Scrappy Posted March 9, 2008 Report Share Posted March 9, 2008 I have a 60-68 Lt tank (60cm length x 30cmwidth x 38cm high) and im going out tomorrow to get some plants.. What kind of plants would you recommend? I would ask the people at the store, but I dont always trust them.. I am going to house it with my 2 female bettas for now until I organise everything else. Im looking for something that looks pretty nice and goes together well.. though im not sure what plants will take over others.. Im thinking of using the general setup of taller plants at back and small ones at the front with a nice sized piece of driftwood in the center.. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance!! :wacko: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted March 13, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 13, 2008 Okies well i bought some plants a couple days ago and have them planted in the tank (cant remember what they're called though).. Is there anything I could feed the plants, so they flourish more? is Indirect sunlight good for them? Thanks :P Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted March 14, 2008 Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 Oddly enough, there is something called Flourish that should help It is a liquid fertiliser that is nicely balanced for aquariums. Easy to dose and not all that expensive when you consider how long it'll last you. What lighting do you have over the tank? Indirect sunlight will generally do more harm than good, you are likely to end up with algae issues. Fluro lighting would be a better option as you have much greater control. Can you grab a picture of the new plants, maybe we can get an ID for you :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted March 14, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 14, 2008 haha thanks for that Callatya I currently dont have any lighting over the tank, which i now realise is silly of me haha.. I'll take some pictures tomorrow Im kinda kicking myself for buying them now without doing a full research on plants.. They're looking a bit dull, and are yellowing a bit now except a pair of small nice looking ones I have.. But other than that I wasted my money going on a splurge without researching it.. XD Silly scrappy... haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Hey sorry for the late reply, I had to goto grafton for a few days... I finally got round to taking the pictures, though sorry for the crappy-ness my tank alltogether unknown plant 1 Tall plant on a single stem... length large leaves plant 2- sorry about the light reflection (Yes the outside of my tank needs to be cleaned haha.. I did a big clean today) This plant was the small one i was talking about.. seems pretty happy, and the lady at the store said they can be attatched to driftwood.. Plant 3- Plants 3 and 4 both seem to be wilting a fair bit.. though I did a big clean and got rid of all the dead parts today which made them look a bit better.. Plant 4 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Plant 5- This is like a grass.. I got in a square (cories love swimming through it lol) Plant 6 Just a free floating kinda thing.. CAme in a handful though it seems to have grown more since I separated it into smaller parts Thanks for your help :rant: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brettc777 Posted March 20, 2008 Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 Nice work there Scrappy You got a light for it? the tank would look more impressive in photos at night with a light on... for some reason they always do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted March 20, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 20, 2008 haha thats one thing I am going to use my horsey pay on LOL... -sigh- Silly me didnt research properly haha.. This is when I really need that job at DJs, and for them to give me staff discounts!! haha and that is driftwood in the middle lol... I had to cover it a bit with the rocks so It'll stay down.. Stupid things taking ages to become waterlogged haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bettarazzi Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 As best as I can guess from the pictures, these are what I think the plants are: Plant 1 Hygrophila stricta Plant 2 Not sure what this one is. I'm leaning towards Spathphyllum which isn't a true aquatic plant. Need a pic from a different angle. Plant 3 Need a better picture of the leaves but I think this is Hygrophila polysperma Plant 4 Looks like cabomba but can't really see how the leaves arrange themselves. Could be one of the other finely pinnate plants eg. ambulia, milfoil, limnophila, hornwort (don't think it's really hornwort) Plant 5 Lilaeopsis Plant 6 Java moss. You can tie it to rocks or driftwood and in medium light will grow really compact rather than stringy and you can get quite a good effect. Just use some similar coloured cotton to tie it on. When you're looking for lighting make sure the tube has a colour spectrum between 6000 K to 10000 K. Don't go any higher than 10000 K because the plants can't use light in that spectrum. Cheapest option for lighting is to buy it from a hardware store rather than an aquarium shop. A 6400K T8 fluoro tube costs about $3 at the hardware store but about $20 in the LFS. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bluebetta Posted March 21, 2008 Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 looks good I think sometimes a basic planted tank like that looks better than a real heavily planted tank because the simple one focuses on the fish more. Just my thoughts anyway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrappy Posted March 21, 2008 Author Report Share Posted March 21, 2008 thanks for that bettarazzi Sorry about the picture quality I'll definately have a look around bluebetta, I agree with you on that.. I like things simple, and even for me thats a bit too much but oh well... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Callatya Posted March 26, 2008 Report Share Posted March 26, 2008 Looks great! Yup, that is a spath lily. You know those plants they have in office buildings with the greeny white flowers? It is one of those, but it has been underwater for a while which changes the look and feel of the leaves a fair bit. It should be OK for about 6 months, but the roots will probably already be starting to rot so keep an eye on it. Lights are pretty important, especially for the Lilaeopsis and the fluffy one (not hornwort, but not sure which it is). Those plants would do well with about 1.5-2wpg so consider 2 x 20w tubes. You should get by with a single though Try and get a reflector too. It isn't vital but it does help bounce all the light into the tank instead of around the room. The ones made for aquariums generally include tubes too, but the whole unit is a bit $$. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett_A Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 When you're looking for lighting make sure the tube has a colour spectrum between 6000 K to 10000 K. Don't go any higher than 10000 K because the plants can't use light in that spectrum. Cheapest option for lighting is to buy it from a hardware store rather than an aquarium shop. A 6400K T8 fluoro tube costs about $3 at the hardware store but about $20 in the LFS. Does that mean that an Aqua-Glo light is too high of a spectrum? Because they are 18000k bulbs? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBH Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 Does that mean that an Aqua-Glo light is too high of a spectrum? Because they are 18000k bulbs? Hi You want Aqua-lifeglo @6700K for plant tank. Aqua-glo tube is mainly to make fish look better. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brett_A Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 If I had a twin fluro setup with an Aqua-lifeglo and an Aqua-glo, that would be the ideal setup wouldnt it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HBH Posted March 28, 2008 Report Share Posted March 28, 2008 If I had a twin fluro setup with an Aqua-lifeglo and an Aqua-glo, that would be the ideal setup wouldnt it? Yes best of both worlds, the light mix would look good. Nice tank btw. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Archived
This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.