Flora Suggestions for 2ft!

[furyprix]

Hi AQ bros, I have kept fishes for more than 10 years, but I am still pretty new to the planted tank hobby. I'm embarking on a rescape for my 2ft (60x30x45), I have already decided on the layout for my hardscape (shown in the picture). The white base is the exact size of my tank. The rocks (now used to secure the DW in position) will be placed in a semi-circle as a boundary (sand out, aquasoil in) for the aquasoil which i would be adding, creating some space/allowance between the DW and rocks. I am trying to achieve the clean look, with sand outside the semi-circle. (got the idea from the tanks done in the ADA gallery)



Currently, I have shortlisted a few choices for flora:
1. narrow java fern which will be placed on the base and main branch intersections.
2. mini christmas and java moss on the branches
3. bacopa monnieri OR HC OR hydrocotyle tripartita for the space around the DW
4. anubias nana and nana petite at the base of the DW

As for the background, I do not have any shortlisted, any suggestions? Comments on the above list will also be appreciated

[Berny]

if you got some strong lights, I would suggest red plants

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[furyprix]

I'm only using 1x z series 33x0.5w.

[Phillipians]

Buceps (pretty expensive), Staurogyne repens, any moss, nana petite (because 2ft is pretty small still), narrow leaf java (my favourite), japonicas.

I have grown these without co2 before so definitely no problem.

Red plants probably just ludwigia arcuatas... but without co2 and strong lighting they dont really grow to be that red.

[furyprix]

I thought of buceps, but because of their price, I decided to go for crypt instead xD
I do have a DIY co2 that has a ~1bps too

[bennyc]

DIY CO2 is very messy and errantic. You can look at the buy/sell for good deals for CO2 tank and solenoid, if budget is an issue. If you plan to stick with low light requirements plants then you don't even have to do DIY co2, looking at the list of your plants, it should be fine,with the exception of HC and hydrocotyle tripartita. Search AQ for siesta lighting period, it helps. I have introduce the idea to my friend, many of his plants do well but not his hydrocotyle tripartita.

Having CO2 tank will allow you a wider selection of plants to play with!

[furyprix]

siesta meaning to insert a 'break' in between the photo period? I have tried searching for it, but I don't see any clear explanation of the process and benefits of doing so.

Yes I do have a budget concern now, realising that getting all the items required is not going to come by cheap.. Hopefully, I will be able to 'advance' into CO2 tanks in the near future..

[bennyc]

I think the simple way to explain it is to have 4 hours of lights on follow by 4 hours of lights off and 4 hours of lights on. The rationale being during lights on, Plants will take in CO2 and give off Oxygen. the level of CO2 will slow decrease and oxygen increase. During lights off, plants will take in oxygen and give off Co2, the fauna will also give off CO2. During this period, it will allow CO2 to slowly increase. So it is basically primary school science stuff, you should get the point. So when the lights are back on the plants will be able to use the " renew" Co2 level.
Urban Aquaria bro has a better explaination for it, i am not really good in words. Hope you understand anyways.

[bennyc]

I notice you are using Z series lights, they are good lights, so you have to control your light period to prevent algae. Erctheanda bro will jump in soon to scare you with algae talk before educating you.

[furyprix]

I think the simple way to explain it is to have 4 hours of lights on follow by 4 hours of lights off and 4 hours of lights on. The rationale being during lights on, Plants will take in CO2 and give off Oxygen. the level of CO2 will slow decrease and oxygen increase. During lights off, plants will take in oxygen and give off Co2, the fauna will also give off CO2. During this period, it will allow CO2 to slowly increase. So it is basically primary school science stuff, you should get the point. So when the lights are back on the plants will be able to use the " renew" Co2 level.
Urban Aquaria bro has a better explaination for it, i am not really good in words. Hope you understand anyways.

I get it! its to better utilise the co2 concentration to benefit the photosynthesis process. Will try it tomorrow

so far, i haven had serious algae issues, i guess i should be happy?

[Urban Aquaria]

Yeah... Diana Walstad explains it best in her quantitative research on the siesta regimen, here is her topic thread posted on it http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/f...iesta-co2.html

Note that for non-Co2 injected tanks using the siesta regimen, its basically only managing 3-5ppm of Co2, so its just making the most of limited natural Co2 in the water, hence plant growth will still be slower, in comparison to Co2 injected tanks which typically run >30ppm CO2 levels.

Agree with the rest though, do consider getting a Co2 system with solenoid and timer, it makes a significant difference in plant growth and greatly helps the plants to outcompete algae.

[Dodofish]

I was using diy co2 when I first started with planted aquarium. I will have to agree on what bennyc has shared. Over long term, your one time investment in co2 with regulator or solenoid will give you more enjoyment in planting and scaping. Diy co2 usually last between 1.5-2mths but sometimes they ran out by a month itself. It's a trouble to prepare the mix, and you can't off it at night. Water ph will be a major challenge and you can't control your co2 level, I remember having lust green and fast growing plants but with a constant ph at 4.4. Then things started screwing up.

if you are going to use a diy co2, you can consider below as diffuser:
fibre cigarette filter produce fine bubbles just like ceramic (last only 1month and clog)
chopsticks/lime wood airstone (last longer)
mini powerhead with air inlet (most cost effective)

you may also want to consider a timer with an air pump for night time.

