# Still planning....



## critter333294 (Apr 15, 2007)

Okay so right now i'm still in the planning stages of converting from craptastic plastic to a beautifully planted aquarium. I need some opinions though, in terms of my drawn out aquascape and my plans.

Here are the specs of my current tank:

29 Gallon, 20 watt light & canopy that came with it, along with a top fin filter(came with the aquarium) and an Aquaclear 50 that I added. Plus a heater, and some plastic plants, decor, and gravel. The fauna include 3 harlequin rasboras, 3 glowlight tetras, and 4 bronze cories(my warriors, they've been with me for over a year and I haven't had one loss). I plan on adding some new fish, and maybe getting some more tetras and rasboras, but they'll be moving to a 10 gallon that i'll be setting up once I get this tank set up. The cories will be staying, and i'm thinking about getting a school of rainbows, but any other suggestions for fish would be nice.

I've gotten most of my materials for the tank, I just need to get my soil and ferts, plus a few other supplies, like things to plant and trim with, and of course, plants!

So here's what I plan on using:

-Coralife Aqualight Deluxe 1x65 watt PC fixture
-Rena Filstar XP2 
-DIY C02
-Ferts: Greg Watson and maybe flourish for trace and iron? E.I. Dosing.
-1-2 bags of Eco Complete
-2 Pieces of medium sized driftwood

Aquascape Idea



Just a note: The two oblong shapes in the middle of the first pic are my two pieces of driftwood(the two on the left in the real picture), and the yellowish thing in the middle of the picture is sort of a sand river that I plan on making with some cheap play sand from home depot, and separating it with rocks or something.

I'm pretty flexible with the plants, so if you guys think there are any that might be too difficult or hard for a beginner to find, let me know, and suggest an alternative one if you dont mind. Just let me know what you think about my ideas, and give me some feedback.


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## mikenas102 (Feb 8, 2006)

Just a few quick points since I'm sure you'll get plenty of other advice:
1- The eriocaulon cinereum requires high light. You're in the medium range. With DIY CO2 that's a good place to stay.
2- IMO don't waste money on specialty tools to plant and trim with. A plain old sharp pair of scissors has worked for me for years. Just dry them off when you're done.
3- Bacopa grows tall and fast. In no time it will reach the top of your tank unless you are constantly trimming. I wouldn't recommend putting other plants behind it. 
4- Don't try to make your scape perfect from the start. You'll need to stuff that tank with plenty of fast growing stem plants until it settles in, then replace them slowly as the tank settles in. Not planting heavy enough in the beginning is asking for trouble. 
5- I've never used a sand foreground but I've heard people complain that it takes alot of maintenance to keep it looking clean. You'll see every piece of poop or plant matter than settles on it.

Good choice of light, substrate and filter. You're off to a good start. Just don't rush things and be patient. That's the best piece of info I could offer.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

One suggestion: Big leaf plants look best towards the front, with tiny leaved plants to the back. That fools your eyes into believing the tank has more depth than it actually does. So, if you want the tiger lotus in there, it would look best in the front. But, that plant is very big for a 29 gallon tank, and you will have to be constantly cutting off the leaves that try to reach the surface or you will end up shading all of the other plants.

A minor suggestion: limit the number of plant types you start out with, so you get familiar with them first, and it is best that they start off as fast growing stem plants until the tank is well established, when you can start replacing them with slower growing plants you like better.


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## critter333294 (Apr 15, 2007)

Thanks for the replies. I think i'll reconsider the sand if it will be too hard to maintain. Also, what type of foreground plant would you suggest instead of the eriocaulon and another instead of the lotus.


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## Chris Stewart (Sep 13, 2007)

critter333294 said:


> Thanks for the replies. I think i'll reconsider the sand if it will be too hard to maintain. Also, what type of foreground plant would you suggest instead of the eriocaulon and another instead of the lotus.


By no means am I an expert, as I am basically just as new as you are, but here are my thoughts.

Anubis will work as a foreground for your tank (I used it and it looks quite good!). You can replace it later on with something "nicer" , but in the meantime it will help get your tank going and is, from what I hear, pretty fool proof as a starter! It is a bit of a slow grower from what I have read, but for the foreground it might be just what you are looking for.

Other than that, it looks like you planned out your setup a lot more than I did. I basically just said, hey, this is something I want to try so grabbed a bunch of plants and did it up on the fly.

I can see some great ideas for the future just looking at my tank, but it is something that will come with experience. I'd say don't overplan and maybe start with nice hardy plants (java fern/anubis), or what you can find at your local LFS - then develop from there!

Jump into it and give it a try. You might plan forever beforehand, just to find that what you wanted will be changed in 2 months anyway. I'm loving my setup, and will for sure make some plans sometime in the future, but for now it looks good and gives all these newborn fry I have a great place to hide.

Good luck.


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

The for sale forum here is a great place to get plants - good prices and good quality. One plant I had great success with in the 29 gallon tank I had, with similar lighting, was Blyxa japonica, and that one is often for sale at the forum here. Anubias nana coffeefolia is another that grows fairly fast under the amount of light you will have.


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## critter333294 (Apr 15, 2007)

hoppycalif said:


> The for sale forum here is a great place to get plants - good prices and good quality. One plant I had great success with in the 29 gallon tank I had, with similar lighting, was Blyxa japonica, and that one is often for sale at the forum here.


Wow, I was under the impression that blyxa was hard to keep and needed higher light than I gave. It's worth a shot, and it does have that eriocaulon look that I like...


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## hoppycalif (Apr 7, 2005)

critter333294 said:


> Wow, I was under the impression that blyxa was hard to keep and needed higher light than I gave. It's worth a shot, and it does have that eriocaulon look that I like...


My experience with blyxa suggests that it does much better with over 2 watts per gallon, but I also kept it growing pretty well with less light. Then my Yoyo loaches began eating the growing centers out of them and I lost them all. Not everyone has success with blyxa, but I'm not sure why. It is a rewarding plant when it does well.


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## critter333294 (Apr 15, 2007)

hoppycalif said:


> My experience with blyxa suggests that it does much better with over 2 watts per gallon, but I also kept it growing pretty well with less light. Then my Yoyo loaches began eating the growing centers out of them and I lost them all. Not everyone has success with blyxa, but I'm not sure why. It is a rewarding plant when it does well.


Ah, well i'm sorry to hear that about the loaches eating it. Still, I think I might give it a try, it cant hurt. I've got another question though: How many of each plant should I be buying when I get them?


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## enzo (Aug 19, 2006)

i also have a 29 gallon tank and 2 bags was just enough. I did also slope the substrate (lower in front, higher in back)


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## Carissa1 (Aug 25, 2007)

I really like hygrophila because it's super fast growing and tells you right away if something is wrong with the water. Also if you get an algae outbreak it can often outpace the algae in growth especially if you are doing co2. The "sunset" variety is really nice, it's a little bit slower growing but it comes out more lush looking with shorter more densely spaced leaves and has the nice reds too. In my tanks I can cut the top off and replant it and within a day it will grow 3" with co2 going. I have medium and low light tanks and it grows in both, but in lower light it will tend to crawl along until it gets to the brightest part of the tank and then grow straight up there.


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## critter333294 (Apr 15, 2007)

Carissa1 said:


> I really like hygrophila because it's super fast growing and tells you right away if something is wrong with the water. Also if you get an algae outbreak it can often outpace the algae in growth especially if you are doing co2. The "sunset" variety is really nice, it's a little bit slower growing but it comes out more lush looking with shorter more densely spaced leaves and has the nice reds too.


Ah, yes, I really like the look of the sunset hygro. Decisions, decisions.....


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