Did I start with enough plants?

[MattyM]

Hi all - after a long time away from the hobby, I'm starting up again with a 10 and 20 gallon, doing plant/fertilizer cycling - no fish/snails. These tanks have been up for about a week and a half, and have received 3 doses of Easy Green - so far things are looking good. Plants were from the co-op, and I put them, basket and all, in the tanks for a few days before planting to help gain some of their bacteria. But I'm wondering, did I start with enough plants? I believe some of these are slow growers, and may not fill in very fast.

In the 20 gal: Amazon Sword, Brazilian Pennywort, Monte Carlo, Dwarf Sagittaria, Cryptocoryne Tropica

In the 10 gal: Bacopa Caroliniana, Micro Sword, Cryptocoryne Lutea

I believe I'm starting to see small signs of new growth - no algae yet, but tanks are in my basement office. I've ramped up to having lights on at least 8 hours (Stingrays). 

Water params according to co-op test strips:

• Nitrite has crept up to about 1, from 0, so I suppose it's time for that nitrate chomping bacteria to ramp up (?)
• Nitrate is around 20, after increasing dose frequency 
• Hardness is purple - I know we have pretty hard water here in Chicago but it's hard to match the color I'm seeing
• Buffer is medium-high (prob 140ish)
• I know from homebrewing that our tap ph is 7.9 or 8 - strips seem to register lower than that
• Chlorine is 0

Water temp is 76F.

What do you think? 

As for the driftwood bacteria/fungus, from what I've researched I'm not worried about it - just sorry I don't have anything to munch on that. I actually think it looks pretty cool. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by MattyM
correction

[lefty o]

did you start with enough... thats entirely up to you.  plants are great in a tank, so any live plants are a bonus. i think you are okay for a starting point. give it a month or two and see what lives, what dies, and what grows. after that you can adjust and add more or different.

[Mmiller2001]

Personally, I'd shoot for a minimum 70% planted. But budget in reason. 

[nabokovfan87]

On 7/15/2022 at 8:41 AM, MattyM said:

In the 20 gal: Amazon Sword, Brazilian Pennywort, Monte Carlo, Dwarf Sagittaria, Cryptocoryne Tropica

In the 10 gal: Bacopa Caroliniana, Micro Sword, Cryptocoryne Lutea

You have a few slower and few faster growing plants, so I think you're good! 

If you wish to, you might have luck spreading out the Dwarf Sag and microsword a bit.  Entirely up to you.

[xXInkedPhoenixX]

The real question Matty is did you start with enough plants foooorrrr ?? 

How much/many plants is totally subjective it's all about what you want your end result to be- as has been mentioned by @lefty o ANY live plants is a great start. Some of those are stem plants that are easily cut and replanted when they mature so you may have plenty and then some. 

If you want to be super plant-centric like my friend @Mmiller2001 his advice for 70% is great- or even if you're aiming for a jungle style tank. 

Some people (like myself) start with say the amount you do and see where I need to fill in later when plants start to grow. 

Some never finish with their plants and are constantly changing things. 

Plus then you have to consider time, budget, maintenance etc of each plant you bring in. 

Edited July 15, 2022 by xXInkedPhoenixX

[MattyM]

Thanks @nabokovfan87 I did split the micro sword into 2, it seemed fragile so didn't push it - 1 of them has a runner on it. 

Also thanks to @Mmiller2001 and @xXInkedPhoenixX - do you mean 70% of the tank space? 

 

[Mmiller2001]

On 7/15/2022 at 1:16 PM, MattyM said:

Thanks @nabokovfan87 I did split the micro sword into 2, it seemed fragile so didn't push it - 1 of them has a runner on it. 

Also thanks to @Mmiller2001 and @xXInkedPhoenixX - do you mean 70% of the tank space? 

 

Yes.

[Flumpweesel]

I like to build up plants slowly so they have good nutrients while they establish and I don't want to spend more on fertilisers than fish food. 

Put to many in at once on a new tank and you could end up losing some just because there isn't the waste for them to consume.

Also its fun to change things up down the line

[Betta]

I agree with both posts above ☝️ 

it just depends on how many plants you want down the line

having them in there while it cycles was really good for our plants our Java fern had ten babies by the time we were ready to add fish almost 2 month later

(we were new to the hobby and wanted to be sure we were cycled and ready)

 

[JoeQ]

If you have to ask if you started with enough plants, you probably didn't. In my expirence, when you think to yourself 'crap, I ordered way too many plants' thats an indication of starting with the perfect amount! 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Edited July 18, 2022 by JoeQ

[AnotherHumanPerson]

I’d say let it grow out a bit. Once you are done cycling, judge the amount of plants you have. Wether you have enough then is completely up to you. I usually like to have a decent amount of plants before I ad any fish, and let it grow with the extra nutrients from the fish until it looks like a jungle with still enough swim space for the fish. However, that’s just me. Maybe you want a decent amount of plants but still enough space to see substrate/hardscape. Just observe over time and adjust as you seem fit.

[Cinnebuns]

On 7/15/2022 at 10:41 AM, MattyM said:

Hi all - after a long time away from the hobby, I'm starting up again with a 10 and 20 gallon, doing plant/fertilizer cycling - no fish/snails. These tanks have been up for about a week and a half, and have received 3 doses of Easy Green - so far things are looking good. Plants were from the co-op, and I put them, basket and all, in the tanks for a few days before planting to help gain some of their bacteria. But I'm wondering, did I start with enough plants? I believe some of these are slow growers, and may not fill in very fast.

In the 20 gal: Amazon Sword, Brazilian Pennywort, Monte Carlo, Dwarf Sagittaria, Cryptocoryne Tropica

In the 10 gal: Bacopa Caroliniana, Micro Sword, Cryptocoryne Lutea

I believe I'm starting to see small signs of new growth - no algae yet, but tanks are in my basement office. I've ramped up to having lights on at least 8 hours (Stingrays). 

Water params according to co-op test strips:

• Nitrite has crept up to about 1, from 0, so I suppose it's time for that nitrate chomping bacteria to ramp up (?)
• Nitrate is around 20, after increasing dose frequency 
• Hardness is purple - I know we have pretty hard water here in Chicago but it's hard to match the color I'm seeing
• Buffer is medium-high (prob 140ish)
• I know from homebrewing that our tap ph is 7.9 or 8 - strips seem to register lower than that
• Chlorine is 0

Water temp is 76F.

What do you think? 

As for the driftwood bacteria/fungus, from what I've researched I'm not worried about it - just sorry I don't have anything to munch on that. I actually think it looks pretty cool. 

I have nothing productive to say other than that that is one amazingly interesting piece of driftwood on the top!

[MattyM]

Thanks all! I did wind up ordering some more - should arrive in a couple days. I had some die back on the Barcopa and Pennywort (roots got rotten on some stems - I salvaged what I could and am floating the clippings), and am now into the brown algae/diatom stage of my cycling. Am hoping some more plants will help clear that up while filling things out. Will probably add some Ramshorns to help out too.