Would Like To Have Real, Rather Than Fake...

[MrsM]

hi all

first question...substrate...ive seen a few different substrates, i dont like anything too dark, i have corys, a krib and rummy nose tetras...what do you reccomend...

id like some drift wood or some wood of some kind....which plants will grow on wood, all? some? please advise

also i like the big grey stones..but will they effect my ph? i dont want to alter it really if i can help it.....

just so you know i think tank of the year is spectacular, think its steveos....im thinking something along those lines.....i like the ground covering greenery too

my tank is 80L not sure on lighting but i can find out, its a taller than normal tank...

where do i start....

tank i love!
http/www.fishforums.net/index.php?/topic/389125-tank-of-the-year-2011-competition-winner-is/

 

[Baccus]

Sand will be the best substrate for corys, and most plants will grow in it pretty well also.

Plants that can be attached to wood include Anubis - quite a few named types available, Java fern again a couple of nice types - needle leaf is a nice one, mosses - willow, java, christmas, and fissiden

Is the big grey stone natural or is the grey painted on? Any stone which is soft such as sand stone will affect your pH.

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Thanks MrsM, the carpet plant is HC (Hemainthus Callitrichoides) its not that difficult to grow really, kind of a myth that it has to have huge amounts of light, I grew it a few times and one of them was under 1.4WPG of T8. Anyway, if you want a carpet plant like that your gonna need to have good flow around the whole tank so aim for at least 10 x full tank volume turnover per hour from your filter, if not you may want a powerhead to make it up. It will require some kind of CO2 or supplement for CO2 like Excel to grow along with ferts containing N&P.

As for the plants on wood, like Baccus said really, there is also Bolbitis and Bolbitis 'mini' there is now a new form of Microsorum (Java Fern) from aqua essentials called mini too which suits smaller tanks like your and mine, I have it on wood in my current Undiscovered scape on the front right if you wanna check it before you get it.

Only thing I will say is if your going with sand then maybe dont go for HC as if it grows fast and spreads quickly sand doesn't anchor so well and your carpet might float, if you have your heart set on HC then maybe have some of the substrate gravel or clay based substrate where the plants are going to grow and have a patch of sand for the cory's.

The rocks your talking about if they're the same ones in mine its mini landscape rock and can be found on ebay pretty cheap, good thing about it is if you want to have a sandy patch for the corys then you could break up the line between substrate and sand with them too.

I know its a lot of info but once you get going its much easier than you think honestly.

One more thing quickly, I know a lot of people have tanks at like 26-27 degrees but plants thrive in around 24, thought I'd mention it just in case.

Hope this helps,

Steve

 

[Baccus]

Silly me forgot bolbitis, I have some my sister gave me, nice plant but is slow growing, well it is in my low tech tanks. There is also subwassertang (Steve please help with spelling on that German one), which is like a fresh water seaweed similar to crinkly kelp.

I think I have HC, it was in a mixed bag of freebie plants somebody sent me once but had no names on anything. And yes my cory's never let it grow in the sand, always bulldozing up. But the good news is it is growing very happily as a floating surface plant and my mini Siamese Fighter called Leo loves snuggling into the tangle to sleep, also makes a great fry safe haven and my shrimp also hang out in it.

I also made a partial rock wall sectioning off one back corner of my cory tank, using flat rocks, and behind the wall I put mostly smooth gravel and a bit of sand while the rest of the tank is almost all sand. The plants that need the deeper substrate and heavier anchor of the gravel are planted in this section and are growing great guns.

Hope this also helps but Steve is the aquatic plant pro

 

[Ps3Steveo]

Not a pro dude, not by a long shot lol, thanks tho . Its Pelia (sabwassertang) .

 

[MrsM]

lots of researching to do here, greatly appreciated also a lovely jewel 180 will fit in my alcove so looks like the corys krib and rummy are getting an upgrade soon too!! eeeek, thanks both of you for the info

 

[Baccus]

We will love to see your eventual upgrade and plant selection.

Oh and Anubis is also generally a low light plant, so it grows well in shaded spots in the tank.

 

[MrsM]

almost had a second hand aquamarine 900 and cabinet for 100, but then he upped the price to 150...said it was a typing error! cant really afford it before xmas and shouldnt really...bit disappointed but guess ill just have to wait a few more week
thinking a bit of carpet and a bit of sand(for the cories) is the way forward.....

the bit im most scared of is moving my media into a bigger filter....its a possibility i could loose fish during the "bacteria catch up" phase...right?

 

[Ps3Steveo]

If you go fully planted and are willing to do daily water changes it should be fine, most do daily water changes to start with as the plants melt and it causes ammonia.

 

[MrsM]

plants melt??? ok why and ....why lol

 

[Ps3Steveo]

They melt as a lot are grown out of water (immersed growth) so they grow faster and due to the change in conditions they melt back and re grow a different structure to optimise growth. Don't worry plenty of water changes and keeping an eye will mean they grow back and getting conditions right means they'll flourish. It doesn't happen with a lot of species tho, some of the low light plants like ferns I've never had melt, but Crypts are one for melting tho.

 

[MrsM]

ok, thats good to know, i may have panicked n dragged them all out haha, thanks

 

[Ps3Steveo]

No worries.