Flora Suggestions for 2ft!

**furyprix** · 5th Dec 2013, 16:27

Originally Posted by Shadow

You probably feed your fish too much. I've been scaping with white sand many times, never experience what you describe. Normally weekly siphon is enough. I feed my fish 3 times a week.

Oh, my current bio load also includes 3otos, 10 lampeyes and 4 cories. Probably that's the reason. And I feed my fishes daily too

**furyprix** · 10th Dec 2013, 03:03

Updates!

Trying the dry-start method for the following plants:
HC
C. parva
C. petchii
Mini fissidens (chopped finely and smeared and sparsely on driftwood, focusing more on rocks on the extreme right side)

The layout still looks bare currently. After flooding, I have:
a few bundles of narrow leaf java and phillipine ferns to be placed on the driftwood
a pot of marsilea hirsuta to be placed between HC and C. petchii
add in sand (undecided, either sudo reef or bottom sand)

And I still have bare patches which i have no idea what to plant (especially the back), any suggestions? Or comments on the progress?

**furyprix** · 15th Dec 2013, 21:53

Day 5 of DSM

Most of my HC has melted, especially those that were at the bottom of the slope. I realised that when i took off the plastic wrap, the air in the tank is exceptionally moist and warmer than outside. Going to try spraying less water on the HC and leave a bigger gap to let the warm air escape. My only concern is that my mini fissidens on the DW and rocks would dry out way too fast.

**felix_fx2** · 16th Dec 2013, 13:51

you may want to cover only on days weather is cool.

just aim to have the hc growing well in certain spots. they will spread so don't over do DSM.

Sent from GT-N7105 powered by Beanstalk 4.4

**furyprix** · 16th Dec 2013, 14:20

Originally Posted by felix_fx2

you may want to cover only on days weather is cool.

just aim to have the hc growing well in certain spots. they will spread so don't over do DSM.

Sent from GT-N7105 powered by Beanstalk 4.4

i thought so too, planning to flood in another week's time after i return from overseas. praying hard that i will still have a few patches alive when im back.. for the melted patches, there's 1 or 2 green shoots which seem to be growing well; my consolation

**furyprix** · 1st Mar 2014, 23:20

Flooded my tank. But i realised that the narrow java ferns seem to be too big for my 2ft (philiphine ferns are used for the DW on the right side). Does anyone have any suggestions for replacement?

**zhaoronglim** · 3rd Mar 2014, 03:20

Mini bolbitis?

**hiisoka** · 4th Mar 2014, 01:27

i noticed HC grows better in a matured tank. I had mine grow pretty well on lava rocks

**furyprix** · 4th Mar 2014, 02:36

HC is a really demanding plant I must admit, had alot of downs before i finally manage to make it grow and spread now. visible growth can be seen daily

i'm more concerned about the narrow leaf growing too big and destroying the balance.

**Ingen** · 4th Mar 2014, 10:54

What happened to the sand idea? Was looking forward to it haha.

**furyprix** · 4th Mar 2014, 13:46

Originally Posted by Ingen

What happened to the sand idea? Was looking forward to it haha.

Was tempted to create a carpet haha. And have a fuller planted area in e middle.

**furyprix** · 8th Mar 2014, 17:53

two weeks after flooding - i have realised that all of my narrow leaf java & philipine ferns are decaying (turning black), totally out of my expectations. i had not expect the supposedly most hardy plant to fall first. on the contrary, crypts and fissidens are doing great (less the algae growing on em), HC is spreading (but there are patches that are still adjusting and recovering), pinnatifidas are shedding almost all their leaves less the ones at the top. I guess most of the plants are adjusting but i still have no clue why the ferns suffered the most (seems like the entire plant is dying)

**furyprix** · 23rd Oct 2014, 21:42

its has been about 8 months since flooding. water parameters have stabilised, plants are pretty much established. This first planted scape of mine is indeed a valuable practical lesson. Its a pity that I am planning to decommission it next month when my new tank arrives...

The most important takeaway is that now, I know what I really want and how to create it

Things that I've learned:
*planning is very crucial*
*try not to be stingy on the equipment*
*control the itchy fingers*
*don't try to over-achieve by picking anything you like from the LFS, research is important!*
*understand manage your tradeoffs e.g. sensitive fauna & lush flora*

[img=http://s30.postimg.org/50w76g8d9/IMG_2313.jpg]