Starting over with an established planted aquarium
Can anyone give me some suggestions on how to replace the gravel in an
established aquarium? What I want to do is take out the old gravel (which are large pebbles, not very good plant substrate) so that I can replace it with a better substrate (probably a mix of plain small gravel with Fluorite). I have an E. tennellus plant that has spread all throughout the front of the tank and am most worried about how I'll transplant this guy. Also in the tank are lots of wendtii crypts that haven't been moved or pruned for over a year (so the root system is probably a big mess now), one or two apongetons (sp?) 3 amazons, some bacopa, foxtails, anubias, and some other stem plants I had leftover from my 55 gallon that I am not too concerned about (they're easy to pull out and transplant). It's a 20 gallon long tank with 2x18W of light. I want to keep the lighting as is...I just want to know the safest way (with respect to plant health) to re-plant in new substrate. TIA for any suggestions/comments. Erica http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/mitoem/mitoem/index.htm |
Starting over with an established planted aquarium
Can't you just add those substrate additives like Root Tabs by aquapharm?
They also have laterite granules that you can carefully add to them bottom of your tank. Moving your crypts around might shock them. Unless you're very patient, tennelus are hard to replant. Aren't they?! "E. Mito" wrote in message ... Can anyone give me some suggestions on how to replace the gravel in an established aquarium? What I want to do is take out the old gravel (which are large pebbles, not very good plant substrate) so that I can replace it with a better substrate (probably a mix of plain small gravel with Fluorite). I have an E. tennellus plant that has spread all throughout the front of the tank and am most worried about how I'll transplant this guy. Also in the tank are lots of wendtii crypts that haven't been moved or pruned for over a year (so the root system is probably a big mess now), one or two apongetons (sp?) 3 amazons, some bacopa, foxtails, anubias, and some other stem plants I had leftover from my 55 gallon that I am not too concerned about (they're easy to pull out and transplant). It's a 20 gallon long tank with 2x18W of light. I want to keep the lighting as is...I just want to know the safest way (with respect to plant health) to re-plant in new substrate. TIA for any suggestions/comments. Erica http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/mitoem/mitoem/index.htm |
Starting over with an established planted aquarium
In article , "Steve Galupe"
writes: Can't you just add those substrate additives like Root Tabs by aquapharm? They also have laterite granules that you can carefully add to them bottom of your tank. Moving your crypts around might shock them. Unless you're very patient, tennelus are hard to replant. Aren't they?! Thanks for the reply, Steve. I have added the Seachem root tabs to the substrate; I don't know if its the root tabs or the DIY CO2 I'm injecting, but recently the wendtii's look fabulous. The original tennelus plant is in terrible shape, but the plantlets that have spread out from it look ok. There's a bad case of what I believe to be BBA on my anubias leaves and a few Amazon leaves; this is an old (~1 year) problem though and I thought that I would just prune everything when I redid the tank...I've also got some amano shrimp, SAE's, and otos on order from aquariumfish.net if they ever process my order...hopefully they will help keep future outbreaks in check. I have ben wanting to redo the tank (as far as re-aquascaping) and replace the gravel just because I was under the impression that large gravel isn't very good substrate (when I say large, I mean the gravel measures approx. 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter) and because it's very difficult to make the plants stay put. Stem plants don't stay down...they just float right up becuase they can't get a good roothold in the substrate. Right now it's sort of just a holding tank for extra plants that I plan to use when my angelfish fry (also housed in the tank) are large enough to adopt, but I would like to turn it into something nice to look at. So do you think I should just keep the big gravel in there and supplement with laterite balls in addition to the root tabs? I have an extra bag of Fluorite I was thinking of mixing in with some smaller pea gravel...maybe I could just pour this on top of the existing gravel and try to let it slip between the bigger pieces? Again, I appreciate your reply. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. Thanks! Erica http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/mitoem/mitoem/index.htm |
Starting over with an established planted aquarium
Do you have enough containers to hold most of the fish stock and most of
