Attempting a planted aquarium for first time

[RadCazz]

Okay, I got SeaChem flourite as a substrate (rinsed it for like, forever before placing in tank). I planted a variety of swords and ferns. I have daylight bulbs in the hood. Plants are dying. I don't know what else to do. I visited my local pet store and it had this phenomenal planted aquarium - everything looked lush and vibrant. And then I noticed a plastic soda bottle with an airline tube coming from it and going into the tank and bubbles coming out of it. I asked about it and finally I found someone who said that yeast and carbon dioxide and plants will thrive. I tried to find out more but it was a delivery day and all the workers were scrambling to stock the shelves. So, has anybody heard of this? Can you help me do this in my planted aquarium? What can I do? What do I need? Thank you!

[funkman262]

For people with smaller tanks and/or not wanting to invest in pressurized CO2, there's a way to make a DIY CO2 setup using yeast and sugar. CO2 is the byproduct in fermentation so you can run some airline tubing to a diffuser/reactor to get it dissolved in the water. You can't use the same high-pressure diffusers used by pressurized systems though because the plastic bottles won't be able to sustain such pressure without failing (exploding). There's plenty of information available on the net if you do a search for "DIY CO2" but here's a good link to learn all you need to know about it.

Also, it would help if you told us the size of your tank and more details about your light fixture to find out why your plants aren't thriving. CO2 isn't always necessary to have a lush planted tank so your problem may be something else.

[Goes to 11!]

Funk gave you a run down on the CO2 but google 'DIY CO2' for more details or 'aquarium CO2' or similar for details on what it does.

The more important thing to address atm is that CO2 is not 'step A' in getting a lush planted tank, Proper lighting IS.

In fact, CO2 is entirely optional for a lush verdant tank. Proper lighting is not, So we will address that first.

As mentioned we need the tank size, # of bulbs, Their wattage & Spectrum [This will be a number on the bulbs ending with a K] and how long you leave them on for.

[Cliff]

+1 to the above

Depending on the plants that you would like to keep, CO2 may not even be required. I have found lighting to be the biggest factor in success with easy to moderatly difficult plants to keep.

I personally perfer my planted tanks to be as low tech as possible, but like I said, that is just my preferance

[talldutchie]

Agree with that. But I know what OP means. One of my local shops has a 7 foot display tank, planted classic dutch style and kitted out with just about any gizmo they sell. So much CO2 in that that the plants look fake from a distance.

Bio Co2 is just a matter of yeast, sugar, some tubing and a few bottles and an airstone.

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http://www.qsl.net/w2wdx/aquaria/diyco2.html

[biotsrama]

As noted, the proper amount and type of lighting is crucial. That is the #1 thing to assess. Besides that, what is the stocking level of your tank? What is your nitrate level? Do you use any liquid or substrate fertilizers? Also, for the ferns, did you plant them in the substrate? The rhizome of ferns should not be buried, and instead should be attached to rock or driftwood.

Also can you describe how your plants are dying? E.g. stunted growth, discolorations, formation of holes, melting away, etc. What is happening visually can help diagnose the problem.

I grow many varieties of plants in my planted tanks, including swords, and I have never used CO2. I have used a liquid carbon source (Seachem Excel) on occasion, but even that has been rare. CO2 is not a "make or break" type of thing unless you're talking about a high-tech tank with demanding plants.

[RadCazz]

Thanks for replies!

Okay. I think I have a 30 U.S. gallon freshwater tank. I am using an AQUA-Tech 20/40 power filter with carbon filter

media and a "bio pad" to house beneficial bacteria. I have a heater that keeps the water temp around 74-76 degrees

Fahrenheit. The aquarium has been set up for about two months now and I initially used "Start-Zyme" to add a good colony

of bacteria.

The substrate is Seachem flourite clay mixture and I have about 2-3 inches depth - more graded toward the back of the tank.

I have an incandescant hood and I originally used these plant grow bulbs that I purchased at Walmart. However, I recently

switched over to Zoo Med 6500K/10 Watt/5" Super Daylight Mini Compact flourescents and immediately noticed the tank is much

brighter and the color of the fish look better. I leave the two lights on from 8 AM to 6 PM.

I have Java Fern Plants attached to cocunut husks that I placed in the tank but didn't bury in the substrate. I had 3

Sword Plant varieties that I did plant the roots in the substrate. I also had 3 other varieties of ferns that I also

planted in the substrate. The directions said to gently wash the gel mixture off the roots and plant in the gravel. The

planted ferns and planted swords were dying and turning to mush - the best way I can describe it - they just disintegrated

and decomposed. I have since added more plants to the tank, fingers crossed.

In the tank I have 4 small Angel Fish (two are veil tails), 3 Cory Catfish (albino, pepper, sterbai), and one Butterfly

Pleco.

I bought a 5-N-1 Test Strip Kit and the results are as follows (bear in mind that I'm color blind - difficulty in

recognizing some colors - so I'm giving you my best determination):

Nitrate: close to zero
Nitrite: between zero and .5
Total Hardness: 75, soft
Total Alkalinity: zero, low
pH: between 6.2 and 6.8, leaning towards 6.8

I hope this helps. :-)

Also, if you can please recommend more plants for my aquarium as I want a jungle, lol, that will be full and grow fast!

[mizzoutank]

so we gotta address a few things first....


your tank is not cycled.

you don't have adequate stocking of fish-meaning your angels will destroy one another...soon.


these two things take precedence over plants because you'll either kill your fish, or your fill will kill each other.

food for thought...

[biotsrama]

In addition to what mizzoutank said, your plants also have fundamental issues. First, it looks like your java fern (in front of the rock on the right) is planted in the substrate. It doesn't look like it's on a coconut husk above the substrate, which is what you described. Second, is that an anubias in the back, slightly right of center? That is also a type of plant that should not have its rhizome buried in the substrate. Third, I see multiple plants that are not true aquatics. Unfortunately, some stores will sell "aquatic" plants that are not true aquatics. They are guaranteed to rot away if one tries to grow them submerged. These are actually bog or marginal plants. It's false advertising, but somehow they get away with it. This applies to your peace lily (Spathiphyllum wallisii), slightly left of center, and various ferns around the tank that are not java fern. Sorry

[dmagerl]

You're going to need to start dosing fertilizers. With 0 nitrate in the water column, none of the rhizome plants, anubias, ferns, etc. are getting any nutrients. The Swords are root feeders so you should be providing them with root tabs buried in the substrate to make them happy.

If the tank is truly uncycled, I have never been successful in growing plants in that environment. Whether from high ammonia concentrations or lack of nutrients until the tank has matured & stocked, they just never seem to thrive for me.