# Suggestions regarding foreground plants



## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

Hello everyone,

I'm new to this forum and more or less also to aquariums. After a first "emergency" 10 gallon aquarium setup to relieve the endless guppy production of my friends, I decided to try my luck with a 20L. I wanted to have some plants in it and used Eco-complete substrate from the beginning. I first had mostly anacharis and hornwort in the tank and wanted to plan the further approach more thoroughly. Unfortunately, I had to take some quick measures due to aggression issues, and the current planting looks like what my LFS had available at that day and what I found in my other small tank.

At the moment, the tank looks like this (most fish successfully managed to hide when I approached with the camera):










My goal is more a fish tank with plants, which means that the requirements of the fish have preference. I'm going for a more overgrown look, but it shouldn't look completely untidy. I'm not sure whether the driftwood will stay (it looks like it decomposes), and I'd like to replace it with something higher with thinner branches. The tank has CO2 injection and I use fertiliser. Lighting is low light (36 watts of T5 lighting), and the front is slightly in shadow. The amount of algae is decreasing.

The plants are a lilly (and some anacharis) in the left back corner, a few amazon swords in the back center (grow well), four C. wendtii on the left and in the front (melted and grow okay now) and some wild mix on the right. I want to keep the jungle val (it slowly recovered from the state I bought it in and starts spreading now). The wisteria doesn't grow at all or only very slowly. There's a bunch of different aponogetons that grow like weeds, but I think they need to be replaced at some time. There's still some hornwort and anacharis around, and the former has to be trimmed constantly. The java fern in the front hasn't changed a bit since I bought it.

I'm now looking for something to grow on the empty spaces in the front. The cories always excavate the roots of the crypts, as can be seen on the pic. Is dwarf sag a viable option under my conditions, or would something else be preferable? And do you have any other suggestions for changes in the setup or for replacements for the aponogetons?

For the sake of completeness, here a list of the inmates: 7 flame tetras, 3 Corydoras julii, 1 bristlenose pleco, 2 otos, at least 3 yamato shrimp and 2(-10) RCS, and countless pond snails.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

i think dwarf sag will work for you but maybe adding another fixture up front might help it grow better? 

try asking your LFS they usually have stuff they dont use and will probably either give it to you or sell for a fair price.


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## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

So you think dwarf sag will at least grow slowly under the current light conditions? I actually have some spare fixtures, but it looks a bit awkward with them in the front.

And I don't think my LFS gives out any plants for free. I'm not sure who buys all those plants, but they vanish from the tanks faster than you can look, although they theoretically have a lot of stuff.


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## John N. (Dec 11, 2005)

I have dwarf sag growing pretty slowly in my low/medium light setup (which your tank is with 36 watts of T5). I started with about 5 plantlets, and now have over three dozen 2 months later. The carpet is almost filled in.

If you're shooting for the overgrown, naturally wild look. I think dwarfs sag's long leaves, and seemly untameable look would fit your goals very nicely. If you can't find some plants from the LFS, check out APC's For Sale Section for some quality plants at great prices.









_Here's a picture of it from the plantfinder._

-John N.


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## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

Thanks, John! More than doubling within 2 months is fast enough for me . And the look should suit me fine. I'll go on a search for dwarf sag then.

If anyone has suggestions on how to change the overall look or warnings on which plants will probably not work out well, I will be pleased to hear them .


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## Sammie7 (Oct 3, 2006)

I would say to take out some of those long slender leafed plants, and get some plants with a different leaf shape if you know what I mean. For example, how anacharis and amazon swords look completely different in shape. However the amazon sword, crypts, and java fern all have the same leaf shape and don't compliment each other as well. Water sprite has a really nice different leaf shape and should do well in your tank. You could also try anubias nana and plant it on your driftwood. Maybe some java moss? It's really up to you and your imagination. Find a few plants that vary in size(foreground, midground, and background) and shape then stick with those, plant them and let let them grow out. I would keep the lilies, anacharis(good for background), amazon sword(will soon get too big for your tank), vallisneria(background plant), dwarf sag(good foreground plant), and the java fern(midground plant on the driftwood). Planting in layers will give you more depth. Also decide on a main focal point, like your amzon sword or driftwood and make everything else compliment it. Maybe you could try to get some redder plants like ludwiga repens for contrast to all the green. Good luck in whatever you decide.


