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Ok i just went out on a very expensive trip to the LFS and have purchased some plants and a log with a plant on it...

first question.. do i need to keep my air stone im the tank or should i take it out?

the plants i have bought are wisteria, ambulia and two other ones i cant remember.. im gng to try and work something out and then try to post and you can tell me what you all think!

thanks!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

do i need to keep my air stone im the tank or should i take it out?

If you are running CO2 then you should take the air stone out as this will decrease the amount of CO2 in the water due to the agitation made by the bubbles. If you dont have CO2 then I would leave them in but thats just my opinion, I personally love the look of bubbles.

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Those who say they cant, Never will !!!

im not running co2 so i might pop that air stone back in.. i like the look of the bubbles down the back wall of the tank as well! the guy at the LFS was something about the airstone removing co2 or something along those lines.. ive never really had this many plants before and im definately far from an expert in this area!

im gng to try and post a pic this weekend and get some opinions as to how the plants could be arranged as im trying different arrangements but dont want to stress the fish and the plants too much.

thanks crusha!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

Most plants do appreaciate C02 in their water, which is whay those with planted tanks generally add some extra in to help keep the plants growing. Yes you can have a low maintence tank without adding CO2 but by running an airstone you're driving off the CO2 that the fish provide for the plants. It's lost through surface agitation and an airstone provides plenty of that! One thing you can try is turning your airstone off at night.

^_^

hi babel thanks for your reply!

if its not going to harm the fish or plants i might as well take the airstone out if it really isnt needed..

so basically the whole idea is that the fish provide co2 for the plants and then the plants provide oxygen for this fish?

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

basic idea is fish produce CO2 which can be used by the plants by photosynthesis
plants produce O2 which can be used by both plants and fish in respiration
since during day time, O2 produced by photosynthesis is greater than O2 used by respiration, so net product O2.
but at night time, photosynthesis stops, and everything starts to respire and CO2 net produced by animal and plants

also, fish excretion is nitrogeous, and acts as fertiliser for plants. plants take up the nitrogeous waste and fish gets happier

they are good buddies

how much light do u have on the tank? watts per gallon?
cause they are all medium to high light requiring plants
well good luck, with wisteria, it doesn't cope well to prunning, especially if u cut the top off and leave the bottom in substrate
it will decay pretty quickly, keep an eye on it

best of luck, some photos pls

im running a 20w globe at the moment but am trying to get a 40w.. would this be enough?
the 20 only works out 1wpg...

i tried posting pics but not sure how to .. will put them on photobucket tonite! all comments and critisms and ideas welcome!

thanks!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

I would assume that the Ambulia will not do well in a tank with 1wpg, the Wisteria may be ok though. It wouldn't be bad if you could ID the other two plants you got. BTW, I have a different experience with Wisteria than JQW does, I find it very forgiving when being trimmed.

About the CO2: Yes, plants do better with it, no doubt. An option for you would be to provide carbon in liquid form, for example via the product called Flourish Excel (in small dosages and maybe one every 3 days for a low light/low tech tank like yours).

About ferts: Plants need a little more than the nitrogenous waste from fish (which also produce phosphate). A balanced mix of nitrates, phosphates, and potassium (together called macros) and a mixed solution of micros (all other goodies, like iron and magnesium, but in much smaller quantities) should be provided for growth as well.

Hope this helps,

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

i might look into getting a better fertiler(s) to keep it gng and ive spied a few cheaper co2 options as well which i might look further into as well.

as for identifying the other plants.. if anyone can help from the pics?

ok i finally have some pics.. all comments,critisms and ideas welcome (sorry about the breeding net!)











thanks!

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

The purpley red one looks (kinda hard to tell in the pic on my screen *taps screen*) rather like red temple plant which is one of my absolute favs! Can handle lower lights, but really does want CO2 added. I'm pretty sure I lost mine due to a drop in tank temperature

The feathery one I should know but it escapes me at the moment . The low foreground ones look to be a crypt although the leaves look a little bit longer and thiner than the ones I recognize. And the fancy lettuce looking one in the back is wisteria.

DIY CO2 is quite easy and affordable to set up. You probably already have all the equipment around the house It's somewhat labor intensive to keep running as you need to make a new batch of the mix every few weeks.

^_^

it does look alot like red temple plant! the bushy one is ambulia and yep the other one is wisteria.. and chance of identifying the one on the driftwood??

sorry for the bad pics but im just learning how to take them ..

as for the positioning of the plants any comments? or ideas? its looking like a messed up jungle at the moment and i dont think i have enough substrate ?

i remember seeing a site of diy co2 but it looked complicated... if anyone has a simple set up which is inexpensive would love to hear from you!

im currently adding flourish (the comprehensive one which says it has everything) and it seems to be working on the bigger plants however those leaves on the plants in the front are thinning. im adding a capful a day..

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them

The one on the driftwood is one of those rather common low light plants, which isn't java fern who's name escapes me at the moment :...that help any !

DIY CO2
2L soda Bottle
Drill
Airline hose
Check Valve
Hose Barb Adapter (purchased from the plumbing section of home depot or lowes ect)
Silicone


Drill a hole in the cap of the soda bottle that's just a bit smaller than the Hose barb adapter (read this thread for more on the barb adapter. I've got one in my system and it works a dream!). I then warmed up the bottle cap to allow the plastic to soften (but not melt) and shoved the metal adapter through. This makes a tight enough seal although you can also choose to use silicone. Make sure that if you do use silicone to let it dry.

Attach airline tube, and check valve and run it into the tank. There are various ways of diffusing the CO2 and this is where it tends to get confusing . I'm currently running it into my filter on one tank and into a small bottle and powerhead diffuser in another tank. You can easily change this later so dont let it stop you for now.

Mix will vary, usually yeast sugar and water. Various other additions can be made as is discussed in the thread I linked to earlier.

HTH a bit .

^_^

I'll take a guess at the plant on the DW...Anubias Nana maybe? I'm not good at identifying the different types of anubias, but it looks to be the smaller type, which would be nana.

*Kristin*

thanks for those instructions babel! might actually give it a go i thought it was much more complicated!
and thanks for the link as well!

Girliegirl- it does look like anubias nana! now just the foreground plant to work out.. however i dont think its gng to last that long.. the leaves are already thinning!

any ideas on where to place them ? i know there really isnt a whole lot of room to work with!
im just not happy with it At the moment.. it looks messy! im cleaning it out tomorrow so will see what else i can come up with.

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Truth doesn't always win friends but it influences them