From Shirlie Sharpe,
Your Guide to Freshwater Aquariums.
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Sheila writes to share her discussion with Don about plant fertilizer and placement.

Hello Shirlie,
I wanted you to know that Don called this morning to let me know he had shipped out some plants and they should be arriving by tomorrow afternoon. I'd barely gotten off the phone when the fed ex lady delivered my plants. I was thrilled to receive them so quickly.

Driftwood
However, I can not put them in my tank until tomorrow as Don said he's sending me Horn Wort and that I should anchor it to a piece of driftwood by tying it with a piece of thread. So I will have to go get a piece of driftwood. He also told me to be sure to soak it overnight in case it leached, and to add some "stress coat" to the water for the chlorine. He said leaching wouldn't hurt the tank, but it would turn the water a brownish color for a bit.

Fertilizer
Don said he was sending some substrata gold and that I need to wet my fingers a little and to roll it into approx. 1" balls to bury in the gravel beside each plant to fertilize them. He's sending a bottle of Natural Aquarium Vital which he explained is a liquid time release form of CO2. He explained that it would maintain a carbon cycle as in nature. He instructed me to use only a half a cap full every day and to be sure to shake the bottle thoroughly before using it each time.

Plant Setup
For a centerpiece, Don said that he would be sending a Ozelot Sword. He went on to say the I should place it just left of center. This will be my red plant and will stand out very nicely. He said that each plant would be labeled with the name and also a note as to placement of the plant. Don also warned me that a few of the plants may lose some leaves, and that I should pinch them off at the stem. He said not to worry, that I should expect this, and they would grow back. I will worry anyway but that is just the nature of the gardening beast inside of me.

Well I am off to find some driftwood. I'll write more when I do the actual change over. ~ Sheila

Guide Notes
Sheila is doing a good job of listening to instructions in preparation for the conversion. It might have helped if she had the driftwood a bit sooner, as it often must soak for several days to keep it from floating. We'll see if she has problems with it, and what she does about it.

... stay tuned, our series continues when Sheila puts the live plants in her aquarium.

My thanks to Sheila for sharing her journal and to for sending plants and providing Sheila with expert advice.