Lighting Duration for New Planted Tank

[LegoMan]

Hi all sifus, would like to check how long should I on my tank lights for a new setup planted tank?

Here's the long story...

Running a small nano tank with Ada amazonia powder soil and failed using DSM with hc with all melted. Then I flood the tank, replanted new hc with co2 blasted till drop checker yellow...same thing happen. Hc melts after two weeks.

Now I replanted stem by stem easier plant Monte Carlo and have started to see one two leaves on like 3/10 of the stems I plant melted. Question is...what am I doing wrong here? Water change for first week is 50% every 2-3 days and this weekend will be doing WC 30% weekly onwards.

Previously for my hc, photoperiod is 8 hours straight with co2 and then I read somewhere that for emersed plants to adapt, photo period should be around 4-6 hours and then gradually increase per week. I have also slow down the co2 to 1bps dropchecker is green yellowish.

Hope that this would turn things around with an easier plant. Oh ya, they are planted since last thursday so barely one week.

Lights I use is upaqua pro led z series 30cm and tank is still cycling at this moment for 2 months at 25th Jan to commission with RCS.

[Everlance]

hi there, for a newly setup tank, start with a photo period of 6 hours first then slowly increase to a maximum of around 8 hours. based on your description above, your soil is good, you have co2 injection which shows yellow and the led lights are pretty decent. with these, hc shouldn't be a problem. maybe you can take a photo of the tank for us to see if you are doing anything wrong. also since your tank is just 30cm, try getting just one pot of hc from 1-2 grow and plant them nicely. i am sure it will succeed.

[Urban Aquaria]

It's normal for some of the weaker/damaged leaves to melt in newly planted monte carlo (especially if they were bought in emersed form from LFS), they will usually still be in transition mode and establishing roots during the first few weeks so you may not see as much new growth during this period... but once they adapt to your tank and root in, the new growth should be faster.

Just keep up with the tank maintenance and water changes (if your plant density is currently still low), and it'll also be a good idea to dose additional potassium + micro/trace nutrients to help support new healthy growth too.

[LegoMan]

Thanks for the replies. I am keeping up with the maintenance of WC weekly at 30%. UA, I have seek your advise as well for my failed DSM for hc. And yes both hc and mc are bought emersed. Am using seachem flourish for dosing twice weekly but will see how it goes as I believe the amazonia soil is still giving out nutrients sufficient for the plant growth (correct me if I'm wrong).

Another question, usually how long is this transition perios and when should I be able to see runners? I have told myself if this fails again, will go for moss liao. Hahahah but will try and try again first as I have standby mc in a plastic tub to replant. Will try to add some photos but don't know can or not as there is limited post count before I can post photos?

[LegoMan]

IMG-20141207-WA0014.jpg1.JPG2.JPG3.JPG

[Urban Aquaria]

Thanks for the replies. I am keeping up with the maintenance of WC weekly at 30%. UA, I have seek your advise as well for my failed DSM for hc. And yes both hc and mc are bought emersed. Am using seachem flourish for dosing twice weekly but will see how it goes as I believe the amazonia soil is still giving out nutrients sufficient for the plant growth (correct me if I'm wrong).

Another question, usually how long is this transition perios and when should I be able to see runners? I have told myself if this fails again, will go for moss liao. Hahahah but will try and try again first as I have standby mc in a plastic tub to replant. Will try to add some photos but don't know can or not as there is limited post count before I can post photos?

Transition period for plants varies between tank setups but it should usually be 1-2 weeks before you start to see positive growth... it depends mainly on the plants and factors like light, Co2, nutrients etc. Some can transition faster while others transition slower.

IMG-20141207-WA0014.jpg1.JPG2.JPG3.JPG

Okay, you definitely need to plant alot more to cover the entire substrate with plants. That is really very sparse amount of plants to start with, it'll take almost forever for the plants to establish a carpet this way and all the excess light is just shining directly on lots of bare nutrient-rich substrate... algae will love it.

If you have more monte carlo, just plant as much as you can, don't need to hold back. If not enough, buy more. Planting in very high density from the start allows the carpet to establish faster and enables the plants to soak up more nutrients quicker to help out-compete algae.

[LegoMan]

But I am having the lighting duration at 6 hours to control the algae and do you mean to plant more stems or small bunches of MC would be better? As I've seen some planted stem by stem this way for better survival of the plant.

[Urban Aquaria]

But I am having the lighting duration at 6 hours to control the algae and do you mean to plant more stems or small bunches of MC would be better? As I've seen some planted stem by stem this way for better survival of the plant.

