# New planted tank upgrade



## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Hello all. Here we go, this is my first time trying a planted tank. I have had two 50 gallon fish only tanks going for 3 years with good success. A few months ago I decided that I would upgrade to a planted tank. It was after I had a massive fish loss for some unknown reason, I think I had a dead area in the tank and it caused some crazy shift in the parameters. Anyway it was very sad to watch them go. So I decided that I would learn all I could about planted aquaria, and to my wife's dismay, it is all I can do to rip myself away from the net and this forum.

I decided that for my first try I would get some really nice peices of driftwood as hardscape. I waited forever to get my centerpiece but it finally got here. Then I waited for my substrate, aquariumplants.com substrate. Then I waited for the lights. And so on. Finally got everything in and on Saturday morning I broke down the current tank and added what I had. This included one lone survivor from the previous tank.



















So I finally ordered my plants. It took forever to decide what I wanted. At least 4 completely different lists existed at one time. I decided to go with the following one. I wanted a lotof color for my first tank.

Ludwigia repens Sagittaria subulata
Ludwigia palustris Hemaintus calichotroides
Rotala rotundifolia gr Anubias "Emerald Heart"
Crypt wendtii bronze Anubias Nana petite
Crypt undulatis
Corkscrew Valisneria
Alternanthera reineckii

I set up a 50 gallon tank with 130w CF 6700K bulbs from Coralife, Cascade 1000 canister, DIY CO2 (which is working very well.) Here is what it looked like just after planting.










One week after this I had to go away for an unplanned business trip for two weeks. Wonderful huh? So I thought I had left the tank in the care of a good friend that would take care of my tank. Turns out she was just a good friend. I came back to an algea ridden mess with three inches of water missing. Any way I did an immediate water change and set out to find SAE's. Apparetly in the Miami area they do not exist. I ended up picking up three Chinese AE and two of the gold variety. Also got two plecos for the glass and wood. It was unbeleivable. I had those guys in there for two days and the brown algae was gone. Not on the plants none on the glass nothing. I can't say how much these guys surprised me. Sorry but I don't have a pic of that dreadful day, it was embarrassing.

So then one week after :










The Alternanthera is growing in nicely and coloring up. Rotala is a little slower than the repens, but slower still is the palustris. Still look very nice. As you can see the Wendtii is also doing well and the HC not so much.


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

So to continue:

I have had some bouts with pH issues and for some reason I can't get my nitrates above 0. I have been dosing with what is supposed to be super concentrated liquid ferts. Supposed to be 5 drops per week and I am dosing a big squirt twice per week. CO2 is at 30ppm being that the 4kH solution in the drop checker is green. Also using root tabs from the same company as the liquid above, Aquariumplants.com. Here are a couple of pics what my tank looks like today. Hope you like and any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. BTW I am removing the weed like vals in the back and putting in Limnophila aromatica. As you can see below I also added some Fissidens fontanus in a couple of spots.

Forgot to mention, I have 6 glolite tetras, 4 congo tetras, 4 praecox rainbows, 3 mickey mouse platies (for my wife, she loves the) 5 chinese algea eaters, 2 plecos and one opalescent gourami in there. Also 8 Amano shrimp and 7 ghost shrimp. Incredibly they are all getting along.


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Welcome to the planted side! 

Make sure you calibrate your test kit against a known nitrate concentration solution. It could just be your test kit is inaccurate. Having said that, a couple of suggestions: skip the liquid ferts and go the dry route, cheaper and easier in the long run. Check out Rex's site for the dry ferts. Secondly, you're now happy with diy, but trust me, you (and your plants), will be much happier with pressurized. Another couple of business trips when the yeast/sugar mixture needs to be mixed and doesn't and you'll be pulling your hair out. But it looks like your plants are growing well. :thumbsup:

BTW, one more suggestion, lose the cae's soon. They will soon become large, fat, lazy and mean - and nearly impossible to catch in a large heavily planted tank.


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Bert,

I will save some money for the pressurized system. Hopefully within a couple of months. 

Also I work at a lab and have access to 99.9% pure chemicals, KNO3 and others. What would you suggest for NPK and Trace. I think that the trace I will have to buy but others may be easily found at work.

How do I calibrate. Do you know of a recipe for NO3 and PO4 calibration.

Jorge


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

KNO3 for nitrate; KH2PO4 for phosphate; K2SO4 for potassium (though you're also adding it via the NO3 and PO4). You can check on how much to add via the sticky in the fert forum. Traces can be given via CSM or by Flourish. Since micros as used in much lesser amounts, cost is not as big an issue here. Check out here for preparing known concentration solutions.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

It's coming along very well. Your plants are all looking good and you've got some great color there. I think your bright red on the right (is that Alternanthera reineckii?) would look better if it wasn't all the way on the right. I'd move it in to about the 1/3 mark of either side as it's an eye catcher and always pulls my over to the very edge. Kinda like walking on the edge of a cliff. 

