# New To Plants



## raeven (May 12, 2011)

I decided I wanted to start using live plants because, frankly, they look a ton better than the cheap, plastic fake ones. And it just seems a lot more natural and healthy to look at, and the fish seem to like it.

I bought three different kinds, although the only one I remember was called Sword. The other two, I'm clueless. All I know is that they are quick growers.

One thing I noticed is that the other two came with a plastic black casing around the roots. I'm wondering if that's something I should be taking off? Or if it's suppose to stay on. I can't imagine much root growth in that thing.

Also, these plants are currently in my 55 gallon. How often should I be putting waffers in for them?

Any recommendations or feedback would be appreciated


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## roadrunner (Apr 25, 2010)

Welcome! You came to the right place! I'm beginner myself and I've learned a lot since I become a BC aquaria member. I picked the harder (cheaper) way and I've been struggling a little. I have no CO2 system and just gravel. I do regular EI dosing.
http://www.bcaquaria.com/forum/plants-algae-ferts-ei-co2-lighting-13/intro-ei-estimated-index-82/
So technically you'll need good light, good chemical balance in your tank, CO2 system and regular cleaning schedule. It's pretty much up to you how much you're ready to spend in the beginning. My next set up will have good substrate and definitely CO2 system to save myself lots of headache. Anyway, it's fun either way. Since I've picked the harder way, I think I've learned lot more. I also appreciate my aquarium lot more now since I put so much work into it. Oh and I had lots of fun (I won't lie: frustration too) along the way.


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

The black casing around the roots is the plastic pot that comes with the plants when shipping. They usually stuff it with some kind of cotton wool. You need to remove the pot and as much of the stuffing as possible when planting. If you give more details about the existing setup in your tank (light, substrate) we should be able to help you better. Seems like you got some easy plants. If you just want to have some plants in there and keep things simple, then you can just keep your tank low tech and save some money instead of having to spend on Co2 or upgrading your lights, etc..


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## raeven (May 12, 2011)

Okay, so I went and planted them by looping an elastic around the roots to a rock. Just to give it something to hold onto until it grows a bit more.

As for the lighting, I honestly can't be sure. It came with the tank when we bought it. The one thing I do know is they're flouresent.


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## Ladayen (Aug 21, 2011)

You are going to find out what you're lighting is. Take the bulb out(maybe do this first thing in the morning before you turn the light on so it's not hot.) and read what it says on it. As to food for them I use Seachems Flourish+. It's a liquid fert and I just drop the necessary amount in with the water pouring from my HoB filter. Swords can grow quite large btw up to 4' in some cases, 3' is fairly common. You're going to have to trim them once in a while. A Co2 system in your case isn't really neccessary and may be a nuisance even with a fast growing tall plant like swords.


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## raeven (May 12, 2011)

Okay, I pulled out the lighbulb and it says Marineland, natural daylight F15T8/18". We have two of these, one on each side of the tank.

I'm noticing that one of my plants is falling apart a lot. There's only one stem left standing, and I'm really unsure as to why that is. I don't think any of my fish are much of plant eaters.


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## PaulCheung (Apr 18, 2011)

It will help if you can take a few pictures showing what plant you are having. 

If it is a stem plant, you need to plant it into the substrate. Some other plants such as Java Fern and Anubias, you can tie time to rocks or driftwood. 

Fertilization needs to be balance with the photo period, lighting and the CO2 availability. Too much fertilization with low light would encourage algae growth.


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## springboard (Apr 10, 2011)

I wonder if the plants are getting enough light. I would start by turning on the lights for an 8-hour period a day if you haven't already done so. Since you have a two tubes in your lighting system, consider swapping one of the tubes for a plant-specific bulb. That way you will still have the daylight bulb to enhance the fish colours and a plant specific bulb to provide the optimal light spectrum for the plants.


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

post some pictures so we can see what kind of plants you have or at least try to find out what they are.. and are you using plain gravel? Isn't a 55 gallon a 4 ft tank? so you have one T8 18" that's 15 Watts covering one half-length of the tank and the other tube covering the second half? In any event, that is low light. Do you want to keep it a low tech setup or are you willing to spend more money upgrading the lights and a few other products?


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## raeven (May 12, 2011)

I wish I knew exactly what kind they are called. I'm sure I could find out if I head to the fish store, although I suspect that will take me about a week or so thanks to a busy schedule.

Unfortunately, my camera isn't working at the moment, so this is the best I'll be able to do beyond looking through a slough of pictures and trying to match names and descriptions. I'll give it a shot anyways cause it's going to bug me otherwise.


And yes, I'm using plain gravel. 

