So I got a piece of camboba...

1089 Views 10 Replies 5 Participants Last post by iElBeau, Jun 17, 2014

iElBeau

Discussion Starter · Jun 16, 2014 (Edited)

Alright, so I'm slowly planting a 1G with 1 small betta (I'm guessing he's about 3 months).

This is my first ever planted tank (minus random moss balls).

Currently it's not planted.

In fact, it's got one lonely piece of floating green camboba.

It has LED lights and sits next to a window (not quite direct sunlight, but still a fair bit).

And I have a tiny little bottle of plant fertilizer with the suggestion of "5ml / 10G" well. That's informative. How often? Do I need CO2? What should my nitrite/nitrate/ammonia levels be at?

I kind of have a lot of questions. Eventually, I want my lonely camboba piece to grow and provide lots of coverage in the tank. And I might add a short anubias or four leaf clover thing at some point.

I will add substrate eventually. I just can't find one I like right now. (PS. Does anyone know if reptile/hermit crab gravel is safe for aquarium use?)

My Nitrate kit is out, but my nitrites read 0 ish (<0.25) and my ammonia also reads 0 ish (<0.1). I've added about 3 small drops of fertilizer (two yesterday, one today).

Thoughts?

(PS. I have a ten gallon guppy tank all my plant pieces will be going into once they start getting huge and out of control lol - I'm aware that camboba gets big and annoying - I'm looking forward to it!)

EDIT: I forgot to mention. I currently have "Nutrafin Plant Gro" because my LFS was out of sea chem flourish.

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brian the betta lover

· #2 · Jun 16, 2014

ok i don't know a lot of your ques but i do know of a good substrate its called flormax but you will have to move the betta so it can cycle all over again or not move it and risk death

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Elvette Emmett

· #3 · Jun 17, 2014

I wouldn't really recommend a NPT for a 1 gl with the frequency you have to do with the water changes. If you could get a 2.5 or 3 gl and it would be much more effective

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Tony2632

· #4 · Jun 17, 2014

I had cabomba when I first started planted tanks. Even when not planted this plant can still grow, its a pest plant and it's illegal in a few states I believe. From my experience with this stem plant I did a lot of trimming and replanting the cut part gave me more(a lot more). This plant can get leggy at the bottom of the plant, so I do recommend med to high light for this plant. I all ways recommend CO2, but it's optional. If you run CO2, you can run pressurized or DIY CO2.

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iElBeau

Discussion Starter · #5 · Jun 17, 2014

The goal with this tank is to cycle it actually (I'm aware this is a difficult thing to do in a 1G, but I'm also aware of the fact it's possible), so a 2.5 - 3G is not what I'm looking for. Thank you for your input though.

I'm not new to fish keeping, so the water changes and whatnot don't bother me, and I have no issues with monitoring water levels.

I'm mostly interested in the plant care aspect, without getting into fancy lighting. Natural sunlight I know can be a pain to work with, but I'm actually really interested in using it (I garden normal plants, and raise orchids, so I love using natural light when at all possible, though even with non-aquatic plants it raises issues).

I'm also in Canada and I don't believe it's illegal here, though it has caused issues in some of the lakes, it's readily available and sold in most stores.

+ I have high light due to the sunlight factor (yay!).

----

Essentially, it seems to be coming down to what my water parameters should be maintained at, and whether CO2 injections will be necessary. (If I do CO2, I'll likely DIY).

Does anyone have input regarding these?

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LittleBettaFish

· #6 · Jun 17, 2014

The only issue I can see with natural lighting is just how strong it is compared to artificial lighting. Even indirect natural sunlight can cause issues with algae. I have two tanks on the top shelf of my rack and the only light they receive is whatever natural light comes through the clerestory window. The plants in both tanks are thriving, but I also get a whole lot of algae along the back glass.

Also, in a 1 gallon tank you'd want to probably make sure that the sunlight wasn't causing any fluctuations in temperature as that is not a lot of water to heat up.

For the plants you are considering, I would not think CO2 is necessary. In my planted tanks, I personally like to use a nutrient rich substrate such as aqua soil. Then if necessary, you can supplement with fertilisers. That's been enough for me to grow plants like watersprite, hydrilla (similar to elodea/anacharis), hornwort and duckweed without much of an issue.

