Aquatic Plant Central - New to Planted Aquariums http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc en Sun, 22 Nov 2009 16:29:38 GMT vBulletin 60 http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/images/apc/misc/rss.jpg Aquatic Plant Central - New to Planted Aquariums http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc How to keep water clean? Seachem Clarity brown my ADA tank! http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66803-how-keep-water-clean-seachem-clarity.html Sun, 22 Nov 2009 08:58:32 GMT Hi everyone,

After 9 months collecting bits and pieces, my baby is finally born! I finally put my ADA Aquasoil Amazonia I into my 5'x2'x1.5' tank, filled with water and plants!

In my new tank I have Limnophila sessiliflora, Urticullaria graminofolia, hairgrass (Eleocharis acicularis), 2 beautiful Pogostemon helferi, Hemianthus micranthemoides and Monosolenium tenerum in Iwagumi layout. I also have a T5 HO light with 4x80w tubes, Eheim 2217 filter with Eheim filter media and Seachem Purigen(I took the carbon out) and CO2 supply.

The tank looked amazingly beautiful, it was filled with thousands of oxigen bubbles, on the surface of ADA Aquasoil, all the plants and even the wall of the tank. By the 3rd day, the oxygen bubbles slowly disappeared, the water turned a little greenish, so I started to worry and put in a recommemded dose of Seachem Clarity, hoping that it will clear up the water.

Clarity is brown in colour so it browned my whole tank! The label said it's common that if the water looked cloudier than before it was added into the water, it will be clear after 2 hours, but my tank was still the same colour as when the Clarity was first added, after 10 hours.

I started to worry so I went to my local aquarium to seek advise. The nice guy from my local aquarium suggest to me that it's best to change the water. He thought Clarity might have reacted badly with ADA soil! So I drained out nearly all the water(to the substrate level), and refill it water. The tank looked beautiful again.

Now it's the 3rd day since I changed the water, it has just started to look greenish again, I now worry that Algae might appear soon. Should I worry about this? Can anyone be so kind to give me an idea how I can keep the water clear and the algae out?

I would also like to add HC and Eleochris vivipara but I can only get them next Thursday. The nice guy from my local aquarium suggested I should drain out the water when I add the new plant because ADA soil has too much nutritions, and algae grow easily. Is this correct?

Thank you all so much for your help.

YoungBoy ]]> New to Planted Aquariums YoungBoy http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66803-how-keep-water-clean-seachem-clarity.html Low Tech http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66784-low-tech.html Sat, 21 Nov 2009 08:34:08 GMT Hi all, I currently have a 125 galon tank with 6 discus in it. It has a sand bottom and some manzanita that I will be adding. I do have some swords in it now which are doing good, but i want to add more plants to at least half to 3/4 of the tank and attach some to the manzanita. What types of plants will tolerate 86 deg. water temp and low lighting? Also what kind of plants could I attach to the manzanita? At this point I want to go without co2 if possible. I will be adding Rams, Bushy Nose Pleco's, Cory cats and some Tetra's to this tank down the road. ]]> New to Planted Aquariums fishyj http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66784-low-tech.html Water Level Uneven http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66685-water-level-uneven.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 18:44:46 GMT o no, i was staring at my tank today (36G acrylic bow), and noticed the tank surface water level is uneven by a little more than 1/8":bump:. now i have my tank sitting on 1/2" extruded polystyrene styrofoam (technical name). and my stand sits on carpet. my stand has a bottom layer which supports the whole bottom instead of just the sides. now underneath my carpet is some type of wood (dont know which).

im still cycling my tank and its been set up for a month. no leaks so far. so what can i do here. should i put something under the stand on the side that has low water level. or can i get away with this?? BTW if i try to shake my tank or tank, it shakes pretty well. thanks in advance ]]> New to Planted Aquariums sukhkawal http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66685-water-level-uneven.html high temp tolerance for moss/Fissidens fontanus? http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66675-high-temp-tolerance-moss-fissidens-fontanus.html Tue, 17 Nov 2009 00:13:43 GMT I wanted to do some carpet=type of wall or around the surfaces but found out that most moss and Fissidens fontanus that I was extremely interested in description temp parameter was up to 80 degree F? I would like something like a Fissidens fontanus that would do temp range of 86ish degree as I have some south american fish in there? I wanted to do some carpet=type of wall or around the surfaces but

found out that most moss and Fissidens fontanus that I was extremely interested in description temp parameter was up to 80 degree F?

