# Newb question amount of plants in 46 bow front



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

as title says. i have a 46 bow front and the plants i ordered are:

5 amazon swords

5 java ferns 

500g of java moss 

and 3 more sword family cant remember LOL

will this be too much for my tank? once full and drowing will these types of plants get out of control and take over? i have had tanks since i was a kid however, never had plants! i was thinking of trimming my order down to three of each. but than i read that planted tanks should be planted heavily.

this is going to be a low tech low light and plan on attching my fern to wood and moss on large piece of wood. the swords are going to have to be in normal gravel. i dont mind if growth is a little slower but plan on using ferts (not sure what and how lol) but ill figure it out. i just dont want to turn a low tank into a high tech tank unitentionally 

thanks in advance for any help


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

how long is the tank? Im guessing probably 36 inches

the swords can get to about 1.5 feet tall, they tend to fan out a little, so I would guess about 1 foot diameter, so going by this, just 3 swords would take up about 36 inches by 12 inches, so I would order 2 probably at the most, maybe just 1 depending on the type of sword, now I see you have another type, so maybe get one of each

500 g of java moss sounds like alot! I think that would be enough for all my tanks put together.

Some plants like java ferns are bought in a bunch where you get about 3 plants bundled together so I would get only 1 or 2.

Remember, new plants are not at their max size when you buy them, gotta leave some room for growth, the sword have wide leaves so if you have alot of them, they will block the light for other shorter plants.

Just make sure you research the max size or each type of plant and figure out how much space they would take in your tank. Also remember that many fish like to have an open area for free swimming so don't totally pack the tank.

I also believe swords require at fair bit of light so I hope you arent using just a single T8 or something.

Hope this helps


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Wow! I didn't know they grew that big! Sounds like I bought enough plants to do a few tanks lol. 

Could the plants be trimmed when growing? I don't want a really full tank. I'm shopping around right now for lights. I'm on here. On kijiji. Amazon. eBay. And other websites. Im looking for a 36" dual bulb 2x39. One with 6500k and a 460nm. It's proving hard. Lots of crap out there. Some are 56 dollars and question quality. I'm thinking a aquatic life and ill add a timer. One with a timer in it and LED moon light would be nice but looking at $300. Ouch! I could add a small LED strip on a timer after for a lot cheaper I think. 

I figure 2x39 puts me in at slightly above the 1.5 WPG and decent for low light


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

with swords, looking at the new ones I have right now, from the base roots the leaves go out from the base, its not a branch with leaves, its a leaf that is a branch. Ive heard swords grow slow, so basically take off the odd leaf when you get too many.

java ferns kinda have babies that form on the leaves that you can take off and plant or wait and they will float around and find a place, the leaves are also like the swords, just take the odd leaf off when too large.

the java moss, just pick off extra you don't want.

but over all, I think you ordered way too many plants.

your thought of a dual bulb t5ho should be good enough, if the tank is 36 inches long, Im guessing about 20 inches high, according to my research, which should be good enough for medium light plants and maybe some med/high light plants.

If this is your first tank, be prepared to catch mts, multiple tank syndrome, its very addicting. Also if its your first tank, try to get some used media from someone to help you cycle a lot faster and safer. I have cycled tanks in 1 week using old media. I would offer but im in Kingston.


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Thank for the replies! 

Yeah it's a 36" long tank by 20 or 21" high. lmao about the MTS . This isn't my first tank but first planted tank. I've always been drawn to it. It's like a window into the under world of fish. I love the natural look and watching the fish do their thing. I have a 37 gallon right now with filter built in to the canopy and bio wheel. Right now I have some giant danios cycling my tank. I put two pieces of wood. And two rock in from the old tank and They are a decent size. My new tank is running two canister filters and not sure how else to introduce more bacteria without disturbing my old tank too much. I want to move them over but waiting for cycle. The tank came with a used (disease free) eheim 2213 an I thought it would help but it doesn't appear that way. 

My tests show 0.25 or less ammonia. 0 nitrite and 0 nitrate. The nitrate/nitrite cycle hasn't started yet . I want to do more water changes but I feel it's slowing down my cycle. Another reason I want plants is to help with the ammonia levels and keep spikes of nitrate and nitrite in check when it kicks in. 


I'm running a eheim 2213 with the ceramic tubes (brain fart) blue piece of foam and little brown balls. Not sure what those are. Filter is used. My fluval 306 came with the typical media. Foam. Ceramic tubes. Charcoal on filter floss. Ceramic pre filter or bio? Some on the Internet are advertised as either so not too sure. The tank is unbelievably clear right now. The filters are working lol


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

if the rocks have a large surface area like lava rock and the wood is a large surface area and its only a few danios, and if the bioload in the used canister filter was still alive when you set it up, you may already be cycled for the amount of fish you have in right now.

The plants will also make cycling easier when they are in and you add more fish.

