On 2005-11-19, Liz McGuire wrote:

I've also been hearing more and more about the Eco-Complete - I'll
definitely look into it the next time I set up a tank for plants.


I use eco-complete. It looks good. But, the reality is there are
few plants that are substrate sensitive. Most plants absorb nutrients
through the leaves. Swords tend to be a little more sensitive to
substrates.

--
"I have to decide between two equally frightening options.
If I wanted to do that, I'd vote." --Duckman

On Sat, 19 Nov 2005 11:59:16 -0700, Liz McGuire wrote:

Right now I have an Eclipse 6 tank with a ton of flourite in it and
maybe 4 gallons is left for water. It comes with an 8W florescent
tube and I don't see an easy way to change this... You can see it
he

http://www.lizmcguireonline.com/6g.jpg

That's low light- I'd use crypts, anubias and java fern. Your stem
plants may do OK, but don't count on it.

...I've recently discovered that it has hornwort and cabomba (wasn't
labeled at the store - research indicates I probably don't have enough
light for it - we'll see) and something I can't identify (the store
didn't have good labeling and the plant expert wasn't around, but I
liked them, so I took a gamble).

It's a crypt species, possibly petchii.

Fish food is also high in phosphate.

Ah, this is new! I'm still looking for a test kit - guess I'll have
to get it online. Hopefully between fish food and what's in the
water, I'm OK (but we'll see).

Don't bother testing it.

Iron before pottassium, definitely.

Ah, this too is new - thank you. Perhaps I'll get an iron test too
(as I'm not familiar with any of this, it'll help me understand what
my water (and substrate?) have already until I get comfortable with
all this).

Likewise, don't bother- dose according to directions and keep up with
water changes.

I do perform weekly water changes as my research on fish (from before
the plant research) made it clear that this was best for them - so doing
it for the plants too is no problem. Thanks for the advice on gravel
vacuuming - this is another thing I've been wondering and reading about.

Good! IMO this is one of the most important keys to success.

Thank you - I'm not sure I've been there, so I'll bookmark it and add it
to my reading.

The forums are very handy too.

~Empty

Thanks, Empty.

FYI, the hornwort is doing beautifully; the jury is out on the cabomba
and the crypt (thanks for the ID - someone else recently suggested it
was a crypt of sorts - hopefully the kind that can survive in there -
I really like it).

Liz


Empty wrote:

It's a crypt species, possibly petchii.

You are on the right track, Liz. Here is a great article that is called,
ironically, "The Basics."

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articl.../01_intro.html

Cheryl Rogers
AGA Membership Chair
NEW! AGA Forums at http://forum.aquatic-gardeners.org/



Liz McGuire wrote:
All,

I've been doing a lot of research on how to keep plants and am hoping
someone would be kind enough to confirm or correct my conclusions and
answer some questions.

Cheryl,

This is an *excellent* article! Thank you for the link! I'll also
check out those forums and the rest of the site.

Thanks,

Liz


Cheryl Rogers wrote:

You are on the right track, Liz. Here is a great article that is called,
ironically, "The Basics."

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articl.../01_intro.html

Cheryl Rogers
AGA Membership Chair
NEW! AGA Forums at http://forum.aquatic-gardeners.org/