Hi,

I would like to have a moderately planted aquarium, since the fish I keep
like having a lot of foliage. However, the plants don't grow as much as I
would like them to.

Currently I have one Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus), two "Compact"
Amazon Swords (Echinodorus amazonicus "compacta"?), one Rosetta Sword
(don't know scientific name), and two Anubias barteri var. nana. From the
above plants, only Anubias is in nice condition and one of the plants has a
new leaf every few weeks. The rest I manage to keep more or less alive,
but besides of that, they aren't doing very well.

I will try to take a few pictures soon, but perhaps it will be possible to
determine something from my general aquarium characteristics:

Tank: 20 gallon (24" x 12" x 16")
Substrate: 15 lbs of Flourite mixed with 20 lbs of fine gravel (about 2.5
in deep)
Lighting: A fixture holding two 48" 32WT8 fluorescent bulbs with color
temperature of 5000 dK and CRI of 86. However, there is no
reflector and the lamp is suspended a foot above the aquarium.
Duration: The light is on for about 12 hours every day.

pH: 7.4
KH: 4.0 dKH
GH: 6.0 dGH
CO2: 4.8 mg/l[*]
Nitrate: 15 ppm

Does anything look suspicious above? I'm adding no fertilizer of any kind
and no trace elements.
[*] The measurement is based on KH and pH. I have a DIY yeast-based CO2
generator, but it seems that the reactor isn't doing a very good job,
since in another aquarium (30 gallon) the CO2 level measured in the
same way reads about 9 mg/l, even though no CO2 is injected.

Thanks in advance!

Richard

P.S. Excuse me if I didn't provide some vital info, I'm not sure what would
be needed and what not.

--
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War
IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein

Richard, what I can tell you that, you surely need to add Iron for the
plants, there is no other source for it and personally I don't think the DIY
CO2 systems are so great, from the other side spending a lot of money on
such small tank? you have to think for your self.


"Richard Krush" wrote in message
...

Hi,

I would like to have a moderately planted aquarium, since the fish I keep
like having a lot of foliage. However, the plants don't grow as much as I
would like them to.

Currently I have one Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus), two "Compact"
Amazon Swords (Echinodorus amazonicus "compacta"?), one Rosetta Sword
(don't know scientific name), and two Anubias barteri var. nana. From the
above plants, only Anubias is in nice condition and one of the plants has
a
new leaf every few weeks. The rest I manage to keep more or less alive,
but besides of that, they aren't doing very well.

I will try to take a few pictures soon, but perhaps it will be possible to
determine something from my general aquarium characteristics:

Tank: 20 gallon (24" x 12" x 16")
Substrate: 15 lbs of Flourite mixed with 20 lbs of fine gravel (about 2.5
in deep)
Lighting: A fixture holding two 48" 32WT8 fluorescent bulbs with color
temperature of 5000 dK and CRI of 86. However, there is no
reflector and the lamp is suspended a foot above the aquarium.
Duration: The light is on for about 12 hours every day.

pH: 7.4
KH: 4.0 dKH
GH: 6.0 dGH
CO2: 4.8 mg/l[*]
Nitrate: 15 ppm

Does anything look suspicious above? I'm adding no fertilizer of any kind
and no trace elements.

[*] The measurement is based on KH and pH. I have a DIY yeast-based CO2
generator, but it seems that the reactor isn't doing a very good
job,
since in another aquarium (30 gallon) the CO2 level measured in the
same way reads about 9 mg/l, even though no CO2 is injected.

Thanks in advance!

Richard

P.S. Excuse me if I didn't provide some vital info, I'm not sure what
would
be needed and what not.

--
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World War
IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein

You may want to look at the species at this site.
http://www.dennerle.de/ENGLISCH/e_frameset.htm

They list growth expectations in some detail. For example, here is your
amazon sword.

E 20 Echinodorus amazonicus
Former: Echinodorus brevipedicellatus
Slender-leafed Amazon Sword
Tropical South America
Characteristics: Rosette plant. Mature specimen can have up to 50 lanceolate
leaves. Height: 50 cm. Growth rate: Monthly 2 - 3 leaves. Propagation:
Adventitious plants on flower stem. Requirements: Needs regular iron
fertilization.

