More Lighting Needed? Co2 Needed?

[always4lora]

Hi' Guy's ,

Having my first attempt at getting soem real plants growing in my tank , ive got a 4x2x2 tank with 2 t5 39w bulbs for the lighting , i got a plant selection of plantsalive.com / co.uk which has over 100 plants in it , i've put them into the tank and only one of the smaller ones was seen as food by the silver dollars which is quitre good. Just wondering if i'll need more lighting or a Co2 system .
The substrate is sand , i have 2 24w bulbs on my other 4 foot tank which i could move accross if needed. I'm not sure on the species of plants (list's at home somewhere) .
I also have some floating plants but i assume these will get loadsof light anyway.

Any advise?

Cheers Ben

 

[Truck]

the plant collections from plants alive are normally slow growers such as crypts and anubias, the lighting you have should be fine without CO2, and no more light is necessary providing the plants are all low-medium light plants

 

[always4lora]

Found the list of plants:
122 selected plants:
10 x Echinodorus Tennellus (mini amazon sword)
5 x Elodea Densa
5 x Bacopa Monnerii
5 x Hygrophylia Polysperma
5 x Cabomba Caroliana
5 x Ludwigia Mullerii
5 x Cryptocoryne Wendtii
5 x Straight Vallisneria
5 x Hairgrass tall
10 x Mayaca Fluritalis
5 x Ludwigian Natans
5 x Hydrilla Verticilata
5 x Echinodorus Latifolious
5 x Rotalla Macrandra
5 x Salvinia
1 x Nymphea Spec.
5 x Cryptocoryne Ciliata
5 x Amazon sword
5 x Twisted Vallisneria
10 x Sagittaria Natans
5 x Rotalla Indica
1 x Aponogetum Crispus
5 x Eleocharis Parvulus (dwarf hairgrass)


I don't expect them all to last terribly long but id like to think some of them will keep growing and reporucing.

 

[baron von bubba]

I don't expect them all to last terribly long but id like to think some of them will keep growing and reporucing.

as long as the silver dollars dont eat them they should all be fine, as long as you add some ferts!
java fern may be an option, most fish wont touch it, not sure about the silver dollars tho!

 

[RadaR]

the plant collections from plants alive are normally slow growers such as crypts and anubias, the lighting you have should be fine without CO2, and no more light is necessary providing the plants are all low-medium light plants

I agree.

Ben, are you keeping the same fish in there? I don't expect plants to last long with an Oscar and Silver Dollars.

baron just pipped me there

 

[always4lora]

Yeh keeping the silver dollars, i had a couple of small plants in there previously and the silver dollars didn't touch them at all, they've only nibbled at the the small one that looks like dark lettuce type plant. I didn't think the oscar would eat them or are you refering to them digging?ive got a hole in the cornor of the tank where the oscar and the bichir sit so hopefully he'll be contempt with that .
With the silver dollar's ill try keeping them well fed or plant some lettuce leaves to fool them into thinking they're eating plants.

What should i use for ferts? they come with some tablet things you put in with them when planting , i have some liquid stuff that someone gave to me , think its called flora boost is this the same thing?

 

[Truck]

i would dose dry powders...and off the shelf fert will cost you a fortune! i would read the EI thread in the resource centre

 

[RadaR]

No doubt your large fish will be producing enough nitrogen and phosophorus for the plants. It's just a case of adding trace elements which is what the floraboost is although it's not the best one out there. The root tabs you have are also probably trace elements.

 

[always4lora]

So should i be following the following or just mixing up the trace mix?:

Potassium Nitrate - 40g to 500ml of water and adding 10ml per 100L of water would give you a value of 5ppm.
Potassium Phosphate - 15g to 500ml of water and adding 5ml per 100L of water would give you a value of 1ppm.
Potassium Sulphate - 55g to 500ml of water and adding 10ml per 100L of water would give you a value of 5ppm
Magnesium Sulphate - 70g to 500ml of water and add 50ml once a week per 100L of water - this would give a target of 7ppm.
Trace mix - 15g to 250ml of water will give you about the same concentration as the ‘off the shelf’ products. It is also a good idea, if you can, to add 0.5ml Normal hydrochloric acid as this helps to prevent the chelator from breaking down. Some people complain of mould growing on top of the solution - keeping it in the fridge should help prevent this and prolong it’s life.

 

[RadaR]

I personally would just do the trace mix because your lighting is low enough that the fish will be producing the N+P the plants need.
If however you did run into deficiencies then go ahead and do the rest of the mixes.

 

[always4lora]

by deficiencies are you refering to things like algae or plants dying? Sorry for so many questions , reading some of the planted documents is like reading about cycling for ther first time lol

Also for the traces mix can you make it your self or should i get something like Seachem Flourish Trace - 2 litre which costs £35.

 

[RadaR]

by deficiencies are you refering to things like algae or plants dying? Sorry for so many questions , reading some of the planted documents is like reading about cycling for ther first time lo

l

Yes. If the plants show deficiencies and if algae rears it's ugly head. Then you may have to dose nitrates and phosphates. Here is a list of deficiencies.

Also for the traces mix can you make it your self or should i get something like Seachem Flourish Trace - 2 litre which costs £35.

Yes, that's fine to use.

 

[baron von bubba]

by deficiencies are you refering to things like algae or plants dying? Sorry for so many questions , reading some of the planted documents is like reading about cycling for ther first time lol

Also for the traces mix can you make it your self or should i get something like Seachem Flourish Trace - 2 litre which costs £35.

have a look at tropical plant nutrition (TPN) as it also contains potassium. (not TPN+ that one has N and P also)

 

[always4lora]

Thanks for the help guy's i will see if i can get any trace stuff locally if not will get it orded.

Thanks again

 

[always4lora]

Noticed some brown dots on the aquarium glass now , just had a quick read in the resource centre, should i try getting the following plants?:Examples of Algae-Busting Plants –

Hygrophila species
Ludwigia species
Rotala species
Egeria species
Brazilian Water Ivy
Small Ambulia
Mexican Oak Leaf
Water Sprite
Hornwort
Floating plants (careful they don’t block too much light)


and see if this resolves it ? id say about 1/4 of the tank currently is planted according to that if i get more plants the alge should go away ? or should i start ordering some of the fertilizers?

Cheers Ben