understand with the firemouth that they like to dig, so all the plants will be anchored to either pieces of driftwood or pieces of rock.

Other details: 75 gallon bio wheel filter, 150 watt heater, sand substrate, marineland LED lights. Tap water pH is about 7.4.-7.6 according to API master test kit

Main questions, my LFS's don't sell any natural large pieces of rock or drift wood specifically in the aquatics areas.

However, in the reptile section, they have a lot of beautiful pieces of driftwood, and packs of slate stone. Two of the main things I like. Would these be safe for the aquarium? I'd be scrubbing and soaking the driftwood first, of course. What sort of treatment should I do with the rock to clean it if it is safe?

What sort of plants would work for this? I'm looking for whatever hardy plants that would work with my setup.

Will the driftwood have any negative effect on my stock? It lowers the hardness and pH, right?

What about the stone? Will that effect my water chemistry at all?

What precautions should I take while adding plants?

Thanks in advance, I know it's a lot of stuff to read.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The most important thing for plants is the lights. I don't enough about LEDs to help you with that.


One thing that I will warn you about is that some plants will "sulk" when they are first put into a new tank. Just trim back the dying leaves and remove anything that falls onto the substrate, so that it doesn't foul the water. The key is to stay on top of them. If you see a leaf dying... cut it off. New ones will come back to replace them. I have all live plants and I don't regret it one bit. It really isn't hard. If you haven't read through the Planted Section's Resource Center. That is where you need to start.


Welcome to the live side of planted tanks! Your fish will thank you!

 

[onidrase]

The most important thing for plants is the lights. I don't enough about LEDs to help you with that.


One thing that I will warn you about is that some plants will "sulk" when they are first put into a new tank. Just trim back the dying leaves and remove anything that falls onto the substrate, so that it doesn't foul the water. The key is to stay on top of them. If you see a leaf dying... cut it off. New ones will come back to replace them. I have all live plants and I don't regret it one bit. It really isn't hard. If you haven't read through the Planted Section's Resource Center. That is where you need to start.


Welcome to the live side of planted tanks! Your fish will thank you!

I went to the plants forum and 2 people said LED's are fine, and are actually high lighting. I wouldn't disagree since they're much brighter than my other tanks with florescent.

 

[Mikaila31]

It actually depends entirely on the LEDs TBH. Some LED fixtures will barely give you low light others can give you high light. What it comes down to is often the type of LEDs used. In the end intensity does not matter what matters is you have full spectrum light with sufficient peaks to optimize plant growth(ei. sufficient PAR).

Often for taller tanks your going to be better off with fluorescents IMO. Its not that LEDs don't work, its just the ones that do a good job are much more expensive then the other options.

 

[onidrase]

It actually depends entirely on the LEDs TBH. Some LED fixtures will barely give you low light others can give you high light. What it comes down to is often the type of LEDs used. In the end intensity does not matter what matters is you have full spectrum light with sufficient peaks to optimize plant growth(ei. sufficient PAR).

Often for taller tanks your going to be better off with fluorescents IMO. Its not that LEDs don't work, its just the ones that do a good job are much more expensive then the other options.

This one has a hood with the slot specifically for the LED, though. I wouldn't be able to fit a florescent bulb on there. I wasn't looking for any fancy plants, I was mainly looking at like anubias and java fern. Maybe a few moss balls.

 

[onidrase]

I also honestly do like LED's a lot more than florescent. Will the plants I mentioned most likely be okay?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

Anubias and java fern can grow in any light. You can't go wrong with those. Moss balls can be a bit tricky. They look great, but you need to keep rolling them around the tank to keep them round and green on all sides.

 

[onidrase]

Anubias and java fern can grow in any light. You can't go wrong with those. Moss balls can be a bit tricky. They look great, but you need to keep rolling them around the tank to keep them round and green on all sides.

What happens if you don't roll it? Does it spread out or something?

 

[eaglesaquarium]

As far as I know the bottom part will die, and then yes, it flattens out and looks gross.

 

[onidrase]

what other more foreground like plants are out there?

 

[fluttermoth]

Pygmy chain sword, Echinodorus tenellus only grows to two or three inches tall and does well in my low light tanks.

 

[onidrase]

Thanks for the tips on the plants, guys, now what about the decorations? Will the slate and driftwood stuff used in the reptile cages do any harm? Any precautions I should take other than the scrubbing and soaking? How will it all effect my water chemistry?

 

[Louiseness]

Slate and other 'hard' rocks (can't think of any better way to put it than that ) shouldn't affect your water chemistry at all. Rocks like limestone or coral skeletons will push up your PH, and the tannins released from wood are supposed to soften water, although I'm not sure it often happens to any noticeable degree.

All of my decorations (slate, bogwood, mopani wood, beach pebbles) have just been rinsed well under the hot tap (and in the case of the mopani wood soaked for a couple of weeks just to get the worst of the tannins out) and I've never had a problem, even though the slate and pebbles were collected from outdoors.

 

[eaglesaquarium]

The change to your water chemistry is limited. The bogwood will add tannins (widely considered a fish tonic of sorts) which yellows the water and lowers the pH as it often takes the form of tannic acid. Eventually that will stop. I couldn't find any good wood for my tank anywhere other than the reptile area. I bought mopani wood, because I knew that was safe for the fish. I soaked it in very hot (not quite boiling) water for about 12 hours, then I placed it into my tank. Then a weird fungus looking stuff - white fluffy stuff - showed up on the wood. I've heard this is a sap like material or similar, and it eventually faded. I think my pest snails ate it, because right after that, I had an explosion in pest snail population, and my feeding was light. I sucked a bunch of them out after that, and I haven't had an explosion in pest snails like that since. I still have the snails, but they aren't a plague like they were for that one week.


The slate won't affect your water at all. Limestone or coral rock will dissolve and increase the kH (hardness) and the pH. Water changes will keep that under control.

 

[onidrase]

Thanks for the help. I'll pick it all up soon.

How tall do anubias get, by the way?

Are there any good ways to stack the slate to get some good hiding places for the catfish? Maybe mixing in some thicker rocks of sorts? how do you tell if a rock isn't aquarium safe?