How do you take care of freshwater plants?
- Thread starter fishkid2
- Start date
ophiura
Active Member
Not necessarily. Definitely not the sand, IMO. But you do typically want a smaller substrate - not the typical course gravel in FW. There are many FW substrates for planted tanks.
As for CO2, well...not necessary but it does help. Low flow will help too. But there are some real cheap ways to do CO2 injection.
As for CO2, well...not necessary but it does help. Low flow will help too. But there are some real cheap ways to do CO2 injection.
ric maniac
Active Member
the gravel/sand thing made me wonder this: i always see bags of fairly large sized rocks (quarter to half dollar sized) and i was wondering if this is ok for fw aquariums. (not trying to hijack this thread. and i would like to know about the aquarium vital as well.
zman1
Active Member
fishkid2
Member
Originally Posted by zman1
Here is an old thread -
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=185854
HTH
So I'm thinking, I will buy the potting moss, then maybe get the clay from the St. Croix river. Then I have to look at the sand in the sand box. There is some of the concret mix stuff that mud was talking about in tarp in the sand box also.
By the way thanks for the link.
Here is an old thread -
https://www.saltwaterfish.com/vb/showthread.php?t=185854
HTH
So I'm thinking, I will buy the potting moss, then maybe get the clay from the St. Croix river. Then I have to look at the sand in the sand box. There is some of the concret mix stuff that mud was talking about in tarp in the sand box also.
By the way thanks for the link.
ophiura
Active Member
Originally Posted by ric maniac
the gravel/sand thing made me wonder this: i always see bags of fairly large sized rocks (quarter to half dollar sized) and i was wondering if this is ok for fw aquariums. (not trying to hijack this thread. and i would like to know about the aquarium vital as well.
This is not ideal substrate for a planted tank, but fine to use, in general, in a FW tank.
the gravel/sand thing made me wonder this: i always see bags of fairly large sized rocks (quarter to half dollar sized) and i was wondering if this is ok for fw aquariums. (not trying to hijack this thread. and i would like to know about the aquarium vital as well.
This is not ideal substrate for a planted tank, but fine to use, in general, in a FW tank.
southoats
Member
Planted tanks are actually pretty easy. I've used a bunch of different substrates, but I find that regular potting soil (make sure that there isn't the little white styro things in it), topped off with sand and then a fine gravel works great. All you have to do is soak the potting soil well, you can actually boil it if you are worried about bugs. Make sure that there isn't any floating stuff and then place that in your tank topped with the sand and the gravel. Once you SLOWLY add your water to about the half way point you can add plants and then top it off.
For FW tanks you want to have lighting that is in the 6700K range and at least 2 watts per gallon, depending on what the plants require. I have a few tanks that have 4 WPG and they are running with no Co2, they do well. If you are wanting to run a high tech tank then the best bet is to find a filter that has an adjustable flow rate, and set it a little lower than top flow rate. I have played with the "natural tank" thing and not used any filtration other than the plants with a low bioload, and the tanks are awesome! They have excellent growth and are super easy to maintain. However, they are all low light tanks that I have running and aren't the coolest to look at.
If you want to do Co2 and have high light plants then you are going to have a lot of pruning and care to give to the tank as they will grow REAL fast! Co2 systems have come down in price in the past few years and are easy to use, making it something to definately try!
Have fun!
For FW tanks you want to have lighting that is in the 6700K range and at least 2 watts per gallon, depending on what the plants require. I have a few tanks that have 4 WPG and they are running with no Co2, they do well. If you are wanting to run a high tech tank then the best bet is to find a filter that has an adjustable flow rate, and set it a little lower than top flow rate. I have played with the "natural tank" thing and not used any filtration other than the plants with a low bioload, and the tanks are awesome! They have excellent growth and are super easy to maintain. However, they are all low light tanks that I have running and aren't the coolest to look at.
If you want to do Co2 and have high light plants then you are going to have a lot of pruning and care to give to the tank as they will grow REAL fast! Co2 systems have come down in price in the past few years and are easy to use, making it something to definately try!
Have fun!
southoats
Member
Originally Posted by fishkid2
i have another question. What would be the best algae eating thing that does not eat the plants? In my tank right now is just a pleco. In my other tank I have these Japonica Amano Shrimp or japanese algae eating shrimp. Would these shrimp work or maybe the otto cat fish.
