Plants for aquariums -

[seedcorn]

Need advice. Here is mix I'm thinking.

Layer of peat on bottom.
Layer of fluorite next.
Layer of sand last.

Different articles suggest different amount of days till fish can be placed back in. One said months....that isn't going to happen. What u think?

 

[Nyboy]

I gave up on live plants, waste of money. I will add duck weed when it is growing in pond. Fish love to eat it and its free.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

in the platty tank i only have Flora Max & then i tried putting layer of sand over it. the sand got mixed in with the FM. the stuff comes with a packet of clarifier to clear up the water quickly. i would say to give about a week to add the fish back to the tank gives it enough time to let everything settle & the bacteria to start building back in the filter. if you save some of the water from the old tank it helps to re-establish the bacteria your fish are used to.

my tap water has too many chemicals so is not an option to quickly re-fill my tanks & add anything to offset the chemicals before putting fish back in the tank. so i have bought gallons of spring water & this winter i've been melting snow to refill.

 

[seedcorn]

I was thinking I'd keep the old water and add it back. What you think? Still a week?

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i give a week as a good estimate to get the 'dust' to settle, the filter to regrow lost bacteria & any plants to re-establish themselves. plants can go through minor shock & may die back a little then spring to life & grow again.

will you be completely restarting with a brand new filter? adding any fresh water? do you have to add any chemicals to offset that water's chemicals? when was the last time you checked the quality of the water for pH, hardness, nitrates & nitrites (i always have an issue with these for a couple weeks when starting a new tank & the filter has a completely new set of media).

 

[seedcorn]

I was going to use as much as I could save, old water. Use old filter so that I don't have to re-establish bacteria culture.

No, I haven't taken water sample to get tested yet.

 

[Nyboy]

Most pet shops do free water test

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

get that tested too. there are some plants that are sensitive to the pH & hardness of the water.