Welcome To My Newsletter Series. In this newsletter letter series I will provide you with information about keeping tropical fish. The information contained in the newsletter comes from my passed experiences while working with fish, conversations I've had with friends and other tropical fish lovers, as well as knowledge I gain while researching material to write the book. So as you can see that the content comes from a number of sources, which I think make for a well rounded newsletter series.
Please feel free to forward this newsletter on to your friends who maybe interested in tropical fish keeping as well.
PLANT SECRETS
Understanding plant secrets for your freshwater aquarium is what will help you maintain healthy, strong plants. Keep in mind that the success to your aquarium are the various elements that you add. One of the most essential of these elements are plants, which add oxygen to the water, they help absorb carbon dioxide, and therefore, regulate the water’s chemistry naturally. The result is that plants make the aquarium a wonderful environment for the fish you keep. The key to start with is bringing new plants into the tank about a week prior to the fish. Other important plant secrets include the following:
Lighting
It is also important that your plants be given the appropriate amount of light. We recommend you use a minimum of two watts per gallon of fluorescent lighting. Some plants will thrive at lower wattage but most will not. Remember, when you buy a new aquarium that comes with the hood and light, it generally does not offer enough light for plants so you would need to buy a new hood and light fixture or make sure the one you buy has the ability to be upgraded to the right wattage.
In addition, you need to think about color temperature. Typically, people use anywhere between 5,500 and 6,700K, which is fine. However, make sure you do not use actinic reef lights since the blue temperature will do nothing for your plants and in fact, will encourage the growth of algae, something you want to avoid.
Substrate
One of the most important things you can do when it comes to plants in an aquarium is to have good substrate. Plants will do much better when they can get the required nutrients from substrates. In fact, plants will receive phosphorus, nitrogen, sulfur, and other trace elements, all from the roots absorbing through the substrate.
Certain types of substrate on the market have higher levels of iron, which is excellent for live plants. In addition, you can also use soil or clay that contains special additives coupled with peat. Organic material is a great choice, providing the nutrients for anaerobic bacteria to reduce insoluble iron to soluble iron, which then benefits the plants. We recommend you keep a level of three to four inches for the plants.
Fertilizer
Live plants also need fertilizer to promote good growth, while keeping the level of algae to a minimum. For this, use a commercial product that is time tested. Typically, you would want fertilizer that offers nitrates 5-10ppm, phosphates 0.5-1.0ppm, iron 0.1-0.3ppm, and potassium 10-20ppm. Now, if you happen to have extra oft water, calcium, and magnesium may need to be added.
CO2
This is extremely important for keeping an aquarium of live plants while keeping algae growth down. CO2 along with the appropriate lighting helps keep the perfect balance of nutrients for the plants. Your goal would be to maintain a 15-30ppm level of CO2.
Water Chemistry
Typically, tap water is perfectly fine for live plants. What you want to achieve is a pH level between 6.4 and 8.5. For the hardness, the goal is a gH of 3 to 15 degrees and carbonate hardness or kH of 3 to 12. Again, if you have soft water, then you should consider using CO2 injection. If the gH level is too low, you can add calcium, and magnesium.
Water Change
After the plants have been added to the aquarium and you have achieved your ideal level for the water, you would need to do a 50% water change once a week for about a month. After that to coordinate with the fish, you would do a 20% to 25% change. If you have a small tank, then the water change would be more frequent.
I hope you enjoyed this article and look forward to the next article which looks at lighting.
Until next time...
Katy
www.kingdomofpets.com/tropicalfish
If you are really serious about learning more about keeping tropical fish, Click Here to order my Book and DVD set. Let me guide you through it all!
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