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Thread: Gravel suitablity & help when changing plants.

  1. #1

    Gravel suitablity & help when changing plants.

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    Hi.

    ive got black gravel for my tank or rather carbon(as my dad claims it).
    and im wondering if its suitable for aqua plants?
    becos so far, ive changed like 3 sets of 3 diff kinds of plants already and none of them survive. they all wither and decay.
    when pick up them up, i notice that the bottom part of the plants which are buried under the gravel are decayed and all soft and rotty while the top part is still green and in the process of turning brown.
    is it due to my black gravel?

    and id like to ask, when i have fishes in the tank alrdy and would like to change the plants. do i remove them first? or do i just plant the plants? cos everytime i try to plant plants into the gravel, lotsa weird stuff appears from under the gravel and the whole water turns milky. im afraid it'll affect my fishes!

    Thanks! (:

  2. #2
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    Re: Gravel suitablity?

    Quote Originally Posted by estaa
    Hi.

    ive got black gravel for my tank or rather carbon(as my dad claims it).
    and im wondering if its suitable for aqua plants?
    becos so far, ive changed like 3 sets of 3 diff kinds of plants already and none of them survive. they all wither and decay.
    when pick up them up, i notice that the bottom part of the plants which are buried under the gravel are decayed and all soft and rotty while the top part is still green and in the process of turning brown.
    is it due to my black gravel?

    and id like to ask, when i have fishes in the tank alrdy and would like to change the plants. do i remove them first? or do i just plant the plants? cos everytime i try to plant plants into the gravel, lotsa weird stuff appears from under the gravel and the whole water turns milky. im afraid it'll affect my fishes!

    this is wht my gravel looks like:


    Thanks! (:
    Hi Estaa, before anyone . I think it would be best for you to read the forum rule.

    The black colour gravel looks like non-porous and might pack too tight .
    What what they normally use is those porous type. Carbon? Don't think so.
    KeeHoe.

  3. #3
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    I love that black substrate you have! It really makes the plants look vibrant, although it's too bad that they are not thriving in your tank. Where did you get the substrate? What brand or what is originally used for? Answering this couple questions may solve if that substrate is suitable for you tank.

  4. #4
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    Re: Gravel suitablity?

    Quote Originally Posted by keehoe
    Hi Estaa, before anyone . I think it would be best for you to read the forum rule.
    Good suggestion. And I would like to add that you should read up the rules too, Kee Hoe, especially the one that says,

    "It is considered a waste of bandwidth and everybody's time to quote a message in full when you send a reply to it, especially so when you quote a long message and your reply is only a one-liner. If you have to quote, quote only what is relevant. Please delete away the irrelevant parts. "

    Estaa, I've used the black sand before and I don't think it's the cause. More likely, your plants rotted because you're planting them too deep. For rosette plants, you should push them into the gravel and pull them up again until the crown rests just above the substrate. For stem plants, pluck away the lower leaves before planting them.

    Black gravel looks nice when the tank is new but over time when the mulm starts to accumulate, the sand loses its shine.

    Loh K L

  5. #5
    okay, but 1 thing i did when i planted these plants right, i kinda cut off the bottom cos it's too long. then when i put other plants in, the previous plant which i just planted flies out of the gravel.
    thats why i planted it very deep.

    oh, and i got the subtrate from that aquarium shop at balestier hill shopping centre. forgot whats the name, it has no brand though. its a plain plastic bag.

    anyway, so do i remove my fishes when i wanna change my plants? Besides, im keep cardinal tetras and clown killies, and i thnk they're very sensitive to waterchanges and movements right? what would you suggest?

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    Quote Originally Posted by estaa
    what would you suggest?
    Well, first of all, I would suggest you use the "caps" key on your keyboard more often. We know young people like to type everything in small letters but old folks like me find it hard to read such posts. We don't know where the sentences begin and end.

    Before the plants take root, they often float to the surface when the gravel near them is disturbed. For rosette plants, weigh them down with small rocks. For stem plants, there's no need to do this as you can plant them deep. They look nicer if you plant 3 or 4 stalks in a bunch and not singly. When planting, you do not have to remove the fishes but things would be easier if you lower the water level. Use a pair of tweezers.

    The bigger fish shop at Balestier is known as Nature Aquarium. The smaller one next to it is called Colourful Aquarium, I think.

    Loh K L

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    Dear estaa,

    On top of what KL mentioned (kindly amend all your postings), I would also appreciate that you go to "Profile" and "Signature" and key in a name (whatever you like to call yourself but try not to use numbers because you are a free man/lady).

    If the rossette plant float, just sprinkler some of the gravel onto the inner crown to weigh it down.

    My comments:
    1) The gravel is a bit too coarse for proper root growth and the gravel seems to have sharp edges which may hurt the roots.
    2) You need lighting that is on for at least 6 hrs.

    My suggestions:
    1) Rooted plants need base fertilizer to grow well. Your tank is small, try putting about 1 cm think of fertliser but leave about 2 cm perimeter free of it. Then lay about 3 cm thick of clean gravel over it.

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