Emmas Rio 125l (33us Gallon) Planted Adventure

[ebrcknrdg]

They don't breed like crazy, and it is more difficult in a community tank. Gouramis are bubblenest builders and egglayers, so are not like livebearers at all. Yes, you can get 2 males or 2 females (males are much more showy though!), but towards their own kind they are territorial, so make sure you have enough hiding places. Normally it is 1 fish/10 gallons territory (doesn't mean you cannnot add other species in that space).

I did read that having one male and one female would stress the female out, or is this a load of c**p?

 

[reggieschuey]

I''ve own several kinds of gourami, most gouramis are friendly towards other tropical fish, however to their own species, they can get very territorial. adult Gold gourami are nortourious and can get quite agressive they want their 'space' . I once put two small red honey gourami and literally once i released from the bag , immediately my gold gourami stareted chasing them. Other gouramis like pearl and oplaine are quite ok from my experience.

 

[Biulu]

No, that is correct, as the male will chase the female around the whole time. For that reason it is better to have 2 females. In your tank though, you could decide to keep 2 gouramis of the same sex, so either 2 males or 2 females.

 

[SuperColey1]

Listing your plants from left to right (from your original posted pictures) they look to me like:

Dracena of some sort (don't think is aquatic)
Aqua Fern (despite the name is non aquatic and will rot very quickly)
Cabomba
Echinodrus sp (Sword)
Indian Fern (Water wisteria)
The fake red one looks like Rotala Macrandra
And at the front on the rock you have an Anubia and some Marimo Moss Balls

Of the new plants you have the non aquatic is a fountain plant or wheat plant which are very often sold on ebay for aquariums but are non aquatic.

You will need a lot more plants in there to replace the non aquatics. The sword will grow huge under the centre of the lights there. I would have them to one side or they will end up 'swakllowing up all the other plants and also blocking the light.

fast growers that actually look nice that I have used and are readily available in P@H from Tropica are:
Rotala Rotundifolia
Ludwigia Repens
Alternanthera Reineckii.

With the extra lights I would leave them off and stay with the 1.2WPG until you are happy that you have got your CO2 at 30ppm, by drop checker or other test method.

Not too sure why you're adding ammonia to cycle!!! The filter won't be getting it to create beneficial bacteria as the plants will be using it instead. In a planted tank you will only get beneficial bacteria in the filter if there is more than the plants need.
We often put Nitrate into the tank which the plants have to convert back to ammonia whereas if there is ammonia readily available they will use this first. I never cycled my tank when I restockde it. I just put 5 Otos straight in then 1 month later put 19 cardinals, 4 pitbull plecos and 4 more Otos in all on the same day at the same time and apart from a couple of fish getting caught in the mesh wall at the back, they are all still in there.

Andy

 

[ebrcknrdg]

Listing your plants from left to right (from your original posted pictures) they look to me like:

Dracena of some sort (don't think is aquatic)
Aqua Fern (despite the name is non aquatic and will rot very quickly)
Cabomba
Echinodrus sp (Sword)
Indian Fern (Water wisteria)
The fake red one looks like Rotala Macrandra
And at the front on the rock you have an Anubia and some Marimo Moss Balls

Of the new plants you have the non aquatic is a fountain plant or wheat plant which are very often sold on ebay for aquariums but are non aquatic.

You will need a lot more plants in there to replace the non aquatics. The sword will grow huge under the centre of the lights there. I would have them to one side or they will end up 'swakllowing up all the other plants and also blocking the light.

fast growers that actually look nice that I have used and are readily available in P@H from Tropica are:
Rotala Rotundifolia
Ludwigia Repens
Alternanthera Reineckii.

With the extra lights I would leave them off and stay with the 1.2WPG until you are happy that you have got your CO2 at 30ppm, by drop checker or other test method.

