Need a little guidance with my plants

[Marwan]

Hi everyone. So i haave just finished setting up my latest aquarium and was just hoping to get some views on some of my plants. To start with i just though some general info on the tank may help.

Aquarium Dimensions: L70cm x W35cm x H20cm
Co2 injection (drop checker continuously green)
Liquid ferts weekly (TNC Complete)
ADA Aqua Soil Amazonia (substrate)
4x 10w Led Floodlights (rated 6500k)
1 LED bar with 4 leds 0.5w each also 6500k

Just finished planting it about 3 days ago now and i have the following plants:

Micranthemum Monte Carlo (front carpet)

Ammania sp. Bonsai

Riternanthera Reineckii Mini

Staurogyne Repens

and a few little bits of dwarf hairgrass around the base of some of the rocks

I just wanted some info regarding the setup. Alot of these plants i am using for the first time and im interested primarily in the Micranthemum. I tediously spent 9 hours splitting and planting each strand of it into the substrate. i was wondering how this plants usually reacts after planting. With dwarf hairgrass when i used it in my older thanks it melted first and then new growth developed. is this to be expected with this plant or is it usually quite hardy in that respect?

Finally i dont know how much light there is in this tank based on dimensions and whether it would be considered medium or high light so any info of that nature would be greatly appreciated

 

[Dr Mike Oxgreen]

Looks great!

The light intensity you have is probably on the low side of medium - but your tank is not very deep, so it's probably going to be fine.

You might possibly need to fertilise a bit more generously than once a week with the TNC Complete - you can double or triple the dose to give an approximation of EI.

I think your balance might be about right, so see how things go. Bear in mind that there's a very good chance you will get some brown algae during the four-to-six week period as the tank matures. I personally found that increasing my dose of TNC complete and spreading it out so that I'm dosing a little bit every day seemed to help get rid of the algae.

Edited to add: Sorry, my sums were duff. Your lighting is very high, so I would strongly recommend you increase your dose of TNC Complete to provide enough nutrients to support the plants.

 

[Marwan]

Looks great!

The light intensity you have is probably on the low side of medium - but your tank is not very deep, so it's probably going to be fine.

You might possibly need to fertilise a bit more generously than once a week with the TNC Complete - you can double or triple the dose to give an approximation of EI.

I think your balance might be about right, so see how things go. Bear in mind that there's a very good chance you will get some brown algae during the four-to-six week period as the tank matures. I personally found that increasing my dose of TNC complete and spreading it out so that I'm dosing a little bit every day seemed to help get rid of the algae.

Edited to add: Sorry, my sums were duff. Your lighting is very high, so I would strongly recommend you increase your dose of TNC Complete to provide enough nutrients to support the plants.

Ok then i will start a 2.5 times dose spread out through the week adding a set amount every other day. Brown algae is something that i have litte fear of, its the black beard algae that has casued me untold amount of distress in the past. I am also dosing EASY CARBO daily more to just keep algae at bay more than anything and also have found that hydrogen peroxide does wonders with algae and used it to clear up my 200 liter planted tank in less than a week and it was suffering greatly. Ill keep my eye out for it and thank you for your help

 

[Graham Bell]

Reading up, and going by my lights
6500k plus some blue around 10000k will work great... LED is the way forward
from what I understand 6500k 7000k 8000k 10000k work best

 

[Marwan]

Reading up, and going by my lights
6500k plus some blue around 10000k will work great... LED is the way forward
from what I understand 6500k 7000k 8000k 10000k work best

As from what I understand yes those wavelengths work best. Haven't got any blue bulbs like in my other tanks but like the colours with the 6500k LEDs. And I also agree with regards to the LEDs, high output, low consumption and cheap to buy. I got 8 10w led floodlights for less than £15 which was a joke and they are bright as hell and perfect kelvin rating. Want to hit the fast forward button to see all the plants grown in and settled. Now it's just a waiting game.... Haha

 

[Graham Bell]

just bought a single 10w LED, 6500k to have a play with, think it was £2 delivered

 

[Marwan]

So it's been a couple of weeks and the plants are growing very nicely. My question is when do i know it's time to cut the micranthemum monte carlo? It seems more secure and rooted in some places than others and although i have noticed quite a bit of growth, very little growth has been vertical so the carpet is almost fully formed but not that thick in most places. Should i leave it a little longer before getting the scissors out or should i begin trimming it a little now?

 

[rebel]

Marwan well done! It looks very good indeed. I would say you need to wait a wee bit longer to trim that MC.

 

[Marwan]

Marwan well done! It looks very good indeed. I would say you need to wait a wee bit longer to trim that MC.

Thank you rebel! It's my first attempt at a high tech planted tank and so happy it is thriving! I will give it another week of two just to be completely certain it has rooted well and grown enough before I start to trim off a little.