My First 'proper' Planted Aquarium...

[nosoup4you]

Does anyone know of a good supplier of glass diffusers and drop checkers in the US...or at least one that is not located in Malaysia?

 

[nosoup4you]

I am planning a 10 gallon heavily planted tank. Which would you do, fermentation kit or Easy Carbo (or similar product readily available in the US)?

 

[aaronnorth]

which ever will work best for you - or a mixture of both.

fermentation- 2 bottles, 1 changed midweek, other changed weekend (some may find it a lot of maintenance)

easycarbo or excel (both same) - may be a bit dearer in the long run, you can add more or less easily,

 

[nosoup4you]

You were supposed to tell me which one...I'm too confused at this point to decide for myself. lol I got some plants today and the Monosolenium tenerum is extremely brown (80-90%). Is there any hope for resuscitation or should I just chuck it out?

 

[nosoup4you]

Here's a pic of the tank newly planted. Don't be too hard on me, this is my first go at this and these are just tentatively planted until I get the rest of my plants...some of my plants were DOA.

Excuse the glare and the water spots.

 

[aaronnorth]

oh sorry lol, well if it was me i would go easycarbo route.

As long as some leaves are still surviving then leave it, it will recover, those plants that are DOA are crypts, the seller has probably cut off the leaves so they dont rot as cryptocorynes suffer from crypt melt. (if we are on about the same plant that is!)

 

[nosoup4you]

No, the Crypts are fine. I actually accidentally uprooted one yesterday evening and the roots had grown nearly an inch since yesterday morning. When I planted them they were pretty much rootless...bizarre. The Monosolenium tenerum (pellia) came in pretty much completely brown. I have it floating in a breeder net in another tank just in case there is hope for it.

 

[nosoup4you]

All of the little cut-off stalks on the Crypts are starting to "melt" away and the new growth appears to be very yellowy-green. Is this standard new growth or perhaps too much light?

 

[SuperColey1]

Theres no such thing as too much light with plants!!! Just insufficient nutrient or CO2 for the light provided.

You could put 20WPG above 'low light' plants with nothing screening them from the light and as long as the CO2 and nutrients were OK then you would get good growth and no algae.

The hardest thing to get right is the CO2, nutrients and circulation which is why we always suggest less light. There is no need really to go above 3WPG but doesn't matter how high you go, just means its harder to get the other things right.

I would guess if the new growth is coming through yellow that your ferts/dosing is insufficient.

AC

 

[nosoup4you]

I just received/planted them yesterday and dosed with Nutrafin Plant Gro (waiting for my TPN+ to arrive) and root tabs. I haven't set up the CO2 yet...do you think that this could be the problem?

 

[SuperColey1]

I don't understand how you would have new growth on crypts the day after planting!!! Were the Crypts totally bare when you got them?

AC

 

[nosoup4you]

Yes, they were shipped with leaves removed. There is a picture on the previous page from the day that they were planted. Here are pics taken today...you can see the leaves are very pale.

 

[nosoup4you]

And another...

 

[SuperColey1]

The front 2 look OK to me. Not too light.

Crypts will often darken as they get older. Wendtii 'brown' often starts to grow green and then starts to go brown. when it reaches maturity it often gets to a waxy looking burgundy/purple colour.

Can't beat Crypts. they may melt but never die.

AC

 

[nosoup4you]

Thanks for the assurance, they've actually darkened some since my initial query.