Advice for planted aquarium setup.

>You will be able to grow a very nice variety of plants. Some will catch
> much slower than others, especially when starting new with a sterile
> substrate as you are.

Great advice! That is what I wanted to hear. I have two koi that are living
in the tank now. They are getting too big for the tank and would quickly
destroy any plants I would put in there. I was going to take them back and
replace the substrate and plants at the same time. Would it be a better
idea to change the substrate with the fish in there so the "goodie" has some
time to build up before taking them back and planting? I plan on using 100%
flourite. I have read that using flourite really clouds the water when you
first apply it to the tank. Would this hurt my fish?

You guys rock! Thanks for the great info! I will take pictures of its
transformation and post them so you all can see.

Thanks,
ferlin
 >> Stay informed about: Advice for planted aquarium setup. 

"ferlin husky" <sisernhagen_nospam_.TakeThisOut@cox.net> wrote in message
news:qyn5b.42046$nf3.39863@fed1read07...
> >You will be able to grow a very nice variety of plants. Some will
catch
> > much slower than others, especially when starting new with a sterile
> > substrate as you are.
>
> Great advice! That is what I wanted to hear. I have two koi that are
living
> in the tank now. They are getting too big for the tank and would
quickly
> destroy any plants I would put in there. I was going to take them
back and
> replace the substrate and plants at the same time. Would it be a
better
> idea to change the substrate with the fish in there so the "goodie" has
some
> time to build up before taking them back and planting? I plan on using
100%
> flourite. I have read that using flourite really clouds the water when
you
> first apply it to the tank. Would this hurt my fish?
>
> You guys rock! Thanks for the great info! I will take pictures of its
> transformation and post them so you all can see.
>
> Thanks,
> ferlin

Koi would definitely generate lots of fertilizer ;o), though I'm not sure
it's really worth your effort. You would pull the Koi, empty the tank,
add the Flourite, refill slowly (use a plate to absorb the water flow),
let the tank water sit for a day (so the heaviest fines settle, and then
run the filter until the water is reasonably clear enough to put the Koi
back in. It's a bit of work, especially to house the Koi somewhere for a
day or 2. Also the filter would only be really effective if it was aged
(sticky media) and it will really clog your media, making it less useful
for biological filtration..

Personally, I'd just pull the Koi and reset the tank with Flourite taking
your time to aquascape just as you would like. It takes me weeks
(months) to collect all the plants to populate a tank, and find just the
right wood & rockwork. At the same time, I'll be collecting fish and
putting them into a bare holding tank. The filters running the holding
tank maintain their nitrifying bacteria and are moved to the planted tank
when ready.

I've only used Flourite once, so my experience is limited. I seem to
remember that subsequent rinses had minimal effect, so I ended up using
it with little rinsing, just cautiously to minimize disturbance. Put the
Flourite into an empty tank, complete your rockscaping, and partially
fill very slowly, until you have enough water to start your foreground
planting. Add a bit more water and do your mid and background planting.
You can google the r.a.f.p. archived posts on how the experts handle
Flourite.

NetMax
 >> Stay informed about: Advice for planted aquarium setup.