The Puffer Forum

I'm hoping there's someone good at aquascaping out there. I'm absolutely horrible at it and we're setting up our new tank this weekend. Tank is 36" by 18" by 24".

Any tips? I drew out a bit of a layout but I can't draw it on the computer as I don't have a mouse. Working on it though.

Here's our plant list:
-vals
-blyxa
-crinum natans
-melon sword
-ozelot sword
-red rubin sword
-red tiger lotus
-baraclaya longifolia (don't have this one but we need something that gets to around a foot and is red)
-amazon sword
-madagascar lace

I know this is a long shot but if anyone wants to draw up a layout (hehe) or just make suggestions that would be great. Once I can find a way to get my idea up I will and criticism and suggestions would be very welcome.

Here's the layout so far.

Looks good. A big rock or driftwood would look great at an angle between the ozelot sword and the tiger lotus.

Exactly. I forgot to add that we have another piece of driftwood to add (maybe 2 pieces) and then most of the remaining open areas except under the lotus and lace will be planted with blyxa.

This tank will look awesome !!!!

yeah driftwood is a great edition to any FW aquarium. Every of my five FW tanks has a driftwood that I prepared my self

Smaller plants belong in groups of 3 or more.

to create depth in your tank, use shorter grass like plants in the from, to create a platform effect.

driftwood is a great addition to any tank! especially a nice big peice, that creates a center piece.

you want to have hiding areas and swimming areas.

look up some of takashi amano's work, that should inspire you!

I'm not basing this on my aquascape because mine's not very good and if I had to do it again I would probably go with less choice.
From looking at lots of good aquascapes I seem to prefer 1 centrepiece or 2 in a large tank.
A centrepiece should be just off centre.
I also prefer tanks with a good hardscape, i.e rocks or wood or a combination of the 2 and the plant layout can be arranged around that.

This one was just posted on another forum I frequent and it looks stunning:
http://www.thegreenmachineonline.com/ar ... -the-earth

Clarification: A centerpiece should not be at or even near the center. If it is to be the focal point of the composition, it should be based on the Golden Mean for the most pleasing effect. You will be surprised at the difference it makes - there is something about those proportions that humans find pleasing..

I don't want to shoot down your plans or your chosen plants (all are good material), but have you ever done a planted tank before? You have way too many huge plants - not just large but really huge.

Val and Crinum should be in multiples, 3 or 5 at the absolute minimum. Crinums (they are huge plants with 6' long foliage and will shade out all but the lowest light plants beneath their barely submerged foliage - you will me unable to grow any of the swords in the same tank, or the Blyxa. Va; should be in no fewer than a half dozen and a dozen of more is better. Depending on the cultivar and the tank conditions, the foliage will be 2-3+ feet long. I assume it not Jungle val you are using, or it will equal the Crinums in size without the bulb of Crinums.

Between the Swords and the lotus (really a water lily), you have too many high-mass plants for a 180 (6x2x2 feet) or ven two or three of those tanks, much less your smaller footprint tank. Have you ever grown any of the these plants successfully? All are too big for a standard 50 (38x18x18") as singletons. Pick one and go with that.

Madagascar lace plants will not do well at all at tropical temps. They are relatively easy, and one can fill a 75 (48x18x18") at low tropical temps all by itself, but the first months you will do better with Val or easily removed stem plants at the ends until the lace is mature. It will fail sooner or later at tropical temps. It does not go with the other plants listed.

Barclaya are beautiful plants and can be gorgeous centerpieces. But they are not foolproof and certainly cannot compete or even survive in competition with big Swords or Crinums. Unless you want to build a tank to showcase that plant, and are already an experienced grower, better let that one wait until you are confident of your wet green thumb.

HTH

We've had this tank planted for 8 months so while we're not completely new there's still a ton for us to learn. We have 3 other planted tanks on top of this one. All of our plants do very well. Way too well so we ripped our all our stem plants and are replacing them with swords and val. Plants that grow 6-10" per week was unpleasant. We're also upgrading the tank so it will be a 65T, not a 50. Same footprint, extra height.

We're trying to find tall plants as the tank is 2' high and we don't want all the plants just a few inches above the substrate. The val we have is sprialis so it doesn't get to be too tall. The crinum should get to a maximum height of 3'. A bit too tall but it can be pruned or removed. The swords can be pruned as well to maintain a desirable width though we do want it to be dense.

If any of these plants don't work then we remove them, very simple

We figure the lace will not make it but it was a great price so we wanted to try. So far it's doing beautifully and we have no expectations for it to survive long term. The tank plan was to have it a bit above what's recommended and see how it does but we're changing the inhabitants and the temperature will have to remain higher. As you can see the placing of the larger plants is pretty awkward.

Good to know about the baraclaya. We don't have this plant currently but were looking for something red and this is what I pulled out of my book. There's some other options which I have written down somewhere.

Thank you all for your help

What Crinum only grows to 3'? It is not the common C.thianum. I have never had that less than 6', even in mid-sized tanks (30-75 gallons). Removal is a major hassle, essentially a full tank breakdown - the roots carpet the entire tank base, even in 6' tanks. They last forever and even propagate and with enough light will bloom, but.I only use these in indefinite lifespan tanks - such as for T.mbu or a Fahaka. I never use such plant materials in normal planted tanks.

I do agree on most stem plants - I gave them up years ago due the high upkeep requirements. But they are handy for short-term use for the monster plants while they are maturing.

But I have added the Swords to the same "don't use" list for my own tanks since I idled the big tanks. Their root systems are in ways worse than Crinums - they are less wide-spread, but massive and dense and can cause substrate issues unless uprooted regularly and root and top pruned. Even with a diatom running on the tank while doing this, there are potential problems. Undisturbed they do not cause these issues, but you cannot use any digger fish - especially loaches or many suckermouth cats beyond the smallest species. NIMFT, other than large and specialized ones. Removing the outer foliage will slow them down, but only a bit. Most of the more dramatic cultivars really need a 3' x'3' cross-section tank at least, which I no longer have any of - I stop at 2' x 2' cross-section now,and don't even have any of them operating now, only mid-sized tanks.

There are some great ceramic fish on etsy, my albino rainbow shark loves his.