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## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

I understand what you mean. In a certain sense, it looks like a salad bar at the moment. Although this is also due to the missing foreground plants. Sometimes, I find my small 10 gallon hex tank more interesting, although it doesn't contain any plant substrate but pea gravel, no CO2 injection and only that tiny stock light. But the mix of Bacopa, anacharis, val, and pennywort makes it look a bit more varied. And the plants grow like weeds, anyway.


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## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

Okay, I went to the LFS and bought something they called _Sagittaria pusillus_ (it had a sign with a barcode and that name) or _pumilus_ (something like that was written on the glass). I didn't find anything like that (and the latin sounds wrong, anyway), they didn't really know what it was, but I hope it's dwarf sag. If not, I'll have a forest near the front glass. It's on the pic here on the lower right.










As you can see, I also bought some _Anubias nana_. Here I have a problem. How would you fix the anubias to the driftwood? I don't want to take the driftwood out, because the bristlenose was digging a tunnel underneath the wood (he's actually on the photograph, but I doubt you see him), and some of the shrimp were also in and on the wood. Is there any workable method to fix the plant without moving the driftwood?

I also bought some Christmas moss. Don't ask me what I want to do with that one. At least I resisted the temptation and didn't buy any olive nerite snails. I should stay out of there .


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## Sammie7 (Oct 3, 2006)

Is there any way you could pull some thread or fishing line under the wood and tie it above the wood? Ok, just thought of an idea. What if you floss it under the wood, do you get what I mean. Pull it back and forth between the gravel and wood, as if they were two teeth, eh eh :eyebrows: . Or maybe slip a rubberband over it until it roots into the wood? You look like you are having some algae issues on some of the plants has that been going on for a while? You could tie the moss to your rock if you wanted an overgrown look.


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## eklikewhoa (Jul 24, 2006)

i use cotton thread to tie my plants down


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## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

The problem is that the wood is huge, and it's not lying on the gravel but on the glass. And the bristlenose is at the moment at this dark spot between the anubias rhizom and that mini-crypt (those two leaves at the bottom). And there's another cave further down, where most of the time some of my fish or shrimp are. Perhaps, I can try to take a needle and pull the thread through the wood near the top. It's not too stable there.


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## Sammie7 (Oct 3, 2006)

Did you read the whole part about the flossing it under bit. I added it on in an edit. If so, did you just not think it was possible? You could try putting it on that bit of the wood that juts out sort of like a branch. It might be easier that way. If you don't want to plant it on the driftwood you could plant it on the sunstrate leaving the rhizome above the gravel.


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## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

Oh, I understood the flossing part. I'd have to excavate the end of the wood, though. As I said, it's lying on the glass, a few inches below the surface. I can give it a try. But not tonight .


Sammie7 said:


> You look like you are having some algae issues on some of the plants has that been going on for a while? You could tie the moss to your rock if you wanted an overgrown look.


Completely forgot to comment on these .
Yes, I have algae issues. Different kinds, actually. Some of the stuff is like dust and falls off the plants when I touch them. I think it's a fertilizer problem this time. I had already less in between.

As for the stone, I think I'll leave it blank. The catfish like to lie on the blank surface .


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## Ulan (Oct 2, 2006)

Just an update regarding this tank. I removed a bucketful of plants, because the fish had difficulties with getting through the jungle. Apologies for the stains and the overexposure, but I'm not good with photographs. The glares are amazon swords.










Compared to the last photograph, there are not too many changes, except that I had to remove the largest amazon sword from within the bogwood. The dwarf sag and the val didn't grow. I have a christmas moss field pointing away from visibility. Only the crypts and the amazon swords do well. All in all, it looks quite boring.


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