Just a few questions...

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

If you use an inert substrate, Amazon swords will need root tablet fertiliser placed in the substrate near the roots and a new one put in according to the instructions every few months. Hornwort, frogbit and Java moss need a liquid fertiliser added to the water as they take up nutrients through their leaves. I don't know which group water wisteria and ludwigia fall into but some else will.

Planted/silent cycling

So ya got yourself a fish tank, and now you're wondering how to cycle it. You have a few options: 1) Fishless cycle: Set up your substrate and filter (decorations and plants are optional), buy pure ammonia, add enough to your tank to read 3ppm, wait. Full instructions here...

www.fishforums.net

I believe that both Water wisteria and ludwegia like to feed through the roots, but the latter especially will send out rootlets from higher up the stem.

 

[Essjay]

Thank you, I knew someone would know

 

[Animallover😍]

thanks! Really helpful forum. Love it!

 

[Animallover😍]

I'm ordering 120ml of Fluval Gro+ that can be used 288 times for a 50 gallon tank. Also ordering some root fertilizer tablets

 

[Byron]

Would it be ok to buy inert substrate for the tank and put the soil/substrate for plants only around the plant itself?

This is a wasted effort, and the soil will soon get all over the place due to normal water movements and fish activity. Some suggest potting the plant and burying the pot in the sand, but I still think the benefit to the plant would be nil. It is simple to push a substrate fertilizer tab down into the sand next to the larger plants (swords for example) once every three or so months. Soil is not going to have the nutrients that quality substrate tabs have.

 

[Byron]

I believe that both Water wisteria and ludwegia like to feed through the roots, but the latter especially will send out rootlets from higher up the stem.

Some explanation. All aquatic plants assimilate nutrients through their leaves and roots. Certain nutrients are taken up almost exclusively through either; for example, nitrogen as ammonia/ammonium is assimilated through their leaves for most plants [which is why adding substrate nitrogen-based fertilizers made for terrestrial plants are useless and even risky]. Carbon as CO2 is taken up via the leaves by most species, with some able to use root assimilation. Studies have shown that plants prefer root uptake of phosphorus, and water uptake (via leaves) of potassium.

Second point, stem plants such as Wisteria (Hygrophyla difformis) and Ludwigia and most other spcies will produce roots (as well as leaves) from most if not all of the nodes along the stems, not only from the nodes buried in the substrate. Liquid fertilizers are more beneficial than substrate tabs for such plants. Echinodorus, Aponogeton, Nymphaea, etc benefit immensely from substrate tabs because they have extensive root systems and are heavy feeders.

 

[Animallover😍]

Are there any threads here on how to properly clean a fish tank?

 

[Animallover😍]

AqAdvisor states that if I just have the DophinH200 in the tank, the aquarium filtration capacity is 125%, which I think will be better for the sedate tetras. Am I correct

 

[NannaLou]

I’m new too, and I’m am also bit confused… if the capacity is 125% will that mean 125% of the water is circulated each hour…? Will this make lots of ‘current’? If so, then the fish might not like it (I have a Betta and the filter is at the very lowest setting). I hope someone in the know can explain this

 

[Essjay]

According to the website, the filtration capacity is calculated from a combination of tank volume, filter type (they've programmed in the turnover for a number of filters) and the fish in the tank. They do say that as more fish are added to the list, the filtration capacity falls. They say as long as the number stays over 100% you are OK, but if it falls below 100% you need to add more filtration.

The subject of more filtration meaning more fish has come up a few times on TFF. The general consensus is that this is rubbish. As long as a filter is OK for the tank size, adding more filtration does not mean more fish.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

I’m new too, and I’m am also bit confused… if the capacity is 125% will that mean 125% of the water is circulated each hour…? Will this make lots of ‘current’? If so, then the fish might not like it (I have a Betta and the filter is at the very lowest setting). I hope someone in the know can explain this

@Essjay provides accurate info.
My current filtration is apparently over 300% of what I require for my stocking level, which suggests, (if I didn't know better), that I could add 3x more fish into the tank than I currently have! Yay! I can go and buy another couple of dozen tetras and bung 'em in the tank...NOT!
As @Essjay says, as I add fish to my tank, that filtration figure will fall and I need to carefully consider how close I want to get to the 100% figure, Simply adding a more powerful filter might allow me to increase my stocking, but in my 20 gallon, I also need to be aware that not all of my fish would appreciate a stronger current.

I'd urge some caution with viewing stocking levels as a target to be reached and by looking at ways to increase suggested stocking levels by manipulating water parameters and addition of extra equipment.
Consider that it's all about balance.
The higher the stocking level is to the suggested maximum, the more fragile that balance is and you lose a lot of 'wriggle room', should things go awry, even if only for a relatively short period of time.

I use the analogy of the speed limit on roads. So you follow the National Speed Limit of 60mph on a country road and, around a corner, you come across a tractor and trailer pulling out of a gate. You'd probably be fecked and claiming that you kept within the speed limit wouldn't cut much mustard with either the Court or insurance companies. Death, if not injury, could be a result. Obviously, if you'd been travelling at less than 60, your opportunities to avoid trouble would have increased.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

AqAdvisor states that if I just have the DophinH200 in the tank, the aquarium filtration capacity is 125%, which I think will be better for the sedate tetras. Am I correct

Almost!

AqAdvisor considers the size of your tank and the amount of filtration required to adequately filter that amount of water, taking into account your stocking levels. What it doesn't do so well is take into account the flow of the water around a tank.
For example, if your tank was a tall column, the current would be much greater than if the shape of your tank was a simple block. (I know that AqAdvisor asks for the dimensions of your tank, but bear with me).
Some filters can have their flow adjusted and there are also different methods to reduce, or even increase, the current of water leaving your filter.
There are some areas in my tank where the current is relatively strong, but because I've carefully placed pieces of bogwood and planted plants, there are plenty of places where the current is gentle and even others where there is hardly any current at all.

 

[Essjay]

It is now out dated thinking that the more filtration, the more fish a tank can hold. All more filtration does is move the water round faster. It does not mean more bacteria.

Bacteria grow everywhere in a tank, not just in the filter. And if the tank has live plants, especially floating plants, there will be very few bacteria anywhere. All the filter does here is remove debris from the water.

 

[Byron]

Yes, and that is the crux of this issue. The fish you put into an aquarium should in reality almost be able to thrive without a filter at all. If they cannot, then you are overstocked. Now, this is simplistic, but it gets the point across. The filter should be thought of as simply the means to clearer water, and "clear" water is not the same as "clean" water. The aquarium water being pushed through filter media to remove suspended particulate matter (i.e., keeping the water clear) is mechanical filtration. Having live plants, especially floating plants, is actually all you need in addition for "clean" water. Along with regular water changes of course. The filter should also ensure there is adequate surface disturbance. Surface disturbance, water movement (adequate but not excessive according to the needs of the fish species), and mechanical filtration--these are the tasks of the tank's filter. Biological filtration will naturally take place, in any filter media, in the substrate, etc, but this should not be thought of as the key to how many fish one can cram into "x" tank.

 

[Bruce Leyland-Jones]

@Byron and @Essjay: Is there no argument to suggest that, as your filter medium can contain large populations of the beneficial bacteria and much of the nitrogen cycle management depends upon the biological filtration of passing water over said bacteria, that the filter facilitates the flow of water over this bacteria? Meaning that the filter not only performs a mechganical filtration, but also biological filtration?