First step questions about growing plants

[Lior T]

Hi,

I've read (some) about growing plants (thanks Charles for the links),
and I have some follow-up questions:

first, If my tank is over a year old, and has signs of algue do i HAVE
to take care of ALL algue before buying plants ?

second - is it recommended to plant all the plants at once ? i have a
plastic one i want to replace now, and then gradualy replace all the
other plastics over time . is that recomanded ?

third - Is CO2 injection a MUST ? im concerned as i have problems
getting the water tested (mainly, because i dont have the know how/what
and also due to very high costs of kits here)


four - can full-spectrum bulbs/flourecent be bought in a hardware store
or must they be specific for fish ?


thats it for now.

thanks in advance
LT

[xtr396472]

I'm no expert, and am still learning with plants as always one answer may
generate more questions.
Scrub the algae off as much as you can. Any decorations remove and give then
a hard time with the brush. You could soak them in bleach and then clean
again to remove bleach(search net "cleaning Plants aquarium") I have used a
wire brush on drift wood.

Adding one or two at a time is fine and better. Its better to loose one or
two plants than loose a tank full. You can take cutting of the plants
instead of buying more over time.

Co2 is not a must but does help. I have done the DIY co2 and it works well
but I cannot get it to produce consistent and end up with PH swings. I am
using Flourish Excell in a 165l tank and the stuff is good a lot less tubes
and plastic in tank to start with.

Test kits: Oh boy where do I start, why did I start more importantly.

I started getting algae on the slow growing plants and it frustrated me so I
brought lots of test kits. To understand what is happening in my tank. High
Nitrate and Phosphate help algae grow. So I test these, Nitrate I think
varies mostly by what maintenance you complete on your filter. I have some
huge nitrate spikes after cleaning the filter and also using medication
which I guess is killing the bacteria. I also test FE (Plant fertiliser) To
high again can cause algae and wastes expensive product.

THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL FOR A PLANTED AQUARIUM IS..............

A NOTEBOOK.

Record all your action and observations
date
Ph - weekly
KH - monthly
Gh- monthly
Fe- weekly
PO4- weekly
No3 - weekly
Water change 25%



If you can maintain your tank to a hi standard with regular maintenance
giving you consistent tests you can test less.






"Lior T" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I've read (some) about growing plants (thanks Charles for the links),
> and I have some follow-up questions:
>
> first, If my tank is over a year old, and has signs of algue do i HAVE
> to take care of ALL algue before buying plants ?
>
> second - is it recommended to plant all the plants at once ? i have a
> plastic one i want to replace now, and then gradualy replace all the
> other plastics over time . is that recomanded ?
>
> third - Is CO2 injection a MUST ? im concerned as i have problems
> getting the water tested (mainly, because i dont have the know how/what
> and also due to very high costs of kits here)
>
>
> four - can full-spectrum bulbs/flourecent be bought in a hardware store
> or must they be specific for fish ?
>
>
> thats it for now.
>
> thanks in advance
> LT

[Lior T]

Thanks,

Another question -

I do dailey water changes for several small reasons -
i have plants on my rooms' balcony, i water them every day or every
other day - since the aquarium water are good as fertilizer as well, i
use the aquarium water to water the house plants, and then refill the
aquarium with same ammount from the tap.

this way i keep the water changes regularly interval'ed (if very often)
and water+fertelize the plants.

i use a cola bottle cut exactly in half and fill it to 2/3'd of its
capacity.

can these water changes be too often for the plants ? will i drain
their nutrians too fast ? (i can do this procedure every 4 days or
more, but by calcuilations this seems to replace the same ammount of
water that my bi-monthly water changes do... and its easyer that way).

thanks
LT



xtr396472 wrote:

> I'm no expert, and am still learning with plants as always one answer
> may generate more questions.
> Scrub the algae off as much as you can. Any decorations remove and
> give then a hard time with the brush. You could soak them in bleach
> and then clean again to remove bleach(search net "cleaning Plants
> aquarium") I have used a wire brush on drift wood.
>
> Adding one or two at a time is fine and better. Its better to loose
> one or two plants than loose a tank full. You can take cutting of the
> plants instead of buying more over time.
>
> Co2 is not a must but does help. I have done the DIY co2 and it works
> well but I cannot get it to produce consistent and end up with PH
> swings. I am using Flourish Excell in a 165l tank and the stuff is
> good a lot less tubes and plastic in tank to start with.
>
> Test kits: Oh boy where do I start, why did I start more importantly.
>
> I started getting algae on the slow growing plants and it frustrated
> me so I brought lots of test kits. To understand what is happening in
> my tank. High Nitrate and Phosphate help algae grow. So I test these,
> Nitrate I think varies mostly by what maintenance you complete on
> your filter. I have some huge nitrate spikes after cleaning the
> filter and also using medication which I guess is killing the
> bacteria. I also test FE (Plant fertiliser) To high again can cause
> algae and wastes expensive product.
>
> THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL FOR A PLANTED AQUARIUM IS..............
>
> A NOTEBOOK.
>
> Record all your action and observations
> date
> Ph - weekly
> KH - monthly
> Gh- monthly
> Fe- weekly
> PO4- weekly
> No3 - weekly
> Water change 25%
>
>
>
> If you can maintain your tank to a hi standard with regular
> maintenance giving you consistent tests you can test less.
>
>
>
>
>
>
> "Lior T" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hi,
> >
> > I've read (some) about growing plants (thanks Charles for the
> > links), and I have some follow-up questions:
> >
> > first, If my tank is over a year old, and has signs of algue do i
> > HAVE to take care of ALL algue before buying plants ?
> >
> > second - is it recommended to plant all the plants at once ? i have
> > a plastic one i want to replace now, and then gradualy replace all
> > the other plastics over time . is that recomanded ?
> >
> > third - Is CO2 injection a MUST ? im concerned as i have problems
> > getting the water tested (mainly, because i dont have the know
> > how/what and also due to very high costs of kits here)
> >
> >
> > four - can full-spectrum bulbs/flourecent be bought in a hardware
> > store or must they be specific for fish ?
> >
> >
> > thats it for now.
> >
> > thanks in advance
> > LT

