Switched to Planted

[AL2]

Well, I finally made the switch to live plants this past weekend.

I invested in a replacement 36" 96 watt 6700K compact fluorescent lamp by Coralife. (thanks Anglemom)

Plants:

Radican Sword
Corkscrew Val
Myrio Filigree
Ozelot Sword
Red Melon Sword
Amazon Compacta Sword

I hope I didn't over due it. The tank looks great but wow is this light bright! I was planning on about 8 hours a day with the light to see how it goes.

I already noticed my 1 female Rosy Barb nipping at the plants? If I start feeding she stops. I haven't noticed the males or any of the other fish nipping at the new plants.

[aquak]

Rosy barbs will eat algae, so it may have been nibbling what was on the leaf, rather than the leaf itself. They may also nip at the leaves, mine do and so does one of my angelfish, but not enough to be a problem and I'm happy to have a source of natural food for them as long as they don't overdo.

[AL2]

Thanks for the reply. After several days now its looks like the Barbs won't be too much trouble.

As far as the plants go, I'm not adding any C02 and don't know if I'll need to. Also I read that if the leaves start to turn yellow it could indicate a low iron problem?

[AngelMom]

I don't know how accurate it is, but I found this page to be somewhat helpful. http://www.csd.net/~cgadd/aqua/art_plant_nutrient.htm
Maybe someone else can corroberate (sp?) the info.

[AL2]

Thanks for the link. Some good information there.

[AL2]

Update,

Everything seems to have settled down. I lost a couple of leaves on the Compacta Swords but thats it.

Some of my Filigree is growing about 1/2 inch per day! Wow!

Thinking about making the DYI CO2 this weekend with a powerhead/reactor tube.