# [Wet Thumb Forum]-My newly-planted 90-gal



## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

Opinions welcome on this one. These are photos of my newly planted (like an hour ago) 90-gal tank. The plants will hopefully fill in given some time, so it may not look well-proportioned now. The plants included are Sunset Hygro, Rotala Indica, Rotala Magenta, Anacharis, Corkscrew Val, Jungle Val, Marble Queen Sword, Anubia Coffeefolia, Anubia nana, Crypt. wendtii, and Red Temple. Only 5 Oto's in there right now, planning on adding 5 more in a week and probably 4 SAE's. There should be two photos below, one with flash, one without. All opinions welcome, good or bad!


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## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

Opinions welcome on this one. These are photos of my newly planted (like an hour ago) 90-gal tank. The plants will hopefully fill in given some time, so it may not look well-proportioned now. The plants included are Sunset Hygro, Rotala Indica, Rotala Magenta, Anacharis, Corkscrew Val, Jungle Val, Marble Queen Sword, Anubia Coffeefolia, Anubia nana, Crypt. wendtii, and Red Temple. Only 5 Oto's in there right now, planning on adding 5 more in a week and probably 4 SAE's. There should be two photos below, one with flash, one without. All opinions welcome, good or bad!


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

It looks like a great start to me. Looks very appealing. I really like the drift wood that you have chosen for the tank. Did you buy it or find it in the wild?

My goal is a sea of green.


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## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

I bought driftwood locally, each piece from a different store. The piece on the left was sold as Malaysian driftwood, and the other was sold as being found somewhere within our state. I like them both, even though they're different.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

Looking good...Do you have a printed background or is that a reflection in the glass?

Don't buy...Adopt a homeless dog or cat from your local shelter or rescue group.


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## ScottH. (May 13, 2004)

That is a printed backround. I have seen it at a few lfs shops latley. Very nice backround.

My goal is a sea of green.


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## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

It is a printed background, which I know goes against the Planted Tank Code Of Ethics! I may end up changing it at some point, but the back of the tank is difficult to access. The tanks sits in a corner of the room. It hasn't been too distracting yet.


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Actually-- in this instance-- the printed backdrop works... The real wood is arranged just so that it appears to be an extention of the backdrop wood. I had to look twice actually.

It wouldn't be my choice, but it doesn't offend me either.

That Marble Queen is going to get WAY to big for it to remain in that position, though. I've seen marble queens 2+ feet tall and every bit that big in diameter. That close to the front glass, and it'll be all you can see in just a few short months









Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

I didn't realize it would get that big. So much for that layout idea. Will it transplant well from one place to another?


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

Sure-- You could put it towards the back. It looks like it's only 5-6 inches from the front glass by your picture. Move it back another 6-8 inches, and remove all light sensitive plants from around it-- Maybe 6-8 inches fgrom the crown of the sword. It's very difficult to use big swords effectively in confined aquariums, so you may need to experiment. The nice part about them is that they are nutrient sponges. A healthy big sword makes it hard to have algae problems...

The 90g footprint is really the minimum size that will accomodate a big sword. The alternative is to leave it and swap it out every 4-5 months with one that's a manageble size...

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

Maybe it will find a nice spot in the back of the tank, as opposed to the front. Or maybe one end of the tank, where some anubias could hang out below it's leaves. I hate I made that mistake, I just thought it was one of the smaller swords. It may occupy the space where some of the Val are. I'm not impressed with them at the moment, and they may not be a long-term solution for the center/rear of the tank.


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## trenac (Jul 16, 2004)

I don't want to say anything bad but the printed background draws away from the actual aquascape. The good thing is that it does look like a reflection. I think a plain dark background would look a lot better.









Don't buy...Adopt a homeless dog or cat from your local shelter or rescue group.


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## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

OK, I moved the Marble Queen sword to the right rear corner. Moved the Hygro that was there closer to the center rear. Moved the Corkscrew Val that was there to one end of the tank, where it should be better off since it's shorter than Jungle Val. My question now becomes, what would be a good fit for the space left by the Sword? I was thinking either a green variety of a Crypt (lutea?) or a smaller sword. What varieties of sword remain small enough to be near the front of a tank?


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## EDGE (Feb 28, 2004)

Echinodorus schlueteri 'Leopard'
Echinodorus latifolius (need constant trimming of runners)

You can also try:
dwarf lobelia
Samolus valerandi
hygro 'compact' (takes a while to get too tall)

---------------------------
My 75 Gallon

A Canadian's Plant Traders website


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Looking good! I can't wait to see it once it's grown in. We'll have to arrange a CAPE meeting at your house sometime in a few months so you can show it off.









Best,
Phil

/masthead-refined-mini.jpg


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## lsuber (Dec 15, 2003)

It's coming along pretty well so far. You can see from my previous message I had some rearragning to do after underestimating one of my swords. The tank's been planted for about 2-weeks now and so sign of algae anywhere (yet). I credit this board with a lot of what I have done, and hope it continues to be fun and rewarding to have done it right! I'm still looking for a good foreground plant for the space where the Marble Queen sword was........


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## Phil Edwards (Jan 22, 2004)

Why not put some crypts there? They're an excellent replacement for a sword, having the same general shape but at 1/4 of the size.

/masthead-refined-mini.jpg


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## Wheeler (Feb 8, 2004)

My fav smaller sword is E. parviflorus var "Tropica". They top out around 8-10", but it takes them a while to get there. Another good one, but slightly bigger (14-16") is E. bleheri var. "Compact". Pretty sure I got the species name right... It might be E. amazonicus var. "Compact".

At any rate, there are a bunch of other plants that would go nice there: Someone already mentioned Lobelia, there's Blyxa japonica, Sagitarria subulata, Samolus valerandi, a dwarf lilly might be nice... and so on. It seems like you may be rather new to all this so experiment, and see what you like. The books and web sites will give you rough (some rougher than others) ideas about how the plants will behave with regrads to growth habits and max size, etc... I hate feeling like I've picked someone's plant/s for them









I would've let you find out about your Marble Queen, but by that time you would've had to yank out your whole substrate from the sword roots







I couldn't bear the thought. Hehe.. Good luck!!

Best wishes,
John Wheeler


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