Rod Bacon
August 17th 05, 04:35 AM
As per my last post, I am about to introduce living stuff to my tank,
starting with plants. At the moment, I only have a single 40W tube over
my 200L tank, so I'm really in the low-end of lighting as far as plants
go.
(I read all the FAQs that were suggested in my last thread - thanks!)
Although I do intend to upgrade my lighting (to at least 80W), I'm only
going to do this after I've built a custom hood for my tank (which
won't happen for a few weeks yet). In the meantime, I want to put some
"easy to grow" plants in the tank, specifically those that will
tolerate low lighting levels.
I have two beautiful pieces of redgum (which I have treated and soaked)
that I am going to use as part of my aquascape. One has been hollowed
to form a large cave, the other is a solid stump with 20mm holes bored
through it, to make sort of a "loach house".
My plan is to grow some Java Ferns on this timber. I'm also considering
Java Moss, Cryptocoryone, Water Sprite and Anubias (assuming that I can
indeed find all those at my LFS, here in Australia). Does this sound
right so far? Is there anything else I should keep an eye out for?
Also, when I "conditioned" my tap water, I used Yardley Tri-start to
remove Chlorine and Chloramines. (I have since found out that my water
company uses Chlorine only, so this was probably overkill). From what I
deduce, this product only neutralises these nasties, but doesn't add
any additional good stuff. I know that my water is in the "very soft"
range, so some additional dissolved minerals and trace elements won't
hurt, especially as the plants are concerned.
Can anyone recommend a product to dose the tank with that will help
increase my general hardness, and also bump up the trace elements, etc?
starting with plants. At the moment, I only have a single 40W tube over
my 200L tank, so I'm really in the low-end of lighting as far as plants
go.
(I read all the FAQs that were suggested in my last thread - thanks!)
Although I do intend to upgrade my lighting (to at least 80W), I'm only
going to do this after I've built a custom hood for my tank (which
won't happen for a few weeks yet). In the meantime, I want to put some
"easy to grow" plants in the tank, specifically those that will
tolerate low lighting levels.
I have two beautiful pieces of redgum (which I have treated and soaked)
that I am going to use as part of my aquascape. One has been hollowed
to form a large cave, the other is a solid stump with 20mm holes bored
through it, to make sort of a "loach house".
My plan is to grow some Java Ferns on this timber. I'm also considering
Java Moss, Cryptocoryone, Water Sprite and Anubias (assuming that I can
indeed find all those at my LFS, here in Australia). Does this sound
right so far? Is there anything else I should keep an eye out for?
Also, when I "conditioned" my tap water, I used Yardley Tri-start to
remove Chlorine and Chloramines. (I have since found out that my water
company uses Chlorine only, so this was probably overkill). From what I
deduce, this product only neutralises these nasties, but doesn't add
any additional good stuff. I know that my water is in the "very soft"
range, so some additional dissolved minerals and trace elements won't
hurt, especially as the plants are concerned.
Can anyone recommend a product to dose the tank with that will help
increase my general hardness, and also bump up the trace elements, etc?