Heavily planting a 1 gallon tank can drastically reduce the amount of water changes needed depending on the plants you use. Fast growing species can often take over the role occupied by a filter in a cycled tank, by uptaking ammonia and nitrates from the water. I personally recommend people with smaller tanks utilise live plants as much as possible as it does go a long way towards improving water quality and keeping parameters stable.

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iElBeau

Discussion Starter · #7 · Jun 17, 2014

LittleBettaFish said:
The only issue I can see with natural lighting is just how strong it is compared to artificial lighting. Even indirect natural sunlight can cause issues with algae. I have two tanks on the top shelf of my rack and the only light they receive is whatever natural light comes through the clerestory window. The plants in both tanks are thriving, but I also get a whole lot of algae along the back glass.

Also, in a 1 gallon tank you'd want to probably make sure that the sunlight wasn't causing any fluctuations in temperature as that is not a lot of water to heat up.

For the plants you are considering, I would not think CO2 is necessary. In my planted tanks, I personally like to use a nutrient rich substrate such as aqua soil. Then if necessary, you can supplement with fertilisers. That's been enough for me to grow plants like watersprite, hydrilla (similar to elodea/anacharis), hornwort and duckweed without much of an issue.

Heavily planting a 1 gallon tank can drastically reduce the amount of water changes needed depending on the plants you use. Fast growing species can often take over the role occupied by a filter in a cycled tank, by uptaking ammonia and nitrates from the water. I personally recommend people with smaller tanks utilise live plants as much as possible as it does go a long way towards improving water quality and keeping parameters stable.

Thank you for your recommendations! This is pretty much exactly what I was looking for

I do get a fair bit of algae on the sides of my 10G which is across the room, but honestly, I think it gets more direct sunlight in a way, whereas the 1G is below the window and about 6 inches to the side of it. Both will get a fair bit though. It doesn't bother me much, since wiping it off is so easy, but I'm not sure if it will affect the water parameters much? (I've never had an issue in the past but…)

I do intend to add a substrate, I'm just not sure what… I have aragonite in my 10G with added nutrients, but unfortunately I lost the left over part of the bag haha so I need to figure out some sort of plan for the 1G… I might do potting soil + cap in gravel.

& Thanks

I thought it actually stabilized a 1G, but I wasn't 100% sure. Either way, I've cycled tanks before and figured I'd just keep an eye on it until it worked itself out haha.

Do you have any liquid fert. dosage recommendations by any chance? /Frequency guidelines?

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LittleBettaFish

· #8 · Jun 17, 2014

Potting soil with a cap should work just as well. I have used it in the past in tubs outside and my plants have thrived.

The only liquid fertilisers I've used were the Seachem range and I usually just did what the recommended dosage on the back of the bottles said. I'm probably not the best person to ask on this subject as I am terribly lazy with my plant maintenance as they are the number two priority in my tanks.

You can buy dry fertilisers for tanks as well. I think these are usually more concentrated than the liquid fertilisers (which seem to be mostly water), but I do believe there are specific ways of dosing these that a forum specialising in aquatic plants could probably tell you.

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iElBeau

Discussion Starter · #9 · Jun 17, 2014

Alright, thanks

Last question - my cabomba (camboba?) (HOW DO I SPELL THIS?) seems like it has a white sheen on it in spots. Kind of like spray paint? Could it be calcium deposits or pearling or what? It's just a little bit, but I'm worried I'm going to kill it haha. Any idea what it is?

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LittleBettaFish

· #10 · Jun 17, 2014

Hmm I have no idea what that is. Pearling looks like bubbles and I've only seen it in display tanks that have CO2 and high lighting.

Unless your water is super hard I doubt there would be calcium deposits on the plants. I don't even know if that is possible as usually it's on the glass you see marks from hard water.

What does it feel like?

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iElBeau

Discussion Starter · #11 · Jun 17, 2014

It doesn't really feel like anything… we do have incredibly hard water here, but I don't notice deposits elsewhere on the tank as of yet… I'll keep an eye on it I guess, if it gets worse I'll make a separate post about it or something.

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