The shrimp will eat certain types of algea and the ottos are WONDERFUL! You might also want to try Cherry Shrimp, they do a fine job of taking out some algea. As far as plecos go, you need to be careful with them, as some of them are more meat eaters than algea eaters, I would recommend a Bristle Nose Pleco, as they are like the algea vacs of the FW world, and they stay relatively small (around 4 inches). With those in your tank, you will pretty much have all the algea types taken care of!
i have another question. What would be the best algae eating thing that does not eat the plants? In my tank right now is just a pleco. In my other tank I have these Japonica Amano Shrimp or japanese algae eating shrimp. Would these shrimp work or maybe the otto cat fish.
The shrimp will eat certain types of algea and the ottos are WONDERFUL! You might also want to try Cherry Shrimp, they do a fine job of taking out some algea. As far as plecos go, you need to be careful with them, as some of them are more meat eaters than algea eaters, I would recommend a Bristle Nose Pleco, as they are like the algea vacs of the FW world, and they stay relatively small (around 4 inches). With those in your tank, you will pretty much have all the algea types taken care of!
southoats
Member
Well the cheapest is a DIY, and it's not too hard, I'll have to dig up the exact recipie for it. It's just a 2 liter soda bottle and a little bit of clear tubing, aquarium epoxy and a bubble stone! I'll type up the instructions and the recipie for the system. It's not pretty but it works very well!
southoats
Member
OK, this is easy and only takes a little minute of your time.
Take a 2 liter soda bottle and make sure that it's clean rinse it well and let it dry completely. Drill a hole in the cap that it the size of the tubing that you will be using and then put aquarium epoxy around the hole and slide the tube in. Make sure that your hose is not too far in the bottle, no more than about an 2 inches in. You don't want to have the hose touching the yeast mixture.
(ew, that doesn't sound right does it!?
)
Now from here you have two options, you can either run it through your filter and let it release the Co2 into your filter and then it will be broken down through water movement, or you can use suction cups and a small bubble stone and attatch it to the side of your tank about half way down, you can go as low as the substrate. The good thing about the last option is that you can see very easily if the Co2 "reactor" is still producing, as where with the first option you are not really able to see the air escaping. I preffer the second method myself. You can allso get small bubble diffusers that are specifically for Co2 reactors and you can find them on ----, or a REALLY good LFS.
: Recipie for 2 liter bottle :
1/8 teaspoon Champagne yeast
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda - (Not necessary, but makes the Co2 production more even and reduces a spike in production.)
tepid water
Once you see the production of Co2 reducing then you will want to remove the mixture and rinse it well and start all over, this will last on average around 3 weeks.
OR!! You could get a Nutrafin reactor they are around 30ish bucks. They come with a few rounds of mix and it's very easy to use, but you have a big plastic thing in your tank, but of course you could just use the methods that I stated above to release the air into your tank and toss the "diffuser" that they give you.
Hope that helped and Good Luck!
Take a 2 liter soda bottle and make sure that it's clean rinse it well and let it dry completely. Drill a hole in the cap that it the size of the tubing that you will be using and then put aquarium epoxy around the hole and slide the tube in. Make sure that your hose is not too far in the bottle, no more than about an 2 inches in. You don't want to have the hose touching the yeast mixture.
(ew, that doesn't sound right does it!?
Now from here you have two options, you can either run it through your filter and let it release the Co2 into your filter and then it will be broken down through water movement, or you can use suction cups and a small bubble stone and attatch it to the side of your tank about half way down, you can go as low as the substrate. The good thing about the last option is that you can see very easily if the Co2 "reactor" is still producing, as where with the first option you are not really able to see the air escaping. I preffer the second method myself. You can allso get small bubble diffusers that are specifically for Co2 reactors and you can find them on ----, or a REALLY good LFS.
: Recipie for 2 liter bottle :
1/8 teaspoon Champagne yeast
2 cups sugar
1/2 teaspoon baking soda - (Not necessary, but makes the Co2 production more even and reduces a spike in production.)
tepid water
Once you see the production of Co2 reducing then you will want to remove the mixture and rinse it well and start all over, this will last on average around 3 weeks.
OR!! You could get a Nutrafin reactor they are around 30ish bucks. They come with a few rounds of mix and it's very easy to use, but you have a big plastic thing in your tank, but of course you could just use the methods that I stated above to release the air into your tank and toss the "diffuser" that they give you.
Hope that helped and Good Luck!
nietzsche
Active Member
my friend is heavy into fw tanks. he has a huge co2 tank with this: http://www.***********.com/IMD/250/CO3111/CO3111_1.jpg he told me his plants grow crazy with it. when i had fw tank i had lots of plants but they didnt grow as fast as when they were in his tank. i gave him most of my stuff. at night he says you dont need it on because the plants release co2 at night. something like that. good lights will help too
