I tried Elodea a couple of years ago, but my Platys were ravenous and
completely destroyed the plants. After removing the Elodea, I reduced the
gravel depth to 1/2" to make gravel vacuuming easier. I've decided to try
again and this past weekend I added some plants to my 10-gallon tank: 1
Anubias barteri, 2 Cryptocoryne wendtii, and 2 corkscrew Valisneria (the LFS
fellow actually gave me an extra 2 small ones, as well).

My questions:
- For the plants that I now have, how deep should the gravel be?
- What is the procedure for gravel vacuuming with plants? Go around/between
them? Go lightly over the root areas? Only vacuum in non-planted areas of
thee tank? (All the plants are on the left side.)

Thanks!
Dave

David J. Braunegg wrote:
I tried Elodea a couple of years ago, but my Platys were ravenous and
completely destroyed the plants. After removing the Elodea, I reduced the
gravel depth to 1/2" to make gravel vacuuming easier. I've decided to try
again and this past weekend I added some plants to my 10-gallon tank: 1
Anubias barteri, 2 Cryptocoryne wendtii, and 2 corkscrew Valisneria (the LFS
fellow actually gave me an extra 2 small ones, as well).

My questions:
- For the plants that I now have, how deep should the gravel be?
- What is the procedure for gravel vacuuming with plants? Go around/between
them? Go lightly over the root areas? Only vacuum in non-planted areas of
thee tank? (All the plants are on the left side.)

Thanks!
Dave


Crypts and val like at least 2" of substrate. Crypts in particular root
extensively and benefit from a fine substrate with iron supplementation.
Fluorite, Onyx, or Eco Complete all have iron in them. You can also
buy laterite tablets to put at the plants' roots or laterite to mix into
the lower layer of the substrate.

I personally leave plants alone to root for about a month. Grasses are
easy to knock out of the substrate at first. Once plants are rooted
well, I vac the top 1/2" or so around plants to collect dead leaves or
debris. Some people don't vac around their plants at all, arguing that
the debris breaks down into plant fertilizer. I've seen pics and their
tanks look fine; I just prefer more control of my fertilizer.

For non-planted areas, definately vacuum. Plant substrates are fine
enough that not much gunk makes it very deep so you probably won't have
to vacuum the full 2".

--
Elaine T __
http://eethomp.com/fish.html '__
rec.aquaria.* FAQ http://faq.thekrib.com

Dave,

You do not need to root the Anubias. It will attach to a rock or log if you
have one in the tank. It is best not to burry the roots though. You can
actually attach the Anubias to a rock or something else in your tank like
driftwood with a thread for a couple of weeks. Then it will attach
itselft.. As for the Cryptocryne, if you got it from your LFS with some
sort of potting material and a plastic pot, then just burry the pot and put
a fertilizer tab next to it. The Valisneria will do great almost no matter
what.

On thing though: the next time you take apart your tank, or especially if
you get a bigger tank, you should consider replacing your gravel with
Flourite. This is available at many LFS, and also online. It needs to be
rinsed very, very thorougly before use, but there is nothing better for
growing plants. You may have trouble growing some plants until you get the
right substrate. Of the ones you mention, the cryptocorene may be the one
you have difficulty with. The anubias is pretty indistructible, and the
valisneria will probably grow well (but will get long, so just give it a
hair cut once in a while). If you decide to get into plant growing in a big
way, take a look on the web for lots of good hobbiest web sites for
instructional articles. I have a web site with a whole bunch of my favorite
sites linked. See below.

http://www.wideopenwest.com/~brucegeist

Bruce Geist

"David J. Braunegg" wrote in message
...
I tried Elodea a couple of years ago, but my Platys were ravenous and
completely destroyed the plants. After removing the Elodea, I reduced the
gravel depth to 1/2" to make gravel vacuuming easier. I've decided to try
again and this past weekend I added some plants to my 10-gallon tank: 1
Anubias barteri, 2 Cryptocoryne wendtii, and 2 corkscrew Valisneria (the
LFS fellow actually gave me an extra 2 small ones, as well).

My questions:
- For the plants that I now have, how deep should the gravel be?
- What is the procedure for gravel vacuuming with plants? Go
around/between them? Go lightly over the root areas? Only vacuum in
non-planted areas of thee tank? (All the plants are on the left side.)

Thanks!
Dave