# Making Plants Survive and Thrive?



## rfreeman85 (May 4, 2011)

I'm an owner of a 37 gallon freshwater rectangular tank. I jabe stocked the tank with several rainbow fish, a pair of Killifish, a Dojo Loach, several Panda Corys, Otto Eaters, and a few Negrite snails. So far, they have been thriving and enjoying the community environment.

Lately, I've become more interested in incorporating live freshwater plants in the aquarium. I have in the past, and shortly after purchased they had died (although that could be due to a low wattage LED light i was using). I have since upgraded my system to have a dual high power light with acintic bulbs. They've been maintaining. 

I would like to know if there's anything else I shold be investing in if I want to have a thriving fish/planted aquarium. Please offer any recommendations.

Thank You


----------



## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

The actinic's won't do much for the plants unfortunately. Best advice on that would be to ensure your bulbs are 6700k daylight bulbs. Those are the best ones to use.

For a real thriving and lush planted tank, I would look at dosing ferts and CO2. But that's just me. ;o)


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

What type of substrate do you have? Definitely ditch the actinics.


----------



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

Agreed with James.The plants will be able to use the lighting of 6700k much easier than the actinic bulb.Its more the natural daylight range,and the plants can photosynthesize much easier.The addition of fert and CO2 will balance the system out as well, especially if the lighting is bright.Some of the higher demand plants will not flourish without the three balanced.


----------



## Gizmo (Dec 6, 2010)

I would say go with 6700K Gro bulbs, as mentioned, or a mix of 6700K Gro and 10,000K Daylight bulbs. The actinics are great for showcasing things like colors in fish and pigmentation in plants, but the bluer the light the harder the plants will have to work to achieve photosynthesis.

CO2 is a good idea, but complicated for many. Aeration with a bubbler will maintain natural levels of CO2 in the tank, but in order to get great plant results, look into a DIY CO2 injection system using yeast and sugar in an Ocean Spray juice bottle to ferment and generate CO2, then diffuse it into your tank using either a ceramic plate diffuser or a reactor (a little more expensive, but a very effective method).

Fertilizers and nutrients for your plants can be achieved several ways. The most important and possibly the only thing you would need to do in this respect is replace the substrate in your tank for something more plant-specific like Eco-Complete, Floramax, or Fluorite. Some of us use things like peat moss, sand, potting clay, etc., if you're interested in going the DIY route. The other way fertz can reach your plants is through dry chemical fertilization and/or root tabs, which you will have to administer manually for the rest of your tank's existence.

In an established tank I would suggest root tabs as opposed to tearing down the entire tank to change out the substrate (unless you are VERY serious about plants). Also, buy a liquid plant food like API LeafZone, or look into dry chemical fertilizers from online vendors like Rex Griggs.


----------



## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Hello rfree..

This information is likely old news to you, but if you can locate a 6500 K, 32 watt, T8 or T12 bulb, then that's all you really need to grow low to moderate light plants.

There are quite a number of aquatic plants that come under the low to moderate list. I use T8s in my 55 G tanks and regularly dose liquid ferts and the plants grow very well.

Don't want to make this post too long, but if you want a list of plants, I can put one together for you.

B


----------



## joeyhatch11 (Jul 27, 2011)

I'd be interested in a list. I'm getting a 75 gallon tank together for the new house and will be setting it up, Walstad sytle. So I'm looking for moderate growing plants. Thanks, Joe


----------



## giddetm (Apr 30, 2011)

I would like to see a list also


----------



## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

OK. No problem. Since I have large tanks with mostly low light plants, I'll start with those. I'll get right back to you guys.

Have attached some pics of one of my low tech, low light tanks, so you know it can be done.

B


----------



## Sweetgreenleaf1369 (Jun 24, 2011)

I use flourish liquid fertilizer and flourish excel for c02 they work very well plants growing like weeds..*cool-dude


----------



## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Sweetgreenleaf1369 said:


> I use flourish liquid fertilizer and flourish excel for c02 they work very well plants growing like weeds..*cool-dude



Good morning Sweet...

I used to use the SeaChem ferts, but as I added tanks, I found it became too expensive to dose all my tanks as often as I needed.

The Flourish Excel has "Gluteraldehyde" in it and this carbon fert, in higher doses, can be toxic to the more primitive aquatic plants like mosses, ferns and varieties of Vallisneria.

CO2 is also a little pricey for me because of the number of large tanks I keep, so I dose liquid ferts I can get pretty cheaply from my local hydroponics store.

B


----------



## giddetm (Apr 30, 2011)

BBradbury said:


> CO2 is also a little pricey for me because of the number of large tanks I keep, so I dose liquid ferts I can get pretty cheaply from my local hydroponics store.B


I would like to look into these,can you tell us some brand names so I know what I am looking for?*c/p*


----------



## James0816 (Jun 19, 2009)

If you want to look into fert dosing closely, might I suggest dry ferts? AquariumFertilizer.com is a great resource. You can start with some pre-mix options (PMDD) and then move up to EI dosing.