You may find that your plants are growing at the expected rate.

chet


"Michael" wrote in message
...
Richard, what I can tell you that, you surely need to add Iron for the
plants, there is no other source for it and personally I don't think the
DIY
CO2 systems are so great, from the other side spending a lot of money on
such small tank? you have to think for your self.


"Richard Krush" wrote in message
...

Hi,

I would like to have a moderately planted aquarium, since the fish I
keep
like having a lot of foliage. However, the plants don't grow as much as
I
would like them to.

Currently I have one Amazon Sword (Echinodorus amazonicus), two
"Compact"
Amazon Swords (Echinodorus amazonicus "compacta"?), one Rosetta Sword
(don't know scientific name), and two Anubias barteri var. nana. From
the
above plants, only Anubias is in nice condition and one of the plants
has
a
new leaf every few weeks. The rest I manage to keep more or less alive,
but besides of that, they aren't doing very well.

I will try to take a few pictures soon, but perhaps it will be possible
to
determine something from my general aquarium characteristics:

Tank: 20 gallon (24" x 12" x 16")
Substrate: 15 lbs of Flourite mixed with 20 lbs of fine gravel (about
2.5
in deep)
Lighting: A fixture holding two 48" 32WT8 fluorescent bulbs with color
temperature of 5000 dK and CRI of 86. However, there is no
reflector and the lamp is suspended a foot above the
aquarium.
Duration: The light is on for about 12 hours every day.

pH: 7.4
KH: 4.0 dKH
GH: 6.0 dGH
CO2: 4.8 mg/l[*]
Nitrate: 15 ppm

Does anything look suspicious above? I'm adding no fertilizer of any
kind
and no trace elements.

[*] The measurement is based on KH and pH. I have a DIY yeast-based
CO2
generator, but it seems that the reactor isn't doing a very good
job,
since in another aquarium (30 gallon) the CO2 level measured in
the
same way reads about 9 mg/l, even though no CO2 is injected.

Thanks in advance!

Richard

P.S. Excuse me if I didn't provide some vital info, I'm not sure what
would
be needed and what not.

--
"I know not with what weapons World War III will be fought, but World
War
IV will be fought with sticks and stones." -- Albert Einstein

doesn't flourite provide Iron?

Paul


---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.443 / Virus Database: 248 - Release Date: 10/01/2003

On Sat, 25 Jan 2003 16:51:54 -0800, Richard Krush
wrote:

above plants, only Anubias is in nice condition and one of the plants has a
new leaf every few weeks. The rest I manage to keep more or less alive,

Anubias are slow growing plants, and do ok in low-light situations.

Tank: 20 gallon (24" x 12" x 16")
Substrate: 15 lbs of Flourite mixed with 20 lbs of fine gravel (about 2.5
in deep)
Lighting: A fixture holding two 48" 32WT8 fluorescent bulbs with color
temperature of 5000 dK and CRI of 86. However, there is no
reflector and the lamp is suspended a foot above the aquarium.
Duration: The light is on for about 12 hours every day.

I think the two tubes are probably about the same as 2 40w T12 tubes,
so that would be 80 watts. But, only 1/2 of it is over the tank, so
you are down to 40 watts. And suspended a foot over the tank results
in more light loss, so maybe 30 watts. And if there is really no
reflector at all, then you are loosing 1/2 the light again.

So, I'd bet you've got a lighting issue.

[*] The measurement is based on KH and pH. I have a DIY yeast-based CO2
generator, but it seems that the reactor isn't doing a very good job,
since in another aquarium (30 gallon) the CO2 level measured in the
same way reads about 9 mg/l, even though no CO2 is injected.

A non-injected tank will not have 9ppm CO2. Something in the
measurement is wrong, either the pH, or the KH, or something other
than CO2 and carbonates is influencing the pH/KH.

In a non-injected tank with normal water movement, you will almost
always measure around 3ppm.



Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua

On Mon, 27 Jan 2003 16:42:46 -0000, "Paul Disdle"
wrote:

doesn't flourite provide Iron?

Yes, but sword plants require LOTS of iron. Actually, sword plants
require lots of everything, so that supplemental root fertilizers are
often needed.


Chuck Gadd
http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua