Today is the day I upgrade my lighting and take the next step in trying to try to master plants. Today is the day I add my final plants, and give my ground ground cover (micro/pygmy chain swords) more lighting. Today is the day I lay the foundation for what will either be a flourishing plant tank or an algae farm. My set-up and design/plans (much of it is not optimal, so bare with me):
55 galllon tank with glass canopy/substrate is gravel only/large piece of driftwood, with java fern and java fern lace attached, and anubias coming out of most available holes/crevaces.
Picking up compact flourescent lights at about 120 total watts - I know....a bit high from what I wanted, but I am going to go for it
My wife ordered this for me as a gift, after it was recommended by the plant expert at the LFS.
Filtration, Top Fin 30 hang-on (water level kept high to prevent agitation, and the glss canopy seems to eliminate water loss), Fluval 3 submersable, Fluval 305 canister. Carbon only kept in the hang-on. I can't find peat, yet I am worried that softening the water and increasing the scidity too much will adversely affect my rather buatiful gold and blua snails.
CO2 fermentation kit, only geared to 40 gallons ( runs when the lights are on)
Led Moonlights, run after timer sets off the main lights
Air pump also kicks in when lights go off.
Plants: Anubias (very large barteri, coffeeelia, smalller nanas), a cluster on nana pettite, onions (regular, dwarf, natan, and calistratum), Hortwort (huge/overgrown but preventing algea thus far - may have to cut it in the middle and use the tops to replant, from what I have read here), wisteria (thriving), moss balls, java moss, looking to add riccia on some kind of mesh crating), anacharis, banana plants (lagre and small), comboba, java fern, a beautiful amazon sword, chain swords, italian vallisneria, and more to be bought today. I have an aluminum plant in there that I am thinking of disposing of, or at least, cutting off the leaves with holes in them and using it as a small foreground plant. I think it is being eaten....also having some problems with stem plants, as you'd expect....sagitteria got eaten, I am sure by the pleco going after the bottom rooots. Broke off from the roots, but what I really like is Valliseneria, and, if I can find some jungle/americana, I'll give it a go. By the way, the pigmy chain swords came in a matt. I broke it in half and planted each piece to one of the sides of the center foreground/midground area. I want to to grow throughout the gravel of the tank.
Fish: 5 giant danios, 13 black neons, 1 dwarf rainbow, 2 clown loaches, 1 gold nugget, 3-4 ottos, and unknown number of panda corys (can't see them, but I know that several have died.....corys never seem to sruvive my tank, whether it's sue to hardness, or my former use of salt (when I set up the tank five plus years ago), or high nitrates. Thinking of adding Rams, Keyholes, Golden Algea Eater, perhaps even a Festivum Cichlid as the tank king. But, I will only opt for one or two of these options. Besides, I need to do some major testing on my water before adding anything else. I do need more algea eaters, so I will definitely invest in a few more otos at the least.
Fert schedule ?- Right now, all I add is Flourish Excel and Kent Freshwater Pro plant. I must resist being sold an extravagant fert. schedule today, when I pick up my plants and light. I am looking for the bare minimum in ferts, the most economical, and I don't want to overdo it on the additives. With the Kent products, it seems like I have lost Corys after using it, so I know there is nitrogen in there, and perhaps the nitrate levels are too much for the corys. I just wish I had a simple fert schedule, with the bare minimum of products, none of which willl increase nitrates or phosphorus......don't know if this is possible.
Questions....should I be looking at other fert, or can I just try what I have now for a while?
Are larger vallisisneria going to stand up to the loaches/nugget better? The italian seems to be doing fine.
Should I drastically cut back the hornwort, as it is now across half the surface of my tank despite being weighed under a rock /gravel?
How often should I be doing water changes and what percentage with this set-up and treatment schedule?
Will the riccia be nibbled upon, eatne, and/or otherwise ruined? I don't want to go through this painstaking task, if my fish are going to treat it like they did the Cuban Baby Tears,,,,,,?