Although shorter light durations can help to slow down algae growth... if the light is still just shining on bare substrate and there are no plants to utilize all the available lights and nutrients, it'll open the doors for algae to use it instead.

You can add more MC in bunches or individual smaller portions, but if you have the time, its definitely better to separate them into individual stems and plant them with equal spacing in a grid pattern (its backbreaking work, but worth the effort), that allows each individual plantlet to get maximum access to the soil and nutrients to help them quickly root in... if they were planted in larger bunches, there is a tendency for only parts of them to get access to the soil, while other parts don't, which results in higher chances of melting amongst the bunches.

[LegoMan]

OK got it. Think will use the spare leftover mc in the plastic container where its half submerged in water. Or should I get the tropical potted ones? As u see the ones I got from the lfs, the roots are everywhere, long strands of runners with roots each segment and seems like the potted ones are easier to separate to plant vertically whereas the ones I got in the container had their roots by the side so don't know how to plant vertical as its already horizontal...dunno whether u catch my meaning...

[Urban Aquaria]

OK got it. Think will use the spare leftover mc in the plastic container where its half submerged in water. Or should I get the tropical potted ones? As u see the ones I got from the lfs, the roots are everywhere, long strands of runners with roots each segment and seems like the potted ones are easier to separate to plant vertically whereas the ones I got in the container had their roots by the side so don't know how to plant vertical as its already horizontal...dunno whether u catch my meaning...

Either versions of MC can be used... just have to separate the plantlets into individual stems with a few leaves each, then plant them straight down into the soil. Its okay if some of the leaves on each stem are covered inside the soil (planting them deeper can help to reduce the chances of uprooting too), as long as at least a pair of healthy leaves are sitting above the soil.

The Tropica 1-2-Grow! cup versions contain very high quality tissue cultured plantlets (which can usually adapt more quickly to new tank conditions), but they cost 3-4x more than the normal pots/carton versions at most LFS, so it just depends on your budget.

For reference, you can check out George Farmer's "One-Pot Iwagumi Challenge": http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/georges-one-pot-iwagumi-challenge.29695/#post-310700

Just follow how the plantlets are separated and how they are planted, along with the amount of equal spacings between each plantlet.

[LegoMan]

OK. Have replanted more mc stem by stem from the tub. Now it looks more compact and I have noticed some sprouting of new smaller leaves from the original stem I planted. Now overall tank looks more compact with more stems so pray for the best in another two weeks time. I have also started EI dosing with the seachem flourish but don't know will it be too much as the soil nutrients might still be enuff.

[Gavan]

how many weeks has it been since you started planting in your soil? sounds a little too early to be using EI dosing.

do you have picture updates?


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[LegoMan]

Started my tank in 25th Nov with HC but all melted. So only last thurs (4th Dec) started with MC and replanted as per UA suggestion.

Started EI dosing for this week...

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[Pobbi]

Nice tank there! I carpeted my mc without using fertilizers. Using ada though. What I can suggest is maybe you can skip the dosing first, until the mc is more densed. This will slow down the algae growth. I also think u should plant it more densely, then it can cover up faster/nicer. Drop me a pm if you need mc. I trim them once in awhile, got lotsa spare. You can have them foc .

[LegoMan]

Yup. Have stopped the dosing and will monitor the mc. Should I get rid of the darker leaves that r dying due to the transition and maybe u can share what's the progress like for your mc? Like a timeline from submerged new leaves showing to presence of runners to carpeting. Mine is a nano tank and I have replanted twice to make it denser as now shown in my earlier post. Smaller tank area should get a shorter carpeting time right?

[LegoMan]

Also a pic of your carpeted mc could make a great inspiration. Hopefully u got pics like from the start, mid and end full carpet. How long it takes?

[Gavan]

ImageUploadedByTapatalk1418395064.541384.jpg you should plant at least this amount..


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[Pobbi]

Ups for gavan's planting, but as a Singaporean, I planted more, kiasu, haha. It took me about 7weeks to carpet it really nicely. I doubt smaller tanks will make a difference. Because its just smaller, the amount u can plant is the same. But powder soil will make a difference. I didn't remove the darker leaves, might be algae growing on it so leave it. My transition period mostly didn't melted. My photoperiod is 6hours when its 2ft fully carpeted.

[Gavan]

you're absolutely right pobbi. would love to plant double the amount. unfortunately due to bad planning my substrate was too thin and hence I could only plant stems quite far apart. nonetheless the carpet is now complete after a month of CO2


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[LegoMan]

The amount I have planted viewed front the top is the same as Gavan. Yes, I am using Ada amazonia power aquasoil as it gives more scale in ratio to my nano tank.