Planted Tanks for Noobs

Hey guys

I am interested in possibly converting my plastic and wood jungle into a plant and wood eden, but have no clue whether my fish will let the plants grow, and have no idea how to get them to grow other than planting them in the sand/gravel/whatever!

Is there a 'planted tanks for noobs' or something I can start reading? I have some pretty decent sized catfish, plecos, rummy noses and a fully grown adult discus... am I look for trouble?

 

Nah, I reckon they're plant safe fish.
More important:
-Substrate
-Lighting

What kind of substrate do you plan on using? Ferts or not?

Also the lighting is very important. Just not too much light if you plan not to run CO2.

Low teck system can very very good. Look at Laure's tank in the members setups. Its a prime example

 

Howzit Ruan

I have a Juwel Rio 125 so using whatever lighting that has, 2 flourescents, but no idea what wattage they are. I have plenty of algae eaters so that shouldnt be too bad.

Substrate - black and white stones... no idea what I should be using, and no idea what ferts is....

Like I said, I need a 'planted systems for beginners' to read.

 

Look under the planted section for a thread called aquascaping basics and start there.

 

The only possible problem with your fish stock is that Pleco - they can eat/accidentally uproot your plants when large, and yours is apparently quite big already.

 

Thanks Vis, will take a look

Nirv - I do have 2 quite decently sized plecos, but they generally dont get too frisky, as they are the biggest thing in the tank already, and have no need to throw their weight around. Even to the point of I have to move them myself if I want to vaccum the gravel. So I am hoping there wont be too much uprooting.

Was more worried about them actually eating it rather than uprooting. Thanks for the help.

 

If you maybe go for larger and tougher plants you might have luck. Also apparently bogwood is sometimes rasped at instead of plants, so the damage you will see is minimal.

 

Just be careful with the Pleco and algae eaters, they will suck on the Discus during the night, and they might hurt them.

 

We had this issue once in the beginning when we first got the discus, but the discus fought back and now they leave her alone :bigsmile:

She is very happy in the tank now, as she is the biggest thing, so kinda runs it! Which reminds me... I need to find her a male, as she is spawning like mad.

Oh how I wish I knew back then when I first got her what I know now

 

Grunjhed

It is refreshing to hear of people keeping happy discus in environments that are sometimes considered not 'ideal' I would be interested to hear how you manage this...water temp, water changing schedule etc..

A tankmate is not a bad suggestion as you will read a lot on discus being schooling fish and needing a 'group' to live with... minimum of 4 or 5 but your tank will be too small for this... guidelines are generally 1 fish per 10 gallons (40l) but with your additional tankmates and current bioload...so you will be seriously limited here... also bear in mind that the social structure will go through some changes with any new discus in the tank, although introducing smaller 'newcomers' will be a little easier. You seem to have your tankmate behaviour sorted but be aware of algae eaters when they get older for the reasons already stated. Also be very cautious about buying new discus as some of the LFS keep them in horrid conditions and could infect your current girl. The constant suggestion is buy from a local breeder..not sure who may be in your area but if you post on the livestock section should get you there, else the prof may ship to you.

As far as plants are concerned, if you start with a few swords (echinodorus), crypts, annubias tied to a piece of drifwood is always a good idea... checkout the following link for a guide http://www.tropicalaquarium.co.za/showthread.php?t=3921 ...they are pretty hardy and grow well under Jewel lighting. My 180l Vision has 2x35w High output T5 lamps which is more than enough.

There are a number of 'easy' low light non Co2 plants you can choose and considering that the largest (and only significant) SA based plant grower is in Natal on your doorstep your LFS should probably stock them ...just watch out for non aquatic plants like mondo grass, bamboo, and colrata (I think) which are the main ones that lfs stock that will not survive in the medium term

My low tech solution is number one...do some reading, checkout this forum for advice, there are other forums which also give great info on your type of setup...cant post any of these as the moderators (mods) always delete my references !!

In addition to this, my suggestion is ask the prof for some of his drops which are ready made for your conditions, else consider starting with Seachem (excellent brand of fish and plant products and stocked everywhere ...coz its really good). Easy starter, low tech requirements would probably be:
Seachem Flourish... your all round additive
Seachem Potassium.. key ingredient in the fertiliser regime
Seachem Excel.... substitute for CO2 and will help plant growth for sure

You could think about dosing more than this to account for additional Phosphates and Nitrates but much of this will actually come from your tank in the form of poop (nitrates) and surplus food (some phosphates) and with a lower light, no CO2 setup I think you can easily get away with this for now, although you will need to be patient (the really tough part).

Next issue will be how to feed your plant roots, this comes from the substrate/gravel, unless you want to pull up what you have, I suggest you buy some plant 'tabs' and insert them under the roots... again most LFS stock these. This is not a hassle free approach as you will need to do so every few months but will avoid a major rebuild. Longer term solutions for substrate are all over this forum (and others).

Best of luck