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Calling all plant folks...help plant my tank

6K views 37 replies 10 participants last post by  Angel079 
#1 ·
Hey guys, I've been mulling over the plant sites, posts here and I still dont know how to plant my tank. Im not really looking for much of a theme of sorts, just a few plants that might look good. Here are a few things that I had in mind, but dont know what plants to put in these spots. Any ideas on what and how many would be greatly appreciated.

1. I would like a tall plant filling the rear corners - dont know what to do here
2. I want something to grow on the driftwood, likely Java Fern or some type of moss maybe
3. Something to float around. Thinking Pennywort here or Frogbit
4. Some sort of short growing plant to fill in some of the areas in front of driftwood and maybe let it creep into the areas toward the front of the tank. Thinking Hairgrass here.
5. Something around/between rock formations and driftwood - Corkscrew Vallisneria or some type of sword


Here is the tank as it sits. Any suggestions? Ph is 7.6, GH is 9. Lighting is currently one 4 foot Ultra Sun Super Daylight 6500k light.

There are currently 8 Black Skirt Tetra and 2 Banded Gourami living in the tank and plan on adding probably some or all of the following: Harley Rasbora, Cherry Barb, BN Pleco, few Platies and Pepper Cory and if it will tolerate it about 3 or so more female Banded Gourami.



Thanks
Todd
 
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#4 ·
I would not add the barbs, they are often agressive.

Many of your fish are also quite active- they might irritate the gourami.

I like the substrate color and rocks (substrate looks on the large side... Might not be too big though)... perhaps replace the background with something a darker color?

1. I would like a tall plant filling the rear corners - dont know what to do here
Possibly pennywort? Plant it in the corners and let it grow up and over the top? Hygrophila are pretty easy to grow as well, and very bushy. Difformis tolerates a bit lower light, but corymbrosa is easy too.

2. I want something to grow on the driftwood, likely Java Fern or some type of moss maybe
sounds good. Go with java moss and/or java fern. Anubias would also work. All of them aren't picky about lighting.
3. Something to float around. Thinking Pennywort here or Frogbit
sounds like a plan.
4. Some sort of short growing plant to fill in some of the areas in front of driftwood and maybe let it creep into the areas toward the front of the tank. Thinking Hairgrass here.
Good choice.
5. Something around/between rock formations and driftwood - Corkscrew Vallisneria or some type of sword
Corkscrew vall gets pretty tall, and doesn't take to being trimmed very well... It does best along the back or sides. A relatively small sword would do wonders- perhaps 'red melon' or 'Echinodorus Vesuvius'?

I'd also like to suggest ludwigea repens... It's easy to grow, and tends to root very fast.
 
#12 ·
The rock isnt all that stable to be moving. I didnt glue any of it together, just stacked it up and went with it. They arent real stable at all. They will eventually end up getting knocked over while cleaning as some point probably. The wood can be moved some. I didnt really think about it being laid out in a line like that. I thought about standing the wood up, but it just isnt big enough or shaped where it would look right.


I would not add the barbs, they are often agressive.

-I am probably not going to use any barbs, they seem too unpredictable.

Many of your fish are also quite active- they might irritate the gourami.

-At the time I only have 8 Black Skirt Tetras in there and they seem to play ok with the Gourami. They are a little more busy than the Gourami, but I havent noticed any problems yet. Since I cant do the Angels, I wanted to put more Gourami in and make them my centerpiece but not sure if the tank will tolerate them.

I like the substrate color and rocks (substrate looks on the large side... Might not be too big though)... perhaps replace the background with something a darker color?

-i like the color of the substrate as well. It might be a little on the large side, but I like the natural look of it. As for the background, that came with the tank as well. It kinda clashes with the decor that i just put in tho. The whole desert background and slate just dont go together. The other side is darker, but its a Roman theme and dont look right either.
 
#5 ·
I wouldn't add more light, one full-length tube is sufficient. With your parameters and light, you shouldn't have issues with the plants you mention, with the possible exception of Hairgrass. Many report this plant needs bright light, some say no; as I've never bothered with it, I just report what I've read. Sometimes aquarium plants are like garden plants, we try this and that and some are fine, others clearly are not in our environment. Not all aquarium plants will grow together, for various reasons; for instance, Vallisneria and Sagittaria frequently will not grow in the same tank, one will be fine the other not.

I am not a stem plant person; their fast growth requiring regular pruning and trimming--by pulling them up, cutting off the tops and replanting the tops every week--is not my cup of tea, as I prefer plants that basically stay as planted. In non-stem plants, for rear corners, the larger swords work well.
 
#6 ·
I used to have true hairgrass in a 15 gallon tank with two T5HO bulbs and Seachem Flourish substrate. It grew very quickly. Now I have it in a 10 gallon tank lit by a desk lamp and heavily shaded by frogbit, and it still survives, but the growth is very slow.
 