Just a thought.


----------



## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

giddetm said:


> I would like to look into these,can you tell us some brand names so I know what I am looking for?*c/p*


Good morning gidd...

Sure, I can tell you briefly what I've used. Nutrafin Plant Gro is average. Yamato Green has a good product, but you need a minimum of 1 watt of light per gallon of tank size for the fert to work well. I don't have that much lighting in my tanks.

I use a liquid for pond plants called LaGuna Plant Grow. It's inexpensive and works well. I alternate a couple of different ferts called "Earth Juice". The company makes several kinds. I use "Grow" and "Macro". These have a good nutrient balance and my plants do well with these. 

I always check to make sure the ferts are organic and contain only plant and animal products, so there's no worry about putting anything in the tanks that could hurt my fish.

I typically dose a small amount per tank in the evenings when the tank lights shut off. I find the liquids work best if they're in the tanks several hours before the lights come on. Aquatic lighting will render the ferts ineffective in 24 hours. That's why you need to dose reqularly.

Don't quote me on this information. Every tank works differently. It's been my experience that plants need a variety of foods, just like the fish.

Hope this is helpful!

B


----------



## majerah1 (Oct 29, 2010)

I have dry fertz myself.I have a mix of CSM+B,Mono potassium phosphate and Potassium nitrate.These I have found do pretty well with my plants and I get lush growth.

You can either dose dry,or mix them with distilled water.Mine I mix and dose daily,save the day before doing my 50% waterchange.


----------



## giddetm (Apr 30, 2011)

sales57 said:


> i am interest in your talk,6300K will be ok,but why not try to use LED waterproof grow light,it has three spectrum ,red.blue.orange,400-410 Nanometers VIOLET - this band stimulates the overall growth of the plant. It promotes longer stems, and multiplies branches and buds. Improves the amount of protein and vitamins.
> 
> 
> 
> ...


Where do you buy this light at? Can you post a link to the light ?


----------



## giddetm (Apr 30, 2011)

Right now I have 260 watts 6500K CF and 80 watts NOF for a total of 340 watts comes out to 2.26 watts per gal. on my 150 gal. This setup is almost 2 weeks old so I am getting a few leaves melting but it is going good so far.I will see about getting some pics up today.


----------



## giddetm (Apr 30, 2011)

My tank is 48"x24"x30" tall I am considering 2 of these lights Hydro Grow LED | Penetrator 84X | LED Grow Light
There is a vdeo on this page with the stats. any and all opinions would be appreciated. 1100 bux is a lot of money but if these lights will reach 30" deep and and grow plants like they claim it would be worth it.


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

James0816 said:


> If you want to look into fert dosing closely, might I suggest dry ferts? AquariumFertilizer.com is a great resource. You can start with some pre-mix options (PMDD) and then move up to EI dosing.
> 
> Just a thought.


This is THE best way to go if your tank is not going to be with CO2. They don't call it PMDD anymore on their website, they call it a macro/micro mix. It cost $12 and will last about 2yrs and better than ANY liquid fert out there. Liquid ferts are about $12 per bottle, don't last very long, and usually only cover part of what plants need. For a low-tech setup you'd only need to dose once a week.


----------



## giddetm (Apr 30, 2011)

Ben,I looked on that site and read about the macro/micro mix, It does not seem to have any iron in it. Do you dose any Iron in your tank? Did you start out with the 1 drop per gal. per day?


----------



## jrman83 (Jul 9, 2010)

giddetm said:


> Ben,I looked on that site and read about the macro/micro mix, It does not seem to have any iron in it. Do you dose any Iron in your tank? Did you start out with the 1 drop per gal. per day?


Iron can also be purchased if you wanted to dose it. If you're going with CO2, I would purchase/dose all the ferts separate using the estimative index method. If you're not, I would do the macro/micro mix and dose one drop per gallon, but only one day out of the week. You can adjust from there. Heavy ferts are not needed for lo-tech (non-CO2) tanks.


----------



## Sweetgreenleaf1369 (Jun 24, 2011)

BBradbury said:


> Good morning Sweet...
> 
> I used to use the SeaChem ferts, but as I added tanks, I found it became too expensive to dose all my tanks as often as I needed.
> 
> ...


That is good to know, I am going to look into the dry frets.*cool-dude


----------



## BBradbury (Apr 22, 2011)

Sweetgreenleaf1369 said:


> That is good to know, I am going to look into the dry frets.*cool-dude


Hello Sweet...

If you want the "skinny" on dry ferts, check with jrman83 on this forum, I believe he's one of the experts.

B


----------

