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#1 crash812

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 07:49 PM

Hi all.

Just wondering if anyone knew of somewhere to go to get bulk plants.

would need somewhere that I could get good advice and help me to choose a good combination of plants.

I would like to plant a 4', 5', 7' and 2 x 2.5' tanks.

Thanks

Ben

#2 Mr_docfish

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 08:06 PM

Most of the commercial growers know how to grow plants in greenhouses - but growing them underwater is a different kettle of fish....

Aquotix can do bulk buys, and we can get nearly any plant variety that is currently in WA - we deal with most of the local growers and most of the plant growing enthusiasts, so we carry both hydroponically grown and submersed grown plant varieties... from common to extremely rare or difficult.

if you have a big tank like mine - Ill easily find a way to fill it up.....




When you come in, ask for me or Chris... and Krystal is great with her nano style for your 2.5" tanks......... wink.gif

Cheers
Oliver

#3 crash812

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 09:04 PM

Looks great. Thats the sort of thing that I am looking to try and do.

I have spoken with Krystal before as she is the one who signed me up as a club member.

I just didn't realise that you could get in bulk.

I have heard that Hydro grown will loose all there leaves and look like they are dying then grow back. Is that true? I think I would preferr aquarium grown or is there no difference?

#4 Mr_docfish

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 09:21 PM

not all, but some hydro plants will lose older leaves, one by one, and all you have to do is trim off the new growth and plant. Sometimes if you get plants from other hobbyists, you might lose some older leaves (eg: crypts and ferns) or at least the new leaves will look different to the older ones because all tanks are different, and the plants will grow differently in every tank.

My advice - get a bit of everything, and see what grows best in your tanks and see what you like the look of, then what grows well, will fill out and eventually you will have a full tank - then you can prune and sell off the excess to trade for other new species and experiment.

here is my tank from day one -




did not take long to look like this... in fact, only 10 weeks later -





for bulk buy, the commercial stuff - give us a list of what you want, and we will order it in for you.... for local hobbyist grown plants - we will get them in stages for you as they become available if we dont have them available at the time already....

#5 Westie

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 09:22 PM

holy crap Oli, that's a mean looking planted tank
crash, i got tiger lotus plant from aquotix, very good priced

#6 crash812

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 09:39 PM

Thanks Jason.

QUOTE
My advice - get a bit of everything, and see what grows best in your tanks and see what you like the look of, then what grows well, will fill out and eventually you will have a full tank - then you can prune and sell off the excess to trade for other new species and experiment.


I have tried the whole picking plants I think I like in the past and the plats have always ended up growing strait up to the top of the tank with no off shoots even though the shop staff I have bought from have told me that they thicken and bush up.

Is this because I don't have enough nutrients in the water or because I need to prune more like garden plants?

#7 scarab

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 09:55 PM

nutrients are definately needed else they will show signs of deficiency. insufficient light will cause the plants to grow long and less bushy as they stretch up for the light. Higher light will allow the plant to grow more compact and bushy. pruning will definately cause it to grow bushier. some stems will grow new 2 - 3 new shoots from the point where you cut. in fact i have plants throwing up to 5 shoots along the entire length of the plant when i just trim it in half.

#8 scarab

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:02 PM

oh, just to add a little more. What plants to get would also depend on what design you plan to have and what equipment you have. If you plan to do a iwagumi setup for the small tank you will be looking at alot of HC. Dutch style will involve alot of stems. As for equipment wise, if you are on a limited budget and cant have alot of lights, hence a low light setup, your choices are alot more limited. you can only go for low light plants such as ferns or anubias or swords and crypts. If you have a high light setup, you will need co2 else it'll more likely be a algae tank. but with high light and co2 you can keep almost anything.

so knowing what design and equipment you have can make it much easier in choosing your plants

#9 Mr_docfish

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:03 PM

Those plants that need strong light will head for the surface quicker... try increasing the light, or change some of the blue lights for normal white lights.... going higher Kelvin rating will not help plant growth, it is the colour rendition and intensity of it that matters more than the amount of blue light the plants get.
You can also get very different plants - unlike the stem plants, grass like plants (such as swords, vallis, crypts and aponogetons) will grow from the bottom up, giving you more leaves and less stems to look at. Ferns and mosses are great for filling in those areas you cant get plants to grow - like on top of logs and in shaded areas.