Not too sure why you're adding ammonia to cycle!!! The filter won't be getting it to create beneficial bacteria as the plants will be using it instead. In a planted tank you will only get beneficial bacteria in the filter if there is more than the plants need.
We often put Nitrate into the tank which the plants have to convert back to ammonia whereas if there is ammonia readily available they will use this first. I never cycled my tank when I restockde it. I just put 5 Otos straight in then 1 month later put 19 cardinals, 4 pitbull plecos and 4 more Otos in all on the same day at the same time and apart from a couple of fish getting caught in the mesh wall at the back, they are all still in there.

Andy

Hi Andy, thanx for the input. Learnt alot there. You are right about the Dracaena, although i couldnt find the one i have it does resemble a few ive seen so that will be taken out asap. As for the aqua fern i cant find one that looks like mine, the stems are very long on the one i have. Ive seen it in my LFS AND at a place called Hollybush which is very reputable so i think its not an Aqua fern? I will ask when i go there tomorrow.

Regarding the fountain plant is that the grassy one? Why would they sell them at an aquatic shop if they are not aquatic? Im pretty confused now! What could i replace them with as i really like them? (Will be getting some more tomorrow from Hollybush)

I will be aqua scaping the tank when i do my 90% water change so will move the swords, they are getting huge anyway so will use them to block out the filter on the right.

Im already half way through my cycling now so would it be harmful to stop adding ammonia? Everything seems to be going so well. Even nitrates are showing up now. When i put the ammonia in i put it right by the filter where it sucks the water in, so surely its going through the filter media? Now im confused! If nitrites are showing then surely the ammonia is being processed somehow, whether it be by the plants or the filter.

Regards

 

[SuperColey1]

It definately looks like aqua fern to me. see link.
http/www.plantgeek.net/plant-281.htm

This is a really good site for plants.
http/www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_all_gallery.php

LFS and large chain stores often have non aquatics in their shops and don't know. Most of them aren't really into plants just have them as they are part of the hobby. If you look on ebay at the amount of wheat/fountain plants and dracena, aqua fern and many others you will see what I mean (These people are actually trying to say they are plant experts whilst selling you non aquatics)

If the tank is actually cycling the ammonia it may be due to your low plant load. It won't hurt to complete it.

Andy

 

[ebrcknrdg]

It definately looks like aqua fern to me. see link.
http/www.plantgeek.net/plant-281.htm

This is a really good site for plants.
http/www.plantgeek.net/plantguide_all_gallery.php

LFS and large chain stores often have non aquatics in their shops and don't know. Most of them aren't really into plants just have them as they are part of the hobby. If you look on ebay at the amount of wheat/fountain plants and dracena, aqua fern and many others you will see what I mean (These people are actually trying to say they are plant experts whilst selling you non aquatics)

If the tank is actually cycling the ammonia it may be due to your low plant load. It won't hurt to complete it.

Andy

Having looked at that picture close up the leaves do look the same, i guess they have just trimmed down the stem. If the aqua fern and fountain plants are thriving (which they are) will it do any harm to leave them in until they look as though they are dying off? What effect on the water/fish do these non aquatic plants have?

I will continue to cycle as i have been doing then as it seems to be working. I did notice the ammonia dropping very rapidly since i added the new plants so i add ammonia twice a day to compensate.

 

[SuperColey1]

It won't hurt to leave plants in if they're not dying, but why bother?.. Why not replace them with real aquatics that will use the nutrient up correctly and help you fight the initial algae battles you get in freshly set up tanks?

Andy

 

[ebrcknrdg]

It won't hurt to leave plants in if they're not dying, but why bother?.. Why not replace them with real aquatics that will use the nutrient up correctly and help you fight the initial algae battles you get in freshly set up tanks?

Andy

Thats true, and i could replace the aqua fern tomorrow with Rotala Rotundifolia. I am finding it hard getting forground plants which is why i ended up with the fountain plants. My LFS only had the two i chose, and the vallis mini twister desnt seem to be doing too great either. So looks like im going to end up with no forgeound plants again.

