Felix's First Planted 15G

[ian]

i would still dose the TPN+ when changin the water.

 

[lljdma06]

Finally free

Also out of the tank came three crypt willisii plants:

Now those are crypts. New setup looks really good. Now dose your ferts, do your waterchanges, and leave the tank alone. That's the hardest part, to avoice excessively tweaking in the beginning. You people tweak too much.

 

[flix_cw]

Now those are crypts. New setup looks really good. Now dose your ferts, do your waterchanges, and leave the tank alone. That's the hardest part, to avoice excessively tweaking in the beginning. You people tweak too much.

Thanks llj!

I nearly lost the crypt willisii(s) at the start of my adventure into the hobby. They were on their last legs until i started dosing seachem flourish excel and they were brought back to life!

I'm having real trouble with my vallis though, it just won't stay rooted. Every evening when i get home it's back floating on the surface. Is it ok to wrap some lead round the base of each stem just to give it time to root?

One question about ferts. My tank is roughly 60L, so i dose 6ml after each water change. However, i just thought, should i actually just be dosing the new water going in? Ie. if i do a 50% w/c and put 30L new water in, should i just dose 3ml? I'm going to run out of TPN+ very quickly!

I've ordered a new Gro-Lux T5 light as well since i have no idea how long the current tube was used for with its previous owner, it really doesn't seem to be giving off much light.

 

[Biulu]

The nutrients in the fertilizer are used by the plants, so you should continue with 6 ml, otherwise your plants have only access to 3 ml in total. Plus that you are removing excess nutrients to a large extent during your waterchange.

 

[flix_cw]

My gro-lux tube arrived yesterday. It seems a lot less bright than the old one i took out and has quite a pink tinge to it. I quite like it, just hope its bright enough. Gro-lux claim it provides all the necessary wavelengths.

Here's a pic of the tank from the other side like some of you asked. Taken before the light change.

I'm a bit worried about some of my plants though! My huge crypt is melting furiously, my pygmy chain sword is turning brown, and my anubias leaves are browning at the edges
Crypt melting

Chain sword

Anubias

Any advice?!

 

[ian]

It's normal for the crypts as you know, you have to hang on in there with these. Same with the chain swords, these are often grown out of water and get that unique shape, then we submerse them and they die off and come back a total different shape, they end up a lot straighter. As for the anubias...just remind me, are you dosing any C02?

 

[flix_cw]

No CO2, but i am dosing liquid carbon (seachem flourish excel) with each w/c. It's low light so i'm not really sure i need to be...

 

[ian]

the thing is with excel is that it isn't going to hurt. It will need to be dosed daily as you know, or you may get some fluctuations. Those leaves on the anubias could do with being trimmed off. Keep an eye on new growth to see if it shows any deficiencies.

 

[flix_cw]

the thing is with excel is that it isn't going to hurt. It will need to be dosed daily as you know, or you may get some fluctuations. Those leaves on the anubias could do with being trimmed off. Keep an eye on new growth to see if it shows any deficiencies.

Ok. i should prune the anubias leaves from the base of the stems, yes? there are new stems beginning to grow from the rhizome, i'll keep an eye on them.
thanks ian.

 

[flix_cw]

Just remember that TPN+ will register on you test kit as it has an ammonium source. Is the zeolite the last contact before the outlet?

I realised Ian, how will I know when my tank is cycled if I'm dosing TPN+? At the moment I'm just doing a daily w/c without testing, but how will i know when its ready to cut back to once a week?

 

[ian]

Within a planted tank, we would be just as reliant on the plants. Personally i would keep the water changes up for a couple of weeks, and then hold back for a few days, and keep an eye on things. By this time the plants should have started to settle and also started to work on the ammonia and nitrate. The amount of ammonia at the source after 2 weeks is gonna be nearly undetectable on a test kit anyways in a heavily planted tank, this small amount will feed your filter. There is always going to be small amounts of undetectable ammonia in a fish tank, this is feeding the filter all the time.

 

[flix_cw]

Thanks Ian, that makes a lot of sense. I had a feeling that's how it works but just wanted someone with more experience to confirm it for me!

LAST question, HOW THE HELL DO I KEEP MY CRYPT IN PLACE?! It keeps wanting to uproot, either due to the weight of its leaves or because of the strong current.

Here's a pic with a line i drew to show where the substrate ought to sit. I've re-planted it a couple of times but after a few days it just starts to do the same thing. It gets to this point but doesn't uproot any further. Maybe i should just leave it? The piece of lead amongst the stems is a pathetic attempt to weigh it down...

 

[Biulu]

Why don't you divide it in individual plantlets and plant these? In this way you will have a whole area covered with this plant and it will be easier to let them root as they are not as heavy.

 

[ian]

yeah, i would agree with Lu on that one, you'll get good coverage with that bunch!

 

[flix_cw]

Hadn't thought of that.

Will give it a go thanks guys!