What plants can i have under my current conditions??

[moldyform]

Hi I have a 6ft by 2 x 2 tank with currently 2 aqua 1 1200 canisters. Also have 6 times normal fluros and approx 3" of eco complete.

I will be keeping discuss so the water will be warmer, 27-29?? Also will be keeping guramies and some other south americans.

What are the reconmended plants for this environment?

Also what plants need to added first??

Cheers

[axl]

How many ltr in the tank??? How many watts of light do you have??? this will dtermine what sort of plants you can grow, need to no this first

[moldyform]

Sorry,

Tank is 500lts

200 watts of light

[axl]

You have only got 1.6 wpg of light so you will only be able to have low light plants like crypts, amazon swords, val maybe etc. Are you going to have co2 ??? that would cetainley help the cause.

[moldyform]

again sorry!! at work

Yes i am going to have co2.

[moldyform]

Also is there any spacific plants that are good to start off with?? Or is there any thing else that is vital to do before adding my plants??

[axl]

That will def help keep the plant healthys. You could have a nice range of crypts, anubius, vals, and different range of swords like dragon flame, ozelots etc. Just remeber that amazon swords like alot of room and are good for plants along the back just dont plant them to close or they will grow thin and tall. Cheers Axl

[moldyform]

ok thanks

What i really need to know is, should i be buying a stack of cheaper plants during the initial set up stage?

I thought i remember seeing somwhere that there some plants that are good at taking in nutrients and are best to be planted first??

Cheers

[axl]

I have just setup a new tank and i put all the plants in at once, that will be fine yeah some plants like hygro absorb nutrients faster than others amublia is another that grows very quickly and does quite well. You can have these plants in first and eventually you could get rid of them later because you will get sick of pruning the amublia all the time.

[moldyform]

I have just checked my water paremeters and it seems that they are allitle high :)
Ph- 7.5
GH- 252ppm

the tap water has a gh of 71.6 ppm and a ph of 7.3.

So how do i lower the gh and ph? Would the eco complete be effecting these 2 paremeters at all?

What should the GH ideally be for a planted discus tank be?

cheers

[ILLUSN]

Eco complete shouldn't leach too much co3 into your water, my ph satys at 6.5 in my 650L planted tank with 4 inches of the stuff.

[rwel4809]

Most plant gurus agree that you should go with 70% planted tank surface from the outset to avoid serious algae issues - that said this advice is usually for highlight (>2 WPG) tanks which need lots of Ferts and C02.

You may not need Co2 for a low light tank. C02 is used by plants during the photosynthesis process - the more light you have the more Co2 needed. Bare in mind that your fish and the plants themselves (at night) produce C02.

you would benefit from planting lots of Wisteria (hygrophila difformis) at initial set up as it is a sponge for amonia and nitrate. You would also do well with Java fern and Java moss - both are undemanding at lower temps (They go belly up over 28c IME) and good toxin sponges.

Rotala Walchari and Ambulia are a nuissance in highlight tanks and only really good for initial set up, but for low light they should do fine - they take their nutrients from the water column so you would benefit from adding some flourish complete with water changes - you'll have to adjust the does of fertz based on the algae situation (don't forget the algae eating fish too! you'll need some BNs Otos and maybe SAEs)

add some root fertz for plants that take their nutrients from their roots like crypts and swords. You might be able to have a couple of lotus' to - I've found them to be relatively undemanding - I have one in a low light nano which I dose with fertz once every week or two - it stays small in there and looks great.


HTH

Robert

[moldyform]

Thanks for that.

i have 200w for a 450 L. But the tank is 2ft high?

I am planning to fill it up with Australian Natives. Are these high demanding?

Cheers.

[ILLUSN]

some of them are, you'll do ok with native, Val, pogo, appo's, you'll need more light for any of the native underwater lillies or glosso