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Any suggestions for plants?

10K views 65 replies 9 participants last post by  LasColinasCichlids 
#1 ·
Hey, I'm still in the process of setting up my new 28 gallon aquarium. I picked put my decorations and theme, its not as natural as a lot I'm seeing.. but I thought the Asian sortof theme was fun. I know I want to get a couple of the good luck moss balls to put in the front, but honestly I'm at a loss on what to do for plants. I don't want too many bright green plants to where it over powers the "bonzai".. I've been going with dark colored plants mostly so far, so they can benefit the tank but not stand out too much.

Any ideas on plants for the background? Or should I just scrap the whole idea I have going on now?

(By the way, the circle that's in front of the internal filter in the back is a reflection of the tv. Also, I'll be getting rid of that filter. I have a new one installed and I'm running both to help the bacterial growth.

I'd appreciate some help on designing the planted back part of the tank so can avoid spending money on plants I end up hating lol.
 
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#5 ·
I think that the tank decor looks nice. What kind of fish? I don't have much experience with aquatic plants since my LFS doesn't have a lot of choice, but what about java moss? It might give the decor an aged look, if that's what you want. Or if you have the moss balls, it might be too much of the same.
 
#6 ·
Thank you! I thought about moss, but I'm afraid it'll explode all over the tank, haha. The moss balls grow, but they stay in a spherical shape so that'll be easier to manage. I haven't decided on fish. I wanted to have some angelfish, but I'm afraid the tank may be a bit on the small side. The tank is still finishing up it's cycling so I guess I have time to decide.
Yeah, I'm unsure about plants as well. I've tried to put some swords in there.. I honestly don't know anything about plants, and my lfs is limited as well.
 
#8 · (Edited)
micro sword...or baby tears would look good..
Those are quite difficult to grow... Dwarf sag is an easy-to-grow grass-like plant. It will stay short if it gets enough light.

I would also add some crypt wendtii red, crypt wendtii bronze.

I agree on the java moss... It's extremely easy to remove what you don't want once it's anchored, and super slow growing. If you attached moss to where the 'leaves' are on the bonzai tree it would look much more natural.. Willow or flame moss might look more like a real bonzai tree and are just as easy to grow.

Grab that bamboo, and raise it out of the water. Totally submerged, it will rot.
Keep the top tip of the main stem out of the water, and it will turn into this-

(Thats an old pic- I had to move it outside to an outdoor tub pond I made... It was growing up against my ceiling.
 
#9 ·
Thank you, redchigh for the suggestions! I'm working on finding a new home for my bamboo I guess, although it has been growing steadily. I like they way it looks, I wish there was a good looking fake version of lucky bamboo.

I went to a local aquarium supply place but they said they were low on plants at the time. I was able to grab some crypt wendtii, but only the green and sunset colors. I grabbed some though, and another kind of crypt that looks like a grass. I rearranged things a bit and it's starting to look like a jungle. I also found some nerite snails. :)

I love the idea for moss on the bonsai tree. The leaves even pop off So I could probably just replace them with moss. Do you have any guess on how much moss it might tank to do that? I can only find it online, and with shipping, I'd like to get a sufficient amount so I don't have to pay for shipping more than once.
I still want my mosimo balls, then I think I may be done. At least for now.

Here's an update.

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#17 ·
Thank you, redchigh for the suggestions! I'm working on finding a new home for my bamboo I guess, although it has been growing steadily. I like they way it looks, I wish there was a good looking fake version of lucky bamboo.

I went to a local aquarium supply place but they said they were low on plants at the time. I was able to grab some crypt wendtii, but only the green and sunset colors. I grabbed some though, and another kind of crypt that looks like a grass. I rearranged things a bit and it's starting to look like a jungle. I also found some nerite snails. :)

I love the idea for moss on the bonsai tree. The leaves even pop off So I could probably just replace them with moss. Do you have any guess on how much moss it might tank to do that? I can only find it online, and with shipping, I'd like to get a sufficient amount so I don't have to pay for shipping more than once.
I still want my mosimo balls, then I think I may be done. At least for now.

Here's an update.

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nice nice!!:thumbsup:
 
#10 ·
That would entirely depend on how long you want to wait. It grows slowly, but steadily..

If you bought what most online stores call a 'portion', then it would likely grow in in a month or two... and a month later you'd have to start trimming to keep the shape, just like a real bonsai.

Oooh, you got Crypt Wendtii sunset? I wish I could find those around here :/
 
#11 ·
I'm terribly impatient, haha. If needed, can I gross the moss in like a betray bowl or something if it's not enough?
I do have a small bonsai tree too, I guess I should start with a little bit for that tree and see how it comes out. :) I'm excited to try it. I figured I should probably pop all the leaves off. It leaves little brown "twigs" all over for me to tie the moss too. Hopefully it'll grow in nicely!

And Yepp, they call it Florida sunset.. if it is from FL, it probably helps that I live in South Carolina. I'm glad I found the place, it's just down the road from work and now I'm not limited to petco and petsmart. And they have German Blue Rams, which I'm hoping to work up to putting in my tank. :)
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#12 ·
Baby tears wouldn't work and angels wouldn't work either
 
#13 ·
An angelfish wouldn't fit in a 28 gallon tank?
And I, like I said, don't know much of anything about plants. Not sure why or why not baby tears would work, but I wasn't planning on getting those since they're hard to grow.
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#15 ·
yeah plus angels like groups of five to spread the agression
 
#16 ·
You can keep one angelfish or a pair of angelfish and there is no aggression. And the minimum tank height for the typical angelfish is 18", my tank is 19". The guys at my lfs said my tank is large enough for one with some tank buddies, or two by themselves. I was going to get just one as a "focal point" and some schooling fish to add a little "flair", or possibly work my way up to some blue rams, but I know I'll probably need to add another cave-like structure to the tank.
 
