Rebuilding an old abandoned 29g

[Slaphppy7]

thanks, Slap! You’ve made my day!

Wow, that was easy....lol

I have red wendtii in a couple of my tanks, never have used CO2, and they do just fine...I'll be posting some updated FTS pics of my tanks later today, check them out

 

[FishHobby99]

Wow, that was easy....lol

I have red wendtii in a couple of my tanks, never have used CO2, and they do just fine...I'll be posting some updated FTS pics of my tanks later today, check them out

Oooh, can‘t wait!

 

[wgoldfarb]

Horrors! What a brave man you are to tackle such a rehabilitation project.
I like that red plant. People are telling me I can’t do red without CO2.
Is it so?

It is definitely not so. I don't have CO2. When I first planted that red plant I wasn't even adding anything fancy in terms of nutrients, just Flourish (and my substrate had some laterite). I didn't even have a particularly good light. I was very surprised the plant did so well in my tank (and it did quite well!).

The plant is called Red Temple (Alternanthera Reineckii). I was initially told it needed a good light and lots of fertilizer, but I had neither of those things and the plant did great in my tank from the start. In fact, it did better than supposedly "easier" plants like java Fern!

I found another picture of my tank, taken later, which shows how well the a. Reineckii did:

 

[wgoldfarb]

Wow, that was easy....lol

I'll be posting some updated FTS pics of my tanks later today, check them out

Is that a threat or a promise?

Just kidding. Can't wait to see them!

 

[FishHobby99]

It is definitely not so. I don't have CO2. When I first planted that red plant I wasn't even adding anything fancy in terms of nutrients, just Flourish (and my substrate had some laterite). I didn't even have a particularly good light. I was very surprised the plant did so well in my tank (and it did quite well!).

The plant is called Red Temple (Alternanthera Reineckii). I was initially told it needed a good light and lots of fertilizer, but I had neither of those things and the plant did great in my tank from the start. In fact, it did better than supposedly "easier" plants like java Fern!

I found another picture of my tank, taken later, which shows how well the a. Reineckii did:
View attachment 148214

So happy to hear that! I bought exactly the same plants last week, came in the mail 3 days ago. Joined a planted tank forum. Those guys said red plants will melt without intense lighting & CO2 injection. I looked at the CO2 & it seems so complicated. I did not understand their ways of measuring light intensity either. Some use a PAR meter that starts at $500 at this one place. I’m just not all that into red plants if I have to go high tech. But if mine grows like yours , I‘ll be content enough

I don’t know what I did to underline the text here. I don’t know how to undo it either.

Here’s my betta tank with the new AR plants. I did buy some Fluval soil subtrate & will use 2 oz containers. I’ll show you later

 

[Slaphppy7]

Is that a threat or a promise?

Just kidding. Can't wait to see them!

Well, having trouble sending them from my phone to my email, so who knows, lol

 

[wgoldfarb]

So happy to hear that! I bought exactly the same plants last week, came in the mail 3 days ago. Joined a planted tank forum. Those guys said red plants will melt without intense lighting & CO2 injection. I looked at the CO2 & it seems so complicated. I did not understand their ways of measuring light intensity either. Some use a PAR meter that starts at $500 at this one place. I’m just not all that into red plants if I have to go high tech. But if mine grows like yours , I‘ll be content enough

I don’t know what I did to underline the text here. I don’t know how to undo it either.

Here’s my betta tank with the new AR plants. I did buy some Fluval soil subtrate & will use 2 oz containers. I’ll show you later

The plants look beautiful in your tank! It's funny you choose the same red plant I did. You obviously have great taste!

I'm no expert (not even remotely close! ) but your light seems much brighter than the one I had, and the fluval substrate contains lots of nutrients. I would guess your plants will do great. If they don't, you can try dosing some liquid fertilizer (I used Seachem Flourish) but if I recall correctly, the a. Reineckii benefits a lot more from the substrate nutrients than from nutrients in the water column, so I think you are all set!

 

[FishHobby99]

Amazing we chose the same plant!

I upped the light level in both tanks. The betta hood has standard bulb bases & I replaced 1 of the 2 LED bulbs with a 9W. The other is 1.5 W, so 10.5 W total. Think it’s 70 LED W equivalency. I am trying to create a shaded section for the betta. Thus far he shows no signs of stress & moves freely in the tank. I do have some concerns of too much light for the fish. Trying to determine best light level for the fish & its not simple. They are, of course, more important than the red plants.

I have the same fertilizer too!

