Newbie here with my dymax iq5

[jnsm]

Hi!

This is my new tank, and I'm completely lost with what are those plants in my tank, only know that I had a moss ball.

Could anyone help to identify??

And with such size, is co2 necessary??

Any more things I need to buy? I'm keen to get fertilizer due to my sand substrate. Is there any liquid one I should be getting? Thanks all!!!

Jen

[Shifty]

Hi jnsm,
It looks like you have Java ferns in the back left corner and Anubias in the back right corner. I've seen the plant on the driftwood in LFS' but not sure what they are or if they're even aquatic plants. As for the Java ferns and anubias, they should not not be planted deep in the substrate. The fleshy rhizome where the leaves sprout from should be above the substrate. As they are both slow growing plants, I think you can do without the complication of CO2 and ferts, especially at such a small scale. Does the iq5 come with a filter? Also, what fauna will you be adding? Or is it just the guppies in the pic?

[jnsm]

Yes the iq5 has a filter at the back of the tank.

Thanks for the help for identifying!!

Yah I don't intend to have any more fish, if these don't make it, probably I'll go get some cardinals.

Actually all I would like is to maintain the greens. I'm afraid maybe after one or two weeks later they might turn yellow.

One more question, may I know if lightnings for the tank, for how long should I be turning them on? Mine came with the set with the tank, some led lights by dymax.

Thank u so much!

[Shifty]

I'm not sure if you are new to the hobby. If you are, I think the setup you have is a good starter. The plants you have are low maintenance. Just move the rhizomes above the substrate so that it can grow new leaves. you can leave the roots in the sand. They are slow growers though.

As for lighting, I would say probably around 8hrs a day to start. If you begin to get algae problems, you can reduce it to 6 or 7. The Dymax led lighting should be sufficient for the Java ferns and Anubias, but I'm not sure about the moss ball and the other plant. For the moss ball, you may want to roll it over daily or you may get brown dead moss on the bottom. If you your do daily/weekly maintenance of water changes, glass cleaning, etc., everything should be fine.

The deeper you get into the hobby, the more you'll want to try in terms of new plants, new fishes, aquascaping, etc. But for now learn as you go along and enjoy the setup you have, before the poison seeps in...

Im glad I could be of service. I'll try my best to answer any questions you may have. If not, there is a large collective of highly knowledgeable brothers in this forum who would be happy to impart some wisdom. Cheers (",)