Sand and plants

E

emily

Guest
My tank is in the middle of cycling at the moment and i was just wondering when its finished cycling and i put more decorations in and add plants, how do i go about stopping 'dead spots' from happening in the sand. I think i read on here that i can run a fork through the sand but im not sure how often I'm meant to do this? Like once a week, once a month? If I do it too often is that bad? Can it cause the bacteria to die etc? This is the first time i have had sand before and my sister thinks its a bad idea (I disagree with her) and I want to show her that i can keep sand looking nice.

Also, how do i go about keeping my plants looking nice? My light blew on the tank that has plants in it and it took me a while to get it fixed. In the meantime the plants (Java fern) have taken a turn for the worst. I have had the light fixed for about 1 1/2 months and they still dont look great. The leaves are going brown (decaying). The java moss has picked up again, but the fern and valis are bad. I have noticed that the fern had started sprouting new shoots so i'm thinking it might live. But getting to the point now, is plant fertilizer ok with axies? If so what sort do i use?

Cheers
 
Yes i belive plant fertilization is ok with axolotls. 'Flourish' by seachem is the best brand.

DO NOT mix the sand around. By doing this you will create major nitrate spikes.

Just because you have a light doesnt mean your plants will live. You will need abotu a 10-15000K bulb with about 2-4watts ber gallon of water. The better the light the better your plants will be.
 
i use Seachem flourish Excell and flourish comprehensive and so far it seems ok with my axies
the excell will add C02 to ur tank "good for ur plants" if u dont stir ur sand around u will get anerobic pockets, i have just been through this.
thats why i changed to a courser grade of sand to try stop it. my last sand was really fine though.
Stipe from what iv'e read, and iv'e done lots of it, u only really need around 1.5 wpg of light for Java fern to grow well.

Emily if u want to work out ur watts per gallon just divide ur total light wattage by the gallons of water in ur tank IE: 2x 30w fluoros = 60w total divided by say 42 gallons = 1.42wpg
 
Emily, when you do a water change (about once a week) give the sand a gentle stir with finger, fork etc. This helps to prevent the formation of anaerobic pockets in the substrate. These pockets contain hydrogen sulfide which is very toxic.

(Message edited by jazza on March 14, 2006)
 
Yes but keeping your purple plants you will need abotu 3-4wpg. java fern doesnt need that much to grow as its basicly a weed, well depending on your view and its species.

Yes CO2 is a MUST with plants. But be warned having CO2 runnung 24/7 is a BAD idea. This is because plants use up CO2 during the day and oxygen during the night. SO too much CO2 no oxygen = unhealthy growth, bad for axies. So set up a timer for an airstone and pump to run with while you light is off.

Rob ive read adn lived it. The stronger the light the better. 1-2wpg is alright for all basic plants ( i use the turm basic to refer to the common ferns and mosses, typicly classed as weeds)
 
co2 is NOT a must with plants, i have a healthy planted tank thats thriving without it. obviously you will get increased growth with it but with great lighting and good fertilisation you will do well. turning your co2 on and off is a bad idea, if you dont get rid of it via airation you could have some big ph swings, most people set up a run off valve to work at night i think.

on the sand do give it a bit of a run through each week, you will only get your nitrite spikes if it already has anerobic bits in it. i have a relativley thin layer on my axie tank and they stir it up during their swims but with my siphon i give it a good mix around, however on my planted tank i only give the bare patches a forking, the plants roots help combat the anerobic pockets.

a heavily planted tank with thriving plants is a bit hard but can be done, obviously they hate bright lights so have lots of hiding spots if you need lots of light for your plants. using a floating plant can help block out light but also cuts out light to the lower plants. plants that require low light are good, anubis, java fern etc etc but they will benefit from having a bit extra if you wish.
 
yes i agree Stipe and thats what Emily was refering too "basic Plants" Java Moss Java Ferns and Vals all only need about 1.5wpg and "no" C02 other than what Excell adds, anaubias will also grow well under these conditions.
 
