Setting up plant grow out tank ?s

[Atitagain]

Gonna be setting up a plant grow out tank. Will mostly be stem plants, although need to be prepared for rooted plants as well. Tank will be 20G high with sponge filtration. Temperature will be set 78* that is average for rest of my tanks. Light is Aquaneat LED full spectrum and will start with a 8 hour siesta schedule. This will be bare bottom and white background on 3 sides. For stocking I was thinking to keep it small and easy care, some danios, pond snails, and a couple mystery snails.
Stem plants will be held against tank walls with airline clips @Guppysnailidea 😀 or weighted down to bottom. For rooted or rhizome plants I was thinking, using ACO easy planters this way I could keep them in their shipping pots or easily weigh them down inside them. Fertilizing with easy green and root tabs as needed.

Is there anything I’m forgetting? Things to watch out for in a grow out tank? Any tips? or alterations I need to make to my plan?

[FiShrewd]

i suggest you only keep otto's

and make sure they are healthy before they are dumped in an algae ground

not necessary but you could do some substrate like layer 1 power sand layer 2 ada soil and layer 3 sand

also [this is my personal opinion] you should use ada super 4 according to tank size and also cycle the tank

 

the super 4 is not that important but it will or hopefully should help speed up the nitrogen cycle

[FiShrewd]

shrimp work too

and in my opinion you could even breed shrimp

[Atitagain]

@FiShrewdthanks for the help. Ottos and shrimp could be an option for sure I already breed cherry shrimp, probably got close to 300 scattered throughout my tanks. Not sure on doing a substrate tho, not really wanting anything to take hold and be a mess to remove. This would be more of get roots growing good then plant in other tanks.

[FiShrewd]

all i mean is use algae eaters to remove algae 

:]

 

[Guppysnail]

I would remove them from the pot so the roots have easier access to the easy green. I would be guessing but it would seem to be able to access more if it did not have to soak through the rock wool. Also the ones with more delicate roots the roots would break apart easier if you planned to remove the the rock wool and pot. My swords and stems grow fantastic roots just tied to things or suction cupped. If the rock wool pot and easy planter are permanent go for it. 😁 this all sounds like a great plan. 

[Atitagain]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:11 PM, Guppysnail said:

I would remove them from the pot so the roots have easier access to the easy green. I would be guessing but it would seem to be able to access more if it did not have to soak through the rock wool. Also the ones with more delicate roots the roots would break apart easier if you planned to remove the the rock wool and pot. My swords and stems grow fantastic roots just tied to things or suction cupped. If the rock wool pot and easy planter are permanent go for it. 😁 this all sounds like a great plan. 

It’s funny sometimes I think something out and it sounds like such a good idea. Then someone who actually knows what their doing comes along, lol of course they would grow better out of the wool and even without the planter blocking water flow. 
I’ll figure some of this out one day. Thank you

[Guppysnail]

On 9/28/2021 at 10:32 PM, Atitagain said:

someone who actually knows what their doing

This would NOT be me 🤣

[Guppysnail]

I have never put emphasis on my plants until recently with the new siesta method is why I said that. Even though my plants have always done well I feel like a newbie with this new method and acceleration of growth I’m so excited and looking to try new plants I never thought I could grow. I’m going to take some photos when the fish wake up for you on different plants I have great roots on and how I got the root structure to grow each for you. 

[Guppysnail]

I tied these swords to a resin thing I had to lift them up in the deeper tank until they got going good. I marked where I loosely tied then 

im very excited to see what other ways you come up with and following the progress on your plant grow out  

For anubias I was unsure of final home I bunched the roots with a plant weight so they would not adhere to anything so remained mineable without root damage when I moved them I unfurled the roots

this lugwiga I zip tied the stem to spider wood it’s the lugwiga that recently turned bright red

I start all my pennywort this way. This had no roots when I ordered it last week

[Atitagain]

Such great info thanks so much.

im gonna be starting setting all this up today. I have a couple Anubis that need help and I’m gonn propagate some stems 😃

[Guppysnail]

On 9/29/2021 at 9:13 AM, Atitagain said:

Such great info thanks so much.

im gonna be starting setting all this up today. I have a couple Anubis that need help and I’m gonn propagate some stems 😃

Cut your anubias rhizome into 2-3 pieces. Keep minimum 2 leaves preferably 3 on each. That’s how I have 20+ anubias on a tight budget. I read on a thread here I THINK someone does swords by cutting in half. I will try to find the thread. You can do stem plants this way once they are adjusted and through the melt phase. If you take it’s then I can show you where to cut. 😁

[Atitagain]

On 9/29/2021 at 10:02 AM, Guppysnail said:

Cut your anubias rhizome into 2-3 pieces. Keep minimum 2 leaves preferably 3 on each. That’s how I have 20+ anubias on a tight budget. I read on a thread here I THINK someone does swords by cutting in half. I will try to find the thread. You can do stem plants this way once they are adjusted and through the melt phase. If you take it’s then I can show you where to cut. 😁

I will try to find an Anubias for that, I think only ones I have that could get cut are in my rummys breeding tank and I don’t wanna disturb anything in there. The ones I have that need help are in real bad shape only have 1-2 leaves total. Would love to cut a sword, I have 2 that I would chance for sure. I’ll take pics of all and post here.