#7 ·
A good plant I like and have floating is Pennywort it looks nice. I think the rest of the plants you have in mind will be fine.
 
#9 · (Edited)
I took some of your guys suggestions and sketched up this little drawing. Let me know what you think and if something needs to be changed or moved. I dont want to have a ton of plants in there, but it looks like thats what I will end with to me. I cant really judge how big they will get just yet. That being said, I will probably make this a project where I add a few at a time until I get it where I want it. Let me know how you think this will look once complete or any other thoughts on selection or location.

Thanks
Todd
 

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#11 ·
It may appear different in real life, but one thing that jumped out at me is the symmetry of the hard objects (slate, wood). To create a natural looking aquascape, always offset hard items so they are not in the centre or equidistant from each other. For instance, the wood can be moved off-centre, maybe turned toward the front-left or front-right (depends upon its shape vertically and horizontally). And the slate can be moved accordingly, depending where the wood ends up.

Plants at the ends of wood or rock are very natural as well, since this is how they frequently occur in nature, and it "softens" the ends of wood and rock formations. I always find putting the plants in is very easy, once I have the hard objects which are usually the most difficult to place.

Byron.
 
#13 ·
Ok, heres the updated layout, and lots of questions.

1. Is this starting to be too much for the tank? What do you think this will look like once it has grown a little bit? Say 6 months or so down the road

2. Right now there is only about 2 inches or so of substrate, should I add more?

3. What about the filter? It creates quite a bit of current in the tank, whats the best way to calm that down some?

4. Will I have to remove the bubble curtain? If I am correct in thinking, it will remove CO2 from the tank, therefore I should remove it, right?

5. Thinking about doing away with the Java Fern and just letting the Java Moss cover the wood. Thoughts..

6. Will the Java Moss grow on the slate with nothing really to attach to?

7. Do I still have sufficient light?

Also probably going to be cutting way back on the fish that I will put in. Probably only add a few more. With all the plants, I think it might look better to only have a few fish as opposed to being heavily stocked. May add one more school of 6 or 8 of something and let that be it.

Thanks
Todd
 

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#14 · (Edited)
The lighting should be fine. I personally do not like Java fern so I would do away with it. What if you put the two slate formations on one side then the driftwood on the other makeing it less symetrical. Leaving a planted swimming area for the middle. With a tank that big I would get a good size group of corys for bottom cleaners they are fun little fish to watch very active always cleaning. I would say maybe a group of 10 or so. As far as a nice schoaling fish harliquin rasbora are very pretty, as are neon tetra, and ember tetra are also a favorite of mine. Golden barbs and rosy barbs are also very pretty and active I have a group of the goldens in my 55 and they get along with everyone fine. You have so many fish to chose from its hard to make a suggestion because it really is a personal prefrence thing. Good luck with what ever you decide.
BTW as far as the filter you can use a plastic coke bottle cut in half to make a buffer for it or just keep the water level in the tank as high as you can and that will help. You may want to try to get a canister filter as it is better for the plants and the air bubbler will need to be removed because it will cause you to lose the co2 that the plants need.
 
#16 ·
..

The lighting should be fine. I personally do not like Java fern so I would do away with it.

-the more I look at it, the more I think it will go away and just use the Java Moss. That looks pretty good once it has grown over some. I actually think I will thin it out a bit. I sat and took a good look at the tank today and tried to think about what all the plants would look like in there and it just seemed to me that it would be a little more crowded that I really want. Overall I think it will look ok, and if it looks a little thin, I can always add more or just give it some time to grow out some.

What if you put the two slate formations on one side then the driftwood on the other makeing it less symetrical. Leaving a planted swimming area for the middle.

-that sounds like a great idea, but due to the size of the rocks I wont be able to move them both to the same side. the one on the left is about 13" X 13" and the one on the right is about a foot long and 6 or 8" wide. I could possibly take one out, but I really like the way they look in there.


With a tank that big I would get a good size group of corys for bottom cleaners they are fun little fish to watch very active always cleaning. I would say maybe a group of 10 or so. As far as a nice schoaling fish harliquin rasbora are very pretty


-Harley Rasbora were going to be the next addition. Thinking about 8 or so of them. Then something to clean the bottom a little, havent really made a decision there. Cory are a likely candidate.
A word of advice, if the rock isn't that stabel, you may want to remove it or move it around anyway to make it more stable. You don't want to have an 'accident' and have the rock tumble over with fish in the tank. You would wake up one day to some sad news. Always make sure rock and wood is stable and not knocked over easily.


