# Planted progress up to now



## don (Nov 29, 2011)

Heres my 38 gallon tank up to date, been running for two weeks now. The light is the newest addition, just picked it up this afternoon. Not too sure what the plants are called lol. Bought them from menegerie. 

3-panda corys
5- platties
8- neon tetras

waiting to add a pair of german rams. 

3- 3.5" florite dark substrate
and some drift wood. 

planning on adding some more plants that will stay low, how long should I run my lights for? The fixture is has total watts of 78


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## carmenh (Dec 20, 2009)

It's looking great!


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

Thanks, Ive been thinking about a background when it hit me, without having a background am I losing light out of the back of the tank that could be staying inside? If so would it matter what colour. Black background absoarb more light versus a white?


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Nah, you're doing fine wit the new light. So pick whatever background you like.
Run it 8 hours a day. So get a timer and plug the light into it and you're good. For forground plants, you can go with glosso or possibly draw hair grass. HC and ricca will require CO2 injection to work propertly for a big tank.

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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

Excellent,is there a particular plant german rams take a liking too? I'm hoping to put a pair in and have them breed


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## tom g (Jul 8, 2009)

*rams*

from what i can remember when i had some german rams breed was that they liked flat rock surfaces , im not too sure but i beilieve that is what i have read .


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## Zebrapl3co (Mar 29, 2006)

Yes you remember correctly, German rams perfer a flat surface to lay eggs.

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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

don said:


> Excellent,is there a particular plant german rams take a liking too? I'm hoping to put a pair in and have them breed


I have rams and they love to spawn on echinodorus leaves and they even sometimes lay their eggs directly on smooth driftwood.


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

Great, I'm waiting for water parameters to settle down then I will get some, for intentions of having a male and female pair and live in my tank for a while and hopefully spawn should I be concerned with where I purchase my gbr?

Also what should I be dosing my tank with, since I have florite ( iron supplement to my understanding) should I be avoiding the addition of any iron? What do you suggest, and are the directions on the bottle for dosing accurate?


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## don (Nov 29, 2011)

20-40 Gallons
1/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week
1/16 tsp KH2PO4 3x a week
1/16 tsp K2SO4 3x a week
1/16 tsp (5ml) traces 3x a week 

here is a dosing regiment I found online it said to perform a 50% water change at the end of the week. Keep in mind I have no co2 and 2 39 w t5h0, thanks!


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## Kooka (Feb 8, 2011)

I wouldn't dose fert's without stable Co2. There are many dosing regimes that you could try, but for them to be worthwhile, you must have the aforementioned co2 and adequate light.


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## ubr0ke (Jul 12, 2011)

Kooka said:


> I wouldn't dose fert's without stable Co2. There are many dosing regimes that you could try, but for them to be worthwhile, you must have the aforementioned co2 and adequate light.


naw this is not true...you can dose ferts but you just don't need as much..
dose half of what ei suggests once a week..plants still need food but without higher light or co2 they grow at a slower rate so they need less food.


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## ubr0ke (Jul 12, 2011)

don said:


> 20-40 Gallons
> 1/4 tsp KNO3 3x a week
> 1/16 tsp KH2PO4 3x a week
> 1/16 tsp K2SO4 3x a week
> ...


dose half of that once a week...so 1/8 of kno3 and 1/32 of kh2po4..on monday
and 1/32 of trace on tuesday...

you have to much light...take one bulb out unless you plan on running pressurized co2...or come back here in a couple weeks and ask why you have algae hahaha..

or you could also hang your light about a foot above your tank....so you have choices...


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