I am assuming the tank has been set up for a few days now.

a way to seed bacteria if needed is take the media out of the biowheel thingy and just swish it around in the new tank for a few seconds to drop some bacteria. Your tank may look really cloudy but it will clear in a couple hours.

I seeded a 25 gallon last night with all 4 sponge filters from my xp3 as it was time to replace those sponges I just wrung them out well in the tank and OMG, there was so much junk, but it is definitely well seeded. Today Im just going to do a fast siphon of the bottom to clean it up and all will be good.


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

well, today i took the plunge and got a aquatic life 2x39w $180 plus tax. i also got my python no spill and i love it!!!!!!

tonight i took out the remainder of the wood and took out about 45% of the water and replaced it with my old tank water. i read that it doesnt do much but i figured ill try. i took my biowheel and placed in the tank and its floating on top right now. moved the stock over and everyone seems happy.

im going to test the water in the morning but i should be ok. even if i have to do 20% water change every week or more ill do it to keep the ammonia in check. my tank looks so weird with no canopy and the wife has already made a comment LOL. she said "where is the lid? is it staying like that?" not sure how to take that but oh well 

im not crazy on the 6000k with the roseate bulb. i like a little more blue. plants to be added soon. i changed my order and i got 2 amazon swords. 3 java fern 300g of java moss and 2 hornwort plants. should be nice once its all done. i should take a pic every week and see the progress of growth. hopefully i didnt bite more off than i can chew  ill probably be shopping for a co2 system lol i wonder if that fluval kit will work?

it never ends!


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

Oh you are replacing a tank not adding one, give the biowheel media a good shake, add some stress zyme. Leave the biowheel media floating for now

Another thing you can do if the old tank isnt totally empty yet is take some of the gravel, put it in a container and sit it in the new aquarium and you will seed some bio from the gravel to.

I am very sure your tank will be cycled in a matter of days without any spikes at all.

so basically new tank to replace a smaller one, moved the media over and some water and just moved fish without adding any new fish. If this is all the case, you have nothing to worry about.

Just add a little stress zyme every couple days for the first week and you are set.

I am betting 3 days from now ammonia and nitrites are 0


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Today tested once again. Ammonia seems to be at 0ppm or almost there. Nitrate 0ppm and nitrate at about 10ppm. Ill have to keep an eye on nitrate to make sure it doesn't get out of hand but all seems good. Can't wait for my plants!!!!


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

nitrite or nitrate is 10? if nitrate is 10, that is perfect, if nitrite is 10, OMG, water change fast! If ammonia and nitrites are 0, you are cycled, go ahead and put more fish in if you want.

you actually want to have some nitrates as it is food for plants, my nitrates dropped to 0 on me since starting c02 and I am working on getting nitrates up to 10 to 20


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

ammonia and nitrites 0 and nitrates reasonable? Wondering how its going for you now.


----------



## 12273 (Nov 3, 2012)

Hey! 

Things are good. Ammonia 0 nitrite 0 nitrate 10 and fully stocked. I just need my darn plants!!!!! 

Glad i for rid of my giant danios. They were a pain. The two neon rainbows are fitting in perfectly and zero issues with them. Very peaceful. Since starting I have lost 3 dwarf gouramis. It can't be the water because my other gouramis are fine and everyone else. I will never get anymore. Maybe the supplier is selling bad ones. Who knows. But 3 dead?!?! They weren't even being harassed My pearls didnt even pay them any attention. 

When I have an extra $30 to spend ill get a couple more rainbows. They are great in the tank.


----------



## pyrrolin (Jan 11, 2012)

I had tried the odd dwarf gourami before and they liked to drop dead and I've heard of others having the same problem.

I guess they are just a very wimpy fish.

you dont want nitrates to be 10 without plants, it will be 0 quickly with plants. But you did just recently stock the tank so maybe it will go up.

Once you get the plants in, you can then monitor nitrates to figure out how often you need to do water changes without nitrates getting too low or high.

I hope to see pics once the plants come in.


----------



## solarz (Aug 31, 2010)

You can never have too much plants!


----------



## Fishfur (Mar 4, 2012)

I love the look of dwarf gouramis, but they appear to be very fragile and prone to dying with little notice in a short time. It is not you, it's the fish. They are not a good species for aquariums, imo, and I've read several articles that say much the same. It's a shame because they are so pretty and unlike most gouramis, are not aggressive at all.

But I ended up trading the few I had left alive in for other fish, and am not sorry I did so. I lost more than half within two weeks of purchase, for no obvious reason. All other fish in the tank with them were fine, parameters were fine. They had loads of plants, rocks and wood to hide in, lots of shade. No pushy tank mates and one was building a huge bubble nest the day before I found him gasping on the tank bottom lying on his side. He died before I could even get a net to him. So I think they are just not a great aquarium fish, and I'd never have them again, despite their beauty. 

I'm sure there are some who have success with them, but I was sure not one of them.


----------

