Planted Aqaurium Newbie

[SLIM]

Hi everyone

I have a 260L tank which at the moment is decorated with rocks and plastic plants.

I want some real plants to help with the Nitrates and just to give it a more realistic feel, so yesterday i ordered some along with some plant ferts.

I ordered
1 x African Tiger Lotus
5 x Crypt Nevillii
5 x Crypt Becketii

I know these are all small plants but i want to start off slowly and see how things go.
Growing plants in an aquarium is all new to me and i dont know that much to be honest.

Apparently i already have the right lighting which is all good

Anyway... My question is, If i put activated carbon in my filter for whatever reason, will the carbon filter out all the plant fertilizer? Or will the fertilizer stay present in the water regardless?

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply

Paul

 

[Aqua Tom]

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Anyway... My question is, If i put activated carbon in my filter for whatever reason, will the carbon filter out all the plant fertilizer? Or will the fertilizer stay present in the water regardless?

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply

Paul

Yes. The carbon will remove the fertilizer.


Tom

 

[SLIM]

<>
Anyway... My question is, If i put activated carbon in my filter for whatever reason, will the carbon filter out all the plant fertilizer? Or will the fertilizer stay present in the water regardless?

Thanks for taking the time to read and reply

Paul

Yes. The carbon will remove the fertilizer.


Tom

Ahh i thought it would.

Thanx for comfirming that for me

 

[saz326]

Activated carbon acts like a bit of a beast really - it grabs everuything out of the water until it is fully loaded up.
Pretty much any active chemical in the water will be adsorped onto its surface. (note: not absorbed into its surface)

Most aquarists leave activated carbon out of the filtration syetem unless they want to remove medication from the water at the end of treatment. I personally only use it in my shrimp tank since they are very sensitive to chemical contamination, and my shrimp tank is in a busy kitchen.

Welcome to the world of plants. they really make a difference to the 'feel' of the tank. Just as long as they can grow and thrive. Sometimes a new plant will simply never take root and will die off - other times it all runs well. Luck of the drawer to some extent. So good luck to you.

 

[lljdma06]

Would you like this moved to the Planted section?

 

[KittyKat]

Also activated carbon is usually used up in a matter of hours after being added to the tank.. so "carbon" sponges in an existing set-up (so long as they have not been replaced) are not a threat to the fertiliser.

 

[SLIM]

Would you like this moved to the Planted section?

Yes you can do. Thanx

 

[SLIM]

Thanx everyone for your comments

I do have carbon in my filter at the moment.
I only put it in to clear up abit of cloudy water which it did brilliantly so i can probably take it out now.
I jus wanted to know for future reference

Sorry i have a couple more questions if thats ok, the more knowledge i obtain the better!

Does Carbon filter out Ammonia and Nitrite thus starving the bacteria on the ceramic rings? Or is that a myth?

Also is adding plants like adding fish? If i add too many at once, will i get a spike?

And finally, im not sure if i do have the right lighting.

I have the Fluval Vicenza 260 which came with 2 long T5 fluorescent tubes which are 39W each.
In the manual it says nothing about what spectrum they are.

I contacted Seapets who sold me the aquarium and they assured me they are the right tubes for plants.

They said anything thats a higher wattage will be too much and il have algae problems along with long stringy plants because they will grow too quick

Im not so sure if my lights are even the right spectrum let alone the right wattage
Does anyone know if i do have the right lighting and if not. What tubes do i need?

 

[KittyKat]

Does Carbon filter out Ammonia and Nitrite thus starving the bacteria on the ceramic rings? Or is that a myth?

A myth, from what I know.

Also is adding plants like adding fish? If i add too many at once, will i get a spike?

No, plants don't produce ammonia in quite the same way fish do.

And finally, im not sure if i do have the right lighting.

Standard lighting like that is perfectly fine for anyone who isn't interested in meddling with heavy CO[sub]2[/sub] and fertiliser usage.

What tubes do i need?

The ones you have are probably fine. When the time comes to replace them, I can recommend the colour 865 from Philips or Osram. They're about 3 pounds per tube instead of the 15-25 that "aquarium" tubes are.

You have about 1.14 watts per US gallon (wpg), 1-2 wpg is the standard recommended for plants. I personally use 1.1 wpg in my main planted display.

 

[SLIM]

Does Carbon filter out Ammonia and Nitrite thus starving the bacteria on the ceramic rings? Or is that a myth?

A myth, from what I know.

Also is adding plants like adding fish? If i add too many at once, will i get a spike?

No, plants don't produce ammonia in quite the same way fish do.

And finally, im not sure if i do have the right lighting.

Standard lighting like that is perfectly fine for anyone who isn't interested in meddling with heavy CO[sub]2[/sub] and fertiliser usage.

What tubes do i need?

The ones you have are probably fine. When the time comes to replace them, I can recommend the colour 865 from Philips or Osram. They're about 3 pounds per tube instead of the 15-25 that "aquarium" tubes are.

You have about 1.14 watts per US gallon (wpg), 1-2 wpg is the standard recommended for plants. I personally use 1.1 wpg in my main planted display.

You are an absolute star, Thank you!
Thanx for clearing all that up for me