my first super lousy planted tank. pls teach

[Cristiano]

i am new to this as my hobby. i tried setting up this tank like 2 days ago and i found some leaves of the plants bhind coming off. wad happen?

and i would like u guys to comment and teach me how to improve. THANKS!!!

[davescube]

black background, more plants, and caves

[Cacatuoides]

Looks like you're having a minimum setup, you can start off with ferns tied on driftwood such as java fern or windelov...maybe some anubias nana too

[antitrust]

agree with both davescube and cacatuoides.

black background may not be necessary, just plant heavily. maybe you can hang the filter on the side so you won't see the full frontal profile of your hang on filter.

[Salphur]

and i found some leaves of the plants behind coming off. what happen?

Hi Cristiano,
the cabomba plant you have at the back require some liquid fertilisers / base fertilisers to grow well. Leaves are dropping off, most probably as the plant are adjusting to your tank waters.


Cheers!

[Cristiano]

i intend to put a black oyama paper behind later. i have trace elements and fertilisers in liquid form. these are from flora vitrace. how do i knw if my plants are healthy?

[Cristiano]

after including some more plants. it looks like this. suggestion and comments pls. THX

[davescube]

Frankly, that looks 10 times better than previous one..

try to make the back of the tank with more sand than in the front..
i mean thicker sand at the back and less sand in the front.. =)
It will make your tank looks bigger..

Add some grey coloured stone and you are ready to rock and roll..

[Verminator]

With the cabomba, try separating the stems, plant them maybe an inch apart, or a few cm atleast. Allowing the bottom halves of the stems to get light aswell, you may find more leaves stay on the plant instead of falling off aswell.

Its a very fast growing plant, and will require constants trimming and replanting.

[Cristiano]

ok. thks for the comments, will gt to it later. anyway, shud i carpet my tank with moss???

[leechaorui]

I think if you could improve the lighting and add in CO2 tablet, it will be helpful. Otherwise, your plants will de after some time.

[Cristiano]

my lighting is 11 watt. and my tank is only 1.6 feet. so i think its ok? haha

[FishSoup]

It'll be ok if you choose to stick with low-light plants... crypts, java fern, the easier mosses, anubias, hygrophila difformis, elodea densa. More light hungry plants will suffer though.

[Binks]

With 11W your Cabomba will not survive for sure. It needs stronger lighting. Remember the rule of thumb, red coloured plants need the most light, light green plants need strong lighting and dark green plants need low light

But as fish soup suggests why not stick to low light plants? The last two are good for a new tank as they would grow fast and prevent algae blooms.

Next time please try and not introduce fish into a new tank, try and wait for 15 days at least after you have put your plants in. It takes time for the 'good' bacteria to settle in.

Last but not the least, a bit of advice, the forum does not look too kindly at short forms/sms words. They are forbidden so you have to use words like "What" and "You" instead of "Wad"and "U" otherwise your post may get deleted by the Forum Moderators,

[Cristiano]

ok. thanks! will try.

[stormchild]

Dear bro Cristiano,
your tank looks very similar to my first aquascape attempt! *High fives*
In my humble opinion, your tank needs more hardscape, maybe a nice driftwood or rock will do the trick. And also, ditch the plant behind. It's a strong light loving plant, it will probably rot away and screw up your tank's water condition. Considering also the fact that your tank is not yet fully cycled.

Keep trying out with different positioning of the plants and hardscape and don't be afraid to ditch ideas or plants that simply do not work well. You might be the next Amano!