Help Me With Plants! Please!

FishForums.net Pet of the Month
🐶 POTM Poll is Open! 🦎 Click here to Vote! 🐰

Electric Warrior

Fishaholic
Joined
Apr 29, 2012
Messages
505
Reaction score
24
Location
GB
So here is my tank and its becoming a bit of an overgrown mess. I dose ferts and liquid carbon, but other than that, it's pretty low tech. When I first started dosing liquid carbon, the vallis really thinned out and started melting as expected, but then it started growing back like crazy and runners started to spread all down the back of the tank. There are quite a few random crypts in the foreground and the the grass in the front left needs trimmed, I know that. The big thing left centre is hygro of some kind and it has really shot up, but I do like it. Behind that is some gymnocoronis spilanthoides that I just stuck there for the moment because it keeps coming out and floating to the top. The centre back is a bit sparse because there was some ludwigia back there that I just ripped out because it was doing pretty poorly recently. There is some type of sword in the back left, but I am getting really tired of broadleaf sword plants, because my bnp keeps stripping them. I have a bunch of Limnophila sessiliflora (Ambulia) on the way, as I like cabomba, but it doesn't do well in my tank. I am looking for any suggestions but I don't want to change anything too drastic, as my discus have just layed eggs AGAIN today, and they start trying to attack my hand if I get too close.
 
what i would do IMO is to move all the grass to the back, giving it a trim so that it floats straight up and turn the wood on a 30-45 degree angle. this will give depth to the tank. then i would have the plants that you have on either side of the wood; poking around. adding another small and thin peice of wood beside the other going in a different direction would make it more interesting. 
Having the small grass in the front coming from around the wood and having areas of the sand having nothing growing on. then from one side of the wood you can have a red tiger lotus or rotala hybrid. the tank needs a punch of plant colour.
when doing an aquascape always have the short plants in the front and tall in the back. it'll make the tank look and feel bigger.
that is what i would do, but its your tank. when your done post pictures would love to see what you do. :)
 
I though about taking all if the tall plants in the back on the left, and spreading the grass around more on the left, but I have a filter inlet back there behind the sword plant, and I don't like seeing it? When you say move the wood at a different angle, what exactly do you mean? It's hard to tell in the pic, but the bit that juts out on the top left if the wood is curved a bit so it pretty much takes up the entire depth of the tank.
Also, keep in mind my tank is pretty low light so that limits a lot of coloured plants I could do, as well as the fact that my water is between 27-28C because of the discus. The temp also limits the types of plants I could use, so there are two challenges that I am faced with: lighting and temp. I can't upgrade my lighting anytime soon, so I just have to make due.
 
So I had a bit of a rescape today and moved some stuff around and added the limnophilia I got to the back next to the hygro. I am gonna do some more work to the dwarf sag in the front and spread it further to the back. I am not too sure about the big crypt in the front centre? Should I move it/get rid of it? I really like the plant but not necessarily where it is right now. Any more suggestions?
 
I like everything except the patch of bare sand back left.  Can you plant more dwarf sag to carpet that area to the back?
I don't mind the crypt where it is but once the limnophila grows bigger it might look nicer pushed further to the back so it nestles against the limno.

Edit: ha I should read your post more thoroughly, you already mentioned the dwarf sag :)
 
Yeah I was thinking about clearing like a three or four inch path between the big crypt and the sag to leave some bare sand. I will definitely fill in the back, I just wanted to stop for today to give the discus a break. There is a smaller, newer crypt in front of the limno right now, but I know what you mean. That big one in front is my oldest and biggest one.
 
The more I look at it, the more I like the way you've concentrated the plants on one side.  My first thought would have been to spread the vallis along the back as well but I think what you've done it much better.  Your wood really lends itself to this sort of scape because it juts out into the empty space on the left.  It looks very dramatic. :good:
 
I don't think a path down the middle would look right.  I'd be tempted to leave some bare sand at the front and perhaps at the far left but I think the sag carpet would look more natural joined up with the plants on the right.
 
daizeUK said:
 
I don't think a path down the middle would look right.  I'd be tempted to leave some bare sand at the front and perhaps at the far left but I think the sag carpet would look more natural joined up with the plants on the right.
Ahh, I like that idea regarding the sag. I think I will try something like that. I will have to get some more sag off eBay then... I am also trying to decide on whether to keep the black background or not? It's wasn't an issue when the plants were covering most of it, but pigeon variety discus can tend to pepper against a dark background or substrate. I will have to see how they get on? I might turn it around to the blue if they do. Or no background at all?
 
Made a few more little changes today. Need to rise some more Pygmy chain sword or some dwarf sag for the very back left. I like it a lot better now.
 
I still can't decide if I should try and find a small and complimentary piece of bogwood for the left, or just keep it clear and manicure and spread my carpet plant a bit more?
 

Most reactions

trending

Staff online

Members online

Back
Top