I would like something like a Fissidens fontanus that would do temp range of 86ish degree as I have some south american fish in there? ]]> New to Planted Aquariums MotionInsilver http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66675-high-temp-tolerance-moss-fissidens-fontanus.html what plant would attach to piece of acrylic? http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66671-what-plant-would-attach-piece-acrylic.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 22:34:10 GMT I've heard of plants attaching to rocks but I was wondering if there were any plants that would attach to pieces of acrylic? ]]> New to Planted Aquariums MotionInsilver http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66671-what-plant-would-attach-piece-acrylic.html Do you need to use CO2 to have live plants? http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66667-do-you-need-use-co2-have.html Mon, 16 Nov 2009 19:39:48 GMT I have a tiny Fluval Edge tank I wanted to plant and use for a pair of killifish. I see CO2 mentioned all over the place here, but is it entirely necessary to have a CO2 system for just a few plants in a tank this small (6.6) gallons? Thanks in advance. I have a tiny Fluval Edge tank I wanted to plant and use for a pair of killifish. I see CO2 mentioned all over the place here, but is it entirely necessary to have a CO2 system for just a few plants in a tank this small (6.6) gallons?

Thanks in advance. ]]> New to Planted Aquariums rollinkansas http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66667-do-you-need-use-co2-have.html my new Nutrafin CO2 Natural Plant System is running sooooo slow! http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66645-my-new-nutrafin-co2-natural-plant.html Sun, 15 Nov 2009 18:07:21 GMT Does anyone have any experience with this system?


I didn't want to do DIY because my 10 gal aquarium sits on a kitchen bar and I didn't want a big ugly 2 liter bottle sitting next to it. So I decided to buy this system yesterday. It seemed perfectly sized for the 10gal and the canister looked nice.

I set it up yesterday and after hours of waiting, I didn't get one bubble. I thought maybe I didn't have the water warm enough in the canister, so I dumped it out, rinsed, and started all over with warmer water. I set it back up and waited over night. I woke up this morning expecting to see bubbles running up the ladder. There were bubbles, but they were all gathering on the ladder and just sitting there on the rungs. They weren't getting smaller (as I would think they would when they dissolve). And the tube was going so slow. It was taking a little over a minute to spit out one bubble.

Does it take a few days to get adjusted and spit out more bpm? Did anyone else have issues with it going this slow at first? I need to know if I should just take the whole thing back to the store or not. Maybe just make my own damn CO2 system and deal with the unsightly 2liter bottle. ]]> New to Planted Aquariums Sharper http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66645-my-new-nutrafin-co2-natural-plant.html my first planted tank 30g long :D http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66553-my-first-planted-tank-30g-long.html Wed, 11 Nov 2009 02:01:36 GMT well i was finnaly able to take some pics of my tank. this is my first try and a planted tank and ive had alot of help with alot of people on this forum so thank you!
specs:
30g long
t-5 lighting nova extreme
eco complete substrate
co2 pressurized paintball style regulater from GLA
fluval 205 canister filter (bought half price from ebay store!)

live stock:
6 black phantom tetras
4 otos
7 gold barbs
4 rosey red minnows. bought them from the feeder fish section at petstore and used them to cycle the tank the plan was to feed them to my g/f turtle after but after seeing them in my tank i grew a heart for them :)
i'm still in the works in finding 2 german blue rams and a couple more cory cats then i will be done with my fish collection.

anyways enjoy what pics i have and i'll be sure to post more in the future! any comments welcomed








and thanks to customdrum for my assortment of plants! ]]> New to Planted Aquariums Mattatbest http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66553-my-first-planted-tank-30g-long.html Planting HC/Glosso in Flourite http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66540-planting-hc-glosso-flourite.html Tue, 10 Nov 2009 07:50:43 GMT Anyone plant HC or GLosso in flourite? what was your experience with it? did you need root tabs? i heard that if you do it right, they can be planted without using tabs? how is that done? Anyone plant HC or GLosso in flourite? what was your experience with it? did you need root tabs?

i heard that if you do it right, they can be planted without using tabs? how is that done? ]]> New to Planted Aquariums jc0522 http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66540-planting-hc-glosso-flourite.html Ultimate 30 or 55 Gallon setup http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66519-ultimate-30-55-gallon-setup.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 21:29:46 GMT what would you recommend? Budget is pretty high so cost is not a huge concern. Would like some schooling fish as well. What would you recommend? I love the acquascape look:D what would you recommend?

