thedarkstar Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Will the plant root to the wood? It should either attach itself to the wood or send roots down both sides into the gravel to hold it in place Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Thanks for the info. I'll attach it to the wood then. Did I buy the wrong type of plants? I anyone could recommend some plants for me that would be appreciated. Does anyone know of a store that sells plants other than the kind that pj, petsmart, bigals sell? Seems they sell the same plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Did I buy the wrong type of plants? It's hard to tell from the picture, but the one on the left looks like a non-aquatic species ("fountain plant"?) It won't really hurt anything, but you'll probably find that it won't grow and just sits there slowly dying. Since you're new to plants, you might want to buy a good plant ID book. The 101 Best Aquarium Plants is a good little book that actually includes some of the newer trendy plant species. It's cheap too! Also have a look at websites like Tropica- lots of good plant descriptions there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 Thanks werner that site was very useful. I found some plants that I was interested in. For ground coverage I liked Hemianthus callitrichoides and Glossostigma elatinoides. I was also looking at Vericularia for the piece of drift wood. Where in Edmonton would I find these? If someone has some to sell I will buy some from you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 (edited) With the H. callitrichoides you will need higher lighting and be dosing with CO2. What size of tank do you have? I have some HC in my 35 planted tank with about 3wpg and I dose with CO2 plus fertilizers, the plant is really starting to take off. I don't have any experience with the Glossostigma, but from what I have read you will need very high lighting, and that this plant is one of the more difficult to keep. I suggest staying away from plants like that for now until you get the hang of some easier plants. What wpg's do you have in your tank now? For lower light plants and ones that are fairly easy to keep are also anubias nana, many cryptocoryne species, valisneria, and there are others. Do you want the tank to be low maintenance or high maintenance? Remember the more wattage you go, the more you will need to consider dosing with CO2 and ferts by the EI. I have a 5 gallon planted tank, I dose with flourish excel maybe once a month, and I never have to dose with ferts. substrate is a mixture of fine gravel with fluorite. In it I have a couple of killi fish and an otocinclus. For plants I have cryptocoryne wendtii, anubias nana, java moss, java fern, a small sword I don't know the name of and also some dwarf hairgrass that is growing VERY slowly. I have a basic incandescent fixture with low lights. The plants are thriving and I rarely have to do any work with it except water changes. I have my java fern growing on driftwood, the roots will eventually attach themselves to the wood and you can remove the fishing line or whatever you use to tie it down. Here is a picture. Edited February 14, 2009 by firestorm Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
werner Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 and I never have to dose with ferts. Ummm... actually I think you do need to add a little bit. Your Anubias looks like it wants some iron- see the yellowed areas between the green leaf veins? Also, the holes in the leaves would indicate a potassium deficiency. Nutrient Deficiency in a Planted Tank Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 To be honest with you I don't know what size the tank is. It's either a 5 or 5.5G so I'm guessing 3-3.5wpg. I want to stick to a easy to maintain planted tank. I failed horribly trying this with a 55G so I'm going to learn slowly this time. With a shrimp tank how many can I have in this tank? Are they jumpers? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 and I never have to dose with ferts. Ummm... actually I think you do need to add a little bit. Your Anubias looks like it wants some iron- see the yellowed areas between the green leaf veins? Also, the holes in the leaves would indicate a potassium deficiency. Nutrient Deficiency in a Planted Tank Thanks werner, guess I will have to dose with ferts a little more often than I thought. I just don't pay as much attention to this little tank as I do my larger planted tanks :P Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
firestorm Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 To be honest with you I don't know what size the tank is. It's either a 5 or 5.5G so I'm guessing 3-3.5wpg.I want to stick to a easy to maintain planted tank. I failed horribly trying this with a 55G so I'm going to learn slowly this time. With a shrimp tank how many can I have in this tank? Are they jumpers? The tank looks larger than that, maybe it's just me.....but that coralife light fixture looks awefully small, is it the 9" mini fixture? Larger tanks certainly do require a little more work, I would recommend trying some low light plants, and keeping with low lights. This way you can avoid having to dose with CO2, or at least dose a little excel instead. Shrimp can jump, I have found a dead shrimp on the floor outside the tank before. I would certainly recommend keeping a lid on the tank, or with my 20 gallon shrimp tank I leave the water level down about 2" since it's open top. On a smaller tank you might want the water level higher though. Oh and shrimp love having moss in their tank, it can hold little micro organisms that the shrimp will feed off, so I do recommend finding some java moss and possibly tying that to some driftwood as well. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkstar Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 To be honest with you I don't know what size the tank is. It's either a 5 or 5.5G so I'm guessing 3-3.5wpg.I want to stick to a easy to maintain planted tank. I failed horribly trying this with a 55G so I'm going to learn slowly this time. With a shrimp tank how many can I have in this tank? Are they jumpers? I've never seen one of my shrimps jump but I'm sure they can. And if you are looking for some low light plants, I'm gonna have some Cryoptocorynes, Riccia and Java moss I should be able to part with, possible a few more Anubias. Otherwise, best bet for most plants is Natures Corner Store Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 thedarkstar I would be interested in Riccia and Java moss. I'm currently trying to find a carpet plant and moss for the wood. I'll have to check out natures corner, I haven't been there since I ventured into SW. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thedarkstar Posted February 14, 2009 Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 thedarkstar I would be interested in Riccia and Java moss. I'm currently trying to find a carpet plant and moss for the wood.I'll have to check out natures corner, I haven't been there since I ventured into SW. I was there today, they still have a few of the plants listed on their website Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 14, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 14, 2009 firestorm it is a 9" fixture and I'm not very happy with the design. I'm going to stop by nature's corner today and check out their carpet plants. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bignose Posted February 15, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 I bought some plants today. Anubias, Hemianthus and Pogostemon. I didn't realize that pogostemon was difficult to grow when I bought it. How do FW tanks cycle? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jvision Posted February 15, 2009 Report Share Posted February 15, 2009 How do FW tanks cycle? Lots of plants! Seriously, if you fill your tank with fast-growing plants, they'll take up any ammonia produced by your fish. Alternatively, you can slowly add fish over the course of several weeks to allow the biofilter to catch up... or look up "fishless cycle". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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