You will need a good sized tank and a lot of lighting if you wan't to do live plants. It is indeed tricky to maintain these things.. I would go with atleast 75g because of the footprint. I would then try to have about 220w of lighting, or possibly a 250w halide. Short intense growth periods are important. If you could set the lighting system up 'Amano' style, so it would have 3 hours of 90w lighting, 6 hours of 220w lighting, and 3 more hours of 90w lighting.. This is suppose to help plant growth, especially if combined with a source of co2.
I would go with as many 'hardy' plants as you can find. I have even seen some people use houseplants found at Lowe's that grow well in or out of water. When designing your layout, try to make sure you have as much gallon capacity as possible. Use a network of half driftwood/climbing branches for the snakes and fish to hide in, this will make up for 'land space' sacrificed for 'gallon capacity'. The snakes won't need as much land as you think.
Use a floating plant to shade the water and hide the view of fish from the snakes.. I am thinking of those mini-water lilys that are a nuisance. Get some plants that will grow out of water, and some vines as well. Possibly stock it with large fast moving fish, that aren't too expensive. If you could some smaller sized Cichlids possibly, such as Convict or Firemouth. You could use giant danios for dither/movement, depending on the size of the snakes. Jewel Cichlids perhaps would be a nice addition to the snakes. If the tank is big enough, peacock bass
sorry for rambling..
Miles
I would go with as many 'hardy' plants as you can find. I have even seen some people use houseplants found at Lowe's that grow well in or out of water. When designing your layout, try to make sure you have as much gallon capacity as possible. Use a network of half driftwood/climbing branches for the snakes and fish to hide in, this will make up for 'land space' sacrificed for 'gallon capacity'. The snakes won't need as much land as you think.
Use a floating plant to shade the water and hide the view of fish from the snakes.. I am thinking of those mini-water lilys that are a nuisance. Get some plants that will grow out of water, and some vines as well. Possibly stock it with large fast moving fish, that aren't too expensive. If you could some smaller sized Cichlids possibly, such as Convict or Firemouth. You could use giant danios for dither/movement, depending on the size of the snakes. Jewel Cichlids perhaps would be a nice addition to the snakes. If the tank is big enough, peacock bass
sorry for rambling..
Miles
