Low care planted commnunity tank

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Sat Apr 17, 2010 10:20 am

Swords need a lot more light and will not do as well in a low light tank over time. I ended up moving that sword to a 10 gallon tank, when I took down all my tanks I got rid of all my live plants I had. At this point all I have is a small java fern. I was just not into all the extra maintenance.

Here is a site I used a lot when looking for info on plants: Plant Geek.net

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Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Sat Apr 17, 2010 3:50 pm

I was wondeing if I put alot of elodea in a overstocked community or cichlid tank, will it help out with the nitrate control?

How are cichlids like oscar,convits,plecos,catfish and jd with elodea?

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Sun Apr 18, 2010 8:16 am

Larger Cichlids like JD's and Oscars will uproot just about anything in there way.

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a high powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production.
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Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Sun Apr 18, 2010 1:01 pm

So its okay then? Since elodea should be besty floating Im buy alot so it can help with my water control.

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Sun Apr 18, 2010 1:15 pm

ninjastar wrote:

I was wondeing if I put alot of elodea in a overstocked community or cichlid tank, will it help out with the nitrate control?

Yes, this will help keep nitrates down. However, it is not a replacement for water changes. In order to keep nitrates low enough to minimize the interval between water changes, you need a very highly planted tank with a very low stocking density. You'd also need intense lighting and CO2 injection to maximize plant growth and nitrate uptake. In other words, a high tech system. Smile

The other possibility would be a Walstad type set-up. I would recommend avoiding a set-up like that until you have more experience, and doing the research on it as you build your water management skills.

ninjastar wrote:

How are cichlids like oscar,convits,plecos,catfish and jd with elodea?

Since it is best floating, they won't uproot it, but they will shred it. Wink

This very well could plug the intake for a power or canister filter, and looks messy. The elodea may or may not live in the small bits it ends up in. IME, ya end up with a ton of shredded Elodea that grows a bit, and gets shredded. Then some dies and ya remove it. Then it grows a bit, and gets shredded more, then ya remove the dead stuff...get the picture? And in between, ya unclog the filter uptake again and again, and watch the big cichlids enjoy turning your elodea into salad. As MC said, the fish you've mentioned will uproot swords, hygros, ludwigia and other rooted plants. Then shred them into salad. Wink

WYite

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One can never have too many fish tanks.

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Sun Apr 18, 2010 1:20 pm

ninjastar wrote:

So its okay then? Since elodea should be besty floating Im buy alot so it can help with my water control.

See above post...we were posting at the same time. Regardless, with fish like oscars and JDs that have a high amount of waste, you'll never remove all the nitrates. They are just too durn messy and produce way too much waste. Water changes also remove other things besides nitrates, such as phosphates, and refresh other trace minerals. Highly planted tanks will help in nitrate uptake, but there are other reasons to perform water changes than just removing nitrates.

WYite

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One can never have too many fish tanks.

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Sun Apr 18, 2010 2:35 pm

I know its just too help with the water control. I do a 25% wc every week. And when I test it and its high I do 25%wc every other day to help lower it down. But does it have to be heavly planted to help or like a couple will still help?

The Turtle Whisperer Posts: 1902

I've never had good luck doing the Walstad type stuff in a tank. It seems to work fantastically in the ponds though. The pond for pacu has a waterfall, with the upper part that's completely planted out. All I use are a few plant grow bulbs from the hardware store over the plants. So long as they're not dead, even a few plants will help out some.

Water sprite is another plant that seems to do really well in low light. I'm not sure if it's supposed to float or not, but I have some in the feeder goldie tub floating and it keeps getting bigger and bigger. It's also one of the few plants I've seen that JDs just don't seem to care about.

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Wed Apr 28, 2010 10:29 pm

I was wondering is ebay a good place to buy java moss and ferns? And when I get them what do I do? Also how do I make a java moss bedding in which you can see my gravel but just the fern?

The Turtle Whisperer Posts: 1902

With buying anything on ebay it's a matter of checking the seller's feedback and comments and whatnot.

As far as plants go, I've had good luck with these guys: http://www.aquariumplants.com

I've gotten a good gob of plants from those guys, and everything has come nice and alive and most of it continues to still be alive. Water clover was epic fail, but I think that was just due to the distance from the lights to the tank bottom I had it in.

Another thing you can do for cheap plants is to keep an eye out at the local hardware stores. The Lowes by me gets in and clears out Peace Lillies, which are a type of sword plant that I've had great luck in aquariums with.

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Fri Apr 30, 2010 3:31 pm

I was wondering how do I do a java moss bedding or floor in which you dont see the gravel floor any more?

The Turtle Whisperer Posts: 1902

With JDs and Oscars that will never happen. Wink

Java moss just needs to be anchored down to something on the ground, and it will start to spread. Use a loose gravel so it has something to branch out to and your set.

At least that's always worked for me.

Subject: Re: Low care planted commnunity tank Tue May 04, 2010 5:39 pm

By any chance do you have a picture?

Banned Posts: 4 Age: 23

Java moss, ferns and java. These are best grown in porous driftwood or other decorations, such as porous clay pots, ceramic decorations. Use cotton thread, fishing line or rubber band to connect it to the trees root system of plants until it.