Rio Grande 500 Gal educational tank. Questions and discussion thread
- Thread starter WildLand
- Start date
Thank you! The light is run from 9am-6pm while the center is open. I never thought about the pothos plants or roots into the water to control nitrates, thats a good idea. I looked into the rio grande cichlids, cool fish! 'Cept I don't believe they are found in New Mexico, too cold I think. I'll keep it on my fish list though!
Now I am researching plants. What are some medium, big, leafy, grassy, cool, possibly fast growing plants that do well in mid 60 degree tanks that you guys have?
Now I am researching plants. What are some medium, big, leafy, grassy, cool, possibly fast growing plants that do well in mid 60 degree tanks that you guys have?
For plants: amazon swords will work, hornwort will grow like crazy, water wisteria will grow like crazy, I've had water wisteria and hornwort grow in the 50's. Another good plant to test out is Eurasian water milfoil, may be illegal check first
+1 on the pothos. Works wonders. But if you want natural, leave it 
I let black beard algae grow in my gar tank because I like the way it looks.
Are you looking for native plants as well? If not, I have some recommendations.
I let black beard algae grow in my gar tank because I like the way it looks.
Are you looking for native plants as well? If not, I have some recommendations.
Great! I was looking into hornworts and wisteria. How are java ferns like? They popped up when checking out amazon swords
+1 on the pothos. Works wonders. But if you want natural, leave it
I let black beard algae grow in my gar tank because I like the way it looks.
Are you looking for native plants as well? If not, I have some recommendations.
I am not too sure if he cares about native plants, just more about the fish. Hit me with some recommendations!
I would if it was my tank
Yes java fern will do ok in the colder temps. It won't grow fast but it will still grow. It takes a while
Great! I'll be getting a few plants here soon. What the plan for the tank is a few river carpsuckers, american eels, and small mouth buffalo. For the small 26 gallon we will be housing more Gambusia and go fetch some red shiners out of the water.
Buy a slew of java fern. It looks great, and you can't kill it. Highly advisable. Anubias is similarly hearty. I would avoid trying to put too many species of plants in the same tank. It starts to look unnatural, and lighting that is good for one plant may well kill another. I spent a lot of money learning this the hard way the first time I tried a planted tank.
View attachment 1056405
That's my gar tank
There are three types of plants in the scape: 90% java ferns, two large amazon swords/two baby amazon swords, and two anubias. They are all very difficult plants to kill. Smaller amazon swords can be finicky. The height of mine means they get plenty of light. One has produced two healthy children (seen in the foreground in front of the mother plant). If you want realistic, less is more. That's just my opinion.
Now if you really want to turn that tank into a stunner, add one of those aquaterra 3-d backgrounds. Aquascapeonline sells them. They may or may not sell the proper size for an exact match, but I have seen some creative ways around this.
Not my video, but an example:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CxS2W8KqQqM
Im planning on getting one of these for the 300 I have in the works. Lots of members have them and their tanks look phenomenal.
View attachment 1056405
That's my gar tank
There are three types of plants in the scape: 90% java ferns, two large amazon swords/two baby amazon swords, and two anubias. They are all very difficult plants to kill. Smaller amazon swords can be finicky. The height of mine means they get plenty of light. One has produced two healthy children (seen in the foreground in front of the mother plant). If you want realistic, less is more. That's just my opinion.Now if you really want to turn that tank into a stunner, add one of those aquaterra 3-d backgrounds. Aquascapeonline sells them. They may or may not sell the proper size for an exact match, but I have seen some creative ways around this.
Not my video, but an example:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=CxS2W8KqQqM
Im planning on getting one of these for the 300 I have in the works. Lots of members have them and their tanks look phenomenal.
