# just planted some sagittaria



## brutusbeefcake (Dec 8, 2004)

well i have a 125g with a sand bottom(black estes)... i have in the tank a 10" vinny today i decided to plant a bunch of dwarf sagittaria and some taller sagittaria(not sure on the name?) anyways the idea is to plant somewhat of a grassy bottom with a little height which is what i have now... how long does it generally take for the dwarf to reproduce? and is this stuff as hardy as people say it is? i did give the plants some liquid fertilizer... not sure on the name of that either??? any suggestions? oh yeah and i upgraded my two flourescent tube lights to the "aqua glo" which are suppose to be optimal for aquatic plant growth they are each 18,000 calvin whatever the hell that means? i thought they would be brighter than the regular bulbs but they are actually darker???? any tips appreciated ???


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

brutusbeefcake said:


> well i have a 125g with a sand bottom(black estes)... i have in the tank a 10" vinny today i decided to plant a bunch of dwarf sagittaria and some taller sagittaria(not sure on the name?) anyways the idea is to plant somewhat of a grassy bottom with a little height which is what i have now... how long does it generally take for the dwarf to reproduce? and is this stuff as hardy as people say it is? i did give the plants some liquid fertilizer... not sure on the name of that either??? any suggestions? oh yeah and i upgraded my two flourescent tube lights to the "aqua glo" which are suppose to be optimal for aquatic plant growth they are each 18,000 calvin whatever the hell that means? i thought they would be brighter than the regular bulbs but they are actually darker???? any tips appreciated ???


The taller sagitaria might be S. subulata.. It is a very nice but common grassy plant that grows like crazy when given what it needs. Best plant the dwarf in the front and the subulata in the back.

The dwarf sag can grow very fast, but it takes tome to acclimate to your water. Not to mention, you have to feed your plants a complete diet of nitrate-10-25ppm always, phosphate-.5-2ppm always, potassium 20ppm, iron, and micro nitrients (flourish comprehensive)

Speed of growth also is determined by the amount of light over your tank. When you have algea, it is usually present in a newly planted tank, which should be manually removed, and algea is also a sign of poorly fed plants... or overly-fed plants.. 
most gurus believe that algea takes over plants because they are underfed, rather than overfed. But overfeeding can happen.

Read this and try to understand it as best as you can.. it will help you


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## brutusbeefcake (Dec 8, 2004)

so should i remove the algae from my back wall? i like the look of it against a black background but if its gonna affect plant growth ill get rid of it??????


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## DiPpY eGgS (Mar 6, 2005)

brutusbeefcake said:


> so should i remove the algae from my back wall? i like the look of it against a black background but if its gonna affect plant growth ill get rid of it??????


IT doesnt effect plant growth, unless it is on the plants..
I would get rid of it, but that is me.


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## spree_rider (Mar 20, 2004)

how many watts are your lights? you said you ahve 2 tubes but if they are only 40w tubes then that isnt very much light on a 125 and you may need to add another tube.


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

18000K is far to high for freshwater plants. It should be more like 7200K IMO K is the Kelvin rating, and Kelvin refers to the temperature of the color. The sun is 5500k. The light that most aquatic plants get in the wild is like 6500k. The deeper the water, the higher the K, thus making it more blue. lower, the more orange. Plants asborb blue the best, and test have shown that plants prefer 6000k-8000k. You prolly have two 36" tubes (30w) and if so thats way too little

Your algae wont really harm plant growth, but in a sense it is competing with it, therefore less compition would help.


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## brutusbeefcake (Dec 8, 2004)

yeah i figured them bulbs werent strong enough--- if 18,000 is too high then whey does the box say "ideal for planted freshwater aquariums" and "promotes plant growth"? whats the lowest wattage i can get away with for a 125g... keep in mind i am only planting sagittaria


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## Gumby (Aug 13, 2004)

I'd imagine that your plants probably won't make it with the lighting you have on there. Sag needs at LEAST 1wpg, but probably closer to 2 wpg.

I'd consider upgrading those 2 flourscent fixtures to power compact fixtures. It not too expensive to change them over either.

Here's a fixture that would work great on the tank, once you put the right bulbs in it:
http://www.aquatraders.com/index.asp?PageA...PROD&ProdID=250


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## benJii (Feb 17, 2005)

brutusbeefcake said:


> yeah i figured them bulbs werent strong enough--- *if 18,000 is too high then whey does the box say "ideal for planted freshwater aquariums" and "promotes plant growth"?* whats the lowest wattage i can get away with for a 125g... keep in mind i am only planting sagittaria


People are always trying to sell you stuff, all the time. Every light says good plant growth on it. Hell I have a 2800k bulb that makes my fish look great but would be TERRIBLE for plants, yet on the box it says good plant growth on it. 18000k is what your looking for with corals.

You need IMO 1.5+wpg, especially if you want to get them going good. I grow dwarf sags in my 29 and they grow well with strong ferts, and 2.10wpg.


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## Gumby (Aug 13, 2004)

I've seen AquaGlow bulbs in person and their labling must be wrong on that box. Those bulbs are seem more like 8000k, maybe someone threw an accidental 1 in there.


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