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Italian Val, Green Cabomba, and Ludwigia Repens Questions

18K views 74 replies 6 participants last post by  Byron 
#1 ·
1) Can you grow those plants without Co2?

2) What fertilizers do you reccomend?

3) What lighting do they need?
 
#2 ·
1) Can you grow those plants without Co2?
No. If you have absolutely no CO2, you will not grow plants.
Of course, if you have fish in the aquarium, they exhale CO2 into the water like we do, so that works well as long as everything is balanced.


2) What fertilizers do you reccomend?
Well if you want to go the route that most of the planted tankers use around here, then use plain gravel and Flourish comprehensive. That's all you need.

3) What lighting do they need?
Depends on your tank size. Post how big your tank is, and what kind of fixture you have, and we can tell you what to buy.


I prefer soil tanks (I'm in the process of converting all of my tanks to soil). They do best with indirect sunlight in addition to a light source, but no ferts are needed. They also tend to grow a bit faster since the soil bacteria produce additional CO2.
 
#4 ·
Also, how do you plant these plants? You plant Green Cabomba and Italian Val by just putting the roots in the gravel, right? How do you plant the Ludwigia?:question:
 
#5 ·
The same. I love my Cabomba but I will tell you it looks nicest in groups of a couple of plants. You can create sort of a thick forest effect with it. The fish LOVE hanging out in there. I think they feel pretty hidden and safe.
 
#6 ·
The same. I love my Cabomba but I will tell you it looks nicest in groups of a couple of plants. You can create sort of a thick forest effect with it. The fish LOVE hanging out in there. I think they feel pretty hidden and safe.
I plan on using it for the back of my tank for hiding the heater. Also, I bet the fish will hide in it just like yours :) Do you have a Co2 system? What fertilizers do you use?
 
#7 ·
No, I get Co2 from the fish and I only add Seachems Flourish comprehensive supplement 2 times a week. I leave my lights on for 12 hours a day. They grow like weeds. They started out a little slow in my tank because I didn't think they were getting enough light. I had them under a giant ball of floating pennywort. I put a clamp light on them for a few hours a day for a couple of days and they took off.

I also have Ludwigia and it is alive but it isn't taking off like some of the other plants. I think it too enjoys a little more light. It is a pretty plant though. I just moved my Vallis to a different area of the tank so I will have to let you know how that works out. It was sort of hidden by the Cabomba that took off and filled out to be lovely. Sadly, I had a couple of inappropriate fish sold to me that started eating the forest and now I have to wait until it fills out again. Shouldn't take long.
 
#8 ·
How do you introduce plants to an aquarium? Is it like fish? Or do you just plop them in?
 
#9 · (Edited)
You can add them all at once. Keep in mind they will grow and fill out so you don't want it so packed tight that the second they start to grow you start to prune. Think about how you want the tank to look. Do you like heavily planted tanks, lightly, somewhere in between? I myself love the look of a heavily planted tank. IF you decide to plant some of the root plants like the Swords, you will also need to add some root tabs to your substrate to give them more nutrients. They are beautiful plants and I much recommend them too. I love my Amazon Swords. They are bright green, full and tall. They fill out so nice.

Also, are you going to add some drift wood or rock? I added mine first and then planted around that. I also put in a few clay pots for fish to hide in and planted around them so they have some dark safe spots to hide. I love the look of a natural stream look. Well, the clay pots would have been tossed in but... you get the idea. Once the clay gets a bit of algae on it, it looks quite lovely as well.
 
#10 ·
Right now, I have a peice of driftwood soaking in a bucket. I will add it to my aquarium once I get my plants (ordered them from sweetaquatics yesterday). Do you have to slowly accumulate them to your tank so they can adjust to the temp, pH, etc.?
 
#11 · (Edited)
Nope, plants don't require an adjustment period.

The cabomba and Rotala are 'stem plants', so they may or may not have roots when you get them.
Just strip the lower 2 sets of leaves and burry them in the gravel.

How to plant stem plants. A Graphic by Redchigh. :)


Sorry for the rough image, but it might help give you an idea. Hmm, img tag isn't working, just click the link.

Definately dose the tank with Flourish (comprehensive supplement) and I personally use 2 10W CFLs (6500k cool white) in an incandescent hood over my 10Gs.
If you have a flourescent hood (with tubes) then get whatever will fit your hood, and make it 6500k (often called 'cool white' or 'daylight', but look for the 6500k. No need for fancy grow lights, just get the bulbs from wal-mart.)
 
#12 ·
Nope, plants don't require an adjustment period.

The cabomba and Rotala are 'stem plants', so they may or may not have roots when you get them.
Just strip the lower 2 sets of leaves and burry them in the gravel.

How to plant stem plants. A Graphic by Redchigh. :)


Sorry for the rough image, but it might help give you an idea. Hmm, img tag isn't working, just click the link.

Definately dose the tank with Flourish (comprehensive supplement) and I personally use 2 10W CFLs (6500k cool white) in an incandescent hood over my 10Gs.
If you have a flourescent hood (with tubes) then get whatever will fit your hood, and make it 6500k (often called 'cool white' or 'daylight', but look for the 6500k. No need for fancy grow lights, just get the bulbs from wal-mart.)
Thanks! I actually do have an incandescent hood (http://www.walmart.com/ip/Aqua-Culture-Aquarium-Hood-Incandescent-10-Gallon-Pets/10311306) and was wondering if I was going to be able to find CFL bulbs that will fit it. Isn't 20watts too little though?
 
