Nornicle Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 RightMy empty (gold fish holding) 6X2X2 is becoming a planted communityso far i've got my co2 regulator and enough equipment for up to 6 fluoros over the setup... BUT - I'm not sure this will be the best path to go down because of the fact that if it was to be high light then it would have the be high growth = weekly pruning in 2ft of water!not my idea of fun... I'd prefer something I could prune once a monthso I was thinking maybe 3 lights over it , with co2, fluorite plants along the lines of microsoium, cryptocornes (willisi for the ground cover mixed with dwarf swords (thin dark variety) and wendtii.Any tips of preventing crypto overload (so many crypts grow that they kill themselves) and any tools I could use to 'get down' to the plants?I might run some tied down riccia on wood, but it might be more worry than its worth, and go with tied down java moss instead.Atm they are all very dark coloured plants, what could I use to liven it up?!fish would probably be.algae crew5 X SAE5 X Otos2 X bristlys 10000000000 X malaysian trumpet snailsfish1 school of harlequins (20?) 1 school of a nother fish (scissor tails?)2 or 3 pairs of dwarvesThe thing is, is if I want to see baby dwarves I will have to cut the trumpet snails and possibly clown loaches from my fish selection. hrmm I will have to spend some time planning Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MollyMan Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 For probably the best advice online, and many suggestions as to what will work, what wont, ideal placement, etc...Give my mate Off-Ice a visit at PlantGeek.net... you should find all the answers to your questions... (regarding plants that is) in the Profiles section or in the forum...HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YeW Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 Hi -I wouldn't add the bristlenose - they chew the plant leaves too much HTH Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wazza Posted December 25, 2003 Share Posted December 25, 2003 In the way of fish...80 Neons or Cardinals to add colour.30 Corydoras if there is to be no "carpet" in the tank. (To add some interest at bottom seeing as the love to be in large numbres and when feeding they sort of work as a team.Heaps of angels, a large school of maybe up to 20 (depending on filtration) would look really really really good once everything gets going cause when the angels are adults they look great and in a large group they would look simply stunning. (BTW With a large group of angels and a tank of that size you would definatiely get some pairs and they would prob lay eggs on the plants, if you wanted the babies you could move them to a smaller tank for breeding.HTHwazza Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHL Posted December 28, 2003 Share Posted December 28, 2003 Personally, I wouldn't have any snails at all, as they are difficult to get rid of. From my personal experience with 3 planted tanks (and other in the distant past), BNs are fine, and they don't disturb the plants. Clown loaches OTOH will do damage to plants, dig out plants, and eat anubias flowers. For showy fish, hard to beat Congo Tetras. Plant-wise, Microsorum is hard to beat; try some Windelov for variety, but you'll have to thin them out every 2-3 months as well, as they will crowd. Crypts, although growing fast, is not that fast that they become a problem; I thin mine out every 3-4 months (but I only have 90W over 4' with CO2). Limnophilia sessilifolia and Rotala rotundifolia are a pain; they grow too fast, so forget them. Rotala Walichii seems to be okay, and will add some red. How about a sword, such as E. Rubin, and some red Nymphea zenkerii for colour? Some Bolbitis might also be nice, with light green young shoots. If you have Ricca and Java moss, be prepared to do major regular pruning; under those conditions, they grow fast. The best way to plan is to draw a mud map of where you want things to be, and what look you want, then go from there. With high light and CO2, it is necessary to have some fast growers to absord excess nutrients (oh, you also need to fertilise regularly, at least 2x weekly) or you'll end up with algae. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nornicle Posted December 28, 2003 Author Share Posted December 28, 2003 hrmmm in every planted tank ive had i've had malaysian trumpet snails because i believe in their 'night time' cleaning abilities, they've always eaten the mulm... but as many african cichlid (or maybe just one unlucky frontosa keeper ) they seem to have a penchant for eating eggs... not good if i want to see mother apisto guiding her babies around the tank! I've decided upon on a mixture of crypts (including the dark green thin leaf version of dwarf sword E. tenellus) im not sure though because cost = $$ ALOT when you talk about the foot print of a 6X2... Then I'm going to have clusters of anubius + microsorium lined with alot of java moss. im going to have giant hygro to suck up nutrients and then gradually remove it as time passes. A red lotus lily would look a real treat too and maybe a sword in the back ground Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PHL Posted December 29, 2003 Share Posted December 29, 2003 hrmmm in every planted tank ive had i've had malaysian trumpet snails because i believe in their 'night time' cleaning the