plant idea's for a 4' x 16' wide, 18' high

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fish_fella

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
May 12, 2009
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Australia
i know this may sound stupid and too much to ask for but.....

could someone please help me out and use some sort of drawing program on your computer and make like a diagram of what plants i should put where. as i do not know what type of plants and where abouts to put them.

atm i have a 4' t5 grow light from hardware store with two 26w bulbs. ( might get another one tomorrow?:confused: )
for the substrate it is half an inch of flourite with 1/12 to 2 inches of very fine gravel, almost like sand. i have a diy co2 setup but it doesnt work anymore :confused: also i dose with seachem flourish.

thanks guys i am just a noob at plant tanks
 
don't just look at it, please help. even just give me some names of easy low to medium light plants. some nice ones that will fill in good. please and thankyou (:
 
First of all, what's your tank going to be stocked with/already stocked with? If you're wanting a full aquascape with differing layers of vegetation etc, then you can't obviously keep an oscar in there or something. Here's a link to a page with almost every avaliable aquatic plant, and details on their growth requirements etc. http://www.tropica.com/home.aspx

If you are a true noob, i'd start out with maybe cryptocoryne wendtii, a bushy low-light and easy to maintain plant that should do very well in your tank. Also for some fast growing tall plants, try limnophila sessiliflora, which can be very rewarding with good light levels. (Have a look in my signature, i've got some limnophila in a 120G with low light, that grows really well.)

Amazon Swords can be relatively simple too, and again, should do well in your tank since you have additional nutrients avaliable. This plant can be used as a centre piece in an aquarium, and can be stunning in many cases.

Floating plant? Salvinia natans, lemna minor

Also, if you have some driftwood, attaach plants like Java Fern or Anubias to it. They are slow growers but look amazing, and can be kept with more robust tankmates, since they can't be uprooted.

Or get some awesome shading on the go with a big lily, like Nymphaea lotus (http://www.tropica.com/plants/plantdescription.aspx?pid=019)

The sky is the limit really, and this site should be able to point you in the right direction. Hope that helped, pm me if you need any more info :D :D
 
currently 9 anglefish ( weeks time it will be the 2 best ones )
whipail catfish 5''


a school of some sort in the future
and some ottos in the future aswell
 
im not actually a complete noob just not the best, i have kept plants before but i had one t8 light then and i was 13. i am now almost 16 and want to try it again after keeping a red devil, oscar, green terror, flowerhorn, texas and a blackbelt. so i have had a fair share in the america cichlid world and would like tropicals again.

i currently have some baby tears, some swort of sword which is a stem type *confused* and a few other plants. From what i have been told red plants need higher lighting. i currently have 56 watts of t5 lighting and might be doubling it and then getting t5 plant light bulbs from the pet shop
 
I bet you mean 4'x16"x18" and not 4' x 16' x 18'.

I think since this is your tank, you need to take a look at some planted tank photos and decide what your goal with the tank is. What do you want the tank to look like at the end, what style of planted tank do you want? Once you have that, then you descide which plants suit the style. Alternatively you can find a tank you really like and try to mimic it with a similar plants and layout.

First you make a hardscape by placing rocks and driftwood. Then select the plants to go in appropriate placements (uaually based on height, short in front to tall in back).

You'll loose out on experience if someone just hands you instructions on where to put what. Besides I'm often moving plants about in my tank. As the plants grow they may need to be rearanged. If you take a look at jcarondas "rimless planted tank" thread you'll se he changes the layout everyweek looking for the perfect design.
 
um no i had the measurements the right way around, strange thats the way it is. and thanks for the info, i will look into it now.
 
i had a thought today after visiting many planted tank websites and reading many aquarium plant books.

i think i am leaning towards having a large amazon sword as a centre peice, and let it fully grow until it takes up a third of the tank. a bunch of thin val on both back corners. 1 or 2 banana lillies somewhere, and some other plant to fill in the gaps which i cant decide yet. Also duckweed on the top which will be thinned every second day, i like the effect it has from looking under neath. these are all easy plants and ive had everyone of them before.
 
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