heff

Alright. Got my 1L of KNO3 and my 250g KH2PO4. All Season didn't really know what I was talking about when I said General Hardness Boost (Calcium and Magnesium). Do you guys have a specific product for hardness boost so I can walk back in knowing exactly what to buy?

I've read that even 1-2 hours with the lights off in between five or six hour up time will do marvelous things in regard to combating algae. Algae doesn't have the efficiency to store energy the way plants do, so the on/off cycle hinders the algae.

Hmm... I think java moss is supposed to be pretty easy to grow under a variety of conditions. Could you maybe have too much light for it? I'm sure there's someone here that's grown java moss successfully in a setup close to your own. EDIT: I did some searching (instead of working) and found some accounts of others with similar issues. Java moss growing poorly with high light conditions, versus it thriving in low light. Based on these extremely credible sources :P, you could try flipping the driftwood so it was shaded or putting it further away from the light?

What type of moss is it? Is this your 20gal? What size are the bulbs and how old are they? And how much CO2? I have to think that maybe it's a lack of light? I'm no expert at this by any means, but it's my understanding that when you give a plant CO2, it needs higher light and nutrient availability behind that. It was the delicate balancing act that drove me out of CO2 and into low-tech

LOL, yeah I told a buddy that I work with that I was looking for potassium nitrate and he said I'd probably have the cops asking about my recent purchase... ATM, you mention a year or more worth of ferts. How large is the tank you're dosing and are you using CO2?

I'm looking at starting to properly dose my tank as I believe I have crossed the line of "enjoying the fish "to "enjoying the plants with the fish hanging around". My crypt wendtii is enjoying life along with my christmas moss, but my corkscrew val isn't doing much and my moneywort stems have a couple yellowing leaves after a few weeks of owning them. Right now, I've got some Seachem root tabs and I'm lightly dosing Seachem Flourish Comprehensive a couple times a week. I've read that the way to dose a low tech tank is to get some Seachem Equilibrium or GH Booster of some type, some KNO3 and some KH2PO4. Dry fertilizer isn't the kind of thing you buy regularly, but where do you guys get it when you do? Thanks! ~Hugh

Thanks for the input everyone. My tank is relatively small and I'm finally getting a good number of plants in there, so letting an anubias grow on top of the substrate would be ideal, I think.

I'm curious to know where people plant their anubias. Do you guys attach them to driftwood, rocks, or just weigh them down on the top of the substrate? I've even heard of people actually putting them IN the substrate, contrary to what I've read. I've got relatively low light (1.4wpg) and I'm considering an anubias nana or nana petite so I figured I'd see what everyone does with theirs...

I have personally read 10-15 per gallon, but I'm sure there's room for interpretation there. If you're planning on removing shrimp from the tank before they fully mature, I'd be willing to bet the tank could support the higher number because they'll be so small. I just got into RCS and I'm quickly finding they're one of the more interesting critters to keep.

Being the "caring owner", I let the shrimp fend for himself. He appeared to be poking around with what was left of his mouth parts. This morning, I've found he's got little feeders arms again. They're small, but they appear to be doing the trick. Maybe they grew back without molting? There aren't any obvious signs of a mol; there are some pieces of carapace around, but they appear to be from my other shrimp.

Alright, moving foward as originally planned: no carbon. I'm going to see how this prefilter sponge works out. The tell-tale signs are reading like I should have shrimplets in a few weeks, providing I'm reading the signs correctly , that is...

Got a cylindrical filter sponge that fits nicely around the intake. $1.30 well spent. I have active carbon media for my filter, but I've heard that carbon is not the way to go with planted tanks. Can anyone chime in on this? I've got a bunch of other fauna in there so active carbon would be great but I'm relying more on the plants to look after the increase of nitrates. I do weekly water changes at roughly 30%-40% and I haven't seen any issues so far.

Why I didn't think of that myself is another thing altogether. Thanks! I know where I'm going during lunch...

I have a 10 gallon with a few plants in it (Corkscrew Val, Christmas Moss, Crypt Wendtii) and I run an aquaclear mini filter with just a reusable hard sponge (no active carbon). I just acquired some red cherry shrimp and I've found that they're being sucked into the filter, so I'm looking into alternatives to prevent this from happening. I'm considering using filter wool (or whatever it's generally called) and wrapping it around my filter intake. I've even heard of using pantyhose. My concern is the reduction of water flow... does anyone know how little flow I can get away with without my plants reacting to "low flow"? Thanks!

I've heard that a reliable fish for eating MTS are dwarf puffers. edit: ha, just realized this post is three months old. fantastic.

No, I haven't transplanted it. When the leaves begin to die, I usually leave them until I decide they're a lost cause, at which point I remove them by snipping them with scissors above the crown, which doesn't appear to be rotting.

I suppose that's an option. If I start dosing iodine, the molt should come quicker than the last (4-6 weeks).

My amanos are only about an inch long and I've never seen them aggressive. They seem to molt every two or three weeks with no issues, but they're also not wood shrimp. I think I might have to pick up some iodine; one drop a week for a 10 gallon, is that correct? I've been tempted to grab that giant shrimp (providing I can catch him) and take a peek, but I'm pretty sure I'll do more damage than good, either physically or psychologically.

Here's a comparison from Hagen of my bulb (Aqua-Glo, left) versus Sun-Glo and Power-Glo. On Hagen's site, they list the Sun-Glo as an all-purpose bulb for tank inhabitants only, not for plant growth. There's a Crystal Glass up the road from me; I think I might reconsider having them replace the glass for me.

There are many opinions on the kelvin rating and it's my understanding that it matters very little; it's the color spectrum that's important. This Val might be the plant I toss away and forget about, even though the healthy leaves look so good. In terms of extra details: - no CO2 - black gravel, approx. 2mm - light timing - 5 hours on, 1 hour off, 5 hours on - no direct/indirect sunlight

Good question. I highly doubt it, but I'm sure stranger things have happened. Tank mates: 2 kuhli loaches 6 guppies 2 amano shrimp 1 african dwarf frog

@AvianAquatics - Being new, there's no such thing as stupid suggestions. While I believe the tank is clean enough, there is some permanent (I've scrubbed the heck out of this with vinegar) residue on the glass plate between the light and the water, but the plant might feel differently. The bulb is only a few months old at the most. It's rated at 18,000K so I THINK it's bright enough. I do have discoloration in my water due to the leech of tannins from my driftwood, but the vals have been growing/dying this way before I got the driftwood.

It is not Flourish Excel, just the Flourish fert; I've also heard that vals do not appreciate it added in any quantity, although some can become aclimatized to it.

I've got a corkscrew vallisneria that's been sending up new leaves then dying back for what feels like months now. It sends out runners and creates new child plants (which grow and die back as well). I've been using root tabs for a couple months but didn't start dosing liquid fert until a few weeks ago (I wonder why my house plants do about as well as my aquarium plants...) Tank details below... questions / comments / suggestions welcome! ___________________________________ 10 gal 2mm black gravel 14W aqua-glo (2-3 months old) 26-27 Celsius plants: crypt wendtii tropica corkscrew val christmas moss on malaysian driftwood a single surviving blade of dwarf hairgrass (eleocharis parvula) inhabitants: 6 guppies 2 kuhli loaches 2 amano shrimp 1 wood shrimp 1 african dwarf frog dosing flourish 15 drops weekly flourish root tabs in the substrate under the vals 30% - 40% water change weekly

That's exactly what I'm thinking, but why a critter wouldn't grow the tools to eat is mind boggling. I'll post it's date of death, should it occur.