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Newbie - Acclimatising new plants before aquascaping?

Hannah

New Member
Joined
29 Mar 2021
Messages
7
Location
Oxfordshire
Hello everyone,

It's my first post here so please be kind! 😌

We moved into our new house a month ago and I was finally able to purchase my first decently sized aquarium - a 310L AquaOak from Maidenhead Aquatics, plus all the equipment including Fluval Plant 3.0 LED lighting and a full CO2 system to go with it. I'm aiming to create a jungle-y themed aquascape with lots of fairly easy plants - mainly mosses, java ferns, anubias and amazon swords with a bit of bolbitis and a nymphaea lotus for colour/texture. I have a shopping cart ready to go with Aquarium Gardens and another with Pro Shrimp. But before I go ahead and hit the order button, I want to check a couple of things first.

From what I've read online it seems that a lot of plants sold online will have been grown in an emersed state, and as a result it's common for there to be a fair degree of die-back when they're placed into the water. With this in mind, would it be sensible to order the plants and then allow them to sit in their pots underwater in the unscaped tank for a month or two to allow them to acclimatise before actually going about the process of scaping the tank? I have several large peices of mopani wood that are soaking in a tub with a big rock on top of them, and I expect it will be a while before they are ready to sink (and stay sunk!) by themselves, so I'm thinking I may as well get the plants ordered and growing on while I'm waiting. This would also give me a chance to get the new filter started so it can begin cycling, and get to grips with the CO2 system, lighting, fertiliser dosing etc. I'm planning to eventually run the tank at a temperature of about 29c (for cardinal tetra and a group of 6 or 7 discus) so my thought was to start with the temperature at about 25c and gradually ramp it up over several weeks so as not to shock the plants.

Any thoughts, suggestions or feedback would be very welcome!
 
Welcome to UKAPS Hannah. I think it’s best to get everything set up first and to plant straight away.
Maybe cycle the tank in the dark for a couple of weeks first before you order the plants. It often helps to get them off to the best start and can help avoid algal outbreaks.

 
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