im new to trying to really do planted tanks. Not new to fish keeping but im wanting to do something really spectacular with a 29 gallon that im waiting to do. Any advice on favorite plants or methods is greatly appreciated
New to freshwater aquascaping
- Thread starter McCarrick
- Start date
im new to trying to really do planted tanks. Not new to fish keeping but im wanting to do something really spectacular with a 29 gallon that im waiting to do. Any advice on favorite plants or methods is greatly appreciated
If im wanting to do carpeting plants, what's the downside to doing a finer substrate?
Hello; From personal experience I have tried construction sand simply because i had a pile around. The plants did not do well. I think it was too fine grained and may have compacted too much for the rooted plants. It was however fine for my pair of Kirbensus cichlids. They found it good to dig into.
The other issue with fine grained substrate is the problem with toxins which can accumulate. Seems the sand can form anerobic pockets in which bacteria can thrive and produce toxic byproducts. Reports on this in this forum.
A way around this if you wish to use sand is to DRY SIFT it with a screen. I made such a screen with 2x4's and screen wire. Got rid of the dust and finer sand particles. I could come up with various grain sizes.
We deal with this in the saltwater side as well, you need to be careful about stirring up the sand. The method i was wanting to use was a layer of gravel to build up the topography I wanted, a layer of pond soil and then a thinner layer of sand to really just keep the soil down.
I could see the main issue with the construction sand being a lack of nutrients if you didnt use root tabs. The sand I planned on capping the whole thing with is for planted tanks- its the fluorite sand but I thought about doing the aqua soil that's those rounder pieces. I just dont like how much it settles into mud after awhile.
This is my saltwater tank
120 gallons
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Gorgeous tanks!
I’ve been enjoying how much space Anubias take up! For the price to make a tank feel fuller, I think it’s an affordable option!
They are slow growing rhizomes like Java ferns, and have been pretty hardy in my experience. I haven’t had much melt upon throwing them in.
Just be very careful to not damage the rhizomes (stem where the leaves come out). I had a few bundles completely rot from the inside out because I tied it too tightly to some driftwood and the string made a bunch of micro abrasions where infection came in. Now I just carefully wrap a plant weight on the rhizome and place it around the tank.
I’ve seen it thrive both attached or lodged between scapes as well as just resting on top of substrate (do not bury otherwise the rhizome will rot) and over time the roots make their way into the soil and anchor itself!
Excuse the dirty glass, recently rescaped. I love that the large leaves can grow terrestrially and submerged! Perfect place for fish/shrimp to perch and provides shade (I’m considering taking out all the floating plants because they get caught on leaves and dry up).
I’ve been enjoying how much space Anubias take up! For the price to make a tank feel fuller, I think it’s an affordable option!
They are slow growing rhizomes like Java ferns, and have been pretty hardy in my experience. I haven’t had much melt upon throwing them in.
Just be very careful to not damage the rhizomes (stem where the leaves come out). I had a few bundles completely rot from the inside out because I tied it too tightly to some driftwood and the string made a bunch of micro abrasions where infection came in. Now I just carefully wrap a plant weight on the rhizome and place it around the tank.
I’ve seen it thrive both attached or lodged between scapes as well as just resting on top of substrate (do not bury otherwise the rhizome will rot) and over time the roots make their way into the soil and anchor itself!
Excuse the dirty glass, recently rescaped. I love that the large leaves can grow terrestrially and submerged! Perfect place for fish/shrimp to perch and provides shade (I’m considering taking out all the floating plants because they get caught on leaves and dry up).