 

[john starkey]

hi emma, have you thought about trying java moss as a foreground plant? you can attach it to wood or stones with fishing line and remove it when it takes hold, also you would be able to move it around your tank for a new look whenever you feel like a change,regards john.

 

[ebrcknrdg]

hi emma, have you thought about trying java moss as a foreground plant? you can attach it to wood or stones with fishing line and remove it when it takes hold, also you would be able to move it around your tank for a new look whenever you feel like a change,regards john.

Hi John,

I do already have Java Moss on Three pieces of slate, but its not growing great at the moment. Could you not see it in the photo? Im just waiting for some equipment to come that ive ordered off ebay then i can set up my extra lighting to 2.2WPG and hook up another DIY co2 bottle as well as dosing EI. This should speed things up a little growth wise.

 

[john starkey]

hi emma, have you thought about trying java moss as a foreground plant? you can attach it to wood or stones with fishing line and remove it when it takes hold, also you would be able to move it around your tank for a new look whenever you feel like a change,regards john.

Hi John,

I do already have Java Moss on Three pieces of slate, but its not growing great at the moment. Could you not see it in the photo? Im just waiting for some equipment to come that ive ordered off ebay then i can set up my extra lighting to 2.2WPG and hook up another DIY co2 bottle as well as dosing EI. This should speed things up a little growth wise.

Hi em, i just had another look its hard to tell from the pics i thought it was riccia at first, java moss should do okay with the lighting you have but it is a slow grower. regards john

 

[ebrcknrdg]

hi emma, have you thought about trying java moss as a foreground plant? you can attach it to wood or stones with fishing line and remove it when it takes hold, also you would be able to move it around your tank for a new look whenever you feel like a change,regards john.

Hi John,

I do already have Java Moss on Three pieces of slate, but its not growing great at the moment. Could you not see it in the photo? Im just waiting for some equipment to come that ive ordered off ebay then i can set up my extra lighting to 2.2WPG and hook up another DIY co2 bottle as well as dosing EI. This should speed things up a little growth wise.

Hi em, i just had another look its hard to tell from the pics i thought it was riccia at first, java moss should do okay with the lighting you have but it is a slow grower. regards john

sorry i know the pics arent great! I will try Riccia when my lighting and co2 increase. Im sure that will be enough for the foreground

 

[SuperColey1]

If you use the site plantgeek linked above it will show you where the plants best position is in each profile.

It also tells you their light demands and how difficult they are to keep looking good.

Andy

 

[xxBarneyxx]

hi emma, have you thought about trying java moss as a foreground plant? you can attach it to wood or stones with fishing line and remove it when it takes hold, also you would be able to move it around your tank for a new look whenever you feel like a change,regards john.

Hi John,

I do already have Java Moss on Three pieces of slate, but its not growing great at the moment. Could you not see it in the photo? Im just waiting for some equipment to come that ive ordered off ebay then i can set up my extra lighting to 2.2WPG and hook up another DIY co2 bottle as well as dosing EI. This should speed things up a little growth wise.

Looking like a good start.

I started my first planted tank a couple of weeks ago as well and just finished the cycling (had a bit of an outbreak of hair algea due to the high ammonia levels).

If you want I have some spare fast growing plants that I could send you Pm an address to send it to and I can post them either tomorrow or monday.

Salvinia Auriculata, this is a floating plant that grows like crazy (I had 4 small peices about 4cm round and it now covers over half of my 4ft tank, in two weeks!!!!) its a good plant for soaking up excess Nitrates and is good for fish to build bubble nests in.
I also have some Echinodorus Tennellus (mini Amazon sword) which grows about 6cm and makes a nice carpeting foreground plant (I have gone from 5 plants to about 20 in two weeks as they put out a mass of runners ).

Have a look at http/www.fishforums.net/First-Attempt-At...al-t203191.html for pictures of the plants.