Beginner Planting Questions

[cdelucia]

While I find your and many other sites very helpful and images of successful planted aqauriums inspirational, I have a few questions that need answering:

1. I'm in the US, where can I get macro nutrients? I've got the Flourish Mix of micronutrients.

2. I work all day and used to have the lights off for 4 hours during the mid day. This allowed me to do the morning feeding/light maintennance AND still get plenty of veiwing time in the evening. I recently read that this is harmful to plants (like a solar eclipse). Is this true?

3. How does one grow mosses and where can I get mosses? Won't algae (I have one 4" bristlenose pleco)eaters eat it?

4. What's the easiest kind of grass to grow and how does one successfully grow it? My tank is 29US gal, 77F, Flourite gravel (Laterite's quite expensive), 65W power compact 6500K light, with DIY CO2 (just getting the hang of it)>

5. Is there a fairly inexpensive but easy to use control valve for my CO2? I'm using a 'line splitter' to this right now. You put your air line into one end and it splits it into two seperate lines. I close of one line and am able some rough regulation by rotating a crude valve that controls the other line to the tank. It's very fickle to move precisely and I'm looking for something better but not needle-valve ex
pensive.

6. Fishwise, I've got 4x Cherry Barbs, 4x Gold Barbs, a clown loach, and a bristlenose pleco. I hope to get 4x Cardinal Tetra (no store seems to carry them, suddenly) and 2-3 Congo Tetras. I was planning on putting in "black water extract" for the sake of the Cardinals. Will this have any effect on the other species in the tank?

7. Does Stress coat have any effect on plants?

Well, that's all I can think of now (I'm wided, honest). If you can answer any of these, I'd appreciate it.

[barmby]

[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]While I find your and many other sites very helpful and images of successful planted aqauriums inspirational, I have a few questions that need answering:

1. I'm in the US, where can I get macro nutrients? I've got the Flourish Mix of micronutrients. [/quote:9af09872f6]

Try clicking some of the links such as:
http:// www.aquabotanic.com
http:// fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/

They are more well verse with LFS in States esp. Tom Barr. Which part of US you stay in ???

[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]2. I work all day and used to have the lights off for 4 hours during the mid day. This allowed me to do the morning feeding/light maintennance AND still get plenty of veiwing time in the evening. I recently read that this is harmful to plants (like a solar eclipse). Is this true? [/quote:9af09872f6]

Does it grow plant? If it does not, then it is no good. I think in the long run, then plant will get use to it. The same goes for algae

[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]3. How does one grow mosses and where can I get mosses? Won't algae (I have one 4" bristlenose pleco)eaters eat it? [/quote:9af09872f6]

Yes. The vegetarians will eat them! Moss is easy to grow as long as the temp is low and you can leave things alone. Lighting is not an issue. Where to buy? Go to the Pet & Co, sometime they may sell them..


[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]4. What's the easiest kind of grass to grow and how does one successfully grow it? My tank is 29US gal, 77F, Flourite gravel (Laterite's quite expensive), 65W power compact 6500K light, with DIY CO2 (just getting the hang of it)> [/quote:9af09872f6]

Hygrophila difformis! I have been there and done that! Grass? I think chain sword will suit you. E. tenellus! It grow so fast that it will kill your interest...

[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]5. Is there a fairly inexpensive but easy to use control valve for my CO2? I'm using a 'line splitter' to this right now. You put your air line into one end and it splits it into two seperate lines. I close of one line and am able some rough regulation by rotating a crude valve that controls the other line to the tank. It's very fickle to move precisely and I'm looking for something better but not needle-valve expensive.[/quote:9af09872f6]

There are some previous posts on how to feed CO2 into tanks without solenoid. But needle valve is still necessary. It will be hell trying to adjust CO2 through main valve.

Is your "line splitter" meant for CO2? if not, you may be losing CO2

[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]6. Fishwise, I've got 4x Cherry Barbs, 4x Gold Barbs, a clown loach, and a bristlenose pleco. I hope to get 4x Cardinal Tetra (no store seems to carry them, suddenly) and 2-3 Congo Tetras. I was planning on putting in "black water extract" for the sake of the Cardinals. Will this have any effect on the other species in the tank?[/quote:9af09872f6]

Clown loach will dig & unroot plants. Congo may be too big for your tank and they may be agressive towards smaller tetra like Cardinals...

Bristlenose will finish off all your plants!!!

What I will do is I will keep Cardinals (more! more!) and Cherry only. Gold barbs are suspicious as they may harass tiny tetras too if they are not kept in big company of 5 of their own kind...

[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]7. Does Stress coat have any effect on plants?[/quote:9af09872f6]

Does it grow plants? If not, you probably wont need it. They are made to earn your $$ perhaps....

[quote:9af09872f6="cdelucia"]Well, that's all I can think of now (I'm wided, honest). If you can answer any of these, I'd appreciate it.[/quote:9af09872f6]

Enjoy your stay in AQ!

[cdelucia]

Well thanks for the answers.

Stress coat is something you put in for the fish - it replaces thier natural slime coating. It helps prevent infection.

