Recommended Plants For A High Tech Setup?

[johnnyr]

Hi guys!

I have everything set up in my 20gal, have about 3.25 WPG, using ADA aqua soil with pressurized CO2.

Now for the plants! What would you recommend? I have a piece off driftwood in there as well.

Thanks!

 

[jkc]

How long has the tank been running? If you have only just set the tank up I would definately get as many fast growing stems in there as you can to avoid algae problems!

 

[johnnyr]

How long has the tank been running? If you have only just set the tank up I would definately get as many fast growing stems in there as you can to avoid algae problems!

Yes, the tank was set up last night. What stem plants would you recommend? Swords?

 

[jkc]

I would go for: -

Hygrophila species
Ludwigia species
Rotala species
Water Sprite
Hornwort
Floating plants

 

[BigIan]

swords arent stem plats they are root feeding broad leafed plants.

stem plants refers to the plants that grow one single stem with leaves coming off of it, such as cabomba, ludwigia, bacopa carolina....

these simple plants grow very fast, and so absorba lot of nutrients preventing alge break outs.

also have fun with the aqua soil, i`ve had mine in the tank for 3 weeks and its only just stopped releasing ammonia

 

[johnnyr]

swords arent stem plats they are root feeding broad leafed plants.

stem plants refers to the plants that grow one single stem with leaves coming off of it, such as cabomba, ludwigia, bacopa carolina....

these simple plants grow very fast, and so absorba lot of nutrients preventing alge break outs.

also have fun with the aqua soil, i`ve had mine in the tank for 3 weeks and its only just stopped releasing ammonia

Great! Thanks for the suggestions!

 

[MoreCoffee]

I'd load the tank up with fast growing stem plants (rotala etc), swords are not particularly fast growing.
Have a look at Tropica's site for plants listed as Growth - 'fast'. These are the ones you want and will help counter any early algae issues.

Also if you are using ADA aquasoil, be careful what fish/shrimp you put in there during the first 3 - 4 weeks, I'd strongly advise putting nothing in there for at least 3 weeks (Plants are fine) !

I used Powersand & Aquasoil and saw some really erratic test readings. NH3/4 was off the scale as far as my test kit was concerned (over 5 ... not 0.5), and you'll also see changes in your PH and KH.
Just ride them out ..... test your water every few days and things will settle down, by the third week you should see the readings balance out - it may take longer or may be quicker.

Test and be patient !.

Once your readings have been stable for 2 or 3 days (at least), thats the time to get things like Otocinclus and Amano shrimp into the tank.

Whilst you've got no livestock in the tank, you wont have to worry too much about pushing the CO2 up too high ..... get it up to at least 30ppm. But remember if your PH and KH are altering, your reading may be off.
I just pushed mine right up (45 - 50ppm) and then adjusted things back down to 30ppm once the water had settled, before adding fish.


Al

 

[johnnyr]

I'd load the tank up with fast growing stem plants (rotala etc), swords are not particularly fast growing.
Have a look at Tropica's site for plants listed as Growth - 'fast'. These are the ones you want and will help counter any early algae issues.

Also if you are using ADA aquasoil, be careful what fish/shrimp you put in there during the first 3 - 4 weeks, I'd strongly advise putting nothing in there for at least 3 weeks (Plants are fine) !

I used Powersand & Aquasoil and saw some really erratic test readings. NH3/4 was off the scale as far as my test kit was concerned (over 5 ... not 0.5), and you'll also see changes in your PH and KH.
Just ride them out ..... test your water every few days and things will settle down, by the third week you should see the readings balance out - it may take longer or may be quicker.

Test and be patient !.

Once your readings have been stable for 2 or 3 days (at least), thats the time to get things like Otocinclus and Amano shrimp into the tank.

Whilst you've got no livestock in the tank, you wont have to worry too much about pushing the CO2 up too high ..... get it up to at least 30ppm. But remember if your PH and KH are altering, your reading may be off.
I just pushed mine right up (45 - 50ppm) and then adjusted things back down to 30ppm once the water had settled, before adding fish.


Al

Thanks for all the info! Right now, this is basically a tank for plants =) I'm not really concerned about adding fish, and didn't plan on adding any for 2-3 months. Is there any drawback to doing this? Do I NEED the fish? I just want to make sure my plants are up and running (since this is my first attempt at a planted tank) without having to worry about the fish on top of that.

 

[BigIan]

adding fish such as ottos, and shrimp will help the plants by nibbleing any alge build up that does/will occour,

you may not go for full stocking but i recoment at least a few of these fish, as they also help to mature the tank, adding mulm (mty fave way to describe fish poo) to the substrate that the plants will feed off.

 

[johnnyr]

adding fish such as ottos, and shrimp will help the plants by nibbleing any alge build up that does/will occour,

you may not go for full stocking but i recoment at least a few of these fish, as they also help to mature the tank, adding mulm (mty fave way to describe fish poo) to the substrate that the plants will feed off.

Ok, thanks for the info.

Any Ideas of where I can get plants online? I'm in Arizona, so a lot of the places (aquariumplants.com, drfostersmith, etc) are in the eastern states, so overnight shipping is more then the cost of the plants! ($40-$50)

Thanks!