Plants wanted for student donation

Discussion in 'Plants for sale or trade' started by gwshorten, Aug 2, 2016.

  1. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    Hi all

    In no ways am I wanting to take away from zoo donation and I urge everyone to give to them as if more people of the public see what is capable of being done in an aquarium, the more will want to follow and hence grow our community and who knows, soon we will be having names such as Tony Tan coming out of SA! @Marco and prof dirk.

    Anyway. I have a 4ft I setup about 2/3 months ago now. In it I have a nice tree with some java Moss that is turning a bit Brown, some hair grass and then anubias and Java ferns... I also have a 2kg CO2 setup running and I am now looking at my tank and saying I'm just wasting CO2 as these plants don't need it and I don't even have enough plants! BBA is starting to grow and I have had enough!!

    So I am asking for advice on which plants to go for. My aim is to have a high tech (or just below) community tank. And would love some donations of trimmings etc if anyone has. I'll also look on better weather but I am not very learned on my aquatic plants such as knowing the difference between emersed and not :/ I have done incredible amounts of reading and understand the basics but for some reason it doesn't stick like fish do!

    So please any help would be greatly appreciated.

    Thank you
    Grant

    Pta east
    [​IMG]

    That's my 4ft at the moment

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  2. Deadpool
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    Deadpool Algae destroyer Staff Member

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    Location:
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    If you dont start off FULLY planted...and then throw CO2 at your tank...you will run into algae issues (as you dont have the plant volume to "consume" all the ferts and CO2).

    What is your dosing regime by the way? ???

    Until you have a fully stocked tank (plant wise)...I would suggest you get your hands on fast growers. The faster the plant grows, the more nutrients and CO2 it will consume. Anubias, Ferns, Moss, etc...are slow growers...and IMO wont out compete algae. Get yourself some stems or floaters that will chow your nutrients and out compete the algae. (Rotalas and Bocopas immediately springs to mind...
     
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  3. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    Great I have some Bocopa I can plant and then a red plant that I have no idea about. Only problem is they have a little BBA. Might just go buy some other plants.

    Any other names I must look for?

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  4. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    Just ordered off better weather.

    Got some Bacopa Caroliniana
    Hemianthus micranthemoides
    Hygrophila difformis
    Rotala H'ra
    Alternanthera reineckii 'rosaefolia'
    Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea'

    How does that sound?



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  5. Clare
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    Clare Aquascaper

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    Look at low tech plants - they are easy to grow and grow quite quickly too.

    Here - http://www.apsa.co.za/xenforo/threads/low-tech-plants.11688/ and this is where I started with for my cube. Even a noob can do this in their sleep. As for BBA, you can get some excel and it will go a long way.

    I just recently dosed some of my plants for BBA - syringe on neat then rinse off after a few minutes and it was killed off very quickly. I've had the 250ml bottle of Excel for about a month or two now and its still half full. A 500ml bottle of Scape Carbon also goes a long way too for R150 from BetterWeather as well for some of the plants that do appreciate a bit of it every week - it helps with growth too. I only dose at least 3 times a week (I don't even use injected CO2).

    And goes for saying, injected CO2 is for high tech plants that require it such as Alternanthera reineckii 'rosaefolia'- you may want to get hold of some.

    Another site that you should really be reading is Aquatic Plant Central - plenty of information on plants there - http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/plantfinder/
     
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  6. Luis Embalo
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    Luis Embalo Valued Contributor

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    Location:
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    Bacopa Caroliniana --> easy plant
    Hemianthus micranthemoides -- > needs CO2
    Hygrophila difformis --> easy plant
    Rotala H'ra --> needs CO2
    Alternanthera reineckii 'rosaefolia' --> needs CO2
    Lysimachia nummularia 'Aurea' --> needs CO2

    Without CO2 you will struggle with some of those plants..

    Moss, ferns, anubias, and crypts.. those are the easy plants to get if you do not have CO2.
     
