Just How Planted Is Fully Planted?

markandhisfish

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exactly as the title really , im trying to work out roughly what my dosing levels will be using pmdd+po4 , the dosing guidelines are given for fully planted tanks. exaclty what defines a "fully planted" tank?
 
75% substrate coverage looking from above.

Whilst we say substrate coverage there may be no substrate planting at all but loads of plants attached to woods/rocks.

This is very very fully planted. I would suggest 100% coverage from above however probably only 20% actually planted in the substrate:
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AC
 
Glad you asked the question Mark. I was wondering the same thing. My 10 gallon is getting pretty close then. Now if I could only find a LFS here in Phoenix that sold Ghost Shrimp to help keep the substrate clean that tank would be set.
 
well i plan on having the foreground carpeted which will bump the substrate coverage right up. what im going to carpet with im not 100% decided yet but its a choice of 3 . altho obviously i wont start with a full carpet it will spread over time , so initial dosing levels would logicaly be a touch lower to start with.

this is exactly the kind of challenge i need. fish are no challenge any more , i can confidently keep anything that my big tank is capable of housing , this high tech planted lark tho is a lot more involved. i aint even set the thing up yet and every day im finding new things , learning more , getting deeper into it . and i have to say im loving it!!!! altho all these great articles are playing havoc with my sleep patterns , im getting all bug eyed from sitting up into the small hours reading :lol:
 
this is exactly the kind of challenge i need. fish are no challenge any more , i can confidently keep anything that my big tank is capable of housing , this high tech planted lark tho is a lot more involved. i aint even set the thing up yet and every day im finding new things , learning more , getting deeper into it . and i have to say im loving it!!!! altho all these great articles are playing havoc with my sleep patterns , im getting all bug eyed from sitting up into the small hours reading :lol:

You sound a lot like me Mark. however don't expect to sort the sleep pattern out any time soon (if ever.)

As you sound like me I can see you on the read/research forever. There is always something else to learn in this hobby. New research comes up all the time.

As for a challenge? I followed all the rules, all the advice from the start and although I got down to small algae problems I didn't reach 'algae free' for 3 whole years :) I don't like to be beaten so I kept at ti till I got there :)

AC
 
yep youve pretty much summed me up to a tee there . when something grabs me i want to learn anything and everything about it , if i had 1 bit of self criticism it would be that sometimes i need to rein myself in a bit because i try and learn everything at once .

im not naive enough to think that just because ive read a bit that i can set the tank up ,plant it, pump it with co2 etc and get instant success , but by the same token the prior research should at least give a decent starting platform . im expecting a few early algae problems along the way , but this just gos towards the feeling of satisfaction when it all clicks and you get to sit back and look at a lush , thriving tank and say....... yep i did that :good:
 
I'm another like that. I did a good 6 months research (mainly on here) before setting up my 15g planted and it still needs work!

For example, the missus went to sleep at 10pm last night leaving me reading, but i was still on this forum at 2am! :blush:

I've definitely donated more hours to this forum than i have to studying for my Masters. Argh! :S
 
oh look..it's 10 to 2 am here...
For example, the missus went to sleep at 10pm last night leaving me reading, but i was still on this forum at 2am!

same story the world over!
 
yep i found an aquascaping website last night with really good plant info , including growth characteristics and aquascaping application . well that was me until 4 am :crazy:. tank is being bought round tonight , ive orderd my circulation pump , and a few bits and bobs . but it will probably be a few weeks before i catually set it up . mainly for financial reasons , but thats ok with me . ive still got the malawi tank to keep me amused and it gives me more time to read up on some more stuff

when he gets here with the tank il be able to check out the light unit and see if im going to use it or bin it and get some t5s in there .
 

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