Actually, the cherry barbs are chasing the gold barbs around right now.

I have a few new plant questions:

1. I have a bunch of little things floating on the surface of the water that look kind of like clovers. No sure where they came from, but they seem to multiply so I skim the surface of them every now and then.

2. Some of my plants seem to have tendrils sprouting in the stem area well above the substrate. They kind of look like roots running down to the ground. Is this healty? It seems rather unsightly. Should I trim these?

3. How does one cut the leaves (or blades) of sword plants? Should these be cut at an angle? I have some of these plants that are getting pretty long and they'll need cutting soon.

[|squee|]

1. Those might be duckweed. They can overrun a tank pretty quickly, and prevent light from reaching the plants below them. Exterminate them if you can.

2. Those are roots of stem plants. It's pretty normal, not much you can do about it. Trimming them off is possible.

3. Cut at the place where the leaf meets the (how do you say it) "stem" of the sword. In other words, the leaf shouldn't be cut in half; the whole leave should be away, leaving a small stump at the "stem".

Just my 2 cents

[|squee|]

To answer your first post


[quote:fbf84dbf8b="cdelucia"]
1. I'm in the US, where can I get macro nutrients? I've got the Flourish Mix of micronutrients.
[/quote:fbf84dbf8b]
You could choose to dose through Seachem's line of Flourish, or you could go PMDD, which is something like DIY-ing your own ferts.

[quote:fbf84dbf8b="cdelucia"]
2. I work all day and used to have the lights off for 4 hours during the mid day. This allowed me to do the morning feeding/light maintennance AND still get plenty of veiwing time in the evening. I recently read that this is harmful to plants (like a solar eclipse). Is this true?
[/quote:fbf84dbf8b]
Personally I'd like to turn on the lights for one whole stretch rather than have a break in between. It's not really harmful; some say it's like simulating natural breaks of light in nature, while some say "why stop something halfway?" I'm at school all day as well, so my lights turn on only at 1pm, stretching all the way into 11pm for me to view my tank and still give me my 10 hours of light.

[quote:fbf84dbf8b="cdelucia"]
3. How does one grow mosses and where can I get mosses? Won't algae (I have one 4" bristlenose pleco)eaters eat it?
[/quote:fbf84dbf8b]

Generally, moss can be grown tied on driftwood. A thin layer of moss is patted on the wood surface, and either cotton thread/fishing line is wound around the wood. The moss attaches itself to the wood after some time and continues to grow. I'm not sure about the bristlenose plecos

[quote:fbf84dbf8b="cdelucia"]
4. What's the easiest kind of grass to grow and how does one successfully grow it? My tank is 29US gal, 77F, Flourite gravel (Laterite's quite expensive), 65W power compact 6500K light, with DIY CO2 (just getting the hang of it)>
[/quote:fbf84dbf8b]

The easiest might be Echindorus Tennellus. With a rich base and good lighting, they should spread fairly well with DIY C02.

[quote:fbf84dbf8b="cdelucia"]
5. Is there a fairly inexpensive but easy to use control valve for my CO2? I'm using a 'line splitter' to this right now. You put your air line into one end and it splits it into two seperate lines. I close of one line and am able some rough regulation by rotating a crude valve that controls the other line to the tank. It's very fickle to move precisely and I'm looking for something better but not needle-valve expensive.
[/quote:fbf84dbf8b]

Personally I wouldn't divide my DIY C02 between 2 tanks... the C02 produced is already insufficient to start with :P. I don't know about the control valve part, but I surmise you want to control the bubble rate of your DIY C02? It can be done, but it won't be very accurate. What I do to control the amount of C02 in my tank, however, is to do nothing, but use a atomiser/diffusor to diffuse my C02 in. ( Kind of relying on the theory of diffusion here you see, I'm assuming the rate of C02 getting dissolved in the tank will be constant. This equals to constant bubble rate? )

[quote:fbf84dbf8b="cdelucia"]
6. Fishwise, I've got 4x Cherry Barbs, 4x Gold Barbs, a clown loach, and a bristlenose pleco. I hope to get 4x Cardinal Tetra (no store seems to carry them, suddenly) and 2-3 Congo Tetras. I was planning on putting in "black water extract" for the sake of the Cardinals. Will this have any effect on the other species in the tank?
[/quote:fbf84dbf8b]

It shouldn't affect them alot. In fact I think they'd like it.

[quote:fbf84dbf8b="cdelucia"]
7. Does Stress coat have any effect on plants?
[/quote:fbf84dbf8b]
We have a different kind of Stress coat here in Singapore, and it doesn't cause our fish any harm. So I'd say it won't affect yours too

[cdelucia]

Am looking to find a better way to disperse my DIY CO2. Have been looking at this product and am wondering if it will work with the lower pressure produced of DIY CO2?

http://www.drsfostersmith.com/produc...07&N=2004+2021

Has anyone used this or know of it?

[Simon]

have you tried DIYing a bell for your DIY co2? We do not have that product you mentioned locally, so can't really comment whether it will work with DIY co2