# Got new live plants! What to do now...?



## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

I just purchased the following plants online. Will get the delivery in 2-3 days. I went by my gut instinct and selected these, trying to pick low CO2 and fertiliser requirements. However, few of them had medium CO2 and fertiliser requirements... but they looked so pretty in the photos that I could not resist selecting them. I am assuming all these 13 varieties will come to me in very small quantities. The tank is just 3 gallons. Please please please give me any tips and advise on these. I am inquisitive to do a proper research on these. I am getting hooked to this hobby... 

1) Hydrocotyle Tripartita "Honda" - LOOSE
Qty: 10 Unit Price: INR 8 Total: INR 75

2) Ludwigia Repens 10 x 5 = 50

3) Ludwigia Sedioides 5 x 8 = 38

4) Cabomba Piauhyensis 25 x 3 = 63

5) Bacopa Caroliniana 10 x 3 = 25

6) Hygrophila Difformis "Variegated" 2 x 19 = 38

7) Lindernia Rotundifolia 'Variegated' 10 x 10 = 100

8) Elatine Triandra - LOOSE 25 x 3 = 63

9) Hygrophila Difformis 10 x 3 = 25

10) Ammania sp. Bonsai 10 x 13 = 125

11) Sagittaria sp. Dwarf 10 x 4 = 38

12) Cabomba Caroliniana 25 x 3 = 63

13) Rotala Rotundifolia 'Hi Red' 10 x 5 = 50

14) Egeria Najas 10 x 1 = 13 


Items INR 763
Shipping & handling INR 365
Total INR 1,128

My current tank is just 3 gallons. Has sand substrate, a driftwood with a few anubias tied to it. One betta and one zebra nerite snail. Tank currently looks bare. I will be receiving the above plants in two days time.


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## juanitawolf (May 12, 2014)

well, that looks indeed like a lot of plants
i don't know very much about plants but i had a cabomba and they are kind of picky when it comes to filtering, they don't like current but if dirt sits on top of their leaves they die...they also are very delicate and make a lot of dirt


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## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

Thank you @juanitawolf. Practical experiences do speak a thousand words. Thank you for your inputs. 

No matter how much i try to find out online, the merchant sites will have only good things written about the plants. Hence, seeking help with practical inputs of who have owned and know these plants. If i move ahead without knowledge, it would lead to me sacrificing the plants... in other words making a mistake and then learning.


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## haley3k1 (Dec 20, 2015)

I think you'll need to do pruning fairly often in such a small tank. And also frequent fert as they'll all be competing for the same nutrients. Some CO2 injections will also be necessary. Depending on who you got them from, they could be a foot tall when you get them or even seedlings. My advice before you get them is to make sure you know how each one needs to be planted. Some are deep rooters and need to be planted with thick substrate, some are very picky about their rhizomes being too covered, and some can't be planted at all, but floated or attached to a rock or wood. A lot of those aren't the easiest to take care of and require specialty care. For example, Ammania sp. Bonsai likes very high lighting and can melt in lower light. Elaiine Triandra needs lots of fertilizer, especially iron. I'd say you need to have 2 watts per gallon at the very least of 6500k lighting, but a few like the Cabomba like high light around 3 watts per gallon or more. That's very true about merchants only having the plus sides of their plants. I hope all goes well when you get them. You should update us and add some pictures! We'd love to see them. :-D


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## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

Yes, thank you @haley3k1! I will definitely upload pictures. I am adding your inputs to my thesis. Yesterday i made notes on each of the plants in my notebook. Also watched some videos on YouTube about how to plant. Before the plants arrive, I really want to be prepared. All your help and forum members' help in knowing more about any of these plants would be great! 

I will post my findings when I transfer the notes from my book to the laptop.

Question in my mind: Once the plants are delivered, and If I want the plants to survive for a week before they are planted, can I do something on those lines? Or do I have to make sure they are immediately planted and up and running?


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## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

Update: Just ordered for a tank 24" length x 18" height x 15" depth with a clear 8mm glass and some 54 W of light fixture on the top. The light sounds ok...? Or should it be more powerful?


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## ThatFishThough (Jan 15, 2016)

Search "watts per gallon calcualtor" on Google.

EtA - Apparently your tank is about 28G. Take 54 divided by 28 --- what do you get?


