atmmachine816

Okedokey just make sure you have enough for the plants

Isabella

Enough of what for the plants? Space? If so, then - of course - I'll plant the plants so that they're not too close to each other . Planting them too closely can affect the plants adversely, as their roots may compete for nutrients when they're in too close a proximity.

atmmachine816

waste from fish, if your not going to use ferts.

Isabella

What I plan to do, is to use some liquid fert in the beginning to get the plants to grow, like a "start-up". Then, when the tank has been running long enough, and fish wastes have accumulated in the substrate, I will stop using ferts. Unless my plants start dying, I don't want to use ferts at all. The reason I want to get my tank fully planted is that I want the entire substrate to be filled with plants' roots, so that whatever the fish wastes get trapped in the substrate, the plant roots will consume these wastes. In a planted tank, you can't really do a "deep gravel vac" as this will destroy the roots. But the good news is that if the tank's bed is entirely filled with plant roots, the roots should take care of the wastes. Well, we'll see this by nitrate readings

atmmachine816

Yup, I don't think you need to worry about ferts too much in the beginning unless you put the plants in a long time before the cycle, I haven't had a problem with that. You know to plant your substrate 2-3 with plants with lots of fast growers in the beginning until the other plants get established to avoid algae right

I'm just wondering have you ever tried putting shrimp with your angels or you Isabella because I'v been told after I put ghost shrimp in that I shouldn't because they are cichlids but I never had any problems

atmmachine816

If you use ferts, tetra florapride is cheap and comes in a large bottle and it actually works pretty well, I'v tried a week with and without using it and have seen much more growth with it.

Jmarcus

I am glad for you and sure it will be a great tank looking forward to seeing pictures as progress transpires

Isabella

Atm, I will be planting my tank the same day that I put the substrate and the water in the tank. This is the best way to plant (in my opinion). Plants help to cycle the tank faster, and they use ammonia, nitrite, and nitrate as nutrients actually. This should help them grow better in a new tank. Besides, it's easier to plant with the tank 1/3 full of water rather than 100% full of water. I'll have small, medium, and tall plants - so I'll plant the small plants first, when the tank is about 1/3 full of water; medium plants when it is about 50% full, and tall plants when it is about 2/3 full (or maybe 50% full too). I'll see how it will be once I have the plants. I will order the plants when all of my supplies (heaters, lighting, filter, etc ...) have arrived. I expect them to arrive in about a week or two (I'm ordering them either tonight or tomorrow, as I am still waiting for some advice on PlantGeek).

Marc

If you're ordering plants online, be prepared for them to either appear to die or lose lots of leaves. Alot of the plant websites I've seen grow them emersed so they ship better, so they need to switch to fully aquatic leaves when placed in a tank. Don't get me wrong, they should be totally healthy and will do well - but it may appear as though they have died as they grow new leaves. Just my personal experience.

Isabella

Thanks for the info Marc ... hmm . As long as they will grow and I'm not gonna gave to throw them away ... and as long as they don't start to rot and infest my tank with algae - it's OK. But ... provided that these things DON'T happen! What do you think? I'd buy the plants at Aquarium Adventure but they don't have most of the plants I want. I only saw Java Ferns and Java Moss in there - didn't even see Anubias. Maybe they'll have some more soon? So, do you think ordering online is not such a good idea? I was going to order from AquariumPlants.com ... Haven't you ordered from them? (I think it was you.)

Marc

Ordering online is fine. It was more of a warning in case you see some leaves die.

I've ordered twice from AquariumPlants and wouldn't really recomend ordering some stem plants from them. The Bacopa and Myriophyllum I ordered from them pretty much rotted away. The Bacopa are barely regrowing and I don't have any Myrio left. I did, however, get anacharis and hornwort, both of which did well.

atmmachine816

I'v talked to aquaspot and they ship plants. aquaspotworld.com pretty sure they ship to individual customers and I'v talked to them before too. Talk to AA about ordering plants for you. Couldn't you get some plants off of plantgeek too?

Isabella

The reason I want to buy everything (all plants) at one store - or online store - and everything at once, is that I want to receive everything at the same time. This way, it will be easier to plant everything together. Ordering at intervals (some plants today, some plants tomorrow, etc) as well as ordering from many different places would be very distracting. You'd be getting plants at different times. And not all plants can be planted when the tank is full of water. For example, if I receive some plants today, I'll have to plant them immediately and fill the tank with water completely. Then, if I receive some more plants tomorrow, and suppose they're foreground plants, it will be very hard to plant them as the tank will be already full of water. Plus, planting short foreground plants is best done when the aquarium is filled with only enough water to submerge the short plants a little, but not fully (suppose only half or 2/3 of the plants would be submerged during planting). This is why I want all plants at once and from one source. So that I can plant according to the size, short plants first, medium plants second, and tall plants last (starting with little water at first, then pouring more and more water as the size of the plants increases).

atmmachine816

Ah makes sense, have you ordered your plants yet? I don't know if it's cheap but I think aquaspot shipping is 10$ and .50 for every plant after that?

Isabella

Atm, I will check this website out. Thank you I will check AquariumPlants.com, the website you gave me, and AquariumGarden.com - and I will compare plant prices and shipping prices on all these 3 websites to see which one will have it cheapest. I am also looking for a website that will have all of the plants I want to buy. I have quite a variety to order. And no, I haven't yet ordered the plants. I will order them once I have received my supplies and put Eco-Complete in the tank, as well as set up heating, lighting, and filtration. It may take me some time as I am usually busy all week. If I order the plants, they'll have to arrive to me during the weekend, as I have no time for this during the week.

chickadee

Just a quick note on Aquariumplants.com. I do not know about the luck of most folks but I got pond snails galore from their plants so if you do get your plants there, they may have to be examined and treated first. The best place I have ever gotten plants from is off-ice on plantgeek.net but I have not been able to reach him. The other place I have gotten good plants is on eBay: Mikeswetpets is the name of the store. BigAlsOnline is great to buy supplies from but they do not sell live plants online. LiveAquaria.com sells plants but the shipping is fierce a flat rate of $16.99 to $19.99 depending on how fast you want them.

I do want to congratulate you on the tank. I cannot imagine how big it must be...I just got the 12 gallon and it seemed huge to me and to have one over 6 times larger...WOW..lucky girl, but you have worked hard to get it and you do deserve it. Now I have a tank blog to look forward to.

Rose

atmmachine816

Makes sense yet again, I did that too, forgot about that. Well I'm sure you can compare the cost rose and see yours is MUCH cheaper.

Isabella

Hmm, I hope that if I order from AquariumPlants.com, I won't get any snail infestation! This is the last thing I'd need right now! I asked on Plant Geek if anyone there ever ordered plants from this website and if they ever got snails, but no one has responded to me about this matter so far. I mentioned that you had this experience with snails (I just said a friend of mine had snails from AquariumPlants.com - I didn't mention your name. I hope you don't mind me having done that.) Here is the thread from Plant Geek: http://www.plantgeek.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=8747

Rose, when you get snails on plants, can you see them? Or are they so small you can't see anything? If you can see them, won't a good rinse in chlorinated tap water do? Every time I bought plants from my LFS, I always rinsed them well with my tap water, and I never got any snails.