-I think they are stable enough where they wont fall over on their own or if the tank gets bumped, but I am afraid that one day during a cleaning or pwc I will end up bumping it and knockingit over then. Otherwise I think I am good to go.
 
#15 ·
A word of advice, if the rock isn't that stabel, you may want to remove it or move it around anyway to make it more stable. You don't want to have an 'accident' and have the rock tumble over with fish in the tank. You would wake up one day to some sad news. Always make sure rock and wood is stable and not knocked over easily.

As for the filter, I see you have a HOB (hang-on-back). I have baffled my little HOB in my 5g with great success for my betta. On the outflow (where the water returns to the tank), I took a clean plastic water bottle and vut the top and bottom off. I cut the remaining bottle to fit the length of the outflow and taped the top to the lid of the HOB and wrapped the bottom portion under the outflow. It naturally stays in place due to the curve of the bottle. This caused the water to flow equally to each side, drastically cutting the force of the water into the tank. Hope this makes sense. I can try to find instructions on it if you need it.
 
#17 ·
Sounds like a good plan then. Looking forward to seeing some pictures of it all set up and beautiful like I know it will be. Good luck!
 
#19 ·
I just placed my order with Sweet Aquatics and it should all be here next week. Now I need to read up on how to properly acclimate the plants. Pics to come once its all planted. Thanks for all the help everyone.

Todd
 
#20 ·
Yippie I am really looking forward to seeing your pictures I think it will turn out really nice.
 
#22 ·
WooHooo!! They are on the way. It shipped today and hopefully will be here by the end of the week
 
#26 · (Edited)
Ok guys, heres a preliminary pic. I just couldnt wait any longer for some comments. The water is pretty cloudy still, but here ya go. And I think that background has got to go. Im just not feeling it







 
#27 ·
Agree on removing the picture background, it is distracting from the plants and fish. A plain black or dark brown or even very dark gray works to make the plant greens and fish colours stand out nicely.

The water will clear, and the plants will become settled and grow. Then you may want to shift this or that; except for crypts, most plants can tolerate being moved a bit as long as it is not too often.
 
#28 ·
I agree with you and Byron that background is bad. LOL As he said a solid dark background will do wonders for the way the plants and fish stand out. Someone on here used window tint and it looked really nice.
 
#29 ·
Yeah, it came with a few and they all were bad. Just popped themmup to see them and just never took that one back down

Funny you should mention using tint. I had considered doing that myelf. I have been working on tinting the windows in my house and thought about putting some on there if i had any left over. I actually ran short. Still have a few more windows to do but didnt order enough tint. Only planned on doing the front of the house but liked it so much i decided to do the whole house. The tint i am using is slightly reflective, would that matter any. Not mirrorlike but does have a hint of reflective property
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#30 ·
Love the planting, that will fill in nice!!!!

I pers love the window tint because you'll never have the issues like you do with these posters to get water inbetween it and the glass.
Little off topic but why are you doing your whole house with it, that sounds interesting???
 
#32 · (Edited)
Love the planting, that will fill in nice!!!!

Little off topic but why are you doing your whole house with it, that sounds interesting???
Mostly to cut down on directl sunlight and glare. I have several large windows in the front of my house and they catch all of the evening sun. It would shine in and hit the front door, that has beveled glass in it, and just blind you on the couch as you watch tv. It would also shine directly on the thremostat and driving the temp up to around 85* although it was much cooler in the house, the sun shining directly on the thremostat caused it to read into the 80's. That in turn kept the AC running nonstop until later in the evening when the sun passed over. Now the temp reading stays where is should be. I did it for that reason mainly and to help protect the furniture and hardwood from direct sunlight. Im not a big fan of having the shades drawn and curtains pulled, I like to see whats going on outside if I have to be inside. It made an unbelievable difference in the house overall. And I liked the way it looked so much and the rest of the windows looked too bright now, so I am doing all of them. It looks nice from the outside as well. But you really wouldnt notice unless you really looked at it and compared it to other houses. It dont really jump out at you, but once you know it, you can notice the difference.

I use window tint too after talking about it with Angel079. I love it. As an extra precaution, I outlined the tint with electric tape so it wouldn't eventually peel back. I especially love the fact that water can't get between the tint and the glass like it sometimes can with a poster.

Beautiful job planting. It's going to grow in very nicely in just a few short months :)
I think it looks ok for now, I just cant wait to see it grow and fill in a little. Looks a little scraggly and random to me at the moment. Unfortunately I wont be able to see the results first hand as I will soon be leaving for a not-so-desirable overseas location for the next 6 months. But hopefully my wife will take care of it all and keep everything alive until I get back.

Thanks for the comments and I will update pics as it all grows out, up until the time I have to leave. I still have a few weeks before Im gone, so I am sure it will fill in some.

Thanks
Todd
 
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