My, If You Can Call It, Planted Tank

Neal

Live life, don't let it live you!
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Darlington, England, United Kingdom
I'm looking for ideas to improve this tank, it's already established as far as algae goes, i'm looking for some tips on how to improve it, does anyone have any ideas? I know the plants need to settle a bit, but any other things you suggest I do?

Tank specs
24"x12"x15" 20 Gallon
1x Arcadia 15W Original "Plant Growth Tube"
150W heater
Aqua One HOB (Emergency filter as VERY OLD Fluval 2 broke)
Black background
Fauna
5x Cherry barbs (3 albino)
3x Zebra danios
2x Pitbull plecs
1x Mollie fry (male)
1x Guppy fry (male)
100000x Red ramshorns and malaysian trumpet snails
Plants
Amazon swords
Crypts
Marimo ball (carpetted)
Anubias nana
Java fern
Christmas moss
Floating riccia
Rotala
and another I can't remember the name of! :blush:
Decor
Slate
Bogwood
Concrete slab (I had fun with a hammer)

Any advice or constructive criticism appreciated!

Neal

EDIT-FORGOT TO ADD PICS!!!!:rofl:
 
That`ll look ok once its filled out a bit...
Id add some more plants along the back dome hygrophillia deformis/water wysteria at the back would fill it out and the leaf shape would go well with the plants you already have (only problem is its a bugger to get to stay planted
 
My first impression is that it looks under planted, rather baron.

A "planted tank" should be that, planted heavily with most of the substrate covered in plants. My daughter's tank is a good example. It doesn't have to be expensive either, all her plants cost £20 from my LFS, £1.25 for stem bunches (x4) and £10 for 4 pots.

Think of the tank as a blank canvas and the plants as the paint. With only a tiny bit of paint you can't really create much in the way of a picture. ;)

Once you have enough plants you will need to boost lighting by another 15w tube at least. Add reflectors to both tubes. The Arcadia Freshwater will compliment your current tube nicely. For even lusher growth add CO2. The Nutrafin units are good value, effective and user-friendly.
 
Mr. Farmer is reading this right now. Let's see who gives better advice :lol: . Just kidding, obviously. First, you only have .75 wpg. Your riccia and rotala might not do too great with this. Adding another tube will give you 1.5 wpg, a good amount of light for a low-tec setup. Second, try to make more of a difference among the foreground, midground, and background. If that is just plain sand, try adding a few gravel supplements- the swords will definately appreciate it. Otherwise, it's a great start, and, from what I can see, a very nice hardscape! I'll leave the rest up to Mr. Farmer.
 
Thanks for the replys guys, especially thanks to Sir George!
I've always had luck with plants like riccia, it's grown like mad. I should be getting a new tank, so i'll have better lighting then. I'm also going to add Co2 when I get some yeast.
George: I do have a few more plants, I just planted them in my other tank as it's the tank I don't want to tinker around with, so I just planted it and left it to do it's own thing. I agree I need a few more plants, but I never go to the LFS nowadays. I'm just going to wait until I get my new tank before I buy anything now, i'm wanting an Aqua One EuroView 76, but i'm not sure if i'm allowed it yet. I used to have some water sprite, but it got eaten by my angels I think. :huh:

Neal
 

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