[Robert Flory]

Mid posted
"Lior T" > wrote in message
...
> Hi,
>
> I've read (some) about growing plants (thanks Charles for the links),
> and I have some follow-up questions:
>
> first, If my tank is over a year old, and has signs of algue do i HAVE
> to take care of ALL algue before buying plants ?

No, clean it up as up can and add the plants. However, a good substrate
other than plain sand will help, though I've done reasonably well with plain
sand.

> second - is it recommended to plant all the plants at once ? i have a
> plastic one i want to replace now, and then gradualy replace all the
> other plastics over time . is that recomanded ?

Plant the whole aquarium at once if you can afford it. Try a bit of
everything, each of us manages to do well with different plants. Do you
know anyone you can get cutting from? I just dumped a bucket load of plants
today .. didn't have time to run them down to the LFS.
>
> third - Is CO2 injection a MUST ? im concerned as i have problems
> getting the water tested (mainly, because i dont have the know how/what
> and also due to very high costs of kits here)
Not really, but it helps to have lush growth. Try a couple of large juice
bottles (around 1 gallon) they work well. It you recharge one every two
weeks you will do well.. If you are talking about measuring nutrients, try
http://fins.actwin.com/aquatic-plants/ look for Tom Barr's method. This
involves doing a large water change weekly, then adding nutrients based on
the volume of the tank. Then doing another large water change which gets
rid of any buildup and re-dosing.

There are other approaches but Tom's doesn't require lots of testing.

> four - can full-spectrum bulbs/flourecent be bought in a hardware store
> or must they be specific for fish ?

Most any bulb will do fine. Most discussions really boil down to what color
bulbs you like.

Bob

[xtr396472]

Ok. One of the processes of weekly or bi weekly water changes is to vacuum
the gravel. This removes a lot of the fish waste which produces the poor
water quality in the first place. If you are just scooping the top of the
water your water quality will deteriorate rapidly as a build up of waste
increases and breaks down into the water. Also your plant roots do not liked
to be disturbed regularly. I have read that when a plant is planted it takes
3? weeks to settle in with out disturbing the roots before it is functioning
100%.

Lior T" > wrote in message
...
> Thanks,
>
> Another question -
>
> I do dailey water changes for several small reasons -
> i have plants on my rooms' balcony, i water them every day or every
> other day - since the aquarium water are good as fertilizer as well, i
> use the aquarium water to water the house plants, and then refill the
> aquarium with same ammount from the tap.
>
> this way i keep the water changes regularly interval'ed (if very often)
> and water+fertelize the plants.
>
> i use a cola bottle cut exactly in half and fill it to 2/3'd of its
> capacity.
>
> can these water changes be too often for the plants ? will i drain
> their nutrians too fast ? (i can do this procedure every 4 days or
> more, but by calcuilations this seems to replace the same ammount of
> water that my bi-monthly water changes do... and its easyer that way).
>
> thanks
> LT
>
>
>
> xtr396472 wrote:
>
> > I'm no expert, and am still learning with plants as always one answer
> > may generate more questions.
> > Scrub the algae off as much as you can. Any decorations remove and
> > give then a hard time with the brush. You could soak them in bleach
> > and then clean again to remove bleach(search net "cleaning Plants
> > aquarium") I have used a wire brush on drift wood.
> >
> > Adding one or two at a time is fine and better. Its better to loose
> > one or two plants than loose a tank full. You can take cutting of the
> > plants instead of buying more over time.
> >
> > Co2 is not a must but does help. I have done the DIY co2 and it works
> > well but I cannot get it to produce consistent and end up with PH
> > swings. I am using Flourish Excell in a 165l tank and the stuff is
> > good a lot less tubes and plastic in tank to start with.
> >
> > Test kits: Oh boy where do I start, why did I start more importantly.
> >
> > I started getting algae on the slow growing plants and it frustrated
> > me so I brought lots of test kits. To understand what is happening in
> > my tank. High Nitrate and Phosphate help algae grow. So I test these,
> > Nitrate I think varies mostly by what maintenance you complete on
> > your filter. I have some huge nitrate spikes after cleaning the
> > filter and also using medication which I guess is killing the
> > bacteria. I also test FE (Plant fertiliser) To high again can cause
> > algae and wastes expensive product.
> >
> > THE MOST IMPORTANT TOOL FOR A PLANTED AQUARIUM IS..............
> >
> > A NOTEBOOK.
> >
> > Record all your action and observations
> > date
> > Ph - weekly
> > KH - monthly
> > Gh- monthly
> > Fe- weekly
> > PO4- weekly
> > No3 - weekly
> > Water change 25%
> >
> >
> >
> > If you can maintain your tank to a hi standard with regular
> > maintenance giving you consistent tests you can test less.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > "Lior T" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Hi,
> > >
> > > I've read (some) about growing plants (thanks Charles for the
> > > links), and I have some follow-up questions:
> > >
> > > first, If my tank is over a year old, and has signs of algue do i
> > > HAVE to take care of ALL algue before buying plants ?
> > >
> > > second - is it recommended to plant all the plants at once ? i have
> > > a plastic one i want to replace now, and then gradualy replace all
> > > the other plastics over time . is that recomanded ?
> > >
> > > third - Is CO2 injection a MUST ? im concerned as i have problems
> > > getting the water tested (mainly, because i dont have the know
> > > how/what and also due to very high costs of kits here)
> > >
> > >
> > > four - can full-spectrum bulbs/flourecent be bought in a hardware
> > > store or must they be specific for fish ?
> > >
> > >
> > > thats it for now.
> > >
> > > thanks in advance
> > > LT
>