  7. Deadpool
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    Deadpool Algae destroyer Staff Member

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    Peeps...he HAS CO2, read his initial post ;) My argument...with abundant CO2 supply and ferts (which he still hasn't confirmed)...if you dont have enough plant mass in your tank to uptake the CO2 and ferts...you gonna get algae issues...which is why I suggested fast growing stems and floaters (like hornwort...that sucks up ferts like a mofo)
     
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  8. Luis Embalo
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    Luis Embalo Valued Contributor

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    duh. :fail:

    Yes, then you are all set.. get some more stems.. :)
     
  9. Luis Embalo
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    Luis Embalo Valued Contributor

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    Incorrect.. :) how you think people do iwagumis?

    Nah, algae is brought in by imbalance of light/CO2/ferts.. You add too much light, and not enough of the others, and you will have issues.

    CO2 and Ferts give no algae, light does.

    Keep lights at 4 hours and let the plants establish, then increase CO2 and ferts as they grow.
     
  10. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    My substrate is aquasolum topped with fluorite black sand. Will I also need to dose with Micro nutrients or is it not necessary. If I do is there anything cheaper than the scape range?

    Thanks for all the help guys! Really looking forward to it

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  11. Wazi
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    Wazi Green fingers

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    I dose scape complete every day with Excell every other day. C02 for 6 hours lights for 5.


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  12. Clare
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    Clare Aquascaper

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    Duh @Deadpool. Too much light causes algae issues, too much ferts also causes that too as Luis pointed out. I learnt it the hard way. My cube has been running 2 months and i have minimal green sloop algae because it gets a lot of daylight, not direct sunlight and probably too much ferts.

    The experiment i did with my first tank, was abundant in algae because i had my lights on too long. Now that tank is on 4 hours, no algae for about 6 months. Not even BBA. No daylight either. Big difference.

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  13. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    See I know everyone says lights shouldn't be on too long but then how can you look at it? My lights are on for about 10 hours a day and my CO2 is in the same timer. I have tried cutting it down but then I can never enjoy my tank

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  14. Luis Embalo
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    Luis Embalo Valued Contributor

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    Are you at home 10 hours a day? :)

    I work from home and my tank has just 4 hours of light.
     
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  15. Luis Embalo
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    Luis Embalo Valued Contributor

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    We can argue till the cows come home.. experience from many aquascapers is the same.. lights without CO2 and ferts= algae. ferts and CO2 without lights=all is ok.

    :) you can however try out and see how it pans out for you.
     
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  16. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    I believe everyone and won't argue with it as I do get algea. But being a student some times I am home during the day or for the whole day. Another thing is if I had to alter my lights I would make it a few hours in the morning.. from about 6.30 til 8 and then again from 5 until around 9pm.. would this be alright?

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  17. Clare
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    Clare Aquascaper

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    Agreed. 10 hours of light - algae issues. I used to think the way you did until i cut down on my lights and now i dont have algae issues. Its kept to a minimal. My tanks are on from 8pm til 11pm and thats when i get the real enjoyment because i view them from my bed while watching series off my pc.

    I am sure you can work a way around your light timing.

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  18. Joshua Tree
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    Joshua Tree Valued Contributor

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    Nothing wrong with this. Mine are on from 06h30 - 07h00 and again from 17h00 - 23hoo. Reduce your lighting period.
     
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  19. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    I think I will do just that

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  20. gwshorten
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    gwshorten Algae harvester

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    So as yesterday was a public holiday I should hopefully be getting my plants today :D I am going to Hilton,kzn tomorrow so I could be in trouble if they don't arrive today!

    I'll try get the planted asap and send some pics through.

    Does anyone else have suggestions? Also looking for a nice carpet. I have some hair grass growing well but my cories love digging it up and my MC just didn't grow well and most stems ended up in the moss of my tree and are growing there!

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