I Want To Properly Plant My 320L - Plants Have Arrived!

[Tizer]

my tank is a bit of a planted experiment, i dive into the lfs now and again and pickup something new to try, chuck it in and shoev a root tab underneath it. If it doesnt work, i yank it out, shove it in my 90 litre which has no co2 and very little dosing of ferts and see how it goes, if it keels over and dies, i bin it :\

might have a look at plantsalive

 

[ZoddyZod]

Right, so this is what I've found in terms of tank position

5 x Elodea Densa - BACKGROUND
1 x Aponogetum Crispus - MID-GROUND
5 Eleocharis Parvulus (dwarf hairgrass) - FOREGROUND
10 x mini Amazon Sword - MID-GROUND
5 x Bacopa Monnerii - MID-GROUND
5 x Twisted Vallisneria - BACKGROUND
10 x Sagittaria Natans - MID-GROUND
5 x Rotalla Indica - MID-GROUND

5 x Cabomba Caroliniana - BACKGROUND
5 x Cryptocoryne Wendtii - MID-GROUND
5 x Hygrophilia Polysperma - BACKGROUND
5 x Ludwigia Mullertii - MID-GROUND

5 x Vallisneria Spiralis - BACKGROUND
5 x Ludwigia Natans - BACKGROUND
10 x Mayaca Fluviatilas - MID-GROUND

5 x Rotala Macranda - MID-GROUND
5 x Hydrilla Verticillata - BACKGROUND
5 x Echinodorus Latifolius - MID-GROUND

shout if you think otherwise!

Going through that list again......seems quite a lot of plants! I'm wondering whether I would be able to fit them all into the tank?

Also, for root tabs....1 tab at the base of EACH plant? I which case, it's going to be quite expensive.

 

[stu40]

Right, so this is what I've found in terms of tank position

5 x Elodea Densa - BACKGROUND
1 x Aponogetum Crispus - MID-GROUND
5 Eleocharis Parvulus (dwarf hairgrass) - FOREGROUND
10 x mini Amazon Sword - MID-GROUND
5 x Bacopa Monnerii - MID-GROUND
5 x Twisted Vallisneria - BACKGROUND MID-GROUND
10 x Sagittaria Natans - MID-GROUND
5 x Rotalla Indica - MID-GROUND

5 x Cabomba Caroliniana - BACKGROUND
5 x Cryptocoryne Wendtii - MID-GROUND FOREGROUND
5 x Hygrophilia Polysperma - BACKGROUND MID-GROUND
5 x Ludwigia Mullertii - MID-GROUND

5 x Vallisneria Spiralis - BACKGROUND
5 x Ludwigia Natans - BACKGROUND
10 x Mayaca Fluviatilas - MID-GROUND

5 x Rotala Macranda - MID-GROUND
5 x Hydrilla Verticillata - BACKGROUND
5 x Echinodorus Latifolius - MID-GROUND

Man, that's a lot of plants.
This is based purely on my own experience/tank.
The twisted valls & polysperma might not reach water level but can help to layer between your mid ground and back ground plants.
The crypts will grow slowly so might get lost in the mid ground.Planting them close together seems to help vertical growth, rather than the leaves just lying out flat. Not got much experience of root tabs.
This is based purely on my own experience/tank.I know i've said this once, thought it might be worth repeating.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Man, that's a lot of plants.

yep, I might just go with this collection instead

http/www.plantsalive.co.uk/Aquarium-Plants/All-Tropical/coldwater-Collections/18-Collection/prod_43.html#.TnMWH-wzlv4
5 x Elodea Densa
1 x Aponogetum Crispus
5 Eleocharis Parvulus (dwarf hairgrass)
10 x mini Amazon Sword
5 x Bacopa Monnerii
5 x Twisted Vallisneria
10 x Sagittaria Natans
5 x Rotalla Indica

Does the twisted vallis not grow at tall as the 'regular' kind then?