[Lior T]

OK, thanks guys.

now my last problem is finding a single 40watt flurecent for my
100litter tank before i actualy go to the store and buy the plants :)

thanks again
LT

Lior T wrote:

> Hi,
>
> I've read (some) about growing plants (thanks Charles for the links),
> and I have some follow-up questions:
>
> first, If my tank is over a year old, and has signs of algue do i HAVE
> to take care of ALL algue before buying plants ?
>
> second - is it recommended to plant all the plants at once ? i have a
> plastic one i want to replace now, and then gradualy replace all the
> other plastics over time . is that recomanded ?
>
> third - Is CO2 injection a MUST ? im concerned as i have problems
> getting the water tested (mainly, because i dont have the know
> how/what and also due to very high costs of kits here)
>
>
> four - can full-spectrum bulbs/flourecent be bought in a hardware
> store or must they be specific for fish ?
>
>
> thats it for now.
>
> thanks in advance
> LT

[Dick]

On Fri, 30 Jul 2004 21:34:56 GMT, "Lior T" > wrote:

>Hi,
>
>I've read (some) about growing plants (thanks Charles for the links),
>and I have some follow-up questions:
>
>first, If my tank is over a year old, and has signs of algue do i HAVE
>to take care of ALL algue before buying plants ?
>
>second - is it recommended to plant all the plants at once ? i have a
>plastic one i want to replace now, and then gradualy replace all the
>other plastics over time . is that recomanded ?
>
>third - Is CO2 injection a MUST ? im concerned as i have problems
>getting the water tested (mainly, because i dont have the know how/what
>and also due to very high costs of kits here)
>
>
>four - can full-spectrum bulbs/flourecent be bought in a hardware store
>or must they be specific for fish ?
>
>
>thats it for now.
>
>thanks in advance
>LT

I would buy "low light" plants and plant them. Forget CO2 or fancy
substrates. Remove anything that has algae on it and clean with
bleach or toss. Your tanks are already cycling.

I had a 75 and 29 gallon tank set up with fish and miscellaneous
plants and I had Black Hair Algae in the 75 gallon. After trying
different things I finally realized that their plants that could
thrive in my tanks without any special treatment. The tank population
was providing lots of nutrients (part of the BHA problem) so I ordered
through the internet a grab bag of low light plants. I was
overwhelmed by all they sent and started planting. In the end I even
had to throw some in the garbage.

Well, my tanks are free of BHA and I must prune about once a month.
No fertilizers other than the fish waste, no CO2 no special lights, in
fact I now have 5 tanks all with different bulbs and all with
different gravel and all have good looking plants.

You can do more and many do, but I want to let you know those extras
are a choice, not a necessity.

dick

[Christy84065]

Larry Blanchard > wrote in message >...
> In article >,
> says...
> > The tank population
> > was providing lots of nutrients (part of the BHA problem) so I ordered
> > through the internet a grab bag of low light plants.
> >
> Where?
YES I would also like to know where from. And do you actually make money off these?

[Dick]

On Sun, 1 Aug 2004 10:16:45 -0700, Larry Blanchard
> wrote:

>In article >,
says...
>> The tank population
>> was providing lots of nutrients (part of the BHA problem) so I ordered
>> through the internet a grab bag of low light plants.
>>
>Where?

I have use three, but here is one that offers a low light package.
You choose by tank size.

http://www.freshwateraquariumplants.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=CTGY&Category_Code=PAP

dick