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## juanitawolf (May 12, 2014)

you don't need to immediately plant them...but as often as possible


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## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

haley3k1 said:


> I think you'll need to do pruning fairly often in such a small tank. And also frequent fert as they'll all be competing for the same nutrients. Some CO2 injections will also be necessary. Depending on who you got them from, they could be a foot tall when you get them or even seedlings. My advice before you get them is to make sure you know how each one needs to be planted. Some are deep rooters and need to be planted with thick substrate, some are very picky about their rhizomes being too covered, and some can't be planted at all, but floated or attached to a rock or wood. A lot of those aren't the easiest to take care of and require specialty care. For example, Ammania sp. Bonsai likes very high lighting and can melt in lower light. Elaiine Triandra needs lots of fertilizer, especially iron. I'd say you need to have 2 watts per gallon at the very least of 6500k lighting, but a few like the Cabomba like high light around 3 watts per gallon or more. That's very true about merchants only having the plus sides of their plants. I hope all goes well when you get them. You should update us and add some pictures! We'd love to see them. :-D



I made some more progress. 

So, the tank 24x18x15 is in making - 8 mm clear polished glass. Approx comes to 28 gallon, minus the substrate would be around 90 litres. 

Filter selected: EHEIM Classic 250 Aquarium External Canister Filter. 

Light: 2 PL bulbs of 38 W each and a tubelight of 15 W. Comes to around 85 W approx. Cabomba as you said will take 3 W per gallon. So 28 gallon x 3 W = 84 W. 

Soil: Will be using the ADA Amazonia, with ADA Super 4. Someone is suggesting to use power sand (but i am clueless on power sand yet).

Plants: Research is still in progress. Cancelling the Ludwigia Sedioides. Apparently it is a pond floating plant with roots in the soil. And its very big too. Secondly, avoiding any floating plants as they may steal the light source from the plants in the tank.

Phew ~ now going back to research on the plants more and how to plant them... the sequence, the technique. The scape... 0

Please drop in your helpful comments buddies!!! Thanks a lot!


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## juanitawolf (May 12, 2014)

you can order some root tabs just in case


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## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

juanitawolf said:


> you can order some root tabs just in case


Thanks @juanita. Root tabs? Okk... so these should be layered below the substrate in the beginning? Or will they work as a fertilizer later on after the plants are all in?


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## Veloran (Jun 28, 2014)

pmmalhotra said:


> Thanks @juanita. Root tabs? Okk... so these should be layered below the substrate in the beginning? Or will they work as a fertilizer later on after the plants are all in?



What you want to do push the root tabs into the substrate near the roots of the plants after you've planted them, that way the plants will feed off them as they grow. You will want to check the directions on the brand of tabs you buy as there will be a minimum distance from another root tab that you will want to have each. You also want to make sure that you push them deep into the substrate since, if they come into contact with the water column, they will release a lot of nutrients there and you might well end up with an algae bloom (been there done that :crying.


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## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

Oh oh! Read so much about algae menace. Too much unabsorbed nutrition floating around is like welcoming algae, is what I understood. 

Thank you for the tip! I will try best to not make any mistakes and I hope I can keep algae away.

I am trying to find out how much and what kind of nutrition these plants will require. There are so many products of seachem... potassium, iron, and tons more. :-/


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## Veloran (Jun 28, 2014)

One thing I learned is that you'll read and read and make sure you know every detail. Then you'll fuss and fawn over your tank and then you'll get it wrong. Then over the next few months of worrying about your tank, you'll suddenly realize that you're starting to get an innate understanding of what your plants need and when they need it. Well, that's how it happened with me anyway.


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## pmmalhotra (Apr 24, 2016)

Veloran said:


> One thing I learned is that you'll read and read and make sure you know every detail. Then you'll fuss and fawn over your tank and then you'll get it wrong. Then over the next few months of worrying about your tank, you'll suddenly realize that you're starting to get an innate understanding of what your plants need and when they need it. Well, that's how it happened with me anyway.


Ha ha ha! Omg! 

Won't be able to rest till I know of each plant.... &#55357;&#56841;


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## MadtownD (Aug 29, 2014)

I went the opposite route, just some food for thought. I set up a low tech tank (Finnex Stingray light), ordered a lot of plants, and let the plants decide which did well under my conditions (no ferts no CO2, soil plus sand cap). Initially, I put a lot of stress and thought into trying to understand what the plants needed, and many died anyway- eventually I realized that every tank is different (I've got very hard water for example), and it's much easier to form an aquascape around what does well under what I'm willing to do. Eg Hygrophila lost its lower leaves and required frquent trims unless I aquascaped very carefully...out it went. Ludwigia has done well. You might think about what aquascape you want, and experiment with which plants thrive for you with those characteristics. Eg the small chain sword was not successful, so I tried dwarf sag which has stayed small in my light and carpeted nicely. Good luck!


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