Oh sorry for the confusion. The first picture is the before but it has fake plastic plants... i wish i can say it was all me.. BTW I'm loving this site, lots of information.... thanks guys for everything.
Certainly looks good, as said in earlier post as long as the fish can move freely it is ok, your tank should be healthy enough with all of the natural oxygenating plants.
As stated in another posting,,,not too sure about the sword, it will outgrow the space you have But otherwise job well done.
Ray
thats for our reply, that is a sword plant... should i remove it ? i dont want it to over grow the tank. Ok just to clarify, lets say if i cut a stem plant in the middle then replant it, it will not only not kill the plant but it will regrow the top part that i cut? thanks guys this was fun setting up this tank...
You can keep the sword until it becomes a problem, or you can try to trade it if you bought it at a local store (chain stores may or may not if you have a receipt). As said if you know people near you with larger tanks that would buy it from you, even for a dollar or two, that's an option too.
For stem plants that is correct, cutting them will not kill them. That's in fact how you propogate them as they'll never grow seeds when under water.
Almost all aquarium plants come from regions that flood yearly, so half the year they are emersed (out of water) while the other half they are submerged (under water). In these two conditions the plants take on very different forms, and you will see this with the sword plant. What you have now is the emersed form, nursaries grow the plants that way because they grow much faster in the air than under water, as the air has far more CO2 than the water and it can grow from natural sunlight (or very bright grow lights). You will see the sword grow new leaves from the center of the crown, and they will be much longer and slender than the leaves you see now. As those new leaves come out, the old leaves will start to turn brown from the tips and eventually the whole leaf will go brown. When that happens it is safe to cut the brown leaves off.
One thing you haven't mentioned is if you bought some fertalizer to go with your plants? You will want to pick up some Seachem Flourish Comprehensive fertalizer (check the label as there are lots of products under the Florish line), the smallest bottle if they have it (250 mL). In a 5g like that it will last you literally years (that's why I say smallest bottle). You will also want to get a baby's medicine dropper as the dose will be quite small (0.4 mL per week). You add the fertalizer the day after your weekly water change each week. That will ensure your plants grow nice and healthy as flourish contains most the nutrients plants need in the correct proportions.
you haven't mentioned is if you bought some fertalizer to go with your plants? You will want to pick up some Seachem Flourish Comprehensive fertalizer (check the label as there are lots of products under the Florish line), the smallest bottle if they have it (250 mL). In a 5g like that it will last you literally years (that's why I say smallest bottle). You will also want to get a baby's medicine dropper as the dose will be quite small (0.4 mL per week). You add the fertalizer the day after your weekly water change each week. That will ensure your plants grow nice and healthy as flourish contains most the nutrients plants need in the correct proportions.
I didn't buy anything for the plants. I didn't know that I had to. I will look into it today. Thank you for all the information.
Your tank looks great! The only problem is your hornwort- it is not supposed to be buried in the substrate- it will rot. Hornwort can be tied to a rock or just float.
Looks like you have a bunch of Water Wisteria, too. I love that stuff- I just bought some for the first time recently. The leaves look different from the ones you will see in pictures online, but I read that it's because they grow the plants not fully submerged so they grow a different type of leaf. I've read that you should be prepared to lose a lot of leaves and it will regrow the more typical underwater leaves.
I don't think your plant in the front is an amazon sword- they usually stand more upright and have longer, more narrow leaves. It does look like some kind of sword, though. There are a lot of different types of sword. My favorite sword is Rosette Sword. It stays short and spreads outward and the leaves are much more round than a lot of other sword plants. I got it in a tube at Petco and I've never seen another one since...
Last edited by OrangeAugust; 12-19-2012 at 03:15 PM.
Sorry to partially hijack this thread, but Geomancer - do you recommend adding ferts immediately after planting or waiting a bit? I have eco-complete substrate in my tank, and have ordered the Flourish complete (which will arrive with my plants) but am unsure when to start dosing. Thanks!
Sorry to partially hijack this thread, but Geomancer - do you recommend adding ferts immediately after planting or waiting a bit? I have eco-complete substrate in my tank, and have ordered the Flourish complete (which will arrive with my plants) but am unsure when to start dosing. Thanks!
Right away.
Eco Complete will only help substrate rooted plants, you need nutrients in the water column for non-substrate rooted plants (Anubias, Jave Fern, etc), steam plants, and floating plants.
Eco Complete will only help substrate rooted plants, you need nutrients in the water column for non-substrate rooted plants (Anubias, Jave Fern, etc), steam plants, and floating plants.
Thanks! Do you recommend root tabs in the Eco Complete too, or is the Flourish Complete enough?
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