Background plants

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Lspooky4

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Sep 17, 2005
127
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Fort Collins
I am looking to put some plants in the back of my 210 gal to cover up the wires behind and make it just a little nicer to look at. My one issue is I have 2 baseball sized apple snails that eat certain plants. I only need about 3-4 feet of the back covered. Any suggestions?

The tank is situated away from a natural light source but I have 2 , 3 ft. 2 bulb full spectrum light fixtures on top and am soon going to get acrilic tops so all the light can get through. And it has a sand substrate. The water only comes up to about 6 inches below the top.

Other tank inhabitints are, 6 archers, 2 brichirs, 2 plecos, 1 needle nose gar, a bala shark, and a black ghost knife.

Thanks,
Lindsey
 
Lspooky4 said:
My one issue is I have 2 baseball sized apple snails that eat certain plants.
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Howdy,

With these snails, you can basically rule out having live plants. You could try vallisneria and see if they proliferate faster than the snails can eat, but you'd have to get a lot of plants to start with and keep your snails well fed with other stuff like lettuce or catfish food.

HarleyK
 
For a really great look, get a piece of eggcrate about the size of the back of the tank, glue flat pieces of cork bark to cover the eggcrate, get something to weigh down the whole thing (cork floats), or epoxy it to the back of the tank. It will look amzing and you can grow java or x-mas tee moss up the cork and the snails shouldn't bother it. It's a lot of work, but it really makes a tank stand out.
 
:iagree: but if you're hell bent for live plants go with the val. it might stand a chance against the snails if you keep them well fed (try algae wafers) and it'll grow into a dense carpet.
 
thanks i was thinking about italian val. and ludieiga. I have to replace my glass tops first so that more light gets through.
 
what substrate would work best? i was going to add some gravel to the back where they'll be planted
 
seighten said:
going to have a tough time with any plants in a sand substrate....
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:bs: :bs: :bs: :bs: :bs:

Sand is a great substrate for plants. If you don't believe it, come on over to KS and check out mine :D

HarleyK
 
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