# Planted Tanks > Plant Talk >  FAQ got no FAQ leh?

## eprouve

Hi,

Am a newbie to fishkeeping. Got inspired when I passed by Nature Aquarium after school often the last few months.

Just bought a 2 X 1 ft tank with a Hydor Prime 10 filter.

I just have a few FAQs which I hope you gurus can be patient with:

1. Could you explain a few jargons and abbrieviations you guys used? Or is there some reference I could look up to? Like what is SAE, Cycling, Juwel, etc?

2. I just setup the planted tank last week but I do not know the names of the plants I have in it. Can I send someone pictures so you can tell me?

3. Its been a long boring fishless week... I am getting nowhere except nearer to plant problems. I've got those ribbon-like plants which I used for creating a backdrop... but it is browning at the edges some a little more severely at the tips. Others are turning yellow and twisting. I've had some snails pop up and am also noticing some holes in a line...

Secondly, I've had some plants that look like the Glossostigma (only they grow upwards instead or carpet out)... and spots are appearing on the leaves.

Thirdly, I've got some purplish red leaved plants which are discoloring to bright pink...

Sheesh... hope to get some advise on that. I am guessing it might be nutrient deficiency? I am dosing the water with Sera Florena Iron and Minerals in addition to the base fertiliser. Help!

4. How are weekly water changes done? Do you remove the fish? Was thinking that if not, they might be affected by the new chlorinated water?

5. Anyone knows where I can get rummy nose tetras? couldn't find them at Rainbow, Petmart, NA and some other LFS I visited.

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## eprouve

Hi,

Am a newbie to fishkeeping. Got inspired when I passed by Nature Aquarium after school often the last few months.

Just bought a 2 X 1 ft tank with a Hydor Prime 10 filter.

I just have a few FAQs which I hope you gurus can be patient with:

1. Could you explain a few jargons and abbrieviations you guys used? Or is there some reference I could look up to? Like what is SAE, Cycling, Juwel, etc?

2. I just setup the planted tank last week but I do not know the names of the plants I have in it. Can I send someone pictures so you can tell me?

3. Its been a long boring fishless week... I am getting nowhere except nearer to plant problems. I've got those ribbon-like plants which I used for creating a backdrop... but it is browning at the edges some a little more severely at the tips. Others are turning yellow and twisting. I've had some snails pop up and am also noticing some holes in a line...

Secondly, I've had some plants that look like the Glossostigma (only they grow upwards instead or carpet out)... and spots are appearing on the leaves.

Thirdly, I've got some purplish red leaved plants which are discoloring to bright pink...

Sheesh... hope to get some advise on that. I am guessing it might be nutrient deficiency? I am dosing the water with Sera Florena Iron and Minerals in addition to the base fertiliser. Help!

4. How are weekly water changes done? Do you remove the fish? Was thinking that if not, they might be affected by the new chlorinated water?

5. Anyone knows where I can get rummy nose tetras? couldn't find them at Rainbow, Petmart, NA and some other LFS I visited.

----------


## eprouve

Hi,

Am a newbie to fishkeeping. Got inspired when I passed by Nature Aquarium after school often the last few months.

Just bought a 2 X 1 ft tank with a Hydor Prime 10 filter.

I just have a few FAQs which I hope you gurus can be patient with:

1. Could you explain a few jargons and abbrieviations you guys used? Or is there some reference I could look up to? Like what is SAE, Cycling, Juwel, etc?

2. I just setup the planted tank last week but I do not know the names of the plants I have in it. Can I send someone pictures so you can tell me?

3. Its been a long boring fishless week... I am getting nowhere except nearer to plant problems. I've got those ribbon-like plants which I used for creating a backdrop... but it is browning at the edges some a little more severely at the tips. Others are turning yellow and twisting. I've had some snails pop up and am also noticing some holes in a line...

Secondly, I've had some plants that look like the Glossostigma (only they grow upwards instead or carpet out)... and spots are appearing on the leaves.

Thirdly, I've got some purplish red leaved plants which are discoloring to bright pink...

Sheesh... hope to get some advise on that. I am guessing it might be nutrient deficiency? I am dosing the water with Sera Florena Iron and Minerals in addition to the base fertiliser. Help!

4. How are weekly water changes done? Do you remove the fish? Was thinking that if not, they might be affected by the new chlorinated water?

