Jro

What about growing some emergent plants like peace lilies?

I've bought from the Plant Guy in Winnipeg and had no issues. http://www.theplantguy.org/ There's a few places in Edmonton that sell plants. It would save you shipping costs and you could get them home quickly. 2 that come to mind right away for me are: Nature's Corner Store 8728 51 Avenue Aquarium Central 12006 111 Avenue

Cainechow, nice Iwagumi scapes!

There is such a thing as too much light. In my previous experience I have found that HO setups in a 15 gallon are nice and all but unless you are constantly adding nutrients (fertilizing and CO2) back into the water, the plants will use it too quickly, the water volume just isn't a lot. The plants end up frying. Find a light that covers the tank end to end evenly with a bulb spectrum between 6500k - 10000k. 6500k gives off a more yellowish tinge while 10000k is more white, personal preference really. My first planted tank was a 20 gallon with a Power Compact 36 watt light ($14) that I had about 10" above the tank to cover the whole tank and I did just fine. I wasn't growing carpets of HC or anything but my crypts and rotala (both asian plants) did well. They grew at a slower pace when compared to a High tech setup but they did well. One more thing, I found my plants LOVE water changes. It adds and circulates nutrients in the water column and they pearl (produce oxygen bubbles) like mad after a good water change. Like the other folks have stated, have fun and learn.

Kim, get whatever fits into your budget. Fluorite is near the top as for as pricey goes but has long term nutrient sustainability, sand is cheap but has high surface area for bacterial growth, but next to no long term nutrients (root tabs every couple of months will help with that).

Any type with no added compost, no added fertilizer, no added anything. Read the bag to make sure and open it if you have to to make sure there's no bark and things like that in there. I have never used it but some people claim Miracle Grow Organic Potting Mix is really good. I found that I run into less algae issues down the road if I prepared the soil before using it. Some people soak and dry it in the sun few times, some people boil it, some bake it. This is to break down any organic compounds that still might be in the soil which in turn causes algae when it breaks down (simplified). I'm pretty lazy so I just leave it in a wheelbarrow with water for a week on my deck or so until it dries, I might do that 2 or 3 times. No mesh, I either use my finger and push it beneath the sand or pick it up and chuck it on a side with flourite on it.

I should have mentioned that my tank is sectioned off by a bed of sand, the other substrate is flourite. No plants in the sand. I only clean the sand for looks but leave the flourite unvacuumed.

The thing about sand is that it compacts and fish poop and uneaten food will just sit on top of it. I use my gravel cleaner and kind of wave it above the sand to create a current that lifts those bits into the water column a bit and then hose it up. Takes a bit of practice but it's very easy.

Agreed with ckmullin. Lighting all depends on what kind of plants you want to keep. As for substrate, I usually mix a bag of flourite with potting soil and cap it with gravel or sand, depending on what look I want.

What plants are you putting in? I am no expert but I found a lot of plants to be tolerant of pH differences as long as it remains consistent.

I replace mine annually. I get an algae bloom that slowly sorts itself out after a week after changing the bulbs..

About 3 years ago I got a small chunk of rhizome for aubias barteri that was maybe an inch long with 3 dying leaves on it for free. The previous owner didn't want it because they thought it was going to die The plant is now bigger than the size of my head. Can't kill anubias almost unless you are purposely trying providing their basic needs are met. I hope yours recovers!

What Jvision said. As long as the rhizome is firm like you say, expect some leaf die off for the first little bit. It should rebound.

My Senegal bicher capped out at 8". Took him 3 years to get there.

Anyone know where I can get my hands on some Umbrella papyrus in Edmonton? Thanks in advance Jro

Agreed, Anubias Lanceolota. Trimming the roots is fine. Keep the rhizome intact however.

This is one of the main reasons why I don't keep rasboras as I keep open top tanks filled pretty high. Beautiful schooling fish otherwise.

Holy smokes that's huge!

I don't really know lots about saltwater/reef systems but aren't starfish voracious eaters of Copepods and Amphipods which are supposed to be beneficial for those systems?

I loved my Senegal bichir! Like you described, it was rather passive. A really great looking fish when it is with non aggressive fish that don't fit in it's mouth.

I always wanted to try a brackish planted setup. Good luck and let me know how it goes!

I agree with all your points jcgd but I was assuming riverpirate has a standard 90 gallon tank which I think is about 24-25" in height. I don't own a PAR meter but would this not put him in the low light category and not a high light setup? With low light, the plants are unable to out compete the diatoms hence why they are there. I still think light to be the limiting factor and not the CO2. Assuming it's an established tank and there are weekly water changes following the EI method.

Sorry, saw your tank is a 90 gallon on the subject. 78 watts is a little low, might want to bump it up a bit to over 1 watt per gallon.

Between 5000k and 7000k is optimal. But really, use whatever bulbs you think looks the best. 10000k is more of a white light whereas 6500k are a bit more yellow. How big is the tank and how established is it? Brown diatoms is common with newly established tanks, and/or a combination of low light, excess nitrogen & silicates. If your tank is fairly new, I would just wait it out.

You can add as many fish as you want. In my previous mbuna tanks, I have always overstocked to reduce aggression. However, mbunas are dirty dirty fish. The question should be is: How often are you willing to do water changes and clean your filters?