At first I was actually getting these plants in specific cause they grow quickly, and might stand a chance against my apple snails. But, this doesn't seem to be the case, so I moved the snails back into my 45 gallon anyways. So really, ultimately, at this point I just want to have some nice looking plants in there, and if they're lowlight, that would probably be best for me. At least for now until I get the hang of the plant thing in general.


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## Captured Moments (Apr 22, 2010)

None of my planted tanks are low tech at the moment but I had a 20 gallon low tech before and it was working pretty good for me. If I remember I had: Amazon sword, sagittaria subulata (dwarf sagittaria), sunset hygro, java moss, dwarf hairgrass (didn't grow and eventually melted away) and a few others which I can't remember the names.
If you are new to plants, I would say it is a good idea to start with a low tech setup especially if as you say you simply want some plants in there to make it look better instead of plastic plants. Also, you won't be spending so much time maintaining it. You don't have to prune your plants so often, don't have to be so diligent in fertilizing and having less chance of an algae breakout since everything happens much slower.

Obviously in a low tech setup, there are some plants you may not be able to grow well because some species of plants do better in higher light, higher Co2 concentration. They may grow but may look a bit different than the same one specie grown in a different light setup. For example the colour of the leaves may be different.
You should google plants that are good candidates for low light. I can think of moss, fern, some crypts, Anubias, most hygro, water sprite.,swords, etc..

In a low tech setup, you don't typically inject Co2 and that means the Co2 concentraion in parts per million in the water is around 5 ppm which is extracted from the surrounding air. At that Co2 level, plants grow slower than in a hi-tech setup (high light, Co2 injection to around 25-30 ppm, EI dosing and what have you). If plants grow slower, that means they will use less nutrients and possibly can get all the nutrients they need from the fish poop waste and fish food. Even though most of the plant nutrient needs can be met by the byproduct waste in the aquarium, it is a good idea to supplement with a little bit of nutrients to make sure none of the required elements is missing. You have a few options. You can do some kind of modified EI dosing for the Nitrogen, Phosphate and Potassium requirements (NPK) but that means you will need to go buy some of these powders. A few people on the forum sell them or you can ask around for some people to sell them to you. They are not expensive and if you do it should last you a very long time. There is a sticky on the forum about EI dosing in the plants/ferts/Co2 section. Maybe a bit overkill so your other option would be to simply get Seachem Flourish which I believer has a bit of these NPK elements as well as the trace elements. You can dose in small amounts and maybe once a week. 

There is something to be said about the combination of light level, Co2 amount and nutrients. The light drives everything. With higher light the engine revs faster and will consume more gas and needs more air. There is some sort of balance you need to keep in mind. Higher light causes the plants to require more Co2 and more nutrients and the opposite holds for lesser light. If you increase the light for example and you don't increase the co2 level, then you create a limitation in the Co2 factor and the plants will suffer (deform/die) and you are inviting algae to thrive. The threat of algae breakout is greater in a high tech setup due to a lesser margin of error in having all the requirements met. 

You can use plain gravel in a low tech setup. I am not sure if there is any advantages to using Eco Complete, ADA soil or Fluorite in this case. Maybe someone else can tell the additional benefits.

I would try with your existing light and see how it goes. Try to stay around 8-10 hrs of photoperiod per day. Keeping on the light for longer to compensate for insufficient light is not going to work. It's intensity rather than duration that is important. You can stick the light on a timer so that it goes on and off automatically for you at a preset time you would want.


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## miyabi-aqua (May 20, 2011)

Hi Raeven,

If you have time, please come to the workshop at the Aquariums West, tomorrow, Oct 30, 3:30pm. We will be setting up a planted tank with ADA equipment / substrate. I am sure you will learn a lot.


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## raeven (May 12, 2011)

Thanks for all that info, CM. That actually explains a lot for me. I think for now I'll stick with the low light setup, and see if the plants that I do have manage to stay alive and so on. It's pretty much all a live and learn experiment as of right now.


And thanks for the invite, miyabi-aqua. I didn't actually get a chance to show up, as I only just got your message about it today. Perhaps next time I'll be able to catch a setup. 


I'll be heading to the fish store in a few days and asking them about the plants that I recognize are mine, maybe even jotting down their names so I can at least be effective when people ask me what sort of plantation I have going on in my tank.


So far, they seem to be doing okay. For the first few days, there was a lot of breaking of stems and leaves. Part of that I figured to be my apple snails munching on them the whole time they were in there. It too a few more days, but eventually the deteriorating parts seem to have stopped, or at least slowed down a whole bunch. With any luck, I can keep these things alive.


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## miyabi-aqua (May 20, 2011)

Anytime Raeven...let me know if i can help. 

Low light plants...anubias. Stay away from red colored leaves and foreground - carpet plants for now. Injecting CO2 may help plants grow faster too.


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