Good Hardy Plants

[peck1988]

Hello all am new to the Fish/Plants/Forum world so sorry if there's a page already on this question, I have a Aqua One Splish and Splash Starter Kit large aquarium 28L I have 6 Danios and 1 small Plec (normal) in the tank it's been running for 2 weeks now and the nitrite has spiked (which I was told would) am looking for a good hardy planet which feed on this and ammonia, any suggestions would be great thanks.


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[john dory]

Nitrite should be zero.
Perform daily water changes until nitrite and ammonia are zero

 

[Michael W]

Hello all am new to the Fish/Plants/Forum world so sorry if there's a page already on this question, I have a Aqua One Splish and Splash Starter Kit large aquarium 28L I have 6 Danios and 1 small Plec (normal) in the tank it's been running for 2 weeks now and the nitrite has spiked (which I was told would) am looking for a good hardy planet which feed on this and ammonia, any suggestions would be great thanks.


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It is unwise to stock fish in a new setup without running the tank for some time to build up beneficial bacteria to break down waste etc. Some can get away with it provided they have a planted tank before adding fish but care must be taken.

28L is far too small for a normal pleco which could grow very very big. While it may be small right now, those sucker produce a hell of a lot of waste (no pun intended). This on top of no plants and a not cycled tank = disaster on water quality. The smaller the aquarium, the harder it is to keep the water quality in good form therefore, we should not stock large fish and also not push the tank's limit in housing a lot of fish.

As for plants, I'm guessing you will be running a low tech aquarium (without CO2), recommend JavaFern and Anubias tied to a rock or driftwood. You can place them in the substrate but do not bury the rhizome (the piece where leaves and roots emerge from). You can bury the roots. Java Moss is also a very good plant to start with too, stem plants like Elodea Densa will and should world out nicely too in such setup.

May I also advice you to take the pleco back both for your water quality and fish's well being as it needs more room than that of a 28L. If you can provide enough room, the fish can get stunted and will suffer.

P.S Here is a recent discussion regarding methods in cycling an aquarium which is well worth a read. There its are two different options in cycling an aquarium with its pros and cons. It will come in handy. http://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/will-fishless-cycling-harm-plants.34901/page-3#post-373809

Michael.

 

[peck1988]

It's hard to know as a beginner I've read about fish cycles non fish cycles, run the tank for 2 weeks heard others say 3 months, I went with the fish cycle I put some of the media tubs in the filter from another cycled tank to get it going, I've been doing 10/20% water changes everyday and feeding the fish every 2 days to keep the waste low, also have a little air stone to pump Co2, I was told that the nitrite and ammonia will spike then level out, I have a Aqua One AR-980 ready for when gets bit bigger doing a non fish cycle for that, I just wanted to know if there was a planted to help speed up losing the levels, watch a video on YouTube which said that Dwarf Sagittaria are good because they feed on ammonia and nitrite.

Scott



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[Henry]

To stabilise your tank at this stage, you need fast growing stem plants. Hygrophila polysperma, Ceratopteris thalictriodes, Hydrocotyl leucocephala, Ludwigia repens etc. etc. will all do a good job. Failing that, pretty much any floating plant will strip harmful nitrogenous compounds from the water fairly quickly, without the potential failure new hobbyists can experience with submersed plants. If all else fails, you could even go to B&Q and get some Pothos, or a common Peace Lily, clean the soil from the roots, and dangle them (only the roots) in the water.

Best case scenario, do all three of the above along with your water changes, and you'll have a happy and healthy tank in no time.

Good luck!

 

[sparkyweasel]

Yep, fast growers are what you need at this stage. As well as the ones Henry listed, Water Wisteria (Hygrophila difformis), Hornwort (Ceratophyllum) and Ambulia (Limnophila) are good.

 

[peck1988]

Thank you I'll get on that asap, done another water test gone from 5.0 to 1.0 so hopefully start levelling out soon.

Scott


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