Introduced Plants to brand new tank, neglected to remove nutrient cloth before introducing them

[Treysta]

Hi there, it's good to meet all of you! I am a very early-stages aquarium hobbyist working on a low-tech 10-gallon tank setup that I long-term want to be able to keep neocaridina shrimp in. But for starters, I want to establish the tank with a quality array of plant life, which will help me to hone my aquarium-keeping skill set while building out an environment that the shrimp can hopefully thrive in.

OK, onto my issue: I had aquarium plants shipped in from Aquarium Co-Op and BucePlant, and bought more from a local decor store all in the same span within the first few days of having the tank set up -- three Anubias, which have been secured to driftwood pieces, two cryptocorynes embedded into the substrate, a pad of Java Moss that's been scattered across the tank, and tissue culture of Christmas Moss that's collected in a few clumps in the tank.

I have noticed some browning and deterioration but have come to understand that this is a natural process of "melting" as they acclimate to the tank's water, especially as some of them may have been grown out of water and are now growing accustomed to being fully submerged. 

However, I made a mistake when I initially introduced them into the tank and did not fully remove the nutrient-pack cloth that they are encased in when you first receive them. I removed the outer shell encasing the roots but did not pick out the finer pieces that are wedged between the roots -- this is for all of the Anubias and cryptocorynes -- and at the moment some of the plants still have these, other pieces I've found floating in the tank and pick them out as I come across them. My question is whether I am better served allowing these nutrient cloth wrap remnants to remain in place or if I am better off getting the plants out of the water and pulling the pieces out to free those roots. 

Tank Details - 10G, long

Filtration is a Tetra Whisper 10G and a sponge filter (from Aquarium Co-Op)

Substrate is crushed black lava rock and diamond black sand

18W Hygger light, I run it on 10% brightness for 8 hours a day

Other tank inclusions: three pieces of spiderwood, and a group of chollo wood pieces.

Tank Parameters: 8 kH, 8 gH, 8.2 pH, 67 F temp (going without a heater for the shrimp, which I know will inhibit the growth speed of the plants), 3-4 ppm ammonia, 0.0 nitrites, 0.0 nitrates (going on its 7th day of cycling, so nowhere near an established BB colony)

Attaching aquarium pic for reference. Please let me know what else I can include! Thanks!

[MattyM]

I've seen Cory (Co-op owner) plant plants with the plastic basket and all - so I wouldn't be too worried about it. 

Also, I have a 9 gallon betta tank where I gave the plants a few months head start - and then when I added the Betta some of the melted again! I guess he changed the water chemistry enough for the plants to have to re-adjust again, so just FYI. Also - I would get even more plants if you can 🙂

[Treysta]

On 10/17/2024 at 2:00 PM, MattyM said:

I've seen Cory (Co-op owner) plant plants with the plastic basket and all - so I wouldn't be too worried about it. 

Also, I have a 9 gallon betta tank where I gave the plants a few months head start - and then when I added the Betta some of the melted again! I guess he changed the water chemistry enough for the plants to have to re-adjust again, so just FYI. Also - I would get even more plants if you can 🙂

Thanks so much for the quick reply here, Matt! I really appreciate it. Also, nice to meet you! This context is helpful, and it's also good to know that I may see changes to the plants even after I am introducing shrimp to the equation as their bioload may impact levels and subsequently the plants. And yes, I am adding more plants! I've got another shipment on the way, which is partially why I wanted to make sure to get this learning in advance of my newest crop being added in -- I've got a Java Moss Mat (I want even more carpeting and have heard the neo shrimp are all about it!), Java Fern, Amazon Sword, and Water Sprite en route. Super excited to get the tank looking even greener!

So glad to hear that the cloth nutrients aren't inherently a danger to the plants' survival or my tank, and the insight that successful plantings with the entire cloth included have been done before!! 

[Maximus]

@Cory made a video just 3 months ago on the subject:

 

TL;DR it's probably going to be fine except for stem plants.

[Treysta]

On 10/17/2024 at 3:40 PM, Maximus said:

@Cory made a video just 3 months ago on the subject:

TL;DR it's probably going to be fine except for stem plants.

Wow this is super insightful/detailed and pretty much covers my question/concern in its entirety!! Thank you so much for sharing that, Maximus. Nice to meet you, by the way! 

[MWilk]

You’ll probably want to try to get the pH down a bit more than worrying about a few bits of rock wool. It’s inert, it won’t hurt anything, but little bits of it will float around as it falls apart. You’re going about it the right way. 

[Treysta]

On 10/17/2024 at 7:51 PM, MWilk said:

You’ll probably want to try to get the pH down a bit more than worrying about a few bits of rock wool. It’s inert, it won’t hurt anything, but little bits of it will float around as it falls apart. You’re going about it the right way. 

This has been an interesting consideration for me as I'm starting out on a pretty tough spot with 8.8 out of the tap. It's diminished somewhat once in the tank but nothing special to treat it -- inert substrate, no Fluval Stratum and no peat moss or anything else that people recommend for reduction of pH. Something that often came up in my searching is that chasing pH reduction is a losing battle, and that your plant and livestock will adjust accordingly as long as the water maintains stability and other parameters are within a safe range for them. Is an 8.2 pH high enough to kill the plants, in your experience? Or what is the impact of it on them? Reduced growth? Just trying to weigh my options as I certainly want a successful planted tank but I also want to be mindful of introducing pH-reducing means that could bite me in other ways -- but always open to suggestion or insight as I am still so new to this world!! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and share this insight, and it's nice to meet you!

[MWilk]

 

On 10/17/2024 at 9:51 PM, Treysta said:

This has been an interesting consideration for me as I'm starting out on a pretty tough spot with 8.8 out of the tap. It's diminished somewhat once in the tank but nothing special to treat it -- inert substrate, no Fluval Stratum and no peat moss or anything else that people recommend for reduction of pH. Something that often came up in my searching is that chasing pH reduction is a losing battle, and that your plant and livestock will adjust accordingly as long as the water maintains stability and other parameters are within a safe range for them. Is an 8.2 pH high enough to kill the plants, in your experience? Or what is the impact of it on them? Reduced growth? Just trying to weigh my options as I certainly want a successful planted tank but I also want to be mindful of introducing pH-reducing means that could bite me in other ways -- but always open to suggestion or insight as I am still so new to this world!! Thank you so much for taking the time to reply and share this insight, and it's nice to meet you!

It’s going to be hard on the shrimp and slows nutrient uptake in plants. Lowering pH is fairly straightforward, you just have to use RO/DI water. Or, just find the plants that do well for you and stick to those instead of trying to produce general ideal parameters.