tank! I've decided upon on a mixture of crypts (including the dark green thin leaf version of dwarf sword E. tenellus) im not sure though because cost = $$ ALOT when you talk about the foot print of a 6X2... Then I'm going to have clusters of anubius + microsorium lined with alot of java moss. im going to have giant hygro to suck up nutrients and then gradually remove it as time passes. A red lotus lily would look a real treat too and maybe a sword in the back ground As I said, the snail thing is personal; I hate them in my tank... As for the cost, start with sparser planting if you can't afford it, and have cheaper fast growing plants in there to suck up nutrients and outcompete algae. Then as the expensive plants grow and divide, replace the cheaper fast growers with those. You will save quite a bit (speaking from experience). As I said with Java Moss, be prepared to do at least fortnightly pruning to keep them in control, or they will grow wild, then die off underneath. Red lotus is certainly a nice accent plant, but you can probably have a nice red sword in the mid layer as a focal point. Note: the Rubin will grow 2' if you let it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nornicle Posted December 29, 2003 Author Share Posted December 29, 2003 also im having issues trying to look for good wood and rocks for my tank, since im not willing to pay pet store prices for them Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nornicle Posted December 29, 2003 Author Share Posted December 29, 2003 what makes my life hard is that its actually a 6X2.5X2.5 which is why the foot print issue lol I'm thinking of mixing C. wendtii, C. Becketii, C willisii and E. tenellus in the foreground (mixing it up with taller crypts going towards the back) running wood + M. pteroptus 'windelov' and java moss Using some stem plants in the left and right corners (basically a 'U' shape) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Somethingfishy Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 I don't pretend to be a planted tank expert (far from it actually) but I do have a 6x2x2 with a fair amount of plants in it. Some of them are struggling, but most of them are doing fine. I have to prune the bugger fairly often and let me tell you it is a pain in the buM. I'll explain why, when I built the stand for it I never thought about tank maintenece so I made it stand 900mm of the ground, at to that the height of the tank and it's 1500mm of the ground before the hood goes on. Once the hood's on the whole thing stands at 1700mm from the ground! Poor design on my behalf. Whilst pruning the hood come's off and so do the lights, so I'm pretty much pruning in the dark. Did I mention I have to use a step ladder to prune?? Enough of me waffling and on with some photo's. The tank is a mess in these photo's with some of the small crypts in a state of dispair, but it has since been heavily pruned and everything is coming green again. I could organise some more recent photo's if your interested. I had very little idea about plant layout when I started this tank 4months ago, since then I have read alot about planted aquarium's and I'm about to start up a small 2x2x2 tank where it's all about the plants first and the fish second. Not like my 6x2x2. After all this typing I doubt I have really helped you at all, I think I just wanted a chance to show off my big planted tank! You might have to turn your monitor brightness up to really see the pictures properly. Crappy dark photo's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
anchar Posted December 30, 2003 Share Posted December 30, 2003 This is a 6' x 2' x 2' that I put together. MerjosAquaria It uses 3 metal halides, no CO2, laterite under sand, and weekly sera florena. Some of the larger swords have tabs (sera) at their base. The algae crew was Otocinclus sp. (about 30). Don't put gibbies, b/noses or plecos in there (or clown loaches for that matter). They will make a mess of your plants. I also threw some mystery snails in for interest (2 only). There were a couple of whiptails, corys and upside down cats 'zebra'. The fish were 20 rummynose, 20 cardinals and 20 gold tetras. There were 12 bleeding hearts also. The larger fish included G. jurapari, G. surinamensis, G. hondae and some pairs of Apisto's. plus two gold and two blue rams. This worked well and appeared to be very harmonious. HTH merjo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b3dlam Posted January 13, 2004 Share Posted January 13, 2004 3 x FL will barely keep plants alive. At this lighting level, co2 will not be necessary at all. If you want to keep pruning to a minimum, chose anubias, bolbitis and java fern. Your choice of foreground plants will be vveeeery limited. Most likely e. tenullus or small crypts will be the way to go. 2 x MH from a hydroponic store will prolly cost around $120-150 each. Might be worthwhile investigating? hth Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mr.Lee Posted January 14, 2004 Share Posted January 14, 2004 I think for a sp. to keep the algae from growing, to have golden snails. These are excellent for algae and excess food and they can eat fry and look real nice. They also grow quite large and most shops are always happy to take some young in if u need some credit. They are what i use anyway. IMO lee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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