Plant Attrition

So things are going swimmingly in the tank.

My Amazon order never came so I gave in and went to petsmart after work today to pick up the materials needed to get my fluval 305 operating...so far so good.

The output of the filter is close to a plant with fine needle like leaves. So I understand that it takes plants time to adjust to a new environment but the output blew a lot of this plants needles off.

The bottom of the aquarium sort of looks like a pine forest floor.

Should I try to get some of it up or just leave it?

Well.. what are you using to jump-start your cycling process? The leaves will rot and contrib ammonia I'm pretty sure but it wouldn't hurt to vacuum them out.

I assure you that I will not vacuum them out unless entirely necessary. The hose that came with my tank is a bear and almost as long as my entire block.

This is my first experience with a canister filter and I have so much stuff in there that I had to double layer a few of the baskets. There are also a handful of fish floating around in there and I'm just planning to leave it that way for a while.

I ordered a bunch of java moss that's allegedly the size of a tennis ball. If it's really that big I have no idea what I'll do with it all. Let me know if you want some.

COCOBIRD wrote:I assure you that I will not vacuum them out unless entirely necessary. The hose that came with my tank is a bear and almost as long as my entire block.

This is my first experience with a canister filter and I have so much stuff in there that I had to double layer a few of the baskets. There are also a handful of fish floating around in there and I'm just planning to leave it that way for a while.

I ordered a bunch of java moss that's allegedly the size of a tennis ball. If it's really that big I have no idea what I'll do with it all. Let me know if you want some.

There's a handful of fish floating around in there?

Yeah, I threw in a handful of leftover Captain D's to cycle the tank or whatever...

You put fried fish in your filter?

A solid understanding of the nitrogen cycle is fundamental.

Apologies, dry sarcasm only.

I assure you, there is no fried fish in proximity to the tank~

LMAO. Good one.

Glad to hear it wasn't fried. Every should know that grilled and broiled work much better lol

LOL.

No, I tried to figure out the filter contents from the Fluval diagram but just ended up doing the best I could. So in there I have carbon packets, biomax media, some other kind of media (Matrix), another pouch of something (Purigen?) then more white pads in addition to the vertical white filter pads on the top. More than I've ever seen in a filter to date.

The filter doesn't seem to create any surface break so I put a little air stone in there yesterday to try to move things around.

i have a few fish swimming (not floating) in the tank. Some of them died but the rest seem like they're trying to make it. They're so small they don't seem to get eating at the top of the tank.

You really ought to have a solid cycle established before adding fish.

The next time grab some filter floss from one of my WELL seeded tanks lady!.. It slipped my mind during your last visit. Alowishus and I differ on fish-less cycle and fish-in.. but that is a debate for another day.. bill

Or at least another thread..

Ok.

Next time I come over shopping maybe I'll bring Coco so you can meet him.

COCOBIRD wrote:So things are going swimmingly in the tank.

My Amazon order never came so I gave in and went to petsmart after work today to pick up the materials needed to get my fluval 305 operating...so far so good.

The output of the filter is close to a plant with fine needle like leaves. So I understand that it takes plants time to adjust to a new environment but the output blew a lot of this plants needles off.

The bottom of the aquarium sort of looks like a pine forest floor.

Should I try to get some of it up or just leave it?

hello coco, I would def recommend to move those plants away from the output or the same may keep happening. And as far as the mulm goes that's all up to you but decay of any plant or animal will cause unwanted nutrients and such into your tank. The needle leaf plant also wants pretty decent light usually depending on the species, that may be one reason for the leaf drop, but some seem to shed when transfered from tank to tank probably due to damage to the fragile tissue during transport or any other trama. At least this is all IMO, so take it as you will. Good luck to ya!


Edit: wait I didn't realize that this was a new tank, so with that I will say ammonia does bad things to both plants an animals, so that could very easily be your cause your problems.

I think I'm just going to pull that needle plant entirely. Pretty much all of the leaves are gone and I'm not sure that it will grow back from a stalk only.

I'll try again another time in a less windy spot.

Thanks!

coco... you've 3 types of fine leafed plants. The caboma and hornwort can both be floaters or tucked into the substrate. Cab's will have denser clusters of leaves along the stem, while the hornwort is a bit more dispersed along the stem and probably a bit more fine than the cab. Either will rejuvenate but you know there is more where they came from and you do recall I put a guarantee on them! (I'm still hoeing out plants). I can't recall the name of the third plant even though others on here have given me the name numerous times. Folks?

bill that last one is anacharis.

The hornwart is what fell apart I believe. I took out the clump that was near the filter output but the others in the back I left alone for now. I did take out and trim the vals and put them back in. I got out a lot of dead material today between the water change and the pruning and general sweeping of the tank with my net, so we'll see how things shake out.

One of my lights blew today as well so I'll be heading to the store for yet another purchase.

Sketch.. I don't think its an anacharis ...you identified it before... Rotella or endella? (I can't hear too well)... Bill ..

Hornwart is just a messy plant, I wouldnt get it again

Bill if you got that from me then it is 'thin leaf anachris' and isnt even a true anachris and actually grows in a tank unlike true anachris.

Because you have fish in there vacuum out the plant debris and keep the water as safe as possible for them.........

Sketch... I stand corrected.. BUT I thought you had id'd it once as something different. It was in the 125 in the right fore-front. I realize you're going back quite a while and have looked at 1,000's of tanks since then! So thin leaf anachris it is! bill