Regular Member blackmoors Posted October 6, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 6, 2014 Ok. Well I've decided to try and do some live plants in a tank. I won't be having goldfish with them. Instead I have a shoal of white cloud minnows in the tank. (30 minnows) At the moment I just have put the plants in take away containers with some gravel. I need to get a light for the tank to assist the growth of the plants. Should I have put any fertilizer in the containers for the plants? 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted October 6, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 6, 2014 What plants did you get? A broad spectrum macro like Flourish would be good if you have some. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Flipper Posted October 6, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 6, 2014 Don't forget pics 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hidr Posted October 6, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 6, 2014 I don't use anything on any of my planted tanks but some root feeders every three months and excel three times a week. I get just enough growth I don't have to trim a lot. In my one dirtied tank I don't use anything. But the growth is much slower in that tank. And some of the plants were not happy and died off. But the tank is easy to take care for and very little water changes. Mostly top it off. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member blackmoors Posted October 7, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 7, 2014 I have - Variegated rush Giant Ambulia Thin Valis And one with no name. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted October 7, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 7, 2014 The variegated rush isn't aquatic. I would remove it and put it in a pot somewhere. If it has been submerged for long you might need to keep the humidity up/mist regularly, but it will come back around. If you post a photo I'm sure someone will be able to identify it. If you're looking for plants in the future, you should check Dave's stock out. Him and his wife are brilliant to deal with and treat repeat customers very well. By far some of the best plants you'll get in Australia. http://aquagreen.com.au/ 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member blackmoors Posted October 7, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 7, 2014 Pretty sure they've been submerged for some time... I'll probably leave them for now unless they will poison the fish. I'm currently trying to decide upon a light for the tank. I've been told a t5 quad would be great. A double would be ok. But also that LEDs are good too... Although I was told two LEDs would probably be better than a quad t5. Just expensive.. A 2nd hand t5 without bulbs is $250.. bulbs are $30-40 each... Soooooooo $370+ I can have 2 LEDs delivered for similar money to that. So what's best for planted tanks?? The LEDs would probably chew less power. But are they ok for plants? Will have to see about some fertilizer too. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member blackmoors Posted October 7, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 7, 2014 See how this works 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member fancyblackgold Posted October 7, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 7, 2014 Also tried plants in my goldfish aquarium - i often get up in the morning to uprooted plants 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Hidr Posted October 7, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 7, 2014 My plants in my goldfish tank have dirt then gravel then some large river rocks and they are in pots/containers. Rocks are just close enough to the plant that the goldfish can't dig them up. It has worked well. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member ShawneeRiver Posted October 8, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 8, 2014 Plants aren't so hard. If one dies, try another one. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member blackmoors Posted October 8, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 8, 2014 Yeah. I don't think the minnows will b uprooting the plants in a hurry lol. They may nip away at some. Any idea what the last plant (pic) is?? It had no name on it. I quite like it and would love if it spread throughout the tub ft to form a "field" of grass I can them use to eventually aqua scape a tank. (I haven't bothered attempting to aqua scape until I have a fair idea of what lives and dies etc lol) I'd like to see about some fissiden? Grass. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted October 8, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 8, 2014 Pretty sure they've been submerged for some time... I'll probably leave them for now unless they will poison the fish. I'm currently trying to decide upon a light for the tank. I've been told a t5 quad would be great. A double would be ok. But also that LEDs are good too... Although I was told two LEDs would probably be better than a quad t5. Just expensive.. A 2nd hand t5 without bulbs is $250.. bulbs are $30-40 each... Soooooooo $370+ I can have 2 LEDs delivered for similar money to that. So what's best for planted tanks?? The LEDs would probably chew less power. But are they ok for plants? Will have to see about some fertilizer too. It won't poison your fish, but will eventually rot and die. As for lights, you can do either. I'm not sure the size of your tank, but have you looked at any of Up Aqua's Pro Z series LEDs? They're very good for what they are and reasonably priced. There are some downsides, but I don't imagine you're looking to grow fussier plants? On any tank over 40cm deep you'll be out of high/medium light and into medium/low. They're good lights, but aren't very economical when it comes to retaining PAR over depth. I also suspect your hairgrass type plant might be another type of rush/terrestrial. I certainly don't know any grasses that taper to a seed. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted October 8, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 8, 2014 Fissidens is a gorgeous moss, pretty slow grower though. If you're interested in easy carpets sans co2, I would look at lilaeopsis or echinodorus tenellus. The latter is actually a type of sword, but is quite grass like. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member *Amanda* Posted October 13, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 13, 2014 (edited) I am a big fan of LEDs - they are very sleek looking and don't need to be replaced regularly. I use the Marineland Double Bright 36", which is medium light on my tank. As for nutrients/carbon, I use Excel, Flourish, Flourish root tabs, and Activ-Flora Lake Gems micronutrient-enriched substrate. I actually haven't had any plants do poorly in my tank (well, except for the banana plant, but that was because the goldfish destroyed it within 24 hours). Edited October 13, 2014 by *Amanda* 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member LisaCGold Posted October 13, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 13, 2014 I am a big fan of LEDs - they are very sleek looking and don't need to be replaced regularly. I use the Marineland Double Bright 36", which is medium light on my tank. As for nutrients/carbon, I use Excel, Flourish, Flourish root tabs, and Activ-Flora Lake Gems micronutrient-enriched substrate. I actually haven't had any plants do poorly in my tank (well, except for the banana plant, but that was because the goldfish destroyed it within 24 hours). Beautiful, Amanda!! 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member Daniel Posted October 30, 2014 Regular Member Share Posted October 30, 2014 How are the plants going? I was doing some reading the other night and actually stumbled across what appears to be that hair grass. If so it's a native hair grass found up North called eleocharis caespitosissima—it forms seeds at its head and cuttings can be planted unlike most hair grass. 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Regular Member blackmoors Posted October 30, 2014 Author Regular Member Share Posted October 30, 2014 (edited) So far so good. The Valis has taken a real beating... The minnows seem to like it and have attacked it. But at the moment all seem to be holding in there. As for the grass, it has grown about an inch in height and has started to send runners out. If it's a native that makes me feel a bit better lol. It's a pretty cool looking plant. Edited October 30, 2014 by blackmoors 0 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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