the aquarium water that's in there right now? I would drain it. Put the biowheel in the container holding the aquarium water or the fish stock. Make sure that the conatiner holding the fish stock is suitable for them while you're working on the tank. I'm wondering if you can seperate the crypts from your current gravel with only minimal damage to the roots. After you clean out the tank, and remove all sight of algae on the filter and the tank (by scrubbing), lay the crypts(roots and all) down and then pour around your flourite/gravel substrate carefully. I've read an article in THE KRIB that BBA (black beard algae) thrives in bodies of water that are acidic, lots of water movement, and very low in CO2 levels (ie streams). And a couple of young SAEs shouldn't bother your babies. "E. Mito" wrote in message ... In article , "Steve Galupe" writes: Can't you just add those substrate additives like Root Tabs by aquapharm? They also have laterite granules that you can carefully add to them bottom of your tank. Moving your crypts around might shock them. Unless you're very patient, tennelus are hard to replant. Aren't they?! Thanks for the reply, Steve. I have added the Seachem root tabs to the substrate; I don't know if its the root tabs or the DIY CO2 I'm injecting, but recently the wendtii's look fabulous. The original tennelus plant is in terrible shape, but the plantlets that have spread out from it look ok. There's a bad case of what I believe to be BBA on my anubias leaves and a few Amazon leaves; this is an old (~1 year) problem though and I thought that I would just prune everything when I redid the tank...I've also got some amano shrimp, SAE's, and otos on order from aquariumfish.net if they ever process my order...hopefully they will help keep future outbreaks in check. I have ben wanting to redo the tank (as far as re-aquascaping) and replace the gravel just because I was under the impression that large gravel isn't very good substrate (when I say large, I mean the gravel measures approx. 1/2" to 3/4" in diameter) and because it's very difficult to make the plants stay put. Stem plants don't stay down...they just float right up becuase they can't get a good roothold in the substrate. Right now it's sort of just a holding tank for extra plants that I plan to use when my angelfish fry (also housed in the tank) are large enough to adopt, but I would like to turn it into something nice to look at. So do you think I should just keep the big gravel in there and supplement with laterite balls in addition to the root tabs? I have an extra bag of Fluorite I was thinking of mixing in with some smaller pea gravel...maybe I could just pour this on top of the existing gravel and try to let it slip between the bigger pieces? Again, I appreciate your reply. Let me know if you have any other suggestions. Thanks! Erica http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/mitoem/mitoem/index.htm |
Starting over with an established planted aquarium
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Starting over with an established planted aquarium
Are you saying that the big gravel would be okay so long as I mix in some
Fluorite (and/or Onyx) and peat to it, and then top it off with pure Fluorite or are you suggesting that I remove the big gravel altogether and replace it with the fluorite/peat mix on the bottom with Fluorite only on top instead? I don't like mixed gravels one bit. So I would use the flourite or onyx sand 100% in this case. It won't cost too much more to doit and then you never wonder about the gravel ever again. Also, are you recommending that I use both Fluorite and Onyx, or one or the other? I'd use just one or the other, no mixing. Imagine trying to separate them in the future should you not like the look:-) Other than adding CO2, should I worry about adding any additional supplements? I have plenty of Seachem Fluorish and root tabs... The above recommendations will supply all you need for the plant roots. I use KNO3, K2SO4, KH2PO4(For the N-P-K fertizer no# you see on the sides of bags) and Traces dosed directly to the water. Regular fertilzer has high NH4 which is real bad stuff as it causes algae blooms if even a trace hangs out in the tank too long. You can get the KNO3 at a number of local sources and likely the K2SO4(Sulfur of potash) and for PO4 the Fleet enima's sold in drug stores are a good source of PO4(sodium phosphate). You can use TMG, Flourish etc for the traces. Your light level is moderately low so once twice a week at most dosing is all you'd have to do. After a weekly 40-50% water change add: 2-3 mls of Flourish, 1/4 teaspoon of K2SO4 1/4 teaspoon of KNO3 1-2 drops of PO4 if the tank is doing good. That is about it. You may need to add this once more during the week, like 4 days after the water change. I would tremendously appreciate if you would clarify these minor points for me...When I am ready to do this I intend to follow your advice carefully. Erica http://members.aol.com/_ht_a/mitoem/mitoem/index.htm There is a lot to be said for good old fashion getting in there and removing any algae etc and pruning the plants and using a net to remove any junk floating around. Adding herbivores are good, but I don't rely on them to take care of the algae, just added insurance. The rest is keeping the CO2 in a good range, adding nutrients regularly and doing weekly water changes. It's not complex and anyone can do it. It becomes old hat after a few weeks. Being lazy and not pruning often gets everyone at least once over the years, but a simple repeat and back to the old routine is all it takes to get things back up to snuff. Regards, Tom Barr |
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