#21 ·
Plants are generally far more adaptable than many fish to water parameters. In hard water, Vallisneria is an ideal plant, check the profile for Corkscrew Vallisneria to see if you like it. it is a hardy plant and sends out runners with daughter plants.

Stem plants are usually OK in harder water, Cabomba is the only one I'm maybe a little uncertain of for hard water. You only need one stem, if it does well fine, if not...
 
#22 · (Edited)
My hood says to put 2 15 watt or 2 25 watts bulbs in it. Would I even be able to put a 5 or 10 watt in? And I only found 1 light bulb AceHardware.com that is 10 watts and 6500k. There weren't any 5 watts, but there was a 15, 20, and 26 watt also with 6500k. Which one would be the best?
 
#24 ·
Responding to your last two posts, last first. No, don;t move the fish. Just plant the plants trying to disturb the substrate as little as necessary. Sometimes fish can be quite curious when something is going on in the tank; I always get a chuckle out of mine when I do major work at one end of a 4-foot tank, and the fish of course remain close to the opposite end. But as soon as my hand comes out of the water, there are several (some species more than others) that very quickly charge in and start poking around to see what I've been doing. Of course, there is also bits of food and such stirred up, so that intrigues them too.

On the light, get the 10w 6500K, that is ideal. The hood instructions means that nothing greater than a 25w can go in, and that was intended for normal incandescent bulbs. The reason is heat and energy. But CF bulbs are much lower in both. And being less watts they are fine; it is the upper (maximum) end you don't want to cross.

Byron.
 
#25 ·
On the light, get the 10w 6500K, that is ideal. The hood instructions means that nothing greater than a 25w can go in, and that was intended for normal incandescent bulbs. The reason is heat and energy. But CF bulbs are much lower in both. And being less watts they are fine; it is the upper (maximum) end you don't want to cross.

Byron.
Just to confirm, get only one 10w, right?
 
#27 · (Edited)
I use 2 10W bulbs because 10W are the smallest bulbs I can find that fit the hood... The spirals often won't fit, so I have to use the ones that look like this.
(this shape)



If spirals work, then by all means, use them.
My hood has two slots, and the only ones I can find are 10 watts each... so I use two.

No algae problems, so bust not be TOO much.
(They are full spectrum bulbs, and although they don't say it, by my eye they are around 6000-7000k. They're about $7 each at wal mart.)

Actually, byron, a 10W CFL and 10W Incandescent use the same amount of electricity. The CFL runs cooler, but a 25W hood can hold 2 25w bulbs, o matter the type.
Brings to mind the riddle, what weighs more a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers. :)
 
#28 ·
Actually, byron, a 10W CFL and 10W Incandescent use the same amount of electricity. The CFL runs cooler, but a 25W hood can hold 2 25w bulbs, o matter the type.
Brings to mind the riddle, what weighs more a pound of bricks or a pound of feathers.

Absolutely, didn't mean to suggest that, not clear obviously. Member asked if using 10w when it said 25w was OK, I was concentrating on that aspect.:)
 
#29 ·
I just got two 10 watt 6500k CFL bulbs.:-D Now all I need to do is get that fertilizer...
 
#30 ·
Sorry for the double posts, but I just thought of something...

I just tested my tap water and it says the pH level is 7.2, but in my aquarium, the pH is 7.8. Would this have something to do with the nitrogen cycle?

And how do you lower the hardness of the water?
 
#31 ·
I would assume something in the aquarium is raising the pH (and prob hardness). Calcareous rock or gravel/sand will do this. What type of substrate do you have and are there any real rocks?
 
#33 ·
I would expect it is. Is it white or light tan? As you have a 10g, it won't take much gravel to replace it. Your fish selection will be limited with hard basic water.
 
#34 ·
I would expect it is. Is it white or light tan? As you have a 10g, it won't take much gravel to replace it. Your fish selection will be limited with hard basic water.
It was some white, but its mosly tan. I plan to just have guppies and platies, which I believe would be fine in it. My main conern is the plants, though. Will they be ok with this pH? I am putting a peice of driftwood in. How much will the driftwood affect the pH. It's about 18 inches long and 2 inches in diameter.
 
#36 · (Edited)
Green cabomba may not like the harder water, but the rest will be fine.
Go ahead and try the cabomba, but don't spend a lot of money on it.

Oh, and I think I know the gravel that you have... It was sold as "Aquarium Gravel" right?

I would say that your tap water is 7.8, but the water coming fresh from the tap has a lot of CO2... CO2 lowers ph, so as an experiment, get a bucket of tap water, run an airstone in it for about 10 minutes. The PH should raise.

If you have DW and the CO2 is the problem, it will probably lower a little bit (depending on the wood.)
May want to boil it first to release the majority of the tannins... I placed a relatively large piece of driftwood in one tank tand the PH went from 7.0 to 5.9 in two days... Oddly enough the PH stabilised at 6.4.... *shrug*
 
#37 ·
That's true, I had forgotten about the CO2 in tap water. Glad you spotted that redchigh, thanks.
 
#42 ·
Likewise. One suggestion is permitted, yes? Move the clump of ludwigia to the left behind the wood, basically in the left rear corner but out from the corner, if that makes sense. I think it will fix the balance (visual).
 
#43 ·
Likewise. One suggestion is permitted, yes? Move the clump of ludwigia to the left behind the wood, basically in the left rear corner but out from the corner, if that makes sense. I think it will fix the balance (visual).
I like it, but won't the Cabomba edventually block it from sight? (I plan to let it reach the top of the tank, but not let the Ludwigia grow any taller)
 
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