few more questions

teddyzaper

1. where can i get some good plants online?
2. where can i get a good peice of driftwood online?
3. should i put supersoil underneat the gravel?
4.what temp should the water be in a planted tank?
5. how long should the light in the tank be on?
6. should i put the gravel and water in and let it cycle before i put the plants?
7. is a biowheel and a little filter good enough for a 20gal?
oh ya and i decided to go with a 20-25gal tank because i found it in the back room!

Byron

I'll leave questions 1 and 2 for those who have ordered online to respond to, as I always buy from local stores.

"Supersoil" I've not heard of, is it made for planted aquariums? If it is just garden soil or potting soil, I personally would not use it as it may contain fertilizers or nutrients that are not requird for aquatic plants or that could be harmful to the fish or the biiological cycle in an aquarium. Plain clean soil can be used under a layer of gravel (Diana Walstad's method) but dependng upon what you are wanting in terms of the finished aquarium this may be more mess and bother than the benefits. Aquatic plants will grow fine in regular aquarium gravel, the smallest grain. A natural or dark gravel is best, it looks "natural" and provides a good neutral base for the plants (and fish).

Temperature of the water should be determined by the requirements of the specific fish in the aquarium. Most plants will grow in normal aquarium temperatures of 75-80F (some fish prefer closer to 75, others 80 or higher, most do fine at 77-78F). Some plants grow well at cooler temperatures should you be thinking of fish like white clouds that do better in low 70's if they are on their own.

Plants require sufficient light to photosynthesize (grow), both in the type of light and the duration of light each day. Full spectrum light is ideal (around 6500K with peaks in the blue, red and green colours of the spectrum), minimum 8 hours up to 12 hours. The duration depends upon the available nutrients (CO2 and macro-nutrients and micro-nutrients) as these must be in balance or algae will take over and/or the plants will not thrive. A timer is recommended, as the plants do better with regular day/dark periods. In the tropics they receive 10 hours of daylight and 10 hours of total darkness (their rest period).

Plants can be planted in a new aquarium right from the start. I put in the gravel, wood and rocks, add water not quite to the top, connect the filter and heater, make sure everything works and no leaks; then plant. If you plant the tank, fish can be added immediately as the plants absorb the ammonia and nitrite faster than the bacteria can become established. Use a good water conditioner before adding fish; I usually use it when I plant so I don't forget.

I am of the view that filtration in a planted tank should be minimal. All you really need is slight water movement and moving the water through filter pads to remove suspended particulate matter. Plants do the best filtration job; you cannot have any filter that will do better. Just don't overstock the tank with too many fish, and be regular in the weekly partial water change of 25-40%. You'll probably need a liquid fertilizer, depending upon number of fish, tap water properties and type of plants. One of the best is Seachem's Flourish Comprehensive Plant Supplement; it is a balanced fertilizer with all the various macro- and micro-nutrients plants require and in the correct porportion.

Byron.

aunt kymmie

I've use www.liveaquaria.com for plants and have always been happy with their shipments.

For my driftwood I actually used craigslist, of all places. I got seven massive chunks of malaysian driftwood for about $60.00.

teddyzaper

could someone tell me how to prune my plants please? also i am going to petsmart to get my gravel today but im ordring my plants online and getting fish at lfs. is it ok if i put the gravel in and then when i get the fish and plants put them in or should i wait? also i didnt know u need to give the plants suplements. could i just order it online with my plants to? and how often do i put it in? is it liquid or a tablet. and whats a water conditioner? does it just stabilize all the stuff in the water? i was just planning on putting a couple neon tetras and a sucker fish in with some ghost shrimp and a snail or 2. thanks all

teddyzaper

has anyone heard of this website and thier reliability? i really like the wide veriety of plants they have and would like to order some stuff from them. www.aquariumplantsandsupplies.com

aunt kymmie

I've used that site. It's Aquatic Magic and they offer mosses that I wasn't able to find anywhere else. My shipment arrived from Singapore/ Malaysia. They didn't offer overnight shipping but being that moss is pretty tough it arrived here in perfect health. I'm not sure if they ship all their products from this area or just the moss.

Byron

When you set up a new tank you need to cycle it to prevent killing the fish. As you are going to have plants, the easiest way is to get the aquarium running with all the plants, then put in the few fish. I thought I'd explained this previously. Do not put fish in until everything else is done and it works.

Re the conditioner, you must use a good water conditioner because tap water contains chlorine, possibly chloramine, and maybe heavy metals. These will kill fish outright. A water conditioner like Seaqchem's "Prime", Kordon's "NovAqua", Tetra's TetraSafe... there are several, just make sure the one you buy (at the fish store) will remove chlorine and chloramine and heavy metals--there are chaper t=ones that will not do all this. You use conditioner every time you do a partial water change (weekly) for the water you put in the tank.

Plant pruning depends upon the type ofplants, some rarely need pruning. The stem plants tend to grow fast and need to be trimmed back regularly; they also require more light. Personally as this is your first planted aquarium I would stay with rooted plants.

Byron.

teddyzaper

i am gonna use rooted plants. do u prune moss? ok well my dad had a 375gal tank once and he had a smaller planted one so i find millions of things in the grage. (i cant spell ) i found the hud for the tank witha filter, light and a heater. so i have a 15 wat bulb that says it was mean for planted tanks. also do the plant stuff go old cause they are like 4 yrs old....ill post some pics of them tell me what to use and how much plz. its a 25gal tank. (i changed it)
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the one on the far left is iron.
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OH and also my water is well water so it has no clorin or other stuff just minerals and metals
one of them is a thermometer. do i need it. also one is my tank :P my gish in the tank next to it are all staring at it lol. i got mts...
P.S. that is my reflection.

Byron

True, you won't have chlorine or chloramine in well water; and as you already have fish in the other tnak, presumably with the well water, and they are OK, you won't have a problem or need conditioner (lucky you).

The Flourish products you have are OK, but personally I would not use them. The iron and potassium are only two of several nutrients that plants need, and using only these may not be OK. A better product would be the Flourish Comprehensive Plant Supplement which has everything in it and in the correct balance. When you get rooted plants this will be the best.

Moss grows on wood and rocks, and when it gets too much just pull some away.

The light, is it a fluorescent tube? It will probably be too old (it may still light, but after a year they no longer emit sufficient intensity of light for planted tanks). A full spectrum tube of the same size (if that tube fits the fixture in the hood) would be good. A Life-Glo tube, or a Zoo Med Ultra Sun tube.

Yers you need the therometer, float it in the tank and it will tell you the temperature of the water (assuming it works).

teddyzaper

the bulb is brand new the fixture is old though :) also the heater is new but i found it. do u think they will have flourish comprehensive stuff in petco?