live floating plants

17 posts • Page 2 of 2

Discuss all topics related to freshwater and planted tanks.


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: Re Re Re: live floating plants

by Okiimiru

sumpnfishy wrote:
> I may have made a mistake on the purchase of some bulbs today. I was going
> on "my memory" lol, of what you said as far as lighting and
> bought two Aqueon 6" 50/50 Daylight/Bluelight mini compact
> fluorescents 10w = 50w incandescent. 50% 10,000k Daylight and 50% True
> Actinic Bluelight. This light is a bit BRIGHT for me I feel, but maybe just
> takes some getting used to?? Upon coming back and "reading", I
> believe you actually recommended a full spectrum light. Now my question is
> , is this a good "freshwater" bulb for floating plants {which is
> what i actually need them for} or moreso designed for "corals"?
> And secondly, should i go back and get the "colormax" {same bulb}
> instead? I also went with Anacharis as a floater, hear its good at
> absorbing ammonia, and couldn't find anything else at lfs.. except for the
> duckweed which I was mostly advised against. What is your take on this?
> thnx again!

Meh, that should be fine. Plants enjoy eating the blue color of light. If you want to take a peek at the spectrum of the bulbs you can use a diffraction grating ($5 online) or the diffraction grating built into some digital camera. Like I did: http://forum.aquatic-gardeners.org/down ... php?id=418
http://forum.aquatic-gardeners.org/down ... php?id=419
Here's a video on how to use your diffraction grating: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c44-iiINuVE
See how close the bulbs' spectrums match this: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/c ... tra-en.svg That's chlorophyll's absorption spectrum.

Anacharis really isn't a floating plant, though. It's going to throw down roots in the short term and suffer when they don't reach substrate in the long term. Unless you dose weekly with fertilizer, which is a pain in the behind. Try aquabid.com for your floating plants. There's a lot of selection there.


sumpnfishy
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:56 am

Re: live floating plants

by sumpnfishy

Okay, I only have a 20gh tank, my top three choices would be the amazon frogbit, salvinia, and DWARF water lettuce. Of these three iyo, which would be best suited for me as far as not too long of a root system, easily maintained, best water filtration ie. ammonia etc.? Thnx!


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: live floating plants

by Okiimiru

"Okay, I only have a 20gh tank, my top three choices would be the amazon frogbit, salvinia, and DWARF water lettuce. Of these three iyo, which would be best suited for me as far as not too long of a root system, easily maintained, best water filtration ie. ammonia etc.? Thnx!"

I'm not sure what you mean when you say those are your only options. Did you look at aquabid.com? They're really not. Link: http://www.aquabid.com/cgi-bin/auction/ ... &&&&pb=100

But anyway. They'll all be equally good at filtering your water by removing nitrogen, and are all easy to maintain. The water lettuce will have much much longer roots than the salvinia or amazon frogbit.


sumpnfishy
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:56 am

Re: live floating plants

by sumpnfishy

No, not my ONLY choices.. my TOP 3 choices. Yes I've chked out aquabid and am gonna try it, which is why i was trying to narrow down my choices. As far as the Anarchis goes, can I just plant it in the gravel {my substrate} and leave it, or does it need soil and ferts etc.?


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: live floating plants

by Okiimiru

"No, not my ONLY choices.. my TOP 3 choices. Yes I've chked out aquabid and am gonna try it, which is why i was trying to narrow down my choices."
Ah, okay, I read that too quickly.

"As far as the Anarchis goes, can I just plant it in the gravel {my substrate} and leave it, or does it need soil and ferts etc.?"
I've tried it in gravel and it doesn't grow long term in just normal gravel. You either have to add nutrients manually by fertilizing (which I've never tried) or use a nutritious substrate, like kitty litter (pure clay, I bought it as 'Special Kitty' brand from Walmart, $4 for 25 pounds). I successfully grew anacharis in half kitty litter, half gravel. Video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8zmjBRd7Qkg


sumpnfishy
 
Posts: 20
Joined: Thu Sep 27, 2012 6:56 am

Re: live floating plants

by sumpnfishy

I am so appreciative of all this gained knowledge! I have learned there is sooo much more to this than what meets the eye, and what may have been originaly anticipated or expected. If you could would you take a look at my tank http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/friendemail.php/39027 and suggest to me a good bckgrd plant that would fill in the back wall, that grows moreso straight up than out, and is able to grow in gravel. I don't really wanna get all the way into a "planted" tank just yet. Thnx!


Okiimiru
 
Posts: 275
Joined: Thu Feb 05, 2009 10:19 pm

Re: live floating plants

by Okiimiru

" If you could would you take a look at my tank http://www.ratemyfishtank.com/friendemail.php/39027 and suggest to me a good bckgrd plant that would fill in the back wall, that grows moreso straight up than out, and is able to grow in gravel. "

Everything I tried to grow in gravel died, so I switched to kitty litter (pure clay). I don't have any experience getting any plants to survive in gravel.
You can put a terra cotta pot of nutritious substrate in your tank and cover it with gravel so it blends in. The whole tank doesn't have to have nutritious substrate. Really all you need is the area around the plant's roots.

Your lights look a little too weak for any submerged plants, though. Maybe one of the mosses or java fern or bolbitis (all rootless, low light plants) would work. Those are plants that don't care what substrate you have (because they don't grow roots) and that would do well in your current low light setup. Bolbitis sounds the most what you're looking for, vertical as opposed to horizontal. Or you could make a moss wall. Here's an example picture of one: http://media.photobucket.com/image/rece ... fttank.jpg You can buy mesh sheets and put the moss behind it and it'll grow through. The mesh sheet keeps it in place but is invisible behind new moss growth.

P.S. I like your rock formation. It's neat looking and I bet the fish enjoy hiding in it :)

live floating plants

17 posts • Page 2 of 2

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