[|squee|]

Crypts in a 2ft tank is always a bad idea if you're aiming for an aquascape because they always grow big (with the exception of C. parva).

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[Orcishwarrior]

Hello furyprix, I suggest you provide a list of items you are planning to use for your aquarium.
Starting with the 3 basics + 1 bonus - Substrate, Light and Filter + Chiller

For a start, try not to have too many plants by sticking with Max 3 - 4. As your aquarium gets mature, then you can consider adding new species or varieties. Buy in small quantity to try, this will help in your understanding of the different plants without screwing up your tanks. Conclusive, don't get too excited and be systematic. I have no plans to advise too much on plants because I am sure you have it in your mind but I would like to suggest you can read more books on aqua scape. Understand and identify the plants, before you venture into how to scape an awesome tank.

Many amateurs, started off being too impatient and ultimately mismanaged the first 3 weeks to 4 weeks of care. This brief period is extremely important to achieve biological stability in any newly scaped tank.

THINK

[erwinx]

You can consider a 2nd small 30cm or 45cm planting tank where you can experiment with growing various types of plants before moving them to the main tank.
This also has the advantage of allowing you to quarantine newly bought plants to prevent snails, and other organisms from being introduced into the main tank.

Another small Crypt is C.Wendtii brown, I find it to be the smallest of all the Wendtii's in my tank, the others being C. Wendtii Green and C. Wendtii 'Tropica'.

[bluebubbles]

The pair of bogwoods are really nice. Try not to cover the branches with too much green leaves as to conceal the beauty of the wood. Can consider weeping moss, it sticks to the rock and will not be as messy as other kind of mosses. Short plants around the rocks are aplenty - petite nana, staurogyne repens, cryto parva, E-Tenullus, bucep, golden nana, downoi, mini pelia, fissiden, baby-tears, mini penywort...etc. If the bogwood started to turn green with algae, leave it so that it look more natural.

[furyprix]

Okay, I guess I do have some things to clarify, I'm using:

1x GEX slim L HOF with substrat pro media (planning to upgrade)
1x z-series LED 0.5wx33
ADA amazonia
DIY CO2 with a ANS glass diffuser (will plan to upgrade if i have the budget..)

I made a trip to seaview today, purchased some plants:
1. philippine ferns
2. marsilea hirsuta (small carpet area between rocks and DW, anyone has experience using this?)
3. c.parva
4. c.petchii
5. mini fissiden

[Urban Aquaria]

Looks like your setup is progressing well, i've also tried out an island-style scape arrangement with a surrounding sand bank in one of my 2ft tanks before too, and i really like this sort of layout, but my particular attempt turned into an algae fest after a short while as i didn't take certain factors into account when running it... so maybe i can offer some pointers from my experience.

With island layouts having a planted area concentrated in the middle of the tank and open spaces of sand surrounding it, the plant density will naturally be limited (compared to a tank with high density of plants that occupy the entire base area), so even when the plants are fully grown, you'll still only have maybe 1/3 or 1/2 of the comparative plant density. In addition, using slow growing plants compounds the effect of limited plant density, so the combination of low plant mass and slow growing plants will result in them being less able to take up nutrients and nitrates as quickly and effectively.

Since the plants mass will be limited due to the layout, it'll be best to under-stock the tank, treat it as a tank half or one-third the size, then stock fishes and shrimps according to the smaller volume. Less fauna = less feeding = less waste = easier for the lower plant mass to handle. I stocked my tank without considering that and ended up with lots of waste build up and soaring nitrates that the low plant density couldn't keep up with.

Also consider investing in a canister filter with an emphasis on larger bio-media volume, as you'll depend on it more to process waste in this case, rather than the plants. Depending on your tank's bio-load, more frequent water changes may also be needed to keep nitrates from building up too quickly.

The nice open surrounding sand bank is one of the main attractions of this sort of layout, but once you introduce fishes and shrimps, within a short time it'll be littered with poop, make sure to diligently clean all the waste material from the sand regularly (in my case, it was almost a daily routine until i gave up, then it got really dirty). As light still blasts down onto the bare sand, without any plants there to grow and absorb the decomposing waste and nutrients, it'll become an ideal environment for algae to flourish in their place.

Btw, when you see all the ADA gallery tanks and competition aquascapes with pristine surrounding sand banks, its because they meticulously clean it spotless before taking the photos and videos.

I'm really keen to follow how your tank develops over time, your wood and rock hardscape looks great, so hopefully you'll avoid making the same mistakes i did and achieve a successful island-style scape.

[furyprix]

That is very valuable advice, thanks! will consider that! I'm planning to only keep 8 neons and a pair of rams for this layout. I have experience with the pooping because I have a blank sand patch in my current layout. The poop accumulates so fast that I can see a lot of poop a few hrs after I cleaned the tank. It sure is annoying. And it destroys the beauty when e fishes zoom past and all e poop just 'flies' up.

[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.