FishProfiles.com Message Forums

My first question: I started a small 5.5 gallon tank for my dorm. I'll be moving in sometime in september, so I was wondering what would be the best way to transport plants? Fill up a large bag with water and put them in there, or wrap them in newspaper? The majority of the plants are stem plants.. When I move, the plants would probably have to stay in the bag for a good 5-8 hours due to packing and unpacking of other items.

Not sure about the name of some of the plants so heres a link..
(The vals and crypts are going to be swapped out for other stemmed plants)

http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v146/Killerhobofish/?action=view&current=SSL13818.jpg

Dont mind the overstocked tank..I bought some fish for a friend but realized they had ich..so I decided to just treat them before I give them to her...

And my second question.. Im now dosing daily with 1/3 a cap of Flourish. Do you think this is enough or no? The ludwigia? seems to be turning greener...

Thanks!

inkodinkomalinko,

First of all, that is one fine looking tank that you created. Very nice layout and a major success in creating the impression of space (large tank in a small box)

On to your questions: 5-8 hours is not all that long. You can simply place the plants in plastic bags (not too many in each bag) and add just a little bit of water to it for moisture. Then seal the bags (like ziplock bags) and put them in a container that doesn't let any light through. If you want to be on the really safe side you could also first wrap the plants in newspaper, then make the paper wet, and then place these packages in plastic bags (similar to how I usually receive my plants when I order online).

"with 1/3 a cap of Flourish. Do you think this is enough or no?" - Well, for how long are you already doing this fert routine and how are the plants since then? Your tank looks very nice and if this is the result with your fertilizer routine then I would say you are fine. Without having seen your tank I would for sure have said that Flourish is not enough. When you have a few minutes go to the Seachem website, I think it is www.seachem.com, and read up on the incredients of the individual Flourish products. I think you know about the macros and micros that plants need (and in which proportions), right?

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks for the reply,

I think I'll do the newspaper route,since it might prevent the plants from breaking due to the rocking in the car.

For fertilizers, both the macros and micro are in small amounts, which is why I thought I might give more potassium/iron, especially since the substrate is just plain gravel.

Heres a view of the tank about 2 weeks ago? before I pruned the heck out of it http://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v146/Killerhobofish/?action=view&current=SSL13794.jpg

The bacopa and ludwigia had been loosing leaves near the bottom which is why I trimmed it and boosted the ferts to 1/3 cap instead of the suggest 2x a week suggested on the bottle, but now the ludwigia doesnt seem anything near as red as when I first bought it.

Today might actually be the 1 month mark

Again, thanks a bunch

inkodinkomalinko,

The link to your image says "This file no longer exists"

Anyway, on to some comments:

You say that the lower leaves are dying off and that the Ludwigia is no longer as red as it was when you purchased it. This could indicate that you do not have enough light to grow these plants sufficiently. How much light is on that tank? I would assume you need at least 20 to maybe even 30 watts (4wpg to 6wpg).

Another option for the leaf-loss could be a lack of nitrogen. You say "For fertilizers, both the macros and micro are in small amounts" but then you go on to say that you only use Flourish. So, where do your macros come from? Although Flourish contains Potash, which I believe contains Potassium, it is not a macro fertilizer at all. The Seachem Description for Flourish states "For macro element (NPK) fertilization, use Flourish Nitrogen, Flourish Phosphorus or Flourish Potassium as needed." So what are your tank values for N, K, and P?

Hope this helps,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Hi,
Where did they go??? When I linked on the tank pictures
the site said that the pictures were no longer there.

Ah well, missed again.

Frank


-->>> The Confidence of Amateurs, is the Envy of Professionals <<<--

Oops! I moved the pics to an album yesterday...

Yesterdayhttp://smg.photobucket.com/albums/v146/Killerhobofish/Plants/?action=view&current=Ssl13834.jpg

When I first got the plants (which was part of the reason most of the leaves were dying on the ludwidgia, as well as most other plants.)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v146/Killerhobofish/Plants/SSL13794.jpg

Quoted from seachems site..the analysis of Flourish
"Guaranteed Analysis
Total Nitrogen 0.07%
Available Phosphate ( P2O5) 0.01%
Soluble Potash 0.37%
Calcium (Ca) 0.14%
Magnesium (Mg) 0.11%
Sulfur (S) 0.2773%
Boron (B) 0.009%
Chlorine (Cl) 1.15%
Cobalt (Co) 0.0004%
Copper (Cu) 0.0001%
Iron (Fe) 0.32%
Manganese (Mn) 0.0118%
Molybdenum (Mo) 0.0009%
Sodium (Na) 0.13%
Zinc (Zn) 0.0007%"

Not sure, but arent most if not all the macros listed there?(iron, boron, copper, zinc, molybdnum, manganese??) Or are they in so small amounts it doesnt really do anything?

Im running a 14 watt aquaglo and a 15 watt powerglo (sticks off the sides of the tank a bit). I might switch to two powerglos instead, as well as a better substrate so I might support glosso or riccia.

The LFS gets the plant shipment this thursday, so maybe I can pick up some nicer plants to fill up the front, left corner, and replace the giant hygro (or move it to a nicer spot) and throw vals/crypts and replace it with another green stemmed plant.

Im thinking about keeping only a portion of the lilaeopsis since its growing quite tall and the tanks small..

Thanks guys!

inkodinkomalinko,

Not sure, but arent most if not all the macros listed there?(iron, boron, copper, zinc, molybdnum, manganese??)

This are all micros, not macros.

Macros are only 3, namely Nitrogen, Phosphates, and Potassium. And except for some Potassium and tiny amounts of Phosphate, Flourish doesn't contain any. Macros are called macros because you need much larger amounts than of the micros. For example, 20ppm of N (Nitrate) and only 0.1ppm of Fe (Iron). Got it?

IMHO, if you want to grow glosso you would probably have to up the light even more, I would assume 8wpg (like 40W) should do. PLUS, frequent fertilization and the addition of Flourish Excel as a carbon (see it like liquid CO2) source, or any other CO2 source.

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Silly me, thanks for clearing that up for me.

So would that mean nitrates would naturally be in the water from the fish, as well as phosphates? Which means I should dose potassium?? (I have some tetra florapride thats 3.0% potassium, can you provide me a rough reccomendation for the number of doses I should put in there?)

I'll skip the glosso. Oh, BTW I have one of those snazzy hagen co2 systems but i do the sugar yeast and baking soda replacement instead.

Thanks!

inkodinkomalinko,

You are welcome

While some of the required fertilizers are "naturally" your tank (may it be from the fish or even the tab water - mine has 2ppm of phosphates), the key is balance - in particular when you also add CO2.

I would suggest you read through Tom Barr's Estimative Index, this may clear up quite a few questions that may arise with regards to fertilizer routines.

Have fun,

Ingo

---

Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Thanks a bunch. I'll test out my tap water at work saturday and figure out stuff from there.