# java fern, amazon sword, and compacta sword



## philipgonzales3 (Dec 4, 2013)

Ok so I "planted" these in my aquarium, now what...lol. I know I need to get some root tabs for the amazon sword and I assume for the compacta sword too? Any chances my plants will survive? I have two 4 foot T8 bulbs, one is 5000K and 6500K. I don't have CO2 or anything. Any help is appreciated.


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## philipgonzales3 (Dec 4, 2013)

oh yea and the aquarium is a 55 gallon andI think the bulbs are both 32 watts. My PH is 7.5 out of the tap and rises to 8.0, if any other info is needed please let me know. here is a pic.


Untitled by philipgonzales3, on Flickr


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## BratmanXj (Feb 11, 2013)

I've had good luck with Africans and live plants, but this tends to be the exception rather than the norm. Most Africans will eat or at least dig up the plans. As for the plants you have two options depending on how you want them to grow; do you want green accents pieces or do you want plants to be the focal point.

I think the tank looks good as is, and I would not worry to much about fertilizers. You have sufficient lighting and the plants will pull enough nutrients from the water to survive. If you want to grow them out Seacham is a decent fertilizer and Seacham Excel is a liquid Co2 supplement. Jump on over to the Planted Tank and you can get your head spinning with information on fertilizers and water parameters.


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## philipgonzales3 (Dec 4, 2013)

Thanks, I want just an accent of green. I am afraid the swords will die without root tabs so I may try that, I will keep you guys posted.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

The swords might melt at first but they should be ok in the long run as long as theres enough waste nutrients in the water, and don't vacuum in their root areas. Let waste break down in the root zones for the plant to feed on. As you probably know don't bury the rhizome of the java fern. You probably don't need root tabs, or co2. Flourish can help, but your not heavily planted or anything you can probably just wing it as is. Plantedtank is a great site, just remember they are plants first, fish second IMO, if your a fish guy, fish first, plants second just find that balance that dosn't pose a risk to your fish with adding all this **** to your water for plants.


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## shelbynjakesdad (Mar 13, 2013)

I have anubias, java fern, vallisneria, and an amazon sword in my mbuna tank. My mbuna eat my anubias, which are now all but gone (I will not put any more in). They pick at the amazon sword a little, but it grows faster than they eat it, so it is doing fine. I will say that the sword didn't look too good for a while after I put it in the hard water, but it did adjust. They do not bother my vals or java ferns. I do not add any fertilizers or co2 to this tank.


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## philipgonzales3 (Dec 4, 2013)

Awesome, thanks for the info guys. Yeah I definitely would rather go without plants than to endanger my $200 worth of fish, and I don't care to use C02 because of the "hassle". I don't care about the cost, but keeping things simple is probably best for my little ones, as the more complicated things are the more likely for things to go wrong, including human error. I was thinking a 10 hour per day lighting period would be good? Also my nitrates are always low as I do a 50% change per week, and my nitrate stays pretty much under 10 (I am going to pick up a new bottle of API nitrate test to verify, just in case.) So should I do less frequent water changes? I'm already used to doing my weekly 50% change, so I would kind of feel bad/weird not doing it every week. I also know that plants feed of nitrate, so should I do less %, less frequency, or keep my WC schedule as is?

Once again, thanks a bunch for sharing your results, I will probably skip the root tabs then, since I don't want to introduce more substances into the tank.


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## CrypticLifeStyle (Dec 14, 2009)

You can do 10 hours, i would just keep it on a schedule if possible. Plants like a schedule. Mine are on for 12 hours a day, but with that i do probably clean glass algae then i should. For water changes i'd just do what you normally do. As much as plants love waste water per say, they also love water changes as well. Some plants like anubias as example even like some air exposure as well. I use to suction cup them to the upper levels of my tank so when i did the water changes they had some dwell time in air before the refill, they'll suck in the co2 in the air. In the end though, you'll just have to wing it for your own best results cause there's always the general information, and the individual results information which usually always contradicts the general how to, what to do's as all systems are different.


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