Plants In 100% Gravel Substrate Suggestions

[DanielG]

Hello,

I have a Rio 125 fishless cycling at the moment with plants in, they are not doing to well though and i was looking for some suggestions on which plants would be best suited to my conditions,

I have 100% gravel substrate about 3 inches deep

The new 28w lights that apparently provide 1.8WPG

Apart form that i have been adding fertilizer once a week, its just some stuff that has iron and other
things in it, not sure if its the right kind of fert though, suggestions on a good fertilizer would be great.

I have no Co2 as i think i read on here somewhere that at less than 2WPG co2 uptake would be low enough not to need it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

P.S i really like amazon swords any specific help on growing these would be great

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Hello,

I have a Rio 125 fishless cycling at the moment with plants in, they are not doing to well though and i was looking for some suggestions on which plants would be best suited to my conditions,

I have 100% gravel substrate about 3 inches deep

The new 28w lights that apparently provide 1.8WPG

Apart form that i have been adding fertilizer once a week, its just some stuff that has iron and other
things in it, not sure if its the right kind of fert though, suggestions on a good fertilizer would be great.

I have no Co2 as i think i read on here somewhere that at less than 2WPG co2 uptake would be low enough not to need it.

Any help would be greatly appreciated

P.S i really like amazon swords any specific help on growing these would be great

I have this same tank and i am also cycling it. I use tetra complete substrate under the gravel. One pot is about £9 and youll need about two to get a good coverage. Swords are greedy so they need root tabs, also place them out of direct light. Plants always benefit from co2 and its easy to make your own or buy a nutrafin canister for about £17 off ebay. It says you need two for this sized tank but i think one will do you with that WPG.

 

[DanielG]

the problem i have is that the tank is already set up and running (cycling) i wish id used some soil like substrate under the gravel but i guess its too late now, dont know how id get it under there with the water in and the gravel down.

are there any links to Co2 topics discussed in detail im afraid i dont know much about its use in tanks at all

 

[ebrcknrdg]

the problem i have is that the tank is already set up and running (cycling) i wish id used some soil like substrate under the gravel but i guess its too late now, dont know how id get it under there with the water in and the gravel down.

are there any links to Co2 topics discussed in detail im afraid i dont know much about its use in tanks at all

I did the same. All i do is scoop a hole in the gravel and hold the tetra complete tight in my hand and push it into the gravel. Some sinks some floats.

Are you doing a fishless cycle? If so once its cycled you have to do a massive water change (90%) so that could be your opportunity to take out the gravel and put nutrient rich substrate underneath (this is what im going to be doing)

Go to the planted tank section and at the top in the pinned articles theres a whole thread dedicated to the nutrafin canister. That really helped me. Id highly recommend CO2

 

[DanielG]

yeah i am fishless cycling, so i think thats probably my best bet, hopefully my plants wont have died by then!!!

out of interest as we have the same tank, what are you thinking of keeping in it?

i want to have a couple of rams, guppies, a bristlenose, and neons/rummynoses

 

[ebrcknrdg]

yeah i am fishless cycling, so i think thats probably my best bet, hopefully my plants wont have died by then!!!

out of interest as we have the same tank, what are you thinking of keeping in it?

i want to have a couple of rams, guppies, a bristlenose, and neons/rummynoses

The bristlenose love plants, so try to keep plants that they either dont like to eat or that are hardy.

Im going to have
5 Zebra Danios
5-10 Neons
3 Plattys
3 Ottos
A showy fish such as gouramis

Oh dont forget to dose with liquid ferts!

 

[ShoC]

you shouldn't have to worry about the substrate to much as when you have fish in their the waste that gets mixed into the gravel will be nutrition for the plants,
but like ebrcknrdg Said the Root taps are essential for the amazon sword plant as they are greedy,

and again ur doing a fishless cycle fantastic opportunity to change the gravel,

 

[Dave Spencer]

Amazon Swords can thrive in an inert substrate, provided the water column is adequately fertilised. If you want to keep your fert routine simple, then you could add root tabs directly to the individual plants` roots.

Another alternative is to fill an ice cube tray with plain garden soil and a little water and freeze them. You can then easily add the soil ice cubes to the roots without any mess.

Dave.