#19 ·
blue rams IMO don't work with angels and have learned from experience
 
#20 · (Edited)
Oh. I'd read peoples suggestions and that was one of them. Do you have any suggestions? Right now I've got 5 harlequin rasboras (if that's how it's spelled). And two African dwarf frogs, and three nerite snails.

I know you said an angel wouldn't work, should I go for the blue rams and something else instead? Or just blue rams with schooling fish? I thought they'd do best as a pair. Or, if I can get an angelfish, what would be a good fish in addition to that and my rasboras? Should I just have an angel and some schooling fish and keep it at that?


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#21 ·
you can get blue rams, schooling and maybe something else, depends on what. same for angels
 
#22 · (Edited)
Ok, new plant question then. I was looking at possibly doing the schooling fish, a couple dwarf gourami and an angelfish. Would that work, and if so it says I should have floating plants for part of the top of the tank. What's a good floating plant? Or maybe I should just get some gourami and forget the angel...?
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#23 ·
I do not recommend single angels, they should be in a group as was mentioned. Angels are fairly social fish, they live together in small groups naturally, and they develop a natural social structure within the group. But you must get all at the same time, or there is the liklihood that the fish first acquired will own the tank and newcomers can be hounded to the point of death. A group of 4-6 is good, but in a 4-foot tank minimum. You can read more in our profile, click on the shaded name Pterophyllum scalare.

I also don't recommend gourami with angels. The territoriality of the males is too similar in the species. They are so much alike in several ways.

I posted this video yesterday to illustrate angels in their native habitat, but it is relevant to the group issue so here it is again.

 
#24 ·
Yeah, I'm at a loss for which fish to get still. I have to wait anyways I think because my tank is unsta
ble again, and this time it's the ph. My fish and frogs seem ok.. my fish were all hanging out at the top of the tank, hardly swimming, but I turned off the nibbler and they all seem fine now.

I'm guessing I made a mistake of switching to a sand substrates, and that's why the ph dropped. It was steady between 6.4-6.6 but now it looks yellow and more like 6.0. I'm scared to mess with anything now. :( I've got the old filter and new(ish ) filters running and some gravel in netting hanging by the filter in hopes of avoiding a cycle. The tanks been up a bit over 48 hours with fish/frogs in there for about 24 hours. My ammonia levels look lower than .25 ppm and nitrite is at zero.

Is there anything I can do? I specifically got pool filter sand because people said it's designed NOT to mess with ph.
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#25 ·
My rasbora were sortof doing a dry run "spawning" sortof thing before the substrate change, and watching them, they look like they're starting to do the same thing, so I'm assuming they're not dying.... there are two swimming together, fluttering their fins at each other. The frogs seem a lot happier now too, and they're no longer hiding all the time. Plants are firm in the substrates and look happy, but it's only been two days.
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#26 ·
I missed your previous question on floating plants, sorry. Yes, all fish like a "roof" over them, and floating plants are ideal. You can easily keep them thinned (at the weekly water change) so some light gets through to lower plants. Floating plants grow quite fast.

On the pH. What is the pH of your tap water? And what is the hardness? You can find the latter out from your water supply people, many now have websites with water data posted. This is crucial to know, as the hardness can buffer pH.

Byron.
 
#27 ·
You had told me in another thread while I was cycling my tank that the water was moderately soft. (http://www.tropicalfishkeeping.com/freshwater-aquarium/help-cycling-new-tank-70173/newmessage/)
Except I'm not 100% sure that the link I had provides to you is actually my water source, but I couldn't find anything from the other possible source. I do know that at all the local pet and fish stores, they've all said my area has pretty good water for an aquarium which wouldn't require much maintenance, just the water conditioner.

Previously, my tap water was somewhat on the acidic side, but I tested my water today with the api test kit and my tap water is at 7.4 (or at least it's blue with the regular ph test and the brownish color on the high range kit..) and the aquarium is still at the lowest possible on the test kit: 6.0.

It must be the stupid sand that's messing with things. I have some extra so I guess I will rinse that and put it in with some tap water and see what happens with that.
The fish still seem normal, all other parameters are steady. The aommonias not at zero, but only at .25ppm, nitrite is still at zero. The water was conditioned with prime.
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#28 ·
I read that linked thread and the report to refresh my memory. If those numbers are correct, the KH is quite low, comparable or very slightly above my tap water. The sand should have nothing to do with this, or if anything, might actually raise the hardness and pH if it was calcareous. Doesn't seem to be, so what's happening is in my opinion perfectly natural. My tanks have substrates of playsand, regular gravel, and one has Flourite, and these tanks have a regular steady pH of 5 and 6. I leave them alone. My tap water comes out at 7-7.2, they add something to raise the pH, ash I think, but it has no effect on hardness. The biological system in an aquarium, once established, will work to maintain stability.

If your considering soft water fish, this is not going to be a problem. Hard water fish (livebearers, some others) would be obviously.
 
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