My 1st 4 ft plant tank

[ah tan]

any suggestion how to improve it?

[Synthesia]

Glosso for foreground ? What's the theme for this tank??

[ah tan]

me new to plant tank.. just see others n set up according what i like.. no theme.

[genes]

Are you using base fertilizers? Not bad to start with! But you need more plants. Hairgrass may be another good choice for your foreground. You might want to add more driftwoods to soften the scape and make it look more natural.

[moss_guy]

Foreground very bare. Get some foreground plants like hairgrass, glosso & hc. But of the 3 hc is the most difficult but is a nice carpet after they start growing. Plant heavily equal get more plant. Happy planting.

[Jungle-mania]

You need more plants and base fert since you are using lapis sand. Also do you have a fan and what is your lighting?

[grey_fox]

Just wondering but in the centre (right infront of the driftwood) is that hairgrass (beside the cabomba)? If so, you might want to do the following.

1. Yank them out of your tank.
2. Trim off at least 1 inch off.
3. Replant them but make sure you separate them out and not plant them like how you are doing now. Spread small bunches out about 1 to 1 1/2 cm apart from each other, within a week or so you'll see it spread out giving you a nice lush carpet. Planting them how you are doing right now, you'll end up with dead hairgrass in no time.

If its hairgrass, you can use that as your foreground plant instead and easier than HC or glosso. Another easy foreground plant to try will be E.Tenellus.

You'll want to maybe get some more plants and have it planted at the background, for example, vallisneria.

Have fun planting and experiment it all out.

[ah tan]

thanks all for your suggestions.. now my plants are turning yellowish and transparent.. also my filter keep blowing out small bubbles and the water surface seems to have a layer of white substances. also the soil dont seems to dissolve .. still in big particles form. pls advise.

[grey_fox]

Hi ah tan,

The plants turning yellow & transparent can be due to several factors. It can be due to your insufficient lighting, new set-up syndrome (shocked plants) or some other factors. You can perhaps provide us more details of your current set-up to better advise.

As for your filter blowing small bubbles, it can be due to 'air-pockets' in your canister filter (assuming you are using a canister filter) and this will dissapate over time. Just a question on this, is it blowing small bubbles at spurts or all the time?

The white substance on the water surface you are referring to, would this be an oily surface or whitish foam? Did you wash your gravel prior to having your tank set-up?

The "soil" you are referring to is your gravel? It seems you are using lapis gravel and this will not dissolve.

[puffer07]

what filter and light are you using ?

[ah tan]

pls comment

[bryan]

ooo! A partition tank! Nice concept. My opinion would be to replant the toninas.It looks rather weird in the 3rd picture.

[aquarius]

I'll have to agree with bryan that the toninas needs to be replanted elsewhere. Try planting some crypts in the middle and left hand side of the tank. As for the right hand side, you can try planting glosso.

[Aqualee]

The perspective from the third pic (sideview) is visually most appealing. If that perspective is what you want to achieve when you view your tank from the front, replicate the plant arrangement. What is lacking is the depth perception and the awkward gaps is glaring. But I can see the progress you're making. Keep it up! What is wonderful experience about planted tank is that it is a learning journey.