Too OCD to Plant Tank!

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tcrlightemup

Feeder Fish
MFK Member
Nov 27, 2016
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maryland
Hello everyone, along with my other tanks i have a 20g long planted tank. It is in eco complatete substrate with 1 to 3mm gravel. I have 4 wpg lights ranging from 6500k to 10000k because i have 3 seperate flourescent lights. No co2 at this moment because im saving up a little for a diy version ( i love building stuff and because of xmas money is tight). Right now i have at lemone6 or 7, 8 or 9 inch anacharis, 3 anubias barteri with about 6 leaves each (want to split these) along with 4 or 5 pieces of water wisteria. When i first planted the tank i got frustrated and ended up plotting the anubias together and wisteria together opposite the anunbias. The anacharis is being used as a backround for my neons to swin through. I am diagnosed with OCD and its very difficult for me not to be tedious and plant same plants together. Does anyone have any ideas? Im trying to work on my OCD and if i have a plan in mind i think it will help greatly. Any help is appreciated but please be respectful. This is something that i struggle with on a daily basis. Im the kid who touches the door knob 10 times to feel right and will be late to work if i thought i only did 9. Again thank you everyone!
 
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Welcome to MFK!!!

And not to be rude, but i'm a little confused what your question is???

Are you looking for advice on your layout???
 
Yes im looking for different layout options for the plants i have. Also, how to not make them look like i placed them. More wild...
 
No co2 at this moment
Hello; CO2 is not needed to grow plants. I have not as yet used it and have some nice planted tanks. You call of course but you can get along nicely without it.

water wisteria
Water wisteria, if I recall correctly, has a tendency to grow rapidly for a while and then die back.

If you tend to move things around the use of pots may be wise. I tend to have a deep substrate , four or more inches, and once planted tend to leave my live plants alone. Rooted plants will establish and spread their roots. Frequent moving will not necessarily kill a plant but likely will not do it any good. I have moved plants around often in a few days at times until getting an arrangement I like and had the plants do fine after leaving them alone.

Good luck
 
Thamk you all. I will be looking into dutch style aquascaping when i get a minute. I was also told co2 is necessary for some plants (not mine from what ive read) but id like to keep my options open. I really only plan on "re aquascaping" once and then leaving it alone. Other than trimming and removal of dead leaves/plants of course

Edit: after reading up on dutch style its definently the way im going to go. Anyone know of any hearty carpet plants. I tried dwarf hairgrass to no avail. And recently i tried a small plant type grass (not sure the name, grew little stalks about an inch big with tiny round leaves) and my shrimps (amano) tore it all up within an hour.
 
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Co2 is pretty much required if you have high lighting, but I've seen "difficult" plants such as HC grown with no co2, no ferts; in shrimp tanks, no water changes etc, as skjl47 said above, many things can be achieved that other people say you can't do, of course everyone has different experiences; not all succeed
 
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hair grass in general is a high light co2 plant along with most carpet plants as well as the red plants that dutch usually showcase. depending on the size of the tank. Marsilea quadrifolia can produce a carpet in low tech but takes a very long time to do so. with 3 lights on the tank you are more then likely in med to high light range what kind are they t8 t5 t12? watts per gallon is a outdated measurement from back in the t12 days. what i would do is find plants you like then do a search for what they need. there are a good amount of plants that are pretty maintenance free and don't need anything but fish poo. but with ferts and co2 (or Excel but some plants don't like Excel such as jungle val) the options open up a lot more along with colors other than green you can get.

when i first started with plants i used this site to get my feet wet as they have good selection that are broken into easy categories.
http://www.aquariumplants.com/
 
Yes im looking for different layout options for the plants i have. Also, how to not make them look like i placed them. More wild...
I would leave the anubias as is. They tend to be kind of slow growing. Check out some you tube videos on aquascaping, and pay attention to the "rule of thirds". Staurogyne repens is a good carpeting plant that doesn't require CO2, just make sure your tank is well cycled before planting, or it will likely melt.
 
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