Will Amano shrimp survive in my tank? With 5 inch cloen loaches?
55 galllon tank with glass canopy/substrate is gravel only/large piece of driftwood, with java fern and java fern lace attached, and anubias coming out of most available holes/crevaces.
Picking up compact flourescent lights at about 120 total watts - I know....a bit high from what I wanted, but I am going to go for it
My wife ordered this for me as a gift, after it was recommended by the plant expert at the LFS.Filtration, Top Fin 30 hang-on (water level kept high to prevent agitation, and the glss canopy seems to eliminate water loss), Fluval 3 submersable, Fluval 305 canister. Carbon only kept in the hang-on. I can't find peat, yet I am worried that softening the water and increasing the scidity too much will adversely affect my rather buatiful gold and blua snails.
CO2 fermentation kit, only geared to 40 gallons ( runs when the lights are on)
Led Moonlights, run after timer sets off the main lights
Air pump also kicks in when lights go off.
Plants: Anubias (very large barteri, coffeeelia, smalller nanas), a cluster on nana pettite, onions (regular, dwarf, natan, and calistratum), Hortwort (huge/overgrown but preventing algea thus far - may have to cut it in the middle and use the tops to replant, from what I have read here), wisteria (thriving), moss balls, java moss, looking to add riccia on some kind of mesh crating), anacharis, banana plants (lagre and small), comboba, java fern, a beautiful amazon sword, chain swords, italian vallisneria, and more to be bought today. I have an aluminum plant in there that I am thinking of disposing of, or at least, cutting off the leaves with holes in them and using it as a small foreground plant. I think it is being eaten....also having some problems with stem plants, as you'd expect....sagitteria got eaten, I am sure by the pleco going after the bottom rooots. Broke off from the roots, but what I really like is Valliseneria, and, if I can find some jungle/americana, I'll give it a go. By the way, the pigmy chain swords came in a matt. I broke it in half and planted each piece to one of the sides of the center foreground/midground area. I want to to grow throughout the gravel of the tank.
Fish: 5 giant danios, 13 black neons, 1 dwarf rainbow, 2 clown loaches, 1 gold nugget, 3-4 ottos, and unknown number of panda corys (can't see them, but I know that several have died.....corys never seem to sruvive my tank, whether it's sue to hardness, or my former use of salt (when I set up the tank five plus years ago), or high nitrates. Thinking of adding Rams, Keyholes, Golden Algea Eater, perhaps even a Festivum Cichlid as the tank king. But, I will only opt for one or two of these options. Besides, I need to do some major testing on my water before adding anything else. I do need more algea eaters, so I will definitely invest in a few more otos at the least.
Fert schedule ?- Right now, all I add is Flourish Excel and Kent Freshwater Pro plant. I must resist being sold an extravagant fert. schedule today, when I pick up my plants and light. I am looking for the bare minimum in ferts, the most economical, and I don't want to overdo it on the additives. With the Kent products, it seems like I have lost Corys after using it, so I know there is nitrogen in there, and perhaps the nitrate levels are too much for the corys. I just wish I had a simple fert schedule, with the bare minimum of products, none of which willl increase nitrates or phosphorus......don't know if this is possible.
Questions....should I be looking at other fert, or can I just try what I have now for a while?
Are larger vallisisneria going to stand up to the loaches/nugget better? The italian seems to be doing fine.
Should I drastically cut back the hornwort, as it is now across half the surface of my tank despite being weighed under a rock /gravel?
How often should I be doing water changes and what percentage with this set-up and treatment schedule?
Will the riccia be nibbled upon, eatne, and/or otherwise ruined? I don't want to go through this painstaking task, if my fish are going to treat it like they did the Cuban Baby Tears,,,,,,?
Will Amano shrimp survive in my tank? With 5 inch cloen loaches?
