First Shot At Planted Tank

[lilfishie]

well this is my first planted tank, its only a small 2 foot tank holds apprx 15 US gal and is home to some guppies, at the moment i have only larger plants, i am looking for some smaller ones for the front, also thinking of swapping the ship for some bog wood.

Comments and improvements greatly appreciated

 

[catfish101]

looks nice but not a fan of pirate ships and that stuff sorry, you could try some micro sword for a small grassy plant, also what kinda lights u got??

 

[johno]

If u change the ship for bogwood and fill the tank up it will look good

 

[catfish101]

yes that would deff help and also maybe get some crypts or other red plants for some differnt colors

 

[Ficious]

i know theyve said it but the ship looks awful!! go all natural and you will really be pleased lovely choices on the plants though. i agree with the microsword, but they require heavy lighting-- a different bulb will take care of that problem

 

[5teady_2012]

replace ship with bogwood, put a nice black background to make them plants really show well and it will look fantastic.

 

[catfish101]

agreed with back back round

 

[lilfishie]

The ship is going lol and am getting a black background as suggested, am not sure on my lighting so will check it tomorrow and get back, at the minute i want low maintaince plants due to my lack of knowlegde with them

 

[catfish101]

theres lots of easy plants that i would recomend such as p.hygrophila anubias vallisneria swords, java fern/moss r.ludwigia

 

[lilfishie]

Not sure on the light but on it it says 'standard F15W 154 -tb' anyone have a clue what this means?
Also could anyone recommend a wattage for a light for this tank? its 15 US gal

 

[lilfishie]

Well the Egeria Densa seems to be doing well, has another 'stem' coming off it, do i need to remove it or leave it.

The Amazon sword has also got a few new leaves coming through so i must be doing something right

 

[catfish101]

pretty much your choice gonn wanna remove it sonner or later and rebury it tho

 

[lilfishie]

yeah, might leave it for a while let it get a little bigger then will remove it

 

[aaronnorth]

the light is 15w, your tank is 15g so you have 1WPG (low light). for low light foreground plants go with:

crypocoryne sp.
anubias sp.
moss sp. (tie to slate, stone, driftwood etc.
microsword (Lilaeopsis brasiliensis) wont stand a chance. for a similar type go with echindorous tennulus.

for the egeria densa, when trimming, if you cut it off the top, it will poduce side shoots and bush out, if you uprroot it (no harm done!) and cut it off the bottom then it will grow upwards

 

[lilfishie]

Thanks for clearing the light up aaronnorth, is it worth investing in a higher wattage for my current plants?