Maintenance on a planted tank

[[email protected]]

I feel kind of foolish for asking questions like this but, maybe it
will help others. I have been doing considerable research on setting up
a planted aquarium...... a nice planted aquarium.

I have kept a 55g tank for some time now. I've made all the usual
mistakes with all the usual results. Currently I am very successful
with tropical fish, filtration, water conditions ect. For approximately
a year I've had ever increasing success with live plants of various
types.... Using soil as a substrate.
To get to the point:

Is there an effective way of cleaning my gravel under plants, in caves,
under driftwood (hard to reach areas) without playing havoc on the
landscape? I have tried to ba careful but some plants are too brittle
or dense. Caves for example are nearly impossible to clean, and get
pretty nasty.

What filter medium should be used in a planted aquarium? I use
activated carbon now. This works wonders for the fish and water
quality/clearness but I suspect it pulls nutrients out of the water
hindering plant growth.

Last question.... don't laugh.
Multivitamins (for people) and iron tablets are available in large
quantity for a very low price at the drug store. The composition of a
multivitamin tablet has much in common with the requirements I have
read about for live plants.... Would a vitamin or iron tablet work as a
soil/root fertilizer?

Thanks all.

[NetMax]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I feel kind of foolish for asking questions like this but, maybe it
> will help others. I have been doing considerable research on setting up
> a planted aquarium...... a nice planted aquarium.
>
> I have kept a 55g tank for some time now. I've made all the usual
> mistakes with all the usual results. Currently I am very successful
> with tropical fish, filtration, water conditions ect. For approximately
> a year I've had ever increasing success with live plants of various
> types.... Using soil as a substrate.
> To get to the point:
>
> Is there an effective way of cleaning my gravel under plants, in caves,
> under driftwood (hard to reach areas) without playing havoc on the
> landscape? I have tried to ba careful but some plants are too brittle
> or dense. Caves for example are nearly impossible to clean, and get
> pretty nasty.

Sounds like a good question to post in r.a.f.plants. The best approach
towards aquarium maintenance is to design for it. For example, this
orients caves in such a way so the detritus collects at an accessible
end. The water flows along the tank bottom towards the filter intake.
The substrate is banked to help the filters pick it up (or you to gravel
vacuum it). It's part art and part science, and every tank I set up is
slightly different, with a variety of results ;~).

Some possibilities to help you now: i) a narrow attachment for your
gravel vacuum, ii) a pinch-off valve for your gravel-vac hose (below the
water line, outside the tank), iii) slowly pick up the caves while
vacuuming underneath, and iv) chopsticks (used in front of your
gravel-vac to stir up tight spots).

Detritus directly under plants are not a concern imo, especially when
using soil as a substrate (which you do not want to disturb). One
strategy when your cleaning methods are constrained, is to maximize your
mechanical filtration. A simple example is to make a sand-box (a low
wide flat vase whose edge just comes up to the edge of the substrate).
All bottom-feeder foods (or any other foods which drop) are positioned to
fall into the sand-box. The substrate should gently slope up away from
the sand-box. The 'sand-box' can be filled with sand (vacuum off the
top), medium gravel (anything you can vacuum easily) or coarse gravel
(in case you vacuum from underneath by piping to a filter) etc.

> What filter medium should be used in a planted aquarium? I use
> activated carbon now. This works wonders for the fish and water
> quality/clearness but I suspect it pulls nutrients out of the water
> hindering plant growth.

The use of carbon is almost a religious question. I don't use it in
planted tanks, ymmv.

> Last question.... don't laugh.
> Multivitamins (for people) and iron tablets are available in large
> quantity for a very low price at the drug store. The composition of a
> multivitamin tablet has much in common with the requirements I have
> read about for live plants.... Would a vitamin or iron tablet work as a
> soil/root fertilizer?

I suppose that you're only limited by your willingness to research the
various properties, water soluability, fish/plants toxicity levels,
long-term effects on life-expectancy/spawning/fry etc etc. Sounds like
an interesting term paper, but not something I would do or not do based
on newsgroup advice ;~)

> Thanks all.

--
www.NetMax.tk

[Robert Flory]

> wrote in message
oups.com...
>I feel kind of foolish for asking questions like this but, maybe it
> will help others. I have been doing considerable research on setting up
> a planted aquarium...... a nice planted aquarium.
> check the APD
http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/ search for fertilizers, etc and Tom
Barr

His method works for me.

> What filter medium should be used in a planted aquarium? I use
> activated carbon now. This works wonders for the fish and water
> quality/clearness but I suspect it pulls nutrients out of the water
> hindering plant growth.
Dump the carbon, any kind of inert filter material will work. The plants
will remove most of the ammonia.
What is you light level? I found even my low light tank did better with
just a bit of DIY CO2 added.

