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Hi All,

Well, it's been 1.5 months since I started my planted tank (http://www.fishprofiles.com/files/forums/Planted%20Aquaria/62672.html) so I thought I'd give an update and of course ask some questions.

Here's the pic from week 1:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v58/witje/Fish/tank3_wk1.jpg
And here's one I just took (week 7):
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v58/witje/Fish/tank3_90d.jpg

The Ambulia (back right corner) is gone - it was too messy to deal with, plus it pretty much fell apart after the first trimming (probably from lack of nutrients). I put some bacopa and elodea (extra trimmings from other tanks) in its place temporarily while I'm waiting for some Aponogeton crispus to arrive in the mail.

So far I've been trying to use aspects of Tom Barr's non-CO2 EI method, with Excel dosage 1-2x a week. I was a bit timid with my macros' dosage (using Flourish liquids) in the beginning, but once I let go of that fear (just in the last week or so), the difference on the growth rate (especially on the polysperma & ludwigia) has been quite amazing. I've been adding Flourish nitrogen daily (due to low fish load), Flourish potassium 3x a week, Flourish phosporus 1x a week and regular Flourish (micros) 1x a week.

My question is on the proliferating chain swords. They've been sprouting runners like crazy I'm having trouble organizing them. It looks like the 2 mother plants are actually dying off (leaves turning brown). Is it ok to cut the child plants off (say in strings of 3-5 plants) and replant in several places, or would this kill them? If I do cut the chains, will the child plants eventually send runners again? I just don't know the best/easiest way of managing these things so they don't take over the whole front of the tank like they're doing now. Looking forward to your feedback on this and on the whole tank in general.

Thanks!

-P

upikabu,

My question is on the proliferating chain swords. They've been sprouting runners like crazy I'm having trouble organizing them.

Congratulations, this means they are very happy.

It looks like the 2 mother plants are actually dying off (leaves turning brown) .

Give them some time, I have them in my tank since 6 months and not one has actually died. It might just get a little too tight around them.

Is it ok to cut the child plants off (say in strings of 3-5 plants) and replant in several places, or would this kill them?

It is absolutely ok to cut them off. I usually wait until the new plantlings have at least a few leaves and some root developed. Then I cut the connectors and plant them individually somewhere else in the tank.

If I do cut the chains, will the child plants eventually send runners again?

Yes, they will create new runners. If it gets too much for you, just throw them out or try to sell them to the LFS.

Looking forward to your feedback on this and on the whole tank in general.

This feedback is a courtesy of LITTLE_FISH and your whole tank comment is – Very nice, although I have to say it looks almost too sterile. Can you take another pic that shows more of the left side? Too bad you had to take the Ambulia out, I really liked this plant.

Ingo

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club

Very nice tank, great job A nice piece of driftwood in front of the stems to hide the heater and hide the bottom of the stems would be great. Nice branchy bit. It'll give a solid focus and take away the flat straif=ght across look, the stems will look great popping from behind the wood.

I was a bit timid with my macros' dosage (using Flourish liquids) in the beginning, but once I let go of that fear (just in the last week or so), the difference on the growth rate (especially on the polysperma & ludwigia) has been quite amazing.

Oh ye of little faith

Is this the bit where I go "told ya" ?

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

Ingo - thanks for answering my chain sword questions! I foresee a lot of rearranging this weekend; the wife won't be happy.

This feedback is a courtesy of LITTLE_FISH and your whole tank comment is – Very nice, although I have to say it looks almost too sterile. Can you take another pic that shows more of the left side?

Yeah, I get you on the "sterile" comment. I guess I've been focusing more on making sure I can grow the plants ok first and didn't spend too much time on the whole aquascape/look from the beginning. I had a couple of pieces of driftwood lying around that I wasn't using so I arranged the tank around them. I didn't show the left side b/c there's nothing to show there ; just a few corkscrew vals. Here's another pic: http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v58/witje/Fish/tank3_wk7_2.jpg. My light fixture is too short (2' long in a 2.5' tank), that's why the left side looks dark. I'll probably replace the vals eventually, maybe use some tall Java Fern instead.

Is this the bit where I go "told ya" ?

Yes, yes, yes, absolutely! But you gotta start somewhere, right? I think I'm an EI convert now. Gotta look into subscribing to Tom's newsletters. I assume you guys already do?

BTW, do you know if Potassium Sulfate is commonly sold in garden stores? It seems like Potassium is the one macro I have to add a lot of (my polysperma leaves will quickly get holes without it) and the Flourish liquid will get expensive in the long run. I got some Seachem Equilibrium from the 50% off rack at an LFS, but that has other stuff (Fe, Ca, Mg, etc) in it too so I'm wary about adding it too often.

Thanks guys!

Last edited by upikabu at 14-Sep-2005 19:51

-P

The Equilibrium is good but it will raise GH, which you may not want.

Don't know if you'll find Potassium Sulphate at the garden center. You should be able to Potassium Chloride though. Usually sold as Muriate of Potash. Also try the supermarket, Mortons Nu-Salt is Potassium Chloride.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

The Equilibrium is good but it will raise GH, which you may not want.

Pardon my ignorance, but is high GH really bad for the average tropical fish/plants? According to the Brisbane city council website, the average hardness for Brisbane's tap water is 100mg/L CaCO3 or 5.6 dH (borderline moderately soft/slightly hard). I've been adding enough Equilibrium to add about 15ppm Potassium weekly.

Thanks!

-P

No the GH won't cause problems unless you already had a pretty high GH. Yours is by no means high. Adding the Equlibrium would be no problem at all.

The extra Fe, Calcium and Mg in the Equilibrium is also all good stuff. It should do a good enough job. If you follow the dosage on the label which gives an increase of 3o you're still only in medium hardness. No problem at all.

The only issue would be the cost of the Eq versus KH2PO4.

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

OK great, thanks.

The only issue would be the cost of the Eq versus KH2PO4.

Do you mean K2SO4 (Potassium-only source)? I got a 300g jar of Equilibrium for AU$5 at the bargain bin (vs. almost $15 for 100mL bottle of Flourish potassium), which should hopefully last me a while as I only dose a fraction of a teaspoon at a time. As for KH2PO4, I put Fleet Enema on my wife's shopping list this morning. She has no idea what "enema" means so it'll be interesting to hear what she'll say to the pharmacist.

-P

Sorry , mis- type yes I meant the KSO4.

You're in trouble if she finds out Mine would stick the tube where it's probably intended to go in the first place with the cap still on :%):%)

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Some days you're the pigeon and some days you're the statue.

Remember that age and treachery will always triumph over youth and ability.

upikabu,

You have to keep us posted on what she had to say when she returned from the pharmacy.

You are too funny,

Ingo

EDIT: BTW, I know the thread has moved on but I would like to add that the last pic you posted of your tank shows it in a much better angle. Looks really nice

Last edited by LITTLE_FISH at 15-Sep-2005 04:40

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Proud Member of the New Jersey Aquatic Gardeners Club