When to change plants?

[escamosa]

Should you replace your plant's as soon as you notice the leaves falling off or is there a general life span of plant's?
My son pointed out to me that our first tank was a bit cloudy, have done tests and the ammonia levels were only very slightly up.
I did a small water change but the water was still a bit cloudy a couple of hours later, some of the plants were a little bit old lookin so i swapped them over with some new ones and it seems to be clearing up.
What do ya think?

[Cameron]

yea if they're starting to rot, just pull'em. From what i know thats the way to go, cause they probably wont bouce back.

[escamosa]

Yeah, they wer'nt really rotting i dont think, the leaves were just falling off Trigun, maybe that's a sighn to change your plant's.

[Hailey]

Well what kind of plants were they? sometimes you have to trim them and stuff like that so that doesnt happen.

[escamosa]

Gee, i'm not sure Hailey, i'll ask next time, i did'nt know there were plants that you had to trim.
Thank's, that's interesting.
Oh, buy the way, that's the best AC/DC album i think i've heard.thumbs2:

[Dave66]

Many plants live for years, even decades. And some, like the sword plants that reproduce via runners, are basically immortal, with copies of itself ad infinitum.

You have to trim judiciously to keep your layout from becoming such a dense jungle the fish can't swim. Trimming a planted tank to maintain the layout you designed is an art in itself.

And your plants losing leaves means something was lacking in your tank in either light, substrate, pH, hardness, temperature, acclimation and leaf fertilization. It could also be that the plant you purchased wasn't an aquatic plant at all; just a bog plant species sold as aquatic by unscrupulous or ignorant sellers.

Dave

[escamosa]

Thank's Dave, you mentioned light and substrate, i dont really run the fluro to much, mostly only when i'm testing or just looking at the fish and the room they,re in is not really well lit. Any particular time length i should run the fluro?
I'm useing about a 3-5mm stone to plant them in, is that ok?
PH is around 6.5. and temp is about 26 deg.
Thank's again.

[Dave66]

plants need a photoperiod just like we do. I run my aquarium lights 12 hours a day, with the mains (halides) on between 10 a.m. and four p.m. I'd at least run your lights 10 hours a day.
Regular gravel has no nutrients in it like chelated iron, potassium and the like to feed the roots of the plants. Remember, terrestrial plants grow in dirt. Aquatic plants grow basically in mud. There are several brands of substrates designed for planted aquaria, with the two most prominent - Eco Complete and Flourite - very good.

As for lights, for optimal plant growth you need to buy bulbs that simulate sunlight, in sufficient wattage to penetrate the water. Sunlight on a sunny day is roughly 6700K in color temperature. Plants photosynthesize best at that color temperature, whether aquatic or terrestrial.

With a planted tank substrate and sufficient full-spectrum light (around three or four watts per gallon is ballpark) you should be able to grow common plants no problem.

Dave

Dave

[korith]

I bought this really nice looking amazon sword for my tank, after I put it in my tank, it really looked like it was dying for a few weeks, I just kept trimming the dead parts, eventually it bounced back after being in the tank for 2 months. May just have to give the plant more time. Could help to put fertizlier root tablets that could help some plants, depending on if they take nutrients through their roots or not.

[escamosa]

Thank's everyone i'll just have to find out what they are like Hailey said and then work on all these other ideas.
Thank's again.

[Dave66]

I bought this really nice looking amazon sword for my tank, after I put it in my tank, it really looked like it was dying for a few weeks, I just kept trimming the dead parts, eventually it bounced back after being in the tank for 2 months. May just have to give the plant more time. Could help to put fertizlier root tablets that could help some plants, depending on if they take nutrients through their roots or not.

The large sword plants are nutrient hogs, particularly chelated iron and potassium. If any, the big swords need the root tablets.

Dave

[korith]

The large sword plants are nutrient hogs, particularly chelated iron and potassium. If any, the big swords need the root tablets.

Dave

The root tabs I put in for them probably didn't reach them till they got established. I try to keep adding a tab or two every month to the tank. Just need to find a cheaper alternative to the seachem ones.