> Last question.... don't laugh.
> Multivitamins (for people) and iron tablets are available in large
> quantity for a very low price at the drug store. The composition of a
> multivitamin tablet has much in common with the requirements I have
> read about for live plants.... Would a vitamin or iron tablet work as a
> soil/root fertilizer?

Might, but it is my impression it isn't really necessary. They argue that
on the APD endlessly.

Post you questions on APD or REC.aquaria.freshwater.plants
and you'll get lots of response



Bob

[Margolis]

"Robert Flory" > wrote in message
...
>
>
> Post you questions on APD



what is APD?

--

Margolis
http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
http://www.unrealtower.org/faq

[Robert Flory]

"Margolis" > wrote in message
nk.net...
> "Robert Flory" > wrote in message
> ...
>>
>>
>> Post you questions on APD
>
>
>
> what is APD?
aquatic plants digest http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/

a aquatic plants mailing list
Check it out

> --
>
> Margolis
> http://web.archive.org/web/20030215212142/http://www.agqx.org/faqs/AGQ2FAQ.htm
> http://www.unrealtower.org/faq
>
>
>
>
>
>
>

[Dick]

On 15 Dec 2004 09:01:51 -0800, wrote:

>I feel kind of foolish for asking questions like this but, maybe it
>will help others. I have been doing considerable research on setting up
>a planted aquarium...... a nice planted aquarium.
>
>I have kept a 55g tank for some time now. I've made all the usual
>mistakes with all the usual results. Currently I am very successful
>with tropical fish, filtration, water conditions ect. For approximately
>a year I've had ever increasing success with live plants of various
>types.... Using soil as a substrate.
>To get to the point:
>
>Is there an effective way of cleaning my gravel under plants, in caves,
>under driftwood (hard to reach areas) without playing havoc on the
>landscape? I have tried to ba careful but some plants are too brittle
>or dense. Caves for example are nearly impossible to clean, and get
>pretty nasty.

Why look? My tanks all have heavy vegetation. I never try to clean
the bottom even the little that I could get to. The gravel I can see
looks clean and no debris. Perhaps it is the variety of bottom
feeders I keep, although that varies by tank, or perhaps your feeding
habits. I cut feeding my fish twice a day to once a day thus reducing
the load to the filters and the fish are doing fine. I don't use any
fertilizers and feed only flake food.
>
>What filter medium should be used in a planted aquarium? I use
>activated carbon now. This works wonders for the fish and water
>quality/clearness but I suspect it pulls nutrients out of the water
>hindering plant growth.
>
I stopped using charcoal 6 months ago. I found bulk foam that has
fine pores that reduces the visible particles and the water nearly
sparkles.

>Last question.... don't laugh.
>Multivitamins (for people) and iron tablets are available in large
>quantity for a very low price at the drug store. The composition of a
>multivitamin tablet has much in common with the requirements I have
>read about for live plants.... Would a vitamin or iron tablet work as a
>soil/root fertilizer?
>
>Thanks all.

In my opinion, the most important maintenance is changing the water.
I change 20% twice weekly. I only clean the filters when the water
backs up to the intake. The plants are all "low light."

I think it is helpful to consider what you enjoy about keeping fish.
I enjoy looking at the fish and plants, but I am convinced many people
enjoy doing things with and to the tank. But then, I am easy to
please. More exotic plants and fish may justify the extra work for
the more discrimenating eye. From your question it sounds like you
like fussing with the tank since you start off stating your tank setup
now is running well.

dick

[[email protected]]

Thanks for all the input. I bookmarked APML. It looks like there is a
wealth of information available there.

It looks like my cleaning issues are due to lack of planning (or
planning the tank setup for purely cosmetic purposes). I will
experiment a little with the vac though.

Due to some of the advice, I have removed the carbon in one of the
filters with no noticeable change in water quality. I am going to run
this for a month and monitor the levels. Depending on the outcome I may
remove all carbon. I have also considered adding peat granules in place
of the carbon. From what I understand, peat reduces the PH slightly,
(which I need anyways), softens the water and adds nutrients.

Looks like I am going to change my water more frequently too. Now I use
25% once a month. Did I mention I use South Carolina well-water?

The reason for the fertilizer question is: I bought some Hornwort. The
stuff grew like crazy for about 2-3 weeks. Now it turned dark green and
just survives. I expect the dark green is the plant's response to the
lack of light, but why did it grow like crazy when I put it in? .....
Or I can post on APML..... :) Thanks!