 

[wgoldfarb]

Trying to determine best light level for the fish & its not simple. They are, of course, more important than the red plants.

I agree the fish are certainly more important than the plants. The main reason I kept plants was to improve the quality of the tank for the fish!

There are people here infinitely more knowledgeable than me, but given my experience with this plant I wouldn't stress too much about the light yet. Since your substrate has lots of nutrients the a. Reineckii should do well. It's also closer to the light than mine was. I would just watch the plant closely over the next couple of weeks to see how well it does, and adjust if needed.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

wgoldfarb said: There are people here infinitely more knowledgeable than me

Perhaps yes and though they'll never get the Nobel price for this.

Shlappy7 said: The theory is that not only do BB grow in our filters, but all areas of the tank...and after a tank is established, the BB in our filters is actually minimal, compared to the BB colonies in substrate, on deco and plants, etc.....but I'll be the first to admit, I'll never wash my media in tap water, as sound as that theory may be.

But I think that theory is completely correct regarding the tank but as for the filter it depends, they can be more or less large filters with its media, I would like to ask, when you are speaking of filter media, do you mean floss and sponges alone which are mechanical media or also the biological media as well? Because the biological ones shouldn't never be washed with tap water at all, for the other medias it's practically the same if your aquarium is running well, I can say that out of my own experience.

 

[MonsieurLaGrenuoille]

My dear wgoldfarb, I would like to put you a question, and sorry to the forum because it does not come to the topic, you know I'm learning English and I can't translate this by no means, here the sentence: "Dem ain't goobers, dem's peanuts!"

Well it's terrific, isn't it? If you are able to translate that, I' ll propose you at the Nobel commision to get the price next time, and will informe von Däniken as well ( you know who's that guy, or?).

Yesterday was this "black friday" or so, I'm right? Did you find some convenient offer? I can't wait to hear you have already get wet hands and are totally submerged into the aquatic world, for my part I didn't get these fishes I'm waiting for, maybe within to weeks now, I'm quite confident. Do you have an idea or preference for the fishes? By the way, I can tell you here in Berlin the quality of aquaristic shops has fallen awfully in the last years, now you can only find the same boring spektrum of standard fish all over almost produced in the factory, there are nearly only a few gigantic malls while the little private shops are disappearing, game's over! I hope for you, in Washington it looks different.

It would be fine you can tell me something about the translation, in Spanish would be best, à bientôt alors!

 

[FishHobby99]

I agree the fish are certainly more important than the plants. The main reason I kept plants was to improve the quality of the tank for the fish!

There are people here infinitely more knowledgeable than me, but given my experience with this plant I wouldn't stress too much about the light yet. Since your substrate has lots of nutrients the a. Reineckii should do well. It's also closer to the light than mine was. I would just watch the plant closely over the next couple of weeks to see how well it does, and adjust if needed.

WILCO! I reduced the new higher level lighting on the corycats even though 1/2 the tank was nicely shaded. It is now dimmer than the betta tank which has 10.5 W. Not sure of wattage on the 20“ LED I have on the cats, but it’s positioned at the tank rear & mostly occluded by the tank lid except for an empty opening for a filter.

 

[wgoldfarb]

I can't translate this by no means, here the sentence: "Dem ain't goobers, dem's peanuts!"

Ok. This is one for the native speakers, which I am not, but I think I can explain at least part of the phrase. "Goober" is just another name for "peanut", so if I were to write this in more formal English it would be:

"Those are not goobers, they are just peanuts"

I'm not entirely sure of the meaning of the idiom. It's a slang phrase which I believe means something like "that's the plain truth" (esa es la pura verdad). But I really don't know, this is a question for the native speakers here.

Yesterday was this "black friday" or so, I'm right?

No, not yet. It's next Friday.

 

[wgoldfarb]

WILCO! I reduced the new higher level lighting on the corycats even though 1/2 the tank was nicely shaded. It is now dimmer than the betta tank which has 10.5 W. Not sure of wattage on the 20“ LED I have on the cats, but it’s positioned at the tank rear & mostly occluded by the tank lid except for an empty opening for a filter.

Hopefully the more shaded tank will make your cories wander around the tank a lot! What cories do you have? (I don't think I've seen a journal about your tank? If you have one, just point me to it!)

 

[FishHobby99]

Never heard the expression, but your speculation makes sense. I use the term goober to mean crackers as in rednecks. I’m not Black or Southern, but learned the usage from them. Can also be used in a more flattering sense, as in lovable goofball.