Budget planted aquarium advice

[WaterWaffle]

I’m trying to surprise my mom with a beautiful planted aquarium but need to keep a budget. The 55 she currently has is full of a mix of tropical fish, goldfish, and even a comet goldfish all from petsmart. They keep dying off one by one by what I guess is horrible genes or parasites. I’ve seen anchor worms on the goldfish and some have raised scales. The fish that are still doing okay I’m going to move and medicate. The sick, suffering ones I am going to euthanize humanely. For her tank revamp I’m going to remove everything and disinfect it. My plan is lightly to moderately planted with a carpet and dragon stone. First I’m getting her a glass lid because the evaporation is horrible. For the lighting I want to use 2 50watt led 5000k spotlights. For the substrate I am using 1.5 inch Potting soil with a 1 inch sand cap. I’ve done a soil and pea gravel planted tank before and it went very well. I would like to stock it with as many colors as possible. The background is probably going to be black to make the colors pop. I was thinking:

6 dwarf neon rainbow fish
school of 12 ember tetras
school of 12 blue emperor tetras
6 sparkling gourami (my mom loves these so they are a must)
some kind of bottom dweller. Maybe a school of cories or banjo catfish

For plants I am looking at getting
water wisteria
green myrio (I’m going to keep them short to fill in the rocks)
narrow leaf chain sword for the carpet
Amazon sword plants
Brazilian pennywort


My ph sits at around 8.2 and I have well water that goes through a softener, has iron removed, then is treated with prime. Any suggestions on the kinds of fish or plants would be appreciated and where to buy them that has affordable prices and shipping.The more colorful the fish the better. The dragon stone is definitely the most expensive part of the plan. I’m also open to using other nice stone. Any ideas on saving money? I already checked our yard and there are no rivers that are unpolluted to pick up my own rocks. I did find 44 lbs of dragon stone for 130 dollars but I’m not sure that will be enough for a 55 gallon tank. I added a photo of the current tank and a general idea of what I would like to turn it into. Thank you very much in advance for your help!

 

[kno4te]

Try ur local fish club. Lots of members will sell plants and decor/rocks for cheap. Occurs in my tampa fish group. I’ve also bought from reputable online stores. Like aquarium co op and h2o plants. I’ve also used eBay. If it’s low tech plants then ur lfs or hobbyist group will have it. Think to save money on ur tank I’d try a low tech plants and keep tetras and otos. Cheap and easily replaced as far as livestock. Make sure ur plants are grown in water to avoid dead plants. Also if the plan is similar to the planted tank then I’d dose some fertilizer. Fully planted tanks will absorb lots of nutrients in the tank and w/o supplementation will result in some die off. Or look very pale and struggle to fully grow. Some things to think about.

 

[WaterWaffle]

Try ur local fish club. Lots of members will sell plants and decor/rocks for cheap. Occurs in my tampa fish group. I’ve also bought from reputable online stores. Like aquarium co op and h2o plants. I’ve also used eBay. If it’s low tech plants then ur lfs or hobbyist group will have it. Think to save money on ur tank I’d try a low tech plants and keep tetras and otos. Cheap and easily replaced as far as livestock. Make sure ur plants are grown in water to avoid dead plants. Also if the plan is similar to the planted tank then I’d dose some fertilizer. Fully planted tanks will absorb lots of nutrients in the tank and w/o supplementation will result in some die off. Or look very pale and struggle to fully grow. Some things to think about.

unfortunately I live in the middle of nowhere and there are no fish clubs near me. I’ll check out the online places you suggested. I’m definitely trying to stick to low tech plants but I do have seachem flourish and api co2 booster which have worked well for me in the past. Our well water also has loads of iron before It is filtered out and just a cup of it made my plants grow like crazy. I was hoping for the above look but with a big rock/plant centerpiece and leaving the two sides mostly bare with just the carpet for swimming space.

 

[fishhead0103666]

I live in a barren wasteland for fish keepers known as georgia so I know your troubles. I’d give aquatic arts a look as well, they’re known for their nano fish, invertebrates, and plants.

 

[Niki_up]

If your on a budget then time will be your friend, this look won’t be accomplished over night without a huge plant purchase.

If you obtain a few vals for $1-$2 each and wait for them to grow you can have that long grassy look to fill out the back

Types of hygro will grow fairly quickly as well and give you the longer green leaves like on the left side. Or you could try a type of polysperma.

If you need a pop of color you can try crpts they come in coppers and bronze

I don’t have a recommendation for carpet plants.

 

[fishhead0103666]

I don’t have a recommendation for carpet plants.

Perhaps micro swords?

 

[WaterWaffle]

I have an empty 20 Long and 40 breeder open right now. should I buy a couple plants and grow them out in those? I really want to have my mom walk in and see a beautiful tank not go Through an awkward grow out phase.

 

[WaterWaffle]

Perhaps micro swords?

I’ve tried micro swords, they didn’t do well in my water.

 

[Niki_up]

I have an empty 20 Long and 40 breeder open right now. should I buy a couple plants and grow them out in those? I really want to have my mom walk in and see a beautiful tank not go Through an awkward grow out phase.

Absolutely, growing them yourself is going to save you a ton of money, and you can propagate them yourself

You still might have an ugly re-growing stage regardless if you grow the plants yourself or buy a bunch as your moms tank water might be different than yours and where ever the plants come from and the plants might melt with the tank changes regardless of what you do

 

[WaterWaffle]

Absolutely, growing them yourself is going to save you a ton of money, and you can propagate them yourself

You still might have an ugly re-growing stage regardless if you grow the plants yourself or buy a bunch as your moms tank water might be different than yours and where ever the plants come from and the plants might melt with the tank changes regardless of what you do

thankfully, we live in the same house with the same water and I’ll use the same substrate so hopefully there will be minimal die off When I’m ready rescape her tank. I’m so excited to surprise her but I’d rather wait and give her a better look by not rushing and growing the plants myself. Plus, I can just move most of my plants leaving enough to scape my 40 breeder and 20 long while I am at it.