5. Anyone knows where I can get rummy nose tetras? couldn't find them at Rainbow, Petmart, NA and some other LFS I visited.

----------


## eprouve

Hi,

Am a newbie to fishkeeping. Got inspired when I passed by Nature Aquarium after school often the last few months.

Just bought a 2 X 1 ft tank with a Hydor Prime 10 filter.

I just have a few FAQs which I hope you gurus can be patient with:

1. Could you explain a few jargons and abbrieviations you guys used? Or is there some reference I could look up to? Like what is SAE, Cycling, Juwel, etc?

2. I just setup the planted tank last week but I do not know the names of the plants I have in it. Can I send someone pictures so you can tell me?

3. Its been a long boring fishless week... I am getting nowhere except nearer to plant problems. I've got those ribbon-like plants which I used for creating a backdrop... but it is browning at the edges some a little more severely at the tips. Others are turning yellow and twisting. I've had some snails pop up and am also noticing some holes in a line...

Secondly, I've had some plants that look like the Glossostigma (only they grow upwards instead or carpet out)... and spots are appearing on the leaves.

Thirdly, I've got some purplish red leaved plants which are discoloring to bright pink...

Sheesh... hope to get some advise on that. I am guessing it might be nutrient deficiency? I am dosing the water with Sera Florena Iron and Minerals in addition to the base fertiliser. Help!

4. How are weekly water changes done? Do you remove the fish? Was thinking that if not, they might be affected by the new chlorinated water?

5. Anyone knows where I can get rummy nose tetras? couldn't find them at Rainbow, Petmart, NA and some other LFS I visited.

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## vinz

Yeah, the aquatic FAQ is a new section. It'll take a little time to fill up.

Anyway...

2. Post your pictures here. Then more ppl can see and help you. You need to upload your pictures to a webserver first, then link from here by providing a URL or link the pictures using bbcode. If you can upload the pictures somewhere, some of us can help you link it if you give us the URL.

3. Ribbon like plant is probably Vallisneria. Known to take a few weeks to establish itself. Meanwhile, remove any dead/dying leaves but otherwise leave it alone.

Snails are normal... they come with the plants. Not a bad thing, they are part of the ecology of your tank. Most will leave your healthy plants alone. Usually they feed on algae and dead/dying plant tissue. However, their population should be controlled. Can do so using loaches, dwarf cichlids and manual removal.

The spots on the glosso like are probably algae if they are dark green or black. If it's brown or yellow spots then could be deficiency. Stop fertilisation for now. Start again when the plants settle in.

Glosso will grow upwards if there is insufficient light.

Purplish to pink, i.e losing the redness... could be lack of iron or light. What are your light levels?

4. Change 25% to 30% of water every one or two weeks. 2 weeks is pretty ok. Do not remove fishes... other then stressing them, you stress yourself trying to catch them, and probably damage the plants at the same time. Get a de-cholorinator from LFS if you're concerned. Some of us here don't bother as SG water is pretty low in chlorine. Your risk to take.

Do let us know more details about your tank like, tank size, amount of light, any CO2.

Welcome aboard. Go have a poke around www.thekrib.com to find out more about the hobby. Check out www.tropica.com for their online plant catalog. They have a visual catalog... click on the words 'Plant Catalog' above the alphabaetical list. www.dennerle.de has a plant catalog too.

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## anakin

Hi eprouve, I'm a newbie also. Just reading up to know more too. In fact I don't even have a tank yet. [ :Grin: ] 

SAE refers to Siamese Algae Eater, look for that type that has a black strip running from its sides to the caudal fin - that type will eat algae continously. Those with stripes that terminates before the fin will eat only some type of algae and periodically. Just out of curiosity how much lights are you having now?

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## vinz

Click here for a thread about abbreviations.

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## eprouve

Thanks Vinz.

Is BBcode like HTML?
Anyway, here are the photos of the plant problems. Photo names are also the symptoms.  :Wink: 

http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fish...owningedge.JPG
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/holes.JPG
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/yellowtwist.JPG
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/spots.JPG
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/discolour.JPG

Here are the photos of my tank in general and the plants which I want to ID:
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/tankoct.JPG http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/grasslike.JPG
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/plants.JPG
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/fishies/pot.JPG

As for tank details, It is 2 ft X 1 ft X 1 ft (24 in X 14 in X 15 in). I Used 10 kg of gravel. Lights are One 36W which are on approximately 8 - 10 hrs a day. Temporarily using tablet CO2 until I put fish in.

