# Finally got the plants in



## blacklabel (Feb 12, 2007)

for lights i have four 30w t-8s with flora sun bulbs, and four 39w t-5hos (2 plant and 2 10k), which comes out to 2.2wpg. im also running pressurized co2, but im still dialing it in. i used soilmaster select for substrate and am dosing dry fertz. the plants are:

2 amazon swords
2 java ferns
2 crypt becketi
2 anubias nana
2 red wendti
green temple narrow
lim. hip. (aromatica)
wisteria
rotala indica
stargrass
red jungle vals
e. tennelus narrow leaf

im expecting a good deal of die off and what not as the plants get situated. any advice or tips for keeping them healthy?


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## nataz (Mar 31, 2006)

Looks good .. What size is your tank ? 125 
I love the natural wood stand..


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## blacklabel (Feb 12, 2007)

nataz said:


> Looks good .. What size is your tank ? 125
> I love the natural wood stand..


yeah its a standard 125. i made the stand but it never got finished haha. i was originally going to stain it and put molding on all the edges until i found out how expensive the molding was going to be lol. the two outer doors that dont line up properly i just cut out the other day on a whim and still havnt gotten them lined up. next time i move ill probably just trash it and build a nice one for the next house.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

I just dont get how you keep the plants in there???

Do you let them root for a few weeks before putting the P's in there?


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## blacklabel (Feb 12, 2007)

notaverage said:


> I just dont get how you keep the plants in there???
> 
> Do you let them root for a few weeks before putting the P's in there?


no my ps were in there the whole time. all the plants in there are brand new. just planted them on fri. i had about an inch of black sand in there, and added a 50lb bag of soilmaster select so the substrate is pretty deep. id say at least 3" in the shallowest parts up front and around 5" in the back. to my EXTREME amazement, not a single plant or stem has been uprooted. this is shocking to me especially since they were a bit skittish the first couple days with the new bright lights. plus the fact that ive fed them both pellets and even tilapia filet (which they go nuts for and really stir everything up). id say the trick is the deep substrate. but now that i made it through the first few days (which i was planning on being very very frustrating) with no uproots, im convinced it wont be an issue at all once they are rooted better. the ps are good at navigating through the plants and dont mind touching them like they do with fake ones. they swim right through the wisteria which is cool because you dont see the fish, just the tops of the wisteria moving around, and the plants dont try and make there way out of the substrate at all.


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## notaverage (Sep 10, 2005)

so you have sand as the base and then soil master?

WHy wouldnt you do the opposite?
THe roots will grow where the nutrients are...wouldnt they??
I like the tank.


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## blacklabel (Feb 12, 2007)

notaverage said:


> so you have sand as the base and then soil master?
> 
> WHy wouldnt you do the opposite?
> THe roots will grow where the nutrients are...wouldnt they??
> I like the tank.


well ideally the sand would be nice and neat on top (although over time, the smaller particles will always make their way to the bottom, its inevitable) but i didnt feel like taking it all out and going through all the trouble just to have it mix together anyway. so i just tried to move the sand out of the way, put down the soilmaster, and push the sand back on top. however it just doesnt work that way haha. i think the sand may have something to do with keeping the plants held down as well. it adds more weight, and fills in around the roots better than the SMS.


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## cueball (May 24, 2005)

i love it but i wouldnt soke to to much money into it until you know your reds are not gonna clobber them plants,,


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## maknwar (Jul 16, 2007)

Should only take a couple of weeks before the plants really take root. You might find that your P's will bite the plants, but I never had a problem with them getting up rooted. They will use the plants as cover like you said, rather than anything else. Looks good man, please post pics every other week. You wont realize how much they grow until you compare photos. Expect algae, its gonna happen. Seems like after a month or two it will magically go away.


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## blacklabel (Feb 12, 2007)

maknwar said:


> Should only take a couple of weeks before the plants really take root. You might find that your P's will bite the plants, but I never had a problem with them getting up rooted. They will use the plants as cover like you said, rather than anything else. Looks good man, please post pics every other week. You wont realize how much they grow until you compare photos. Expect algae, its gonna happen. Seems like after a month or two it will magically go away.


thanks. you and bioteach helped alot, moreso than the plant forums... im already seeing new growth on all the stem plants. everything is looking great, but the aromatica isnt doing as well as the others. all of the stems were bent at a 90* angle when i got them. i guess they were bent when they were packing them. about half the stems turned to mush, but the other half are growing and turned to green, as i expected. ill post pics every couple weeks for sure.


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