New tank, new plants, new fish!

[Kateo_007]

Hello All,

I recently got given a 90L Aqua Pro 620 from my work and just added 3 guppies to it (very excited as it has been sitting there fishless for a while!).

I know this might sound stupid but I am really new to all of this.. I am just wondering how many hours the lights are meant to be on for the live plants to flourish? I don't actually know what a couple of them are (3 are half purple, half green, one is attached to a small bit of driftwood, and another is one that changes from green to purple) but some of them are going a bit brown on the tips. Could this be because there has been no fish in there to give them nutrients?

Also how often are you meant to use Flourish Excel on them?

Thank you all!

 

[OrangeCones]

Can you post pictures of the plants? Different plants show different signs of nutrient issues in different ways. By your descriptions, some may not be aquatic plants.

The photo period depends a lot on the type of plants and type of lighting. I use compact florescent lighting (96 watts over 40 gallons) and use a photo period of 11 hours.

 

[Nachost]

i keep my light on from 11-14 hours just depends on when i turn it off. my plants look good, but took a toll on a 70% water change when i moved the tank to a new spot. my java moss got all yellow but is recovering been about a week. and starting to get green again.

 

[Kateo_007]

Not sure if you can see these, so I hope they worked alright. If not, I'll send through a link of my Flickr account. By the way, I now have 8 guppies since this post

 

[Kateo_007]

So does anyone have any advice on the plants?

 

[OrangeCones]

The damage to your plants looks to be on the oldest leaves, which may indicate they were grown emerged rather than submerged. The leaves with damage should be prunned and then the new growth watched for signs of deficiency.

The plants all look aquatic, so that is a plus. A lot of stores still sell 'marginal plants' which will decay over time if kept underwater. The only ones that are heavy root feeders with yours are the swords. A root tab placed near them 2 or 3 times a year should feed them. The rest get their nutrients more from the water column.

 

[Kateo_007]

Thank you Orange! Your info is very helpful. I was told to maybe remove the ones at the back (purple and green one) as they might not be aquatic plants? Which ones are the swords, the ones at the front, left? And what is a root tab?

I've now got around 20 fish in there too.. guppies, mollies, platys & neon tetras. How many fish do you suggest in this size tank with fish all around that size? Sorry, I know you probably get asked all of these questions all the time from newbies.

 

[Thyra]

You might try Aqadvisor.com to find out just how overstocked you are. Mollies need a lot of room and all the fish you have are pretty active fish, so IMO you are already pretty crowded and it will take a lot of maintenance to keep every one happy.