Low tech plants

[AbbeysDad]

Low tech is great! I'm not a big fan of high tech (high light, CO2, high ferts) which I feel is more for aquatic gardening than fishkeeping as I feel that the combination of bright light, CO2, and high ferts is somewhat harsh on most fish. (even in the tropics, light is often diffused by the canape and murky waters, with much lower CO2 and nutrients).

But you still need moderately decent lighting to support photosynthesis, especially in deeper tanks with rooted plants... while fast growing floating plants tend to do well under almost any light. Fast growing floating plants also tend to offer the biggest 'bang for the buck' by assisting in water purification as they adsorb ammonia/ammonium as their nitrogen source, thereby indirectly reducing nitrites and nitrates in the tank.

Many of the plants already listed are good choices. I have crypts, java moss, java fern, an anubias in my 60g along with floating water sprite and duckweed.
Now duckweed is a double edged sword. I 'inherited' duckweed long ago after purchasing some plants at our fish club meeting auction. With just a very few duckweed plants, the surface will soon be covered as they seem to multiply overnight! Now some hobbyists' hate duckweed, but it is an excellent aid in water quality, and it will require some routine netting and disposal. On the up side, some fish and turtles will eat it as a food source. I'll confess that at first I did not like duckweed. But in time I came to regard duckweed as another tool in the fishkeeper's toolbox to better manage water quality.

 

[anewbie]

I would avoid decukweed at all cost unless you have a gold fish or similar that will graze on it. I hate the stuff. Took me months to purge it from my 40B and i've given up purging it from my 29 (not the one pictured which has no duckweed).

 

[anewbie]

Do you have a pic of your tank? The Echinodorus are big growing Amazon swords which are best at the back. The Crypts are a nice one you've got and best in the middle but give them space to spread out. The Hygrophila is a big plant but you can trim it so easy enough to put it in a couple of places in the middle and the background. When ever you do trim it though you will get 2 new branches so eventually it will form a bush from one stem.

Wills

The parvf. will only reach 1 or 2 inches and is a lovely plant. It should be near the front; the other one can grow over 30 inches tall and should be near the back.

 

[Sgooosh]

So today i havw been to my LFS and purchased 5 plants, any opinions on them amd best place to plant

these are all very hardy and beautiful plants!

Abit better picture

the size is good

 

[Galvin88]

They have been in around 3 days now and some leaves on my swords are getting little holes and a brown spot on one leaf. Is this normal as they settle in?

I am using root tabs (clay balls, if they are the same), seachem flourish and iron fert

 

[xxBarneyxx]

Do you have any info on what the clay balls have in them?

My knowledge is out of date and rusty (just getting back into things) so take this advice with a pinch of salt:

I don't know what is in Seachem flourish. Looking at the amazon listing it looks like it is more of a Micro/Trace mix and not a full fert. If this is the case it might be ok if you have a decent fish load and low lighting.

In my experience holes in leaves is a nutrient deficiency. My guess is maybe the clay balls are inert. I have seen them used in the past to absorb/release nutrients and work as a nice place for bacteria growth but they didn't do anything by themselves. It could well be that someone is making ones that actively release nutrients now though?

I would skip dosing Iron. You only really need to dose Iron if you have a lot of red plants and high lighting IMO. Maybe some high tech tanks that eat nutrients super quickly or certain water types may need it but generally its not essential to add extra if you main trace ferts have a little bit in it.

TL-DR:
I think the Seachem Flourish is only providing trace elements and you don't have enough macro nutrients. With the plants you have just get some good quality root tab to use with the Seachem and it will probably be fine.

If you have super bright lighting you may want to consider water column dosing but that's a whole different thing.

Edit: Just to add I don't know what your water change routine is but I would make sure no matter what nutrients you are adding you make sure you do regular water changes. If you don't have a massive plant load and have more nutrients in the tank then the plants can use eventually you will get algae. Regular water changes just help stop the nutrients from building up to much over time (which is the basic principle of EI dosing).

 

[Galvin88]

Do you have any info on what the clay balls have in them?

My knowledge is out of date and rusty (just getting back into things) so take this advice with a pinch of salt:

I don't know what is in Seachem flourish. Looking at the amazon listing it looks like it is more of a Micro/Trace mix and not a full fert. If this is the case it might be ok if you have a decent fish load and low lighting.

In my experience holes in leaves is a nutrient deficiency. My guess is maybe the clay balls are inert. I have seen them used in the past to absorb/release nutrients and work as a nice place for bacteria growth but they didn't do anything by themselves. It could well be that someone is making ones that actively release nutrients now though?

I would skip dosing Iron. You only really need to dose Iron if you have a lot of red plants and high lighting IMO. Maybe some high tech tanks that eat nutrients super quickly or certain water types may need it but generally its not essential to add extra if you main trace ferts have a little bit in it.

TL-DR:
I think the Seachem Flourish is only providing trace elements and you don't have enough macro nutrients. With the plants you have just get some good quality root tab to use with the Seachem and it will probably be fine.

If you have super bright lighting you may want to consider water column dosing but that's a whole different thing.

Edit: Just to add I don't know what your water change routine is but I would make sure no matter what nutrients you are adding you make sure you do regular water changes. If you don't have a massive plant load and have more nutrients in the tank then the plants can use eventually you will get algae. Regular water changes just help stop the nutrients from building up to much over time (which is the basic principle of EI dosing).

The clay balls are JBL pro flora that my LFS recommended, wether they are any good i have no idea.
My water change routine is around 60-70% weekly.

Any root tabs or liquid ferts you would recommend?.

 

[xxBarneyxx]

The clay balls are JBL pro flora that my LFS recommended, wether they are any good i have no idea.
My water change routine is around 60-70% weekly.

Any root tabs or liquid ferts you would recommend?.

Looks like they are marketed as being a root fertilizer so in theory should work. Couldn't find what exactly was in them though so

I'm just coming back to the planted tank hobby after about 15 years away so have no idea what products on the market are good or not. In the past I have always used ADA products or gone the DIY route with EI dosing (or a mix of the two). Both may be overkill and it depends how far down the rabbit hole you want to go.

For a simple solution for water column dosing something like TNC complete looks like it has everything you need. Tropica have some good "complete" water dosing ferts as well.

You can use these in conjunction with root tabs as well. Someone else will hopefully have some more up to date info to give you as well.