 :Razz:

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## juggler

I think Geocities doesn't allow display of images by direct referencing. Why don't you create a simple web page of the photos and we can view from there? Or alternatively, craate a photo album in Yahoo?

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## vinz

The BBCode dictionary is in the section below your message textbox when you compose a message.

We can't view your pics. Geocities say they are do not exist.

Your tank is 20 US Gallons. For a planted tank, you need 2.5 to 3 Watts/Gallon. 3 or higher W/Gal for light demanding plants. So for your tank you'll need 50 to 60 Watts or higher of light. It depends on what plants you have.

You'll also need more CO2 then what fishes can provide. You can DIY CO2 cheaply and easily using a plastic softdrink bottle, yeast, sugar, baking soda and water. Look in the Aquatic FAQ for instructions.

Are you using and base or substrate fertiliser? What about liquid fertililser?

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## eprouve

Hi,

Sorry... made a little mistake with directories and stuff...
so the image links should read as follows:

http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag...owningedge.JPG 
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag...hies/holes.JPG 
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag...ellowtwist.JPG 
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag...hies/spots.JPG 
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag.../discolour.JPG 

Here are the photos of my tank in general and the plants which I want to ID: 
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag...es/tankoct.JPG http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag.../grasslike.JPG 
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag...ies/plants.JPG 
http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/images/Fishies/pot.JPG 


Finally one last picture... I put in some pink shrimps... are these Japanese Cherry Shrimps? Someone please look and tell me. Thanks!

http://sg.geocities.com/eprouve/imag...ies/cherry.JPG

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## eprouve

Yes. Am using substrate fertliser acccording to Chan at NA. One small box suitable for my tank. Not the kind that I have to put heaps of under the gravel. Just one box in between layers of gravel.

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## eprouve

Sorry so troublesome... one more question... how do you get rid of the dusty looking stuff which collects over days on the surface of the water?

p/s: I don't see any bbcode under the window. only smileys[ :Grin: ]

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## budak

when you click &amp;quot;reply&amp;quot; do you see below the smilies a line &amp;quot;Forum Posting Rules&amp;quot;? On the far right is the word &amp;quot;Maximise&amp;quot;. Click on that to see BB code directory link.

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## Simon

that is a yamato, but looks like turning to a heibee soon

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## eprouve

*Bright buld lights up above head* [:0] 

Ok... sorry was such an idiot... haha!
So here are the pictures...

My plant problems:










Here are the photos of my tank in general and the plants which I want to ID: 








Finally one last picture... I put in some pink shrimps... are these Japanese Cherry Shrimps? Someone please look and tell me. Thanks!



Sorry, haibee? What's that? They were sold about $1.50 each at Petmart. The shop assistant said they were &amp;quot;Japanese Red Shrimps&amp;quot; (directly translated from mandarin) so I assumed they were Cherry Shrimps. Sheesh...

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## vinz

You're forgiven... BUT, we still can't see your pics - GeoCities won;t allow it. You can see them, cos the pics are already cached in your machine. The most straight forward way I think is for you to create a simple webpage with the pics.

Anyway, I cut and pasted the URLs and have seen the pics. My 2 replies stands. I don't recognise the other plants. You need to increase your lights, add CO2 and Iron fert if you want your plants to outcompete the algae, glosso to stay low, and your plants to stay red. The Vals will die back before establishing themselves. Remove the dead leaves and leave the plant alone. Mine took 2 months before it's starting to grow taller.

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## eprouve

right. thanks. what will happen if i don't remove the dead leaves? is it really harmful? I've got over 10 shrimps in the tank. :Wink:

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## PeterGwee

Your tank might be still cycling so any rotting stuff won't be converted by those bacteria into stuff that your plants can use as they are still low in population...hence your water will turn bad much quicker! So remove as much rotting stuff as fast as possible to prevent further worsening of water conditions.

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## eprouve

Roger roger!

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## vinz

Remove what you can. don't have to be 100% clean. As much as possible is the operative phrase here.

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