new to plants-bit of help/idears needed

[candy]

hi everyone

im just about to set up my first planed tank(tanks is set up now) and need a bit of help

iv got 4 foot of lighting with twin bulbs both plant gro bulbs(forgot name) and my tank is 2 foot deep.

i have an inch - inch 1/2 of fine dark gravel and two huge bits of wood on the left of my tank with the right hand side left for plants

this fish im having are-black ghost knife

- african butterfly

- peacock eel

-bornio tiger.

so need plants that can handle being with these fish and cope with the depth of my tank. also would like plants that can be tied on to wood .

help would be wonderful and also if any one feels the need to donate me plants that would be wonderfull cause im broke and a empty tank is sad.

thanks candy

p.s. how do u tie plants to wood anyway?

[Steves Killies]

Hey Candy,

Hows the tank today? Theres quite a few plants which can be tied down to pieces of log or driftwood,most of which would readily do so in the wild anyway.I may get corrected here but most of the Anubias species(such as Anubias nana) can be tied down using lightweight nylon.Once their roots grow over the wood and anchore themselves, you can take whatever you used to tie them down with off. Other species include Java fern,and moss!!!!Moss looks absolutely awesome but may struggle a bit if your fish eat it too much.Check out Plantmans pics on page 1,under "erect moss growing on DW"(driftwood),should give you a good idea of what it can look like in the right conds.

Ive got some moss and flowering Anubias nana tied down to some DW,but i only did that on saturday so its a long way off looking its best.

Happy planting

[candy]

hi steve,

the tanks going nicel about half way through cycling so looking fwd to having things in it. iv been playing around with plants in my smaller tank iv managed to try some moss stuf(java moss i think) to a bit of wood but it sortof of falls of every so offten, not all of it but small clumps so im going to try get a hair net or something and try using that if my apple snail does not eat it first that is.

also been looking on the net for plants that grow tll and bushy but have not seen anything i like so far,

also a bit confused with fertaliser(cant spell ) iv seen the little ball thingies and i know people say to add iron to the tank but depending on the leval of iron u have in your tank but iv never seen a test kit for iron around so a bit confused about that.

otherwise everything going well,just need to start saving up the money so i can get the fish.sadly my bornio has died (wasl iving at bfs) so a bit guttered about that.andn ow wondering where i can find another one.

anyway thanks for the help

candy

[Steves Killies]

Hi Candy,

I cant help you out with sourcing another Bornio but I will gladly give you some free plants.I dont have too much to offer but I can send you a piece(or several) pieces of java fern which you can use to tie down to the wood.This plant is also fairly hardy and its roots will anchor themselves really well.Also i can give you some of a stem plant called Ambulia(or Camombia?).This is a common plant and is easy to get going.Stem plants can be simply cut half way up the plant, and then the cutting put back into the substrate,which will then develop roots over the next week or so.So that could be a good way to get some plant cover for your fish. It does grow fairly quickly though,so you can either keep cutting it back, or you may see another type of plant to replace it with.

Fish and plant keeping is sooo addictive, there are too many questions to be answered all at once. Ive really been getting into my plants recently and I can tell you that in order for plants to grow well they need 3 basic components

1)Light-generally 0.5wtts of light per litre of water.more the better

2)Co2 enrichment-allows plants to breathe properly whilst they photosynthesize.U can get Hagen/Nutrafin Co2 generators for around $50-$60.These will diffuse co2 into your water and should last up to 4weeks before you have to replace the contents that produces the gas.Check out trade me-search-co2,or a fish store

3)Fertiliser-either liquid form which is just added to water,or what youve seen,fert balls that you place under a plants roots.I think those last for up to a year.

...and ofcourse if your planting plants you need good deep substrate for plants tap roots to go down into.Some beautiful plants(eg rose/rubin swords) need quite deep substrate to root themselves properly

Pm me if you would like those plants.Good luck finding everything else

Steve

[scherazade]

hey steves killies. Nice avatar you've got there, pity thats not one of your killies. I'm flattered you wanted to nick my picture but really you should ask first. It was damn hard getting him to stay still and i would appreciate you stop using it. :evil:

sorry for derailing your thread candy. As far as plants go I think indian water fern is fantastic. It grows quite high so would be good in your deep tank. I found some in hollywood fishfarm a few weeks ago. I'm not sure where abouts you are but they tend to have nice healthy plants.

[Steves Killies]

Hi scherazade! You are definitely right when you say its not one of my Killies!Mine are much better than that!!!Just joshing. I dont even have any at the mo,I had a pair of Blue Gularis but they both,successfully, tried to do a "nemo" late one night.i was just browsing,wanted a pic,and well that was the nicest looking fish avaliable. ps if your really that offended I will change it cause[edit=cees]...[/edit]Why not make a breeding pair?!!!

.........Back to helping Candy.You can get good plant fertiliser, made by a company called Red Sea, from LFS. R.sea make 5 kinds of fert that you can add to your tank,one of which is a tablet that you push under the substrate near your plants,and that adds alot of the trace elements the plants require,and usually are deprived of in a tank.Might be worth a looksy,but maybe too $. With the java moss,try tying it with thin nylon.If you wrap it quite tightly and close together the clumps shouldnt come off.Java grows quite quickly so it shouldnt take long to cover the nylon.

[edit=cees]watch your language[/edit]

[candy]

thanks for the replies.

fish keeping is deffinatly intresting and fun, i have a bad case of mts but because of what fish iv got none of the tanks are planted as of yet.

i think next weekend i will go in to hollywood and have mozy and ask lots of questions.i think my best bet would to go with the ball thingies they seem like a good product.

had a look at my lights and called up hollyood to ask for there oppinion and they say i deffinatly have enough light and its allso on a timer so there is a sence of day and night in the tank.

will also have a look at a co2 generator.are they costly to keep runing?

my mum has even offered to put some money in to my tank as she says she wants it nice looking so i think she can pay for some plant

has anyone bought plants of trademe? i see there is some one selling a heep of plants so might look in to that too

thanks for all ur help

candy

[dally]

hey candy.

trust me you should go to hollywood, they got a good range.

erm, you shud try some 'hydrophila polysperma' for starters, it grows fast no matter what, and looks nice or some vallis =p their only $1.70 for a small bunch!. Java fern is ether $6 or $12 for a nice pot with a few rohzimes (wheres a dictionary) in it, easy spliting them up. i sliped mine into little craks in my DW.

lol howd i remember those prices?wow i have a good memory!... or maybe im just really addicted... :oops: :lol:

btw: your perants are so cool! mine keep on telling me to get rid of my tanks!