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help with plants

7K views 56 replies 7 participants last post by  Boredomb 
#1 ·
i just wanted to know when i get ready to plant my stem plants what should i use first, the root tabs or the liquid ferts. I have gravel in the tank and i was'nt sure which one i could use first, i also have two anubias plants in the tank any advice would be much appreciated.:)
 
#38 ·
I just checked the water perimeters and the ph is at 6.0 which is normal because the tap water is 6.0 the ammonia is at 1.0 ppm at the moment and the nitrite and nitrates are at 0ppm now with the ammonia its been between .50 and 1.0 since the tank was set up about 4 months ago, I've tried doing multiple water changes in a week at 50% , I tried feeding the fish every other day just using a pinch of food, I tried changing the cartridge out and all that did was make the water cloudy not sure how that was possible and nothing has worked so far. Right now I have three anubias plants some micro swords some crypt wendtii some wisteria, and a java fern wendolov and since day 1 the nitrite and nitrates have always been 0 ppm Im currently doing a 50% water change once a week and dosing with flourish the next day I also use prime when I do the water change im using a air stone as well. If any one might know what might be going on with the tank I would try any thing to get it where it needs to be and I don't know if this may or may not help but the lights stay on for 8 hours a day from 8am til 4pm thanks for all the help.
 
#39 ·
I just checked the water perimeters and the ph is at 6.0 which is normal because the tap water is 6.0 the ammonia is at 1.0 ppm at the moment and the nitrite and nitrates are at 0ppm now with the ammonia its been between .50 and 1.0 since the tank was set up about 4 months ago, I've tried doing multiple water changes in a week at 50% , I tried feeding the fish every other day just using a pinch of food, I tried changing the cartridge out and all that did was make the water cloudy not sure how that was possible and nothing has worked so far. Right now I have three anubias plants some micro swords some crypt wendtii some wisteria, and a java fern wendolov and since day 1 the nitrite and nitrates have always been 0 ppm Im currently doing a 50% water change once a week and dosing with flourish the next day I also use prime when I do the water change im using a air stone as well. If any one might know what might be going on with the tank I would try any thing to get it where it needs to be and I don't know if this may or may not help but the lights stay on for 8 hours a day from 8am til 4pm thanks for all the help.
Fortunately with an acidic pH (below 7) ammonia changes into ammonium which is basically harmless. The plants will take it up. So there is no harm to the fish, and I would not overdo the water changes.

Getting the biology stable might deal with this. From your info I've no idea where it might be coming from.
 
#40 ·
thanks Byron I was worried that the fish would be in trouble with the ammonia, the only other issue I have is a little algae on the leaves of the anubias plants and the water being a little hazy, you can see through it but its not crystal clear and on the algae do you think I should get some shrimps to take care of it and if so what kind of shrimp.
 
#41 ·
thanks Byron I was worried that the fish would be in trouble with the ammonia, the only other issue I have is a little algae on the leaves of the anubias plants and the water being a little hazy, you can see through it but its not crystal clear and on the algae do you think I should get some shrimps to take care of it and if so what kind of shrimp.
I will leave the shrimp question for those with shrimp to answer.
 
#44 ·
I just did a water change and after I was done I noticed tiny little bubbles coming from one of my plants not sure if its the anubais or my crypt wendtii but I was wondering if anyone knew why this was happening. The bubbles where coming out at a steady pace, I hope this is a good thing.
 
#46 ·
I was wanting to plant some crypt wendtii red but I wasn't sure if I needed anything to keep it red. Right now I have some crypt wendtii tropica in the back left corner, about 6 water wisteria plants starting in the back right corner and they are planted all the way down the right side of the glass, three anubias plants in the middle but closer to the front just a little tied on some rocks and a piece of drift wood right in the middle of the tank with a wendalov java fern in the middle of it. My idea was to try and plant some crypt spiralis or crypt balansae in the back going all the way across the back and some crypt parva across the front of the tank with either some crypt red on the left side of the tank or some bacopa just wanted to know if anyone had any suggestions on my idea. I wanted to put pygmy chain swords in the front and chain swords in the back but I couldn't find any at my lfs any advice would help out a lot thanks. :-D
 
#47 ·
sand substrate

ok so I finally changed over from gravel to sand and I was wanting to know how many mts do I need for a 10 gallon tank. the tank right now is planted with wisteria, anubias, bacopa , java fern wendolov and crypt wendtii tropica I also put some of the old gravel in a media bag and put it in the tank to help the cycling process go a little faster.:-D
 
#49 ·
I started with 10 for a 37 gallon. They end up self regulating and propagate according to the food available to them anyway so it doesn't really matter how many you start with. They are 10 cents apiece around here so I just tossed in a buck's worth.

Jeff.
 
#51 · (Edited)
I notice that in the 10 gallon tank there seems to be some floating particles in the tank and what looks like dust on the leaves of my anubias and crypt wendii tropica im not sure but I think the floating particles might have something to do with the filter media. I have the regular blue filter pad in there with no carbon in it and then there is another white sponge that came with the filter as well and every time I turn the filter on from doing a water change the water goes through that white sponge and a film shows up on top of the water, its a aqua tech 5-15 filter that came with the 10 gallon tank. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on how I might get the floating stuff out of the tank and I do have a algea problem to but right now its not to bad. I just pulled the white sponge out and the side of the case its in said bio-fiber.
 
#52 ·
in the 10 gallon tank it looks like little particles floating around in the tank and what looks like dust on the leaves of the anubias and crypt wendtii Im not sure but I think it might have something to do with the filter media. I have the regular blue filter pad without the carbon in side and then there is a white sponge the came with the filter and on the side of the case of the sponge it said bio-fiber but when I turn on the filter after doing a water change, there is a film on the water when the water goes through the white sponge and into the tank. I was just wondering if anyone had any suggestions on what I could do to get rid of the particles in the water and the dust on the leaves.
 
#53 ·
Haven't read through the whole thread, but do you clean your filter periodically? From the description you're giving of it happening when you turn the filter back on, it sounds like debris from the filter. Next time you do a water change rinse out the media in the water you take from the tank and see if it happens again.
 
#54 ·
What color are these particulars? Can you tell? If you think its coming from the filter pads can you take them out and rinse them out in tank water when you do water changes?

Is the dust on the leaves of the plants the same color? Does it wipe off easily?
 
#57 ·
Instead of just dipping them in water next time squeeze them out several times to get them to release any debris trapped. Sometimes just dipping them alone won't get them out. I usually take my sponges and dip them in water then pull them out and squeeze them out and dipping them back into the water. I repeat this process several times. Some times I will even do it under the water. If the sponge has anything in it the water will turn a brownish color sometimes light and sometimes dark depending on how dirty the sponge was.
 
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