More Light, Decent Co2, How Do Floating Plants Fit In?

[nry]

I now have 36w over 15 gallons, so 2.4wpg (previously 1wpg). CO2 now via Nutrafin kit with ladder (previously almost non-existent), levels appear fine according to JBL Permanent test vs kH reading. Some plants are pearling, dosing Flourish and Flourish Trace daily (weekly dose/7 days to give a daily figure).

I've had salvinia natans in for a good while now, though as much because I had so much in my other tank. I am wondering if now I have more light and CO2, am I better having no floating plants to ensure the submerged plants get the best light for growth to help reduce the chance of algae developing? Or does it simply not matter!

 

[nicklfire]

Well first off you went from 1 wpg to 2.4 which is great, your in the med range (the norm) for most plant guys.. which is great, your dosing your ferts.. whcih is great. You said your dosing Flourish and flourish trace daily... what is the normal flourish one... is that the NPK ? If your getting about 30ppm of co2 your doing excellent..

Your floating plants could present a problem if it's "too much". What i mean is do you have tons of it layered on top of the surface or is it just a plant here and there. You can see the shadows on the bottom to notice if it'll pose a threat... also does the plant float around or is it stationary. If your plants are pearling that's a good indication you have the perfect environment setup currently.

if the floating plants are minimal i dont see it being a issue. And if you dont have algae currently you must be doing somthing right correct

 

[thefirethief]

I think if things are going well for you then you have nothing to worry about. Remember, floating plants take CO2 straight from the air. This means they use up nutrients in the water column much faster than submerged plants. The floating plants might be depriving algae of enough nutrition and/or light to keep it at bay. Take them out and you might be hit with an algae bloom.


Ive got floating duckweed covering most of the surface of one of my planted tanks and to the naked eye the light level reduction is hardly noticable. The leaves are thin so are penetrated easily. Its all hardy plants too so havent seen any problems so far.

 

[nry]

The plants do tend to move around a bit, the danio seem to enjoy splashing around the roots which dislodges them all the time.

What usually happens is the floating plants obscure an area below which then sees a reduction in pearling for those plants. I took a handful of the floating plants out last night, I have so much in my other tank that it is easy enough to add a load more back! I am also curious if they would remove enough nutrients themselves as to affect the other plants...

As for algae, time will tell, the new lighting will either trigger it again or the better CO2 and nutrients will keep it at bay.

I am dosing Flourish (normal) and Flourish Trace, I'm not doing the additional NPK stuff at the moment though I should probably at least investigate levels of these to see if I need to worry about them: I have a fairly full fish level so I may be OK.

 

[sophos9]

What are the goals of your planted tank? Dependant on these you may want to start dosing K N P. Check your nitrates daily over the next few nights, do you know what they currently are?

 

[nry]

What are the goals of your planted tank? Dependant on these you may want to start dosing K N P. Check your nitrates daily over the next few nights, do you know what they currently are?

Water change is due this evening, I'll check levels then. Usually they sit around 20ppm though that was before the new light went in.

Goals..well the light upgrade was as much to do with getting a more even lighting level across the tank surface, the previous Juwel hood had the light all at the front which made plants grow forwards really badly. Most plants did OK but I would like to thicken up growth and improve the colours of the plants, maybe introducing some higher light ones as the tank progresses further: I have JBL AquaBasis Plus below the gravel aswell.

 

[sophos9]

Check your nitrates, then again a day after the water change to see the consumption of nitrates, with the light upgrade you will probably see your nitrates disappearing quickly as they are used by the plants. The EI method may work well for you. If you have not started EI and see nitrates going below 5ppm then you may want to start dosing KNO3, if nitrates are consistently above 5ppm you 'may' be lacking another nutrient (probably K2SO4), if so dose accordingly until nitrates retreat to 5ppm. Do you have a phosphate test kit?

Please be aware that the above is only a method of reaching balance (KH2PO4 in the next post), after this, by watching your plants progress you can adjust your dosage accordingly

As you are aware, there are multiple ways of dosing macros... Find one that helps your goals!

 

[Themuleous]

As long as the floating plants don't cover the whole of the surface and prevent light getting to the plants below they should be fine. They are also ultra fast growing which makes them ideal for algae prevention in new tanks.

I agree about the N and P, you may find these get depleted, so adding them artificially might be a good idea.

Sam

 

[nry]

Well, my nitrAtes were 5ppm after the water change last night. Given that I also had to change the Nutrafin ingredients today (useless sachets!) I am getting 10ppm tonight, though that's with minimal, if no CO2.