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Post by DaharkazAngel on Mar 5, 2010 4:02:59 GMT -5
I would like to start getting real plants (omg right, me try plants. I have the brownest thumb lol) in my 100 gal which I'm sure your all familiar with. Just as a reminder here is some info about it, Its 6 foot long 18 inch high 18 inch wide, 380 litres or about 100 gals. Its been up for a little over a year now however i moved house 4 months ago. Its stable either way. It currently has: 5 adult male Angels. 15 rummy nose tetras 6 black neons A bristlnose catfish pair and many babies to sell and lighten the bio-load. 5 khuli loaches who i barely see but know are there 5 albino corys 3 peppered and a false juli (so 9 all up) 1 red tail shark 1 yellow lab 1 clown loach (small to med) And various fake crappy looking plants,Heres a vid to jog the memory.. www.youtube.com/watch?v=nS_vWHYTG0UAnyway, i would like you guys to help me as I'm totally new to plants. I bought a dragon flame once and it died in a week (turns out it was even aquatic!!) So after researching and reading Carl's pages I'm feeling confident i can do this, at least up until the point of lighting.. I have a six foot tank right but a 3 foot light and its only 30 watts. Now according to what Ive read i need 3-4 watts per gal. I have 30watts to a 100 gal.....um hmph, can i still have plants in my tank??? ones that don't need much light like anubias and swords??? Any help in my transformation would be appreciated and as i said I'm new to this so baby steps please!!. Ill keep everyone updated on my progress. =) PS, if needed i will buy a 6 foot light but here there dear as and hard to find, $350 average. Cheers Angel. |
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Post by DaharkazAngel on Mar 5, 2010 5:25:35 GMT -5
SO would the best place to start with my idea be some java fern attached to some of my drift wood. Under my light i assume??
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Post by Carl on Mar 5, 2010 10:11:47 GMT -5
SO would the best place to start with my idea be some java fern attached to some of my drift wood. Under my light i assume?? Java Fern, Anubia, and Java Moss are quite easy and do not need as much light as many plants The one correction I would make is the so-called 3-4 gallons per watt rule, this is very out of date and is based on older style T8 and T12 lights. This does not take into consideration: *Lumens per Watt *PAR (photosynthetically Active Radiation *Focused Lumens *Useful light energy A T2, T5, SHO, or LED would provide the best useful light energy for your plants depending upon the selection (a 6500 daylight is best) The T2 and T5 are compact & efficient, with the T2 producing more lumens per watt. The SHO is the choice of many commercial hydroponics, nursery operations due to high plant growth and is probably the best choice as per cost and output. The LED is the #1 technology with outputs that put the 3-4 watts per gallon rule to shame, (2) TMC 12 Watt Daylight LEDs would out produce 240 Watts of the standard T8 that has been around for the last 30 years. See: Aquarium Lighting; Facts & InformationConsidering your other aquatic talents, I would not sell yourself short as to success in keeping live plants  Carl |
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Post by babygeige on Mar 5, 2010 23:42:32 GMT -5
Anubias is a great plant. I have one in my 10 gallon with 15 watts and one in my 30 with 96 watts and they both do very well. In fact, the one in my 30 made a cute little flower-type thing a couple of weeks ago.
Java fern will do well in your lighting also. I don't think it would be much of a background plant, but it would do well as a midground plant on some wood or rock.
There are so many different kinds of sword plants, I'm sure you could find one that would be a good background. I've got echinodorus tennellus in the back of my 30 gallon. It's considered a moderate light plant, and it does OK in there.
There's a lot of plants out there. It can take some trial and error, but it's fun trying out new plants and seeing how they do. Good luck!
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Post by DaharkazAngel on Mar 6, 2010 1:59:45 GMT -5
Bought a cute little java fern today, pics soon. I paied a whoppinmg 9.95 for it!! Rip off but hopefully it florishes. =)
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Post by fishfever on Mar 6, 2010 13:36:31 GMT -5
Will be interested to see how this works out for you as I will probably take the plunge one day as well, but probably after I upgrade to a larger tank and better lighting. I really am interested in watching the LED lighting evolve as I am aware of their great potential. I bought a few 1W LEDs on EBAY to play with a while back and they are super bright.. so bright that I would not want to look at one directly! When I do go live I'll probably replace the artificial ones a little at a time.
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Post by babygeige on Mar 6, 2010 18:22:40 GMT -5
Java fern is pricey here too for some reason. But don't worry, java fern is very hardy and grows well. You'll get a lot of mileage out of that plant because it grows along a rhizome you'll be able to cut it and transplant it all over your tank. I started out with a couple little plants in my 10 gallon. Now, it takes up half the tank, and I've got 2 other tanks stocked with java ferns from those original plants.
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Post by Carl on Mar 6, 2010 19:46:38 GMT -5
This would not help in Australia, but Freshwater Aquarium Plants.Com sells the Java Fern for $5.49. This is where I get my plants (as do many of my customers). I also have a link on my Plants Care ArticleThe quality is top notch, the shipping prices do not add too much. The only negatives are communication and time of order to ship are so-so. Carl |
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Post by DaharkazAngel on Mar 7, 2010 1:22:46 GMT -5
Thanks guys, i now have the java fern on some wood and i bought a (thinks) dwarf anubias today that i also attached to some wood.. So thats two plants. Think ill wait and see how these two grow before i get excited. They could still die. I will upload a vid inm the next few days so you guys can see them, im going for a low bnudget planted tank so no co2 or fert or crazy lighting. I may upgrade inm the future bnut for now im happy with the basics. I feel like ive just got into hobby lol so much to learn. Thanks for the links carl. Btw the java was $6.50 (i got over charged the other day) and the anubias was $9.50, youll see the size of them later. Thanks again guys =) ON ANOTHER note, you guys heard about the crazy weather we getting atm?? So much rain!! Heard you guys are getting a load of snow too!! crazy weather nowadays lol...
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Post by Carl on Mar 7, 2010 10:58:13 GMT -5
ON ANOTHER note, you guys heard about the crazy weather we getting atm?? So much rain!! Heard you guys are getting a load of snow too!! crazy weather nowadays lol... Yeh, a rather strong "El Nino" weather pattern year, although for us in the Northwest USA and into British Columbia, it has been warmer, with Southern California stealing our weather. In my last trip to LA the weather was much stormier there with the snow levels lower 800 miles south than they were here in Oregon. I no the Winter Olympics struggled with higher than normal snow levels. However this common with an "El Nino" weather pattern, with the decay of an "El Nino" weather event (going into a "La Nina") first felt in the western Pacific (Australia), which may explain your heavy rain. Storm slams MelbourneCarl |
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Post by DaharkazAngel on Mar 16, 2010 2:05:04 GMT -5
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Post by Carl on Mar 16, 2010 14:06:28 GMT -5
Very interesting & funny
I liked the reaction to the Football comment
Now I now we would have to look forward to for entertainment should we ever move there (out side of the lack of "Real Football" LOL)
Carl
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