Newbie Question

["Jos K.K. Liem" <liem at direct_ca>]

Date: Mon, 27 Oct 1997 21:45:18 -0600
From: "Matt Kowske" <xc at innocent_com>
Subject: Newbie Question

Hi, I have kept tropical fish in the past for some time, but
with mostly
fake plants.  I tried to keep some live plants a couple
times but they died
within a month or so.

Matt Kowske
xc at innocent_com

Reply:

Setting a new planted aquarium can sometimes be difficult.
Please have a look at  the FAQ -Plants at the newsgroup
rec.aquaria.freshwater.plants and also at the Krib website.
The information is comprehensive. Save the FAQ-plants on
disk.

In my own experience I find the following points are
required to have a healthy plants growing:

1) substrate of about 5-10 cm (2-inches) of riversand
upper 2.5 cm (1 inch) should be washed. You can add
additional nutrients in the soil later if necessary.

2)Use plants which are easy to grow (Hygrophila spp,
Valisneria spp.( needs hard water), Echinodorus spp. I find
it beneficial to have  enough starting plants at the
beginning.

3)The tank should be situated not directly in the sun. There
should be enough light.Use fluorescent light (e.g. GE
aquarium light). Have a constant climate. 2 Watts/gallon is
fine.

4)In the first few months the microbiological life of the
 substrate should start to grow. You can established this
by adding water and some soil of a good cycling aquarium.

5)CO2 fertilization ( see the Krib)


Jos Liem
____________________________________________________________

First INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE  Aquarium Plant keeping
February 1998
Web page: http://mypage.direct.ca/l/liem/ICOAP98.html

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