Journal New to plants

[Mike N]

Hello everyone,

I just joined the forum. I’m not new to aquariums but I recently decided to try live plants. I’m trying to keep it low tech.

100 gal.
2- Eheim 2217’s - one return has a Aqua 2000 U/V.
1 - Fluval 407
Finnex Planted Plus ALC on 7 hours

I have gravel but have added Fluval root tabs. I also do approx 40% water changes a week and add Easy Green after the water

36 gal Brichardi Tank
1 - Eheim 2213
1 - Fluval 207



Thanks for looking, Mike

 

[Art]

Welcome, Mike! Please get yourself a Build Badge.

Love the stones! Are you having any issues with the plants at the moment?

I can't speak to the Finnex or the Easy Green AIO fertilizer but aquatic plants, like land plants, will require the right light and nutrients. What plants did you get?

Best,

Art

 

[Mike N]

Thanks Art!

The stones are actually plastic. I wanted a lot of rock but was afraid of the weight. I have 2 sets of these:

Seiryu Stones 11 Piece Set (8817) - Current USA

Shop The Best Saltwater Aquarium Equipment & Supplies at Saltwater Aquarium. We Carry Everything you will Need for your Fish Tank.

www.saltwateraquarium.com

plants yes, a bit of algae. I have dimmed the lights a little and went to 7 hours on instead if 8. The blue LED’s i turned down almost off. I read somewhere the blue only grows algae and plants dont use much blue. I’m not sure how true that may be. I added 3 Siamese Algae Eaters also, they really do like the algae.

Thanks, Mike

 

[Art]

Nice, @Mike N. I didn't know they made them plastic. Can be very useful.

If there's one bit of advice I can give you at the start of your plant journey, it's to focus on growing healthy plants instead of getting rid of the algae. I can't take credit for it, @plantbrain popularized this wisdom long ago. Do you have a list of the plants that you have? Perhaps we can guide you on their needs to be happy?

 

[Mike N]

Thank you for the advise.
I have:

Jungle Val
Java Fern
Anubious Nana
Moneywort
Water Sprite

Just ordered some Blue Hygro

 

[MrMuggles]

I struggled to dial-in my fertilizer regime when using Easy Green, could never measure N increases that match what the dosage was supposed to deliver. Like I'm talking 5x dosage to get to my target reading on the api liquid tests. now I am mixing my own fertilizer from dry powders and it saves a ton of money and yields the expected increases in N when I test my water.

I have not used those root tabs specifically, but other brands I have used - one thing I noticed is that I neglected to schedule refreshes and eventually saw deficiencies in my root-feeders because i waited too long to refresh the substrate with new tabs. So maybe mark a calendar, try to be consistent with that, should help.

 

[Mike N]

Thanks you for the info. Marking the calendar is a good idea.

 

[Art]

Hi @Mike N , it's been a while. How's it going with the tank? I hope you're enjoy the summer over there in WI.