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Thread: Substrate

  1. #1
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    Substrate

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    Hi guys,

    i'm new here...

    wanna know if it is really necessary to have a substrate or can my plants juz survive merely wif a bottom of juz gravels?

    Some of the roots of my plants are rotting and the leaves juz seem to be melting away although I try to control my temp down to 27 degrees and add trace elements twice a week and macro every other day into my 2 ft tank.

    I do not have a CO2 setup as my tank is not heavily planted.
    Thanx.

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    Hi Valice, welcome to AQ!

    Your plants can survive with a infertile substrate (we refer to substrate as the stuff on the bottom of your tank, be it sand, aquarium gravel, soil, whatever ), as long as you fertilise using liquid fertilisers.

    If you do not have CO2, plants will be growing at a much slower rate and therefore you do not need to add fertilisers so often. Once a week should suffice, read the sticky about Non-CO2 tanks at the top of this forum section.

    Are the plants new? Plants melt for a variety of reasons. We need more info about your tank to "diagnose" the problem.

  3. #3
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    just to add on, it also depends on what plants you are keeping... not every plant can survive in co2 less tank unless you do add alot of seachem excel to replace the carbon, let us know your tank specs
    Holy is the Lord, God Almighty ! The Earth is filled with His Glory !
    90 x 50 x 50 cm tank: Eheim 2217; ANS CO2 Solenoid with 60mm intense bazooka; Zetlight 6400; Teco 500 Chiller; Borneo Wild Steel inlet/outlet
    Ferts: Dry Mixture/Dr Mallicks. Temp: 26 degrees Substrate: ADA Amazonia

  4. #4
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    Plants melting... that's wat happened to my tank when I started this hobby.

    But then after I learned more with these guys in forum, & worked on the plants needs e.g.: substrate, lights, CO2, fert, temperature; now everything's going well with my plants, unless the red colour plant, they wont last long in my tank since I still can't get the right trace element for them

    IMO, you should really choose the right plant if you want to go with limited resources. For examples : only keep java moss & java fern if you don't want to add any CO2, then your plants should be okay I think...

  5. #5
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    There are actually quite a number of plants that can grow reasonably well without CO2, especially if you can keep the temperature to 27C and below. Knowing what plant to grow is crucial and having a rich substrates helps.

    As for substrate, there are different views on this. One camp prefer rich substrate supplemented with fertliser or no fertiliser in the water colume while another camp prefer infertile substrate and provide all the nutrients the plants need by dosing fertiliser regularly. Each has its pro and cons.

    As mentioned by the others, you need to tell us more about your setup and the plants which you have problem. Some plants are just more demanding and require a lot more effort and attention to grow them well.

  6. #6
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    I juz bought a test kit for my aquarium... expensive...
    from the test kit,
    PH is about 7.2
    GH is >16dh!
    KH is about 10d
    NO2 is negligible
    NO3 is about 25~50mg/l

    how will such readings affect my plant growth. I juz changed my lighting to a 1x36W lighting today, cos my old lights decided to die on me last week...

    gonna diy a CO2 over this weekend. I intend to put in hairgrass or some foreground plants once I can stabilise my tank condition.

    my plants currently are java fern, nana and one dunno wat plant... it is a short plant wif relatively thin leaves... I still trying to id it... although it has melted off till only a couple of leaves left...

  7. #7
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    valice, pictures will help alot. I'm not sure how experienced you are in planted tanks, but:

    The parameters you have are fine, no problem at all. You'll experience a drop in pH after you introduce DIY CO2. Your hard water might be caused by your substrate or your tap water supply or something in the tank, but it's okay anyway. Leaving the parameters alone is probably what I'll do.

    36W lighting is good, and after your have your DIY CO2 in you'll have to increase your fertilisers according to how you see/feel fit. Make the plants your guide

  8. #8
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    thanx terence...

    i am still very new to planted tanks... only started out for less than a year... alot of dead plants and fishes... sigh... din noe where to seek for advice, and only reading here and there...

    only learnt alot of the proper stuff when i found this forum... thanx for all the advice so far...

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