Bottom Posted - Wayyy down below. The original was just too good to
delete.

On 30 Mar 2006 11:10:31 -0800, "default"
wrote:

It never ceases to amaze me, the different opinions that pop up out
here on the net. I tend to agree entirely with Bill, and haven't
experienced any of the phenomena that John speaks of.

I started about a year ago right where you are, Christie. I saw some
pictures of planted tanks and thought, "wow!" that looks so cool. So,
I started with some real lights, about 2 wpg on my 55 gallon tank and
bought a few bunches of real plants. I had some web pages with the
journey chronicled but it looks like they aren't up anymore. In short,
I did okay but had a few bouts with green water, blue green algae and
then a massive carpet of green furry algae. When I got it right, it
was a thing of beauty. "Right", ended up to be like this:

3.2 watts per gallon
CO2 injection system with a tank. power head for distribution
regular 'ole aquarium gravel (after all, it's only there to hold the
plants down)
NO undergravel fert tabs
alternate daily dosing of a potion of KCI, KNO3 and a touch of KH2PO4
and the other day micro nutrients (traces) from Greg.

I was able to grow a veritable tarzanian jungle of Ludwigia, Bacopa,
Hygro Polysperma, Rotalla, Wisteria, crypts and java ferns. I still
have the tank up and running now after a total tear down during the
move. I have had an ongoing battle with the dreaded black beard algae
but I have the upper hand now. At first, it was only on one log and it
looked really cool waving in the current. Then, slowly, it began to
spread to other objects and then onto the plant leaves. I killed it on
the objects with bleach dips and pruned the infected leaves. Then I
made sure my CO2 was sufficient (30-35 ppm) and have begun to tailor my
dosing regiem while watching the plants.

How's that for long winded, eh?

Advice? Sure. If you really wanna have fun with plants, more so than
some slow growers (I've got two of those tanks too) then try this:

-3 or so watts per gallon
-a variety of easy to grow stem plants
-mix up a potion of ferts from Greg using Chuck Gadds online calculator
-40% water changes weekly for starters, less if/as you acheive a
balance
-test kits to start with to keep you in the ballpark
-$100 for a CO2 tank, regulator and powerhead. I balked at this idea
at first. In fact my very words to my son were; "I've been reading
about this C02 deal, and I'm definitly NOT going to go that crazy."


I'll post some pictures later today on my yahoo site. The 55 is going
strong at my new house. The 20 is about the same at a friends place.
It's got a 36 watt JBJ fixture sitting on it and the sword forest is
doing very well, albiet slow growth. The little 3 gallon Eclipse here
on my desk is nearly perfect. It's got a huge anubia, a sprig of water
sprite, a huge java fern and a stem of Ludwigia. Nothing grows very
fast although I"ve had to prune twice in a year. This one has never
had an algae problem and the water is always crystal clear. Four red
shrimp scurry around in it like the own the place.

Good luck, stay tuned for some pictures,
steve

Hey, I found a few:

regular 'ole gravel and some starter plants.
http://www.geocities.com/erviservy/plantsJan14.jpg

getting established...
http://www.geocities.com/erviservy/plantsFeb13.jpg

my desktop...
http://www.geocities.com/erviservy/CubicleFeb10c.jpg

tarzanian jungle!
http://www.geocities.com/erviservy/Apr23.html

Nice pics - love your little desktop tank. I'm just beginning to learn
enough to get me in trouble - been reading gregwatson tom barr and the
Krib fertilizer papers and today I located Stump Away, the label
clearly stating that the only ingredient is potassium nitrate. I have
no idea of the dilution or strength of this stuff, hoping to find more
on line to help me with this. I'm presently dosing daily with flourish
excel and flourish - plain vanilla flourish. I want to try the
addition of KNO3, but haven't a clue where to begin with dosing. I'm
always home, so extra water changes can happen as soon as I spot
trouble. If I spot trouble. If you have any pointers, feel free to
send me that direction. The response to the daily two flourish
products is already quite visible. 55 G, mostly swords, vals and
crypts. Soft and acid.

-- Mister Gardener