# Improving my growing conditions



## Andrew Perkins (10 Feb 2014)

Hi i like to improve my tank for the plants, I dont have any substrate in my tank at all just silver sand. It properly a stupid question but is there any substrates i can use in my tank with livestock in the tank still? Stupid off me decided i didnt need my old tank and binned it .

Or can i get a few packs of them root tablets and use them instead? i not heard much about them are any good?
I be growing low tech plants - cyprts - java fern - anuabias - tiger lotus - vallisneria and some more that i not decided yet.


----------



## Don636 (10 Feb 2014)

Hi

Roots tabs will work..I use them in my tank, though anubias and java ferns have their rhizomes above the surface and not planted into it.

A lot of people use root tabs..I have gravel substrate only for you info, the plants do root and together with using EI feed for the water column..the plants are growing.

Hope that helps.


----------



## Vazkez (10 Feb 2014)

Hello Adrew,

the plants you wrote do not need much. Only the tiger lotus can be a bit problem. However you can use tabs that's the easiest way to do it. Sponsor on this side sell some. You can then add them under the crypts and lotus. Java fern anubias and vala does not require anythink special.
The another way is put soil under the sand like do half and then another half. I never tryed this but there are few people which did it with success. However I do not think you need it for the plants you choosed.
There are plenty good low light/tech plants which can create a stunnig piece of nature 

Vaz


----------



## Andrew Perkins (10 Feb 2014)

Thanks that great news.


----------



## EnderUK (11 Feb 2014)

If you want to redo your tank you can just get one of those pastic storage containers or even a large bucket of old tank water and keep your fish in there for a day or two.  They'll be fine even without a heater and filter if you starve them for a couple of days before hand. You can always place the filter and heater to run in the bucket if you want.


----------



## ceg4048 (11 Feb 2014)

Andrew Perkins said:


> Hi i like to improve my tank for the plants, I dont have any substrate in my tank at all just silver sand. It properly a stupid question but is there any substrates i can use in my tank with livestock in the tank still? Stupid off me decided i didnt need my old tank and binned it .
> 
> Or can i get a few packs of them root tablets and use them instead? i not heard much about them are any good?
> I be growing low tech plants - cyprts - java fern - anuabias - tiger lotus - vallisneria and some more that i not decided yet.


I'd just dose the water column and get on with it.
If you like the look of silver sand than that's as good an excuse as any to stick with it.
You really don't need to spend money on root tabs. There are no plants that "require" root tabs. Tabs don't do anything better than nutrients in the water column are capable of. It certainly doesn't hurt to use tabs of course, but why spend money when you don't need to? The powders are super cheap in comparison.

Aquatic plants feed from their leaves much more efficiently than they do from the roots, so one never has to worry about special substrates. For non CO2 enriched tanks it's even easier because you don't have to dose very frequently. Once a week, or once every two weeks is all.

Cheers,


----------



## Andrew Perkins (11 Feb 2014)

Thanks for the advise ceg4048, I bought a liquid fertilizer a while back but left the carbon filter in ( i didnt know what it did then ) and were dosing once a week, i would assume i need to remove the carbon filter for liquid fertilizer? And where can i buy the powder form from?

I still got the carbon filter for now but read somewhere that people change them for green/blue filter - juwel bioflow filter
Sorry i am complete noob that why i joined this forum 
Many thanks for your help
Andrew


----------



## ceg4048 (11 Feb 2014)

Hi,
	Leave the carbon in the filter. Carbon is excellent when it's fresh, and when it's old it makes one of the best filter media ever. I don't know why so many people are freaked out about activated carbon. Carbon doesn't really care about your liquids. Activated carbon has a very specific affinity for various compounds, not much of which is relevant to our purposes.

The term liquid fertilizer doesn't mean anything. There are lots of different fertilizers, the commercial brands are mostly water. That's why we suggest the raw ingredients. Just look up above where the banners are and you'll see adverts for our sponsors. Look at this APF Plant Nutrition in Bottles (dry) - Dry Chemicals - Fertilisers for £3.50 plus postage you get NPK powder and you can add your own water. get some of this Chelated Trace Elements - Dry Chemicals - Fertilisers for trace elements. Squirt some of each in the tank into the low tech tank once a week and forget about it.

Cheers,


----------