I agree with Bert about the CAE. They turn nasty as they get older and will go after the other fish and they start ignoring algae. I got lucky and my gold CAE jumped out of the tank just as I was thinking I was going to have a heck of a time catching it. I still give thanks for that stroke of luck.


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

CS,

Thanks a lot for the suggestion, it is Alternanthera reineckii. After thinking about it I think a small bit might actually look really good in the hole in the middle peice of driftood. It is just slightly right of center. What do you think? If it gets too big it will take over but keeping it at 1/3 to 2/3 th height of the tank I think it will look nice.


Bert, Thanks, all I was hoping for was that I could get the plants to grow and it looks like they're doing that well. I will have to sneak those CAE's out since my wife has a no fish return policy but I will do it slowly.


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## cs_gardener (Apr 28, 2006)

I think that would look good. As a stem plant you just have to prune what you don't want. Alternanthera isn't that fast of a grower so I think it should be fine where you said.


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Got the CAE's out. Nearly impossible is not sufficient to describe how hard it was. Also ordered dry ferts from Rex Grigg. I will post more pics soon and hopefully will be as nice as it is now. Thanks a lot for the suggestions.

Jorge


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## lauraleellbp (Jan 31, 2008)

Also, not all nitrAte tests are able to pick up all nitrAte compounds, so that may have been the issue with your readings. I believe Seachem's nitrAte test is supposed to be one of the best/most comprehensive?

Your tank is filling in very nicely! Lovely!


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Update. I have now done several trims added dry ferts and increased CO2 and light. Plants are going crazy, I finally have pearling. I am so happy with this tank. In fact so happy that I think I am going to start a picotope at my office. Anyway here are some pics.










I am tryin to see if I can get rid of some of the Aternanthera on the right. Not sur it needs to be there but I can;t just throw it away. Also love the newly added Limno and Rotala mini. Hope oyu all like the shots.



















I am going to try to make a bush of the Limno, Bonsai style.

Here is the pearling:



















And here is a kinda cool moonlight shot.


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## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Looking good!


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## HankB (Apr 15, 2008)

Hi jmontee,
That's a very nice looking tank. I started to get some thin streams of bubbles from some of my plants today so I know how you feel! (Finally got my yeast working yesterday.  )

I have a couple questions about your plants.

What is the low grower to the front on the left end? I tried looking up your plant list but could not match it.

What is the red plant growing through the driftwood near the middle? Is it growing through the driftwood or actually growing on the driftwood?

So... if my nitrates go to zero, I should be fertilizing? (OK, three questions.  )

thanks,
hank


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## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Looking good, Jorge!


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

HankB said:


> Hi jmontee,
> That's a very nice looking tank. I started to get some thin streams of bubbles from some of my plants today so I know how you feel! (Finally got my yeast working yesterday.  )
> 
> I have a couple questions about your plants.
> ...


Hank, thanks. I have had a lot of fun and frustration trying to get it to this point. Also my wife is threatening to leave me because of all the time I spend on this forum, :heh:. Anyway,

1. It is Sagitaria subulata, dwarf sag. I am thinking about changing it to blyxa japonica but I am not sure if I will get the same effect. The sags grow really fast and they are pretty invasive. Great looking plant though I really like the coverage that they have given me. Also the shrimp and baby platies are loving it too.

2. It is Alternanthera reineckii, red temple. It is planted in a natural whole in the driftwood but planted in the substrate. I really like the look of it there, thanks csgardner for the suggestion. If you look at the earlier pics in this thread you will be able to see the space I moved the plant into.

3. You should definitely be fertilizing. Make sure to get a drop checker so that you can measure your CO2 level. If your CO2 is ok then I like NO3 at around 10ppm. Also don't forget that you also need PO4 and potassium. Defenitely check out Rex Grigg's site, www.rexgrigg.com. He has a lot of info on ferts and also sells the dry ferts.

Bert, thanks a lot.

Regarding the above comment on Blyxa japonica. Do you think that I will be able to keep a nice grassy ground cover like it is now using the blyxa in place of the sags. They are growing on top of each other and starting to lose some of the lower leaves.

Thanks again both of you for your comments,

Jorge


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## jmontee (Feb 7, 2008)

Hi everyone. So it has been a month since my last update. I have started with EI dosing, broke down and got a 10lb CO2 tank, regulator and CO2 reactor. Things are looking great. These photos are a couple of days old. I just removed the lud. palustris on the right and put in mayaca fluviatalis. I bought it from Orlando and after looking at it in pics I thought I would hate it. Wow was I wrong. It is such a beatiful green and has totally livened up that area of the tank. I hope to have pics in the next couple of days, I have to charge the camera.













































My group of Congos. I think they look so cool in the tank.










The rotala mini grove (Type 1 and 2) and the crypt wendtii tropica has just exploded with color.

Anyway hope you all like it. I haven't figured out what to do with the reneckii on the right. I am trying to sell on the forums here so I can put an incredible little kleiner bar sword that I have in it's place (thanks Tex Gal). Now imagine this with a vibrant green color behind the kleiner bar, ahh I can't wait.


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