Aeonflame
07-25-2009, 04:32 PM
Hey all, this is my first post on your forum. I have a 70 gallon freshwater setup with zebras x 6, balas x 3, guppies x 3, rosy tetras x 3, corydoras x 2, pangasius cats x 2, and pleco x 1. there are also a few shrimp and swamp guppies that were wild caught along with the cories and the pleco. The tank is a couple months old and the fish are doing great. Ive always wanted a planted tank but my choice in plants are limited to what the pet shops carry. (I live in Trinidad)
I managed to acquire an amazon sword, and 2 jungle vals about a month ago. During this time, the tank was subject to only ambient lighting so they lived but not thrived. Finding a proper commercial substrate here is impossible, so I ended up using terrazzo chips as a substrate with basic root fertilizer. I believe the substrate size is too large to achieve proper growth. I also used some strange Chinese liquid fert that I found (This was all I could get and I have no idea if is working)
A few days ago I bought some plants that appears to be E. Tellenus though I cant be certain, they weren't in ideal shape, but I removed the browner growth and was left with several separate green rooting plants which I used.
I added lighting last night in the form of a regular 4' 2 bulb fluorescent fixture. There appears to be a lot of light getting into the tank, though I know this only qualifies for low - medium lighting. I am hoping it will be sufficient.
Ok.. so now my noobish questions lol
1) Is there any way I can improve the substrate? would burying clay balls help? (I am also thinking of switching to pool sand. )
2) Do I have E. Tellenus? Would the current lighting be sufficient to bounce these plants back? Would they spread in the substrate I am using?
3) Would my setup benefit from co2 injection? Would It help if I ran the lights for more hours every day?
Thank you a lot for your advice, and sorry for the long post
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I managed to acquire an amazon sword, and 2 jungle vals about a month ago. During this time, the tank was subject to only ambient lighting so they lived but not thrived. Finding a proper commercial substrate here is impossible, so I ended up using terrazzo chips as a substrate with basic root fertilizer. I believe the substrate size is too large to achieve proper growth. I also used some strange Chinese liquid fert that I found (This was all I could get and I have no idea if is working)
A few days ago I bought some plants that appears to be E. Tellenus though I cant be certain, they weren't in ideal shape, but I removed the browner growth and was left with several separate green rooting plants which I used.
I added lighting last night in the form of a regular 4' 2 bulb fluorescent fixture. There appears to be a lot of light getting into the tank, though I know this only qualifies for low - medium lighting. I am hoping it will be sufficient.
Ok.. so now my noobish questions lol
1) Is there any way I can improve the substrate? would burying clay balls help? (I am also thinking of switching to pool sand. )
2) Do I have E. Tellenus? Would the current lighting be sufficient to bounce these plants back? Would they spread in the substrate I am using?
3) Would my setup benefit from co2 injection? Would It help if I ran the lights for more hours every day?
Thank you a lot for your advice, and sorry for the long post
[Only Registered Users Can See Links.]
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