# Cabomba Catastrophe



## Aconyte (Jun 2, 2013)

Ok, so maybe it's not as dire as a catastrophe, but I liked the alliteration. Anywho, decided I wanted to plant my 5gal Fluval Spec V. Went to the local Big Al's and after much humming and hawing and talking with an employee I picked out a cabomba. I'm trying to emulate Japanese landscape in my tank, so the bamboo-like stems were perfect for what I wanted and I loved the shape of the leaves/needles. The label on the tank said 'Easy' and when I asked the employee about needing planting substrate or plant food, how much light it needed, etc. he just said I didn't need to worry about it too much, the plant would take care of itself. Needless to say I had to pull the plant out of my betta's tank because it had begun to rot and hadn't taken root at all. My moss balls are still alright, so that's a blessing, but I don't want to give up on having a cabomba in my tank at all. Any suggestions on prepping my tank for another go at this lovely plant?


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## lilnaugrim (Mar 27, 2013)

Do you know how hard or soft your water is?

Cabomda needs moderate to high lighting but will survive in low lighting. All plants need about 8 hours of light a day and a liquid fertlizer will certainly help out if you want to use one  Plants also tend to like softer water rather than hard so if you can get a piece of driftwood in there, that would be great but if not no worries 

I use liquid ferts on my tanks, instead of one dose a week like they say on the label, I split it in half and use two smaller doses a week, they really enjoy that. And for substrate, doesn't really matter. All plants will pretty much grow in anything


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## Aconyte (Jun 2, 2013)

I don't have hard water at all, and I am using Prime by Seachem to condition the water. I just realized yesterday I wasn't leaving the light on long enough because I work all day and have had it off when I'm gone, and then on for the few hours I'm awake when I get home. Now, the cabomba came in a little clump that looked to be held together with styrofoam and a metal clip ring. Should I have taken that off before I put it in my tank? Also, what brand of liquid fertilizer do you suggest?


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## Nicci Lu (Jan 7, 2013)

Leaving the cabomba clumped together didn't allow light to get to the stems. You want to plant the stems about an inch apart.

What type of lighting do you have? Not only is photoperiod important, but the range of kelvins is important, too. 6500K is what you want to shoot for. What is your total wattage?

Seachem's Flourish is the best fert, IMO. But then, I've become a Seachem groupie, lol.


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## Aconyte (Jun 2, 2013)

There are 35 LEDs in the light fixture that came with it. I've seen other people plant this exact tank with no issues, so I wasn't too worried about the lighting before. Thanks for the tip about planting them, and I'll look into the Seachem stuff. There's nothing wrong with being a groupie for something that works, and works well, lol.


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## jennesque (May 11, 2011)

Make sure to get Seachem Flourish comprehensive if you go for that product. I also like Brightwell Aquatics products, and they sell a similar product to Flourish Comp.

And yes, make sure to plant each stem separately. And know that in lower light, it will grow more 'stemy' looking (more distance between the leaf nodes) but it should still thrive.
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Aconyte (Jun 2, 2013)

Stemy is perfect, I'd love it to look more like bamboo. Thanks for all the help!


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