 

[stu40]

mine only ever got to be around 300mm
not sure about the smaller collection, you've got a big tank to fill.They might get a bit lost in there.Depends on how densely planted you want to be.

 

[ian]

i think you should go for the larger plant selection, its better to have to many than to little. you also have to remember that the stems will be single stems, so it might look like a lot, when in fact it actually isnt, when you put it next to a tropica pot

as for the root tabs, remember there isnt really such thing as a root feeder. if i was to use anything, itd be tpn plus caps, as they will leech n and p into the water column, others are just trace elements, and plants need just a trace of these.

 

[ZoddyZod]

as for the root tabs, remember there isnt really such thing as a root feeder. if i was to use anything, itd be tpn plus caps, as they will leech n and p into the water column, others are just trace elements, and plants need just a trace of these.

but shouldn't I only be adding n & p if using carbon of some kind? Or is the amount in the tabs negligeable?

 

[ian]

think of it like this, the N and P released by a TPN+ tab is not going to be a great deal. They say to replenish every 6 months, and they aren't that big. Personally, if you're not adding any N and P. It won't hurt to add a few caps (20-25) into the substrate. Plants still need N and P, even if there isn't any carbon addition and being that your tank is relatively new, i would put some in if the substrate is inert.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Plants still need N and P, even if there isn't any carbon addition and being that your tank is relatively new, i would put some in if the substrate is inert.

I did understand that, but the mantra of "n&p if carbon added" seems to have been touted a lot on here. Just wanted to make sure I'm not excessively increasing the n & p already provided by the fish waste.

 

[ian]

you cannot be excessive with N and P, they won't do any harm at all. Ensuring you do water changes, to keep on top of organic waste and ensure you remove any melting plant leaves you be fine.

 

[ZoddyZod]

you cannot be excessive with N and P, they won't do any harm at all. Ensuring you do water changes, to keep on top of organic waste and ensure you remove any melting plant leaves you be fine.

REALLY? Good grief I'm confused/uneducated. I thought excessive levels of either was not healthy, hence why a lot of fertilizers go out of their way to state they don't contain them.

 

[ian]

I'm afraid this is all old school thinking. Look at the EI method of dosing N and P. It's essentially over dosed, so the plants get what they need. Fish don't suffer in the process. There is plenty of research done in this area by Tom Barr.

remember Light + Ammonia cause algae, nothing else, nothing more. Algae will use N and P, but in a 'healthy' planted tank, the complex plants will out do the single celled algaes everytime.

 

[ZoddyZod]

I'm afraid this is all old school thinking. Look at the EI method of dosing N and P. It's essentially over dosed, so the plants get what they need. Fish don't suffer in the process. There is plenty of research done in this area by Tom Barr.

remember Light + Ammonia cause algae, nothing else, nothing more. Algae will use N and P, but in a 'healthy' planted tank, the complex plants will out do the single celled algaes everytime.

good info, thanks......maybe I'll get there eventually!

so I should actually have purchased TPN+ instead of the basic one this time round? Or would I simply have excessive amounts of n & p floating around and not being used?

 

[ian]

You'd be fine with the normal TPN to begin with. If any deficiencies are noticed in the plants then it may be time to think about other avenues. I really do suggest that you keep and eye on melting/dying leaves though and remove straight away.

Low tech tanks do OK with inert substrates, but i have seen some great low tech tanks with nutrient rich substrates. The best thing about nutrient rich substrates is that they don't just whack a LOAD of N and P in the water at one go and then stop, they slowly leech over time and the plants adapt to the amounts received from the substrate. This is why i wouldn't be in any doubt to use TPN+ caps.

 

[ZoddyZod]

Low tech tanks do OK with inert substrates, but i have seen some great low tech tanks with nutrient rich substrates.

that's the way I wanted to go......but the ammonia spikes were not going to be manageable during the initial couple of weeks. It takes me about 45mins to potter about and do a 30% water change now. Didn't fancy that everyday. I'm only 'allowed' to do one per week