Budget is pretty high so cost is not a huge concern.

Would like some schooling fish as well.

What would you recommend?


I love the acquascape look:D ]]> New to Planted Aquariums citadel http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66519-ultimate-30-55-gallon-setup.html Question about AquaClear Filters http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66509-question-about-aquaclear-filters.html Mon, 09 Nov 2009 05:33:26 GMT so, my friend let me use his canister filter, however after doing a test, i found there was a crack thus causing a leak.

since im on a VERY tight budget, my second choice was a AquaClear Filters. so my question is:

How is this filter?
I read somewhere that this filter actually brings down CO2? Anyway around that?
Anyone take out the media/sponge that came with it and put in other ones?

thats all the questions i have right now...if i have more i'll edit post! thanks guys! ]]> New to Planted Aquariums jc0522 http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66509-question-about-aquaclear-filters.html solenoid and regulator http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66437-solenoid-regulator.html Fri, 06 Nov 2009 08:18:32 GMT I recently purchased an electric solenoid to save on co2. I hooked the paintball style regulator to the new solenoid with regular aquarium tubing. I had about two feet of tubing betwwen the solenoid and the regulator the first night i had it set up. I was watching to see if it would shut off when the timer went off and it did. I went to sleep and was awoken by a loud sound by the tank and looked to see what it was and found that the airline tubing was blown. i shortened it the next day to about two inxhes of tubing and when the solenoid kicked off same thing. Next day i tried differant clear tubing instead of blue stuff and same thing happened, blown tubing. Any suggestions on how i can link the regulator and solenoid so that the tubing will not blow up. Also does the pH raising and lowering with levels of co2 affect my fish in any way? I recently purchased an electric solenoid to save on co2. I hooked the paintball style regulator to the new solenoid with regular aquarium tubing. I had about two feet of tubing betwwen the solenoid and the regulator the first night i had it set up. I was watching to see if it would shut off when the timer went off and it did. I went to sleep and was awoken by a loud sound by the tank and looked to see what it was and found that the airline tubing was blown. i shortened it the next day to about two inxhes of tubing and when the solenoid kicked off same thing. Next day i tried differant clear tubing instead of blue stuff and same thing happened, blown tubing. Any suggestions on how i can link the regulator and solenoid so that the tubing will not blow up.
Also does the pH raising and lowering with levels of co2 affect my fish in any way? ]]> New to Planted Aquariums Acatrow http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66437-solenoid-regulator.html New to the planted aquarium scene http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66404-new-planted-aquarium-scene.html Thu, 05 Nov 2009 03:11:44 GMT Hey all, just wanted to introduce myself formally before I ask a ton of questions in the future. I'm new to the hobby (had goldfish when I was a kid but my dad did all the work). Got interested about 2 months ago but I had to wait until I moved into the new apartment. Just been reading up on everything ever since. I'm currently running:

20gallon high
100w heater
aquaclear 20-50gal filter
40 lbs of eco-complete
65 watt pc fixture

I picked up all the supplies for a 2 liter diy co2 system but haven't put it together yet.

My goal is to have a heavily planted tank straight off the bat. My tank has been running for 2 days now to get the water temperature up. Its at 82 deg F, ph is 7.5, KH is 3, GH is 4. Do the readings sound about right? My plans for the plants are basically made up of what I've seen in the local LFS's.