IMO i recon CO2 is a must for a planted aquarium, i have no problem with ph swings and we have really hard water adn place a have some coral in there to keep the kh up.

Sharn if oyu have a direct injection CO2 (which no one has its jsut dam to much) it will be bad but making homemade CO2 reactors wond be a problem as they dont inject pure CO2
 
it's not that expensive really Stipe
happy.gif

dual gauge C02 valve "with solinoid" $180au and a timer so it switches off at night and just rent ur C02 bottle from a welding shop "BOC" approx $60-80au a yr for a 5kg and just make ur own reactor. in the long run it would probably work out the same as buying ur yeast and sugar and the hasles of making up ur own solutions. it's when u buy the complete kits with bottle included that it works out expensive, u may aswell rent the bottle "the expensive part"
 
Renting is pritty cheap, i might look into that. Plus i have a boc company down the road. But buying all the refills etc is too much for my student budget
 
The vast majority of aquarium plants do not need extra CO2 injected into the water to grow. Additional CO2 simply increases growth rates. There were planted tanks around decades before there were CO2 systems, check the aquarium literature going back from the 1970s through the 1940s and many of the commonly available plants today were grown in tanks back then.....

Ed

(Message edited by Ed on March 15, 2006)
 
The main reson we want CO2 is for more growth so we can splitethe plants and regrow them, good for the water, axies and more my wallet.
 
Hey guys, sorry that I havnt been on here in two days to check everyones responses. So if I buy some fertilizer I should be right with growing plants. I dont really want to go with the CO2 reactor, I'm a little slack and cant really afford heaps as I'm a uni student. If my tank is in the middle of cycling and I stir the sand up a little bit each week from now on that should be fine right? From what I'm reading I'm understanding that if I have anaerobic pockets (from not mixing sand around) it's bad to mix the sand around, but if I start out with mixing the sand and then mix it around each week it should be fine. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Thanks everybody for you help
Emily.
 
if you mix up your anerobic pockets you could get a nitrate? spike, as long as you do some water changes things should be ok. it depends how heavily you want to plant it really and how much maintenance you can put it, if its just a little bit with some easy plants you wont need much sand but those 7's balls by JBL will be good and you should get some growth with moderate lighting. if you want to go more heavily planted without co2 get some aquatic mix for under your sand (not sure how that would work with axies dashing though) jbl balls and flourish should do the trick and extra lighting will be a bonus. get some easy to grow plants and you will find you dont need to put in all that much effort to grow them
happy.gif
do keep in mind the plants wont like having the sand near them mixed up so leave a good space in their vicinity alone, they should handle sand probs in their root space if they take off.
 
If you mix up the anaerobic pockets you can also dissolve H2S into the water. H2S can be more toxic than cyanide to aquatic animals in closed systems. In anoxic pockets you will get denitrification (conversion of nitrate to N2) but in anaerobic pockets you can get conversion of nitrate to nitrite and ammonia.
You axolotls and the food particles from feeding them should provide all of the fertilizer needed by the plants with a couple of exceptions. Tanks with a large number of fast growing plants often run out of some of the essential minerals like iron and magnesium. However if your water supply contains these minerals you can often simply do water changes and replace the minerals.

Stipe massive plant growth does not automtically equate to "good for the water, good for the axolotls". For one example, massive plant growth in an enclosed system can cause massive swings in the dissolved O2 levels with the lowest levels occuring before the lights come back on as the plants respire CO2 overnight and uptake O2. This can cause wide swings in pH (which may not be detected unless you test for it at the right time) as well as stress on the animal as the levels of oxygen declines.
This is why some people only run the CO2 injection during the day when photosynthesis can occur...

Ed
 
I run mine on during the day only and at night i run a little airstone jsut to help my axies out. Would that change pH?
 
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