# Newb to plants



## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

Hi



26g Bowfront w/ sand

fish list
3- black Kuhlis
3- Peppered cories
6 gups 4 prego females and 2 males 
1 betta male
2 angels a blushing and a marble
5 neons 
1 hi-fin platy

here is the new plant list

3-4 nice size clumps of crypt w
3-4 nice size java ferns with rhizome
2 golf ball size clumps of java moss
1 cutting of anubias (rhizome with 2-3 leaves)

tehy are in the mail now, getting my alum tonight so I can start soaking tomorrow.

No special light yet, out of stock at the big box places and I cant spend up tp 4x the money on the same thing I can get for 5 bucks at the waldo world.

I got tons of questions but I am going to go browse to see if I can find em first

How should I arrange these plants from front to back? the moss is going on the mopani and my river rock creek bed. what about the other ones? Id like taller in back and what I can thicken up id like to plant those together for heavy cover.

Thanks in advance, nice forum.


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Sounds like you are planning on keeping your tank low tech/ low light. Your tank looks pretty tall. The plants you mentioned will not get as tall as your tank. You could get some drift wood (dw) and tie the java fern or anubias on it to get the height you will need. Bolbitus is another rhizome plant that will work tied onto things. Check out the plant finder for low light plants. There are grassy plants (vals/crypts) that will grow taller.

Stuckintexas has a nice bowfront tank. Check it out in this thread:
http://www.aquaticplantcentral.com/forumapc/dallas-ft-worth-aquatic-plant-club/55198-starting-up-today.html


----------



## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

I got a Crypt W. ( dont even attempt to ask me what it is) I picked em up off another forum they look great in his tank and I got to see my actual plants I am getting not just a picture of them. I got a CO2 reactor made up( 5 gallon water jug, air/water seperator for the muck and a marinade syringe for the drop counter, some air line and a chop stick shoved in the end for now, not running yet but test run was perfect.

I want a non creeping grass, something I can plant on the edge of the creek bed so the rocks show and the sand doesnt blow over and cover the rocks like they do now without plants.


I have a piece of wood I listed above, its about 6" around at the widest, has lotsa nooks and crannies and some thru holes deep inside it. I plan on tying the java moss to it and planting the fern, these are just beginner plants, I do plan on keeping them till they cease to exist however Id like to ADD more to it later on. I like the combaba or however its spelled height and would like to add that later and can even add to the lights at a later point in time when there is more money to be made.

Its 20" tall and 24"wide,depth varies.


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

Cabomba doesn't do well in low light. Most grasses spread by runners. You could do crypt parva as it stays relatively small and does well in low light. It takes forever to spread and is hard to find in big quantities. Anything that doesn't creep and likes low light will be a slow grower. Actually I can't think of a lot of other options for you that won't spread.

The lighting is really your number 1 limiting factor for foreground plants.


----------



## Bert H (Mar 2, 2004)

Petite nanas will also do well for low light foregrounds.


----------



## WhiteDevil (May 7, 2009)

ok so I need a 65k-10k light for low lights, I got that, I got another fixture, what do I need for the combaba** and such like that?


----------



## Tex Gal (Nov 1, 2007)

WhiteDevil said:


> ok so I need a 65k-10k light for low lights, I got that, I got another fixture, what do I need for the combaba** and such like that?


Did you check the plant finder? It says "high" light. If you have T12s or T8s or compact fluorescents then >3 is considered high light. If you have T5's then >2 is considered high light. The K = kelvin which refers to the light spectrum. 5600K - 8000K is considered good for plants. Many have said that they can grow things in any spectrum. I have a 10g with U tube fluorescents of 10,000K and the plants grow ok. I can't find the better spectrum. I do have more algae issues in that tank, though.

Here are some places for you to get a good over all view of the main issues.

http://www.aquatic-plants.org/articles/basics/pages/index.html
http://beginneraquarist.petfish.net/Beginner%20Aquarist/Home.html
http://www.rexgrigg.com/


----------



## Philosophos (Mar 1, 2009)

Cabomba doesn't require high light. HC doesn't even require high light either; it'll grow at 50 mmoles par. Higher (not extremely high) light perhaps makes it easier to start and learn in some ways, but it's not 100% necessary. Check out any number of ADA's aquariums. I've got some C. caroliniana sitting in a 10g off to the side with miserable co2-fert-light balance that's doing just fine, if a little spacey between the nodes. Light is 15 watts of T8.

-Philosophos


----------