[NickFish]

The root tabs I put in for them probably didn't reach them till they got established. I try to keep adding a tab or two every month to the tank. Just need to find a cheaper alternative to the seachem ones.

This is what I use korith,

http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/wonder-gro-tablets.html

Wonder gro tablets. Its $24.99 for 50 of them and they are almost as good quality, if not the same quality as Seachem tabs.


Slimey, its like Dave said. Your plants should never really need replacing like that if they are healthy, if your plants died like there is something else going on, but I guess you know that by now. All the above posters make excellent points.

[korith]

This is what I use korith,

http://www.greenleafaquariums.com/aquarium-fertilizers-supplements/wonder-gro-tablets.html

Wonder gro tablets. Its $24.99 for 50 of them and they are almost as good quality, if not the same quality as Seachem tabs.


Thanks, looks like a good product. I'll have to see if any local shop carries it.

[NickFish]

Thanks, looks like a good product. I'll have to see if any local shop carries it.

I highly doubt it.

I believe the only place you can get them are online stores like greenleaf. You will find as you progress with planted tanks the only good stuff is online. And that is also why it is so cheap.

[Lady Hobbs]

Sometimes I wonder about that. I don't think it's always necessary to buy the most expensive of everything. A lot of companies will offer their products at a decent price and then when they become better known and their product is selling well, up goes the price.

Look what they did with the AquaClear filters? A year ago they were $25 cheaper than they are right now (the 110) because everyone started buying them like hotcakes. Same as the gas. Supply and demand.

I think root tabs are benefical and don't necessarily have to cost $1 each or even 50 cents each to help your plants. You may have to add them more often but you can afford to at a cheaper price, too. Sometimes I think we put too much into the name brands without first giving others a fair review.

I just bought some of these tabs.
http://www.aquariumplants.com/AquariumPlants_com_s_own_SUBSTRATE_VITALIZATION_p/fert.htm

Have no idea of how they may work but will give it a shot and see.

Just my 2 pennies worth this morning. :)

[NickFish]

I think root tabs are benefical and don't necessarily have to cost $1 each or even 50 cents each to help your plants. You may have to add them more often but you can afford to at a cheaper price, too.

If you want REALLY, REALLY cheap root tabs check out Jobes Fern and Palm Plant spikes. They're meant to for houseplants but if you break them up and bury them really deep so they can't disslove into the water they are beneficial to most plants. Last time I check it was $1.99 for 50 of them.


Sometimes I wonder about that. I don't think it's always necessary to buy the most expensive of everything.


While were on the topic of fertilizers.....anyone dosing with any liquid plant fertilizer should really consider switching to Tom Barr's Estamative Index with dry fertilizers. That's what I've switched too, it is soooo much cheaper. Most of the liquid fertilizers you buy at the pet store are just watered down, and the water is what you are paying for. But, you can simply buy the pure form of the fertilizer for super cheap. For instance, Seachem Flourish is esentially CSM+B, they are pretty identical. Only difference is a 250mL thing of flourish costs roughly $7, and there is less than $0.10 of CSM+B in the thing. The rest is just water.

There is only really a few grams of actual fertilizer in the thing, and you can buy a 1/2 pound of CSM+B online for $9. A half pound. Thats equivalent to a whole 20g tank filled with Flourish for only sligthtly more than a 250mL container. Its even better for macros. Flourish Nitrogen is only KNO3+water, yet 500mL of Flourish nitrogen has 1.4 cents of KNO3 in it but still costs over $10. You can get a full pound of pure KNO3 for $2.50. It is a bit more work and you really need to research this before you try it, but it is so much cheaper. Not only cheaper, but many times better. I have never had more plant growth and less algae ever before I started doing Estamative Index.

Every single liquid fertilizer has a cheap dry replacement you can get online for pennies.
I think I'm getting a little off topic, but I feel everyone can find this useful, anyone that wants cheap water column dosing do a google search on Tom Barr's Estamative Index. Once again you can only get this stuff online. It seems pet stores only ever carry the most profitable things. Every and all good deals are online, especially when it comes to planted tanks.