-Water Wisteria
-Amazon Sword
-Rotala Indica
-Dwarf Hairgrass
-Anarchis
-Ludwigia Peruensis

Are these plants good for a new tank? Do you guys have any other recommendations? I want to get fast growing plants to take as much nutrients from algae as possible. Also, is this enough to be heavily planted if i get 1 bunch for each? And how far apart do I plant them from each other? I'm aiming for plants this weekend and hopefully have fish in by the end of the month. Any other tips/suggestions/criticism are welcome. Thanks in advance! ]]> New to Planted Aquariums KShoes http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66404-new-planted-aquarium-scene.html Another newbie looking for tips http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66381-another-newbie-looking-tips.html Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:12:29 GMT I After having owned a 30ltr Biorb for a month I decided to upgrade for two reasons, firstly I though my fish would appreciate the space, and secondly I wanted real plants. I did my research – or think I did, drew up some plans, made a backscene, and brought a tank-kit. After having thrown away all the stuff that came with the tank (filters/lighting/air pumps) and buying some decent replacements I jumped in both feet first. Everything’s growing, fish are happy, water is tested, changed fertilised, co2 administered in liquid form, in fact the only problem is my crappy design. I had envisaged a beautifully aqua-scaped tank, and have accomplished an arrangement comprised of a childishly placed medley of plants, rocks and wood instead. So whilst my fish and plants seem to be having a good time, I’m not. The problem is it’s all up and running, and I now have the following fish – which won’t fit into previous tank whilst I re-design the layout.

6 male guppies
6 female guppies
3 pepper corys
2 dwarf toads
1 siamese fighting fish

What I’d like to happen is for the fake rocks to be covered in short growth greenery in their entirety. I was hoping the java moss would do this – but I have just managed to create mounds of it. Does anyone have any suggestions for a plant type that would fulfil these requirements?

In addition, I would greatly appreciate some re-planting/new planting suggestions that anyone feels might enhance what I feel is a pretty poorly designed layout. All criticism/suggestions welcomed, I have no pretentions of being anything other than a beginner.

I would like to acquire a snowball pleco too, but I have heard they can uproot plants, can anyone advise on this matter too, and is the tank even large enough to house one?

Last but not least, will my tank be approaching the over-stocked level if I did put a snowball pleco in there? I have heard many rules of thumb to do with surface area, one inch per gallon minus cubic volume of scenery etc, but I think I'd just like someone more experienced than me to give me some advice. I did buy a larger filter to accomodate more fish, but don't want to stress them by overstocking.

Tank Details: Epoxy resin-coated Polystyrene backscene, 230 ltrs capacity, over-sized external filter, over-driven twin t5 lighting, large air pump. Co2 in liqid form at the moment, but will upgrade to injection if recommended. Substrate is sand over laterite, over gravel. All plants that are growing on backscene are platted in cylindrical depressions in the backscene itself, with a laterite base.

Unfortunately in the pictures the water looks cloudy white, in reality it's perfectly clear, it's just that the lighting is so bright.
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]]> New to Planted Aquariums Zephyrus Blue http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66381-another-newbie-looking-tips.html Unexpected start http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66342-unexpected-start.html Sun, 01 Nov 2009 23:30:48 GMT Well its been awhile since i really got into the plant/aquarium aspect. Unforseen circumstances has brought me back into this beautiful world. Now story time, so please bear with me.

I have a main 29gallon tank with a couple fish (only 3 now) and a rock formation inside. A couple years ago i got into the whole aquarium deal. but it has died down over time. Now since a guy at my mother's work place breeds fish, some red platy's i think, he got baby fish and she took it upon herself to bring some home. now i have 14 baby platy's in a small 10g back up tank. unfortunately i didnt get enough time to set the tank up the right way, so i put about 2 gallons of water from my main tank and let it cycle for the bacteria. So 3hrs after i got everything done and filter running, fish are home and are aclimating. The next day, my mom thought it would be nice to put a plant in it. She got two large (for a 10g) stalk, broad leaf type plants. I know for a fact the way i have things they wont survive, because i've tried it before years ago.

My question is, what can i do to keep the plants and fish in healthy conditions? I know that these conditions are not the best, but the best i can do for now without too much stress on everything.

So what should i do?
Thanks! ]]> New to Planted Aquariums Tankerblade http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/new-planted-aquariums/66342-unexpected-start.html