Aquarium algae are not the kind of plants that decorate your home pond or that aquarists want to grow in their underwater fish garden. These are fouling on walls, soil, and other plants that have an unsightly appearance, color, and, often, a smell. It is not necessary to grow them, they appear on their own, as a rule, in aquariums with a disturbed biological balance. Aquarists do their best to get rid of such vegetation, although this is not always easy. But aquarium plants pleasing to the eye need care and attention.
It is necessary
- - fluorescent or incandescent lamps;
- - Kipp's apparatus;
- - nutritious substrate or root tablets;
- - basalt, granite or quartz soil;
- - tests to determine the level of acidity.
Instructions
Step 1
Growing aquarium plants is sometimes more difficult than growing fish. To make your underwater "garden" pleasing to the eye, it is necessary to provide it with certain conditions. Pay attention to the lighting in your aquarium. The duration of daylight hours should be within 10-12 hours. In addition, it depends on the brightness of the lighting. The brighter it is, the shorter the daylight hours. However, if the duration of illumination is short, plant dystrophy occurs. Too long daylight hours lead to the development of algae.
Step 2
Install lights. Their choice is determined by the volume of the aquarium and the type of plants grown. If the lighting is carried out by incandescent lamps, then for every 1 liter of volume, 1, 2-1, 5W is required. If luminescent, then 0.4-0.5W. For light-loving plants, increase the power to 0.8-1.0W. For the unpretentious, 0.4W per liter is enough. The spectrum of the lamps matters too. During the period of plant growth, it is red-yellow. For flowering and fruiting - blue.
Step 3
Plants need carbon dioxide. If the population of your aquarium corresponds to its volume, and the illumination does not exceed 0.5 W per 1 liter, then the amount that comes from the external environment and is formed during the life of the fish is quite enough. Otherwise, carbon dioxide must be supplied forcibly. Buy or make your own Kipp apparatus, in which carbon dioxide is produced by a chemical reaction between chalk and acetic acid. This is the cheapest option and is quite capable of supplying gas to small aquariums.
Step 4
For aquarium soil, quartz, granite, and basalt are most suitable. The optimum size of fractions is 1-5mm. When using fine sand, the roots of the plants are compressed and rotted. Lay the soil with a slope - at the front glass 4cm, at the rear 7cm.
Step 5
Purchase a nutritious plant substrate. Place it under the ground. If there are few plants, you can put clay or root tablets.
Step 6
Under the influence of living organisms, the acidity level in the water changes. Its sharp change has a negative impact on living organisms and even lead to their death. Purchase special tests with which you can monitor the acidity level of the water in the aquarium.
