How Does This Sound?

[markandhisfish]

it was a bit frustrating when things had to come to a halt once i started buying equipment for my upcoming planted tank , but ive done the maths and when i get my tax rebate in a couple of weeks there should be enough after i renew my work tickets to get the last of the equipment , and the plants too .

ive put together some plants i like but i havent got the experience to picture in my head wether or not they will look good together or not , so im hoping an experienced planter can help me out .

foreground will be a carpet of HC "cuba"

midground
rotala rotundifolia
Hydrocotyle leucocephala

background

hygrophila polysperma
hygrophila difformis
ludwigia repens "rubin"
limnophilia aquatica

how do you think this lot will look? maybe another midground plant? anything that doesnt fit? this is probably the bit im finding hardest to learn .

 

[ian]

have you tried sketching out a plan on MS paint? (i'm sure you'll have an artistic head, being a builder) What hardscape are you going with ? You have a lot of fast growing plants there, Mark.

 

[PDSimon]

Maybe some anubias or java ferns in there?

 

[markandhisfish]

im probably going to change it around a bit now . im probably going to use something like an echinodorus red special as my focal point . i wasnt planning on using much in the way of hardscape to be honest altho i may get a nice branchy piece of redmoor .

i deffinately want the HC carpet the limnophilia aquatica and the H. difformis . anything else im open to suggestions on . im trying to make up my whole scape with the plants on aquarium gardening so that i can get them all in 1 order . it would be nice to keep the ludwigia but i can live without it .

Maybe some anubias or java ferns in there?

have considered anubias , not a lover of java fern tho

 

[PDSimon]

You've gotta get some hardscape in there

 

[markandhisfish]

i most probably will im just not sure how id use it , as if i go with an echinodorus red special as my focal point i wouldnt want to put any hardscape there , so it would have to be placed elsewhere and planted around . this is where im weak i cant visualise how it will grow in . i did toy with paint ian but im not in the slightest bit artistic

something else too. depending on who you speak to sand either is or isnt suitable . i was thinking of using jbl aquabasis+ capped with playsand . would this be ok? ian i saw you topped yours with manado . how much did you use? ive looked at it and its quite pricey

 

[PDSimon]

Try doing a birds eye view, the tropica website (and TGM) have the plant sizes so you can just use squares and circles where the plants go to get an idea. It sounds awful but it does help

 

[ian]

I just used the one 5ltr bag of aquabasis+ (£12) and about 25ltrs (£25) of Manado. I have used Monando in the past and struggled with it. Its very light and IME is no good if you keep moving stuff around. So far so good this time though!

 

[markandhisfish]

hmmm perhaps il scrap the manado idea then . im deffinately going to use aquabasis . i just cant decide what best to capp it with . id like to use playsand as its cheap , but some people say it shouldnt be used for plants . ?

 

[markandhisfish]

so far my potential plant shopping list is

1 echinodorus red special
5 pots HC
2 pots hydrocotyle leucocophala
2 pots limnophilia aquatica
1 pot ludwigia repens "rubin"
maybe 1 pot hygrophila difformis
i wish i could picture in my head how "planted" it will start the tank off

 

[PDSimon]

Using sand is fine, I use it with my tank.

 

[markandhisfish]

great stuff

 

[JenCliBee]

Using sand is fine, I use it with my tank.

Have to agree, ive used sand plenty of times and only had nothing but good results..however i was using just sand so making sure the water column was always dosed is very important.


To the plants.... nice list you have mate, i really think your going to struggle with having the echinodorus red special as you 'tank' focal point, ive found that trying to plant with no real hardscape focal point was really hard to get a nice balanced feel... planting round a plant is even more difficult.. or at least i fount it to be.

Have you thought about using a nice hardscape, weather it be wood or rocks and have the special red behind it?, this will focus (as your main focal point) on both the hardscape and the plant and make planting the rest far more easier.... If you do decide on your proposed layout, i will be very interested in how it turns out.

Good luck with it mate

 

[markandhisfish]

im 50/50 on the red special at the moment , its 1 of many ideas i keep having . 1 idea is to get a nice branchy piece of redmoor or similar wood , set it so the branches point upwards and plant around it , altho i have no idea which plant id use . possibly the red ludwigia .

im quite confident ive learned enough to keep the plants healthy , its the creative side of it im really strugglung with . 1 problem i create for myself is i set such high expectations in my head which are then very difficult to live up to in the real world .

any hardscape advice would be most welcome

 

[JenCliBee]

im 50/50 on the red special at the moment , its 1 of many ideas i keep having . 1 idea is to get a nice branchy piece of redmoor or similar wood , set it so the branches point upwards and plant around it , altho i have no idea which plant id use . possibly the red ludwigia .

im quite confident ive learned enough to keep the plants healthy , its the creative side of it im really strugglung with . 1 problem i create for myself is i set such high expectations in my head which are then very difficult to live up to in the real world .

any hardscape advice would be most welcome

Haha.. yep mate, it so much easier to have an idea but implementing it to your own vision is so much harder. I do like you redmoor wood idea, you could have it either branching upwards in the middle or if you have a nice piece, lay it down sidewards at one end and have the branches coming across the tanks.... both ideas would look really nice, some moss on the branches.. either fissidens (grows really slow), xmas or weeping moss (would be my choice). A nice planted carpet round the front with your HC and maybe the diformis or limnophilia behind the wood to give height?. I would personally keep the layout very simple to start with and then progress from there... you can always remove certain plants to add others once you have a basic layout to work from.