#10 crash812

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:04 PM

QUOTE
pruning will definately cause it to grow bushier. some stems will grow new 2 - 3 new shoots from the point where you cut. in fact i have plants throwing up to 5 shoots along the entire length of the plant when i just trim it in half.


Is pruning them in half a rule of thumb? I thought of trying to prune the tops off of young plants before adding them to the aquarium just as you would a garden plant if you were shrubbing or hedging but at the same time didn't want to do anything that would make the plants die.

#11 scarab

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:15 PM

no, its nota rule of thumb. However, since they branch off at the point where you cut, you dont want to cut it only at the top. the new branch will only be a few cm long before you have to cut it again. the leafs below will eventually get old and die, and u will be left with a long bare stem while you only produce new leafs at the top as thats where you prune. eventually you will have to remove those old bare stems and replant new stems, which is alot more work. Hence i'd rather cut as low as i can and let them grow back. It may look ugly at first, but they grow back really quickly, and 1) i dont have to prune as often (i'm still pruning every 2 to 3 weeks btw and 2) you dont have to remove old stems and replant

in fact, (i cant remember where i read it) but for those doing duct style tanks, they prune until its only less than 10 cm off the substrate and let it produce new shoots which can grow all the way to the top. this allows it to get really bushy but im personally not confident cutting it that short.

#12 crash812

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:23 PM

QUOTE
in fact, (i cant remember where i read it) but for those doing duct style tanks, they prune until its only less than 10 cm off the substrate and let it produce new shoots which can grow all the way to the top. this allows it to get really bushy but im personally not confident cutting it that short.


Might try that with a few different common plants when I get it all growing and let you know how it goes.

#13 crash812

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:33 PM

Lighting is as follows:

4' = Twin T5
7' = Quad T5
5' = single T8 (want to change to a T5)

All the above are 2' Deep

my 2 x 2.5 I haven't set up and was planing on growing low light plants in and use the T8 from the 5'

#14 Mr_docfish

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:37 PM

often the light manufacturers use one white tube and one blue tube in the T5s (check if it is High Output HO or a Low Output LO - or let me know the wattage of each tube)
if there is a blue tube in there, swap it for a white one (daylight or similar)

#15 scarab

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:42 PM

you wont be having any problems for the 7' tank.
as for the 4', its medium lighting. I've seen nice planted tanks grown using twin t5. However, being a 2' deep tank, I'm not too sure how bright it would be at the bottom of the tank. I should let someone else comment on that
what ollie said is true, HO and LO makes a diff.

a single t8 would definately be low light. Oh, you could also consider a moss scape too.

Edited by scarab, 24 May 2011 - 10:44 PM.


#16 crash812

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:45 PM

QUOTE (Mr_docfish @ May 24 2011, 10:37 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
often the light manufacturers use one white tube and one blue tube in the T5s (check if it is High Output HO or a Low Output LO - or let me know the wattage of each tube)
if there is a blue tube in there, swap it for a white one (daylight or similar)


39w for each HO

Edited by crash812, 24 May 2011 - 10:47 PM.


#17 Mr_docfish

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 10:57 PM

HO is good..... stick with daylight tubes and you're set for most plants.

Mosses and ferns are great for low light as scarab mentioned.... so are other plants like anubias...

#18 scarab

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Posted 24 May 2011 - 11:06 PM

ollie: just to double check. isnt a 4ft t5 ho 54w? and 39w for a 3 ft t5ho? or its a 3ft tube in a 4 ft casing?

#19 Neakit

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 08:57 AM

t5ho specs:
2ft - 24w
3ft - 39w
4ft - 54w
5ft - 80w

#20 crash812

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Posted 25 May 2011 - 09:29 AM

4' is running with 3' Globes. ( Didn't think to include that when I checked the Globes.)

I was thinking of low light scape for the 4' as I like the ferns, Moss's and swords.




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