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Hi guys, back after a few years and need advice.....

M

Music man

Seedling
Joined
30 May 2008
Messages
13
I went fully planted many years backm but it didnt really float my boat...so I went Malawi Cichlids instead....
Amyways, Im now thinking of a fully planted YET quite heavily stocked tank....

Im thinking either american cichlids or lots barbsm with lots of flow and an open topped tank with plants out in the air....

The 2 tanks Ive shown give an idea of what Im shooting for...tank.JPG tank.JPG

Dont really want to use C02 m would prefer easycarbo and heavier stocking...

Ideally, tank will be 66 inches by 24 by 24, and sumped......


Thoughts please gents ?
 

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Edvet said:
What''s tthe question?
Click to expand...

Ah yes, good point..... I guess what Im asking is can I get good plant growth using something like easycarb instead of C02 and can I have a decent stocking density because of that ?
 
Chose emergent plants carefully as most aquatic struggle in household aquarium due to low humidity. Most people chose terrestrial plants that like having wet feet for this reason. The enchiodorus in the images above always dry out unless you live in the tropics...

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After some consideration, Im now thinking about a Geophragus stocked tank with others....I know they will give the plants some grief, but I want to find a happy medium,busy looking tank with good plant cover and planety of water flow and not CO2 injected as I dont want to limit stock.....
 
There are a few plant species which fish wont touch i believe... like anubias and java fern. I'm no expert on which plants fall into this category I'm afraid but a bit of research should tell you which stand the best chance...
 
Music man said:
Im thinking either american cichlids or lots barbsm with lots of flow and an open topped tank with plants out in the air....
Click to expand...

It is a great idea and one that works best for the inhabitants. It works great for water quality and since I set up one tank like that about 6 years ago, I've got totally hooked and would never have fish in a tank without emersed plants.

Just go for tropical plants that like their roots in the water and you'll be fine with house humidity. There are tons of them that you can choose from. Here are mine below growing out of the tank. My plants are near the window so some of the light they get is natural but I've grown the same with only artificial light. In that case one needs light at fish level and light above the plants as well.
This tank is an indoor pond but I had the same set up in a normal glass aquarium prior to this. There are several journals here I recall that have lovely tanks with emersed plants. I don't care much for aesthetics in mine so not the best example but plants always grow beautifully and even I can't ruin the looks despite that I normally tend to 🙂

You just need to look into getting sturdy discrete planters you can hang near the water level at the back/sides of the tank, instead of planting in the actual substrate. That will give you an easy way of re-arranging the plants to your liking. The fish then can have all the space they need, or decorations you like them to have, plus the level of light you want in the tank itself or flow amount, etc...I don't dose anything at all for the below plants because my idea is not to add minerals to the tank for the plants but to remove minerals for the sake of the fish. I haven't had major plant deficiency issues, besides running low on nitrogen 🙂, meaning the plants are doing what they're supposed to...

The only limitation is space above the tank for the plants to grow....

Pond 3.jpg
 
musicman said:
After some consideration, Im now thinking about a Geophragus stocked tank with others....I know they will give the plants some grief, but I want to find a happy medium,busy looking tank with good plant cover and planety of water flow and not CO2 injected as I dont want to limit stock.....
Click to expand...
Hi
The hose plants are a great way to green up your tank.U can only try with the submerged once too U never know.I got lucky.
I run a Tanganican Brichardi colony in planted tank and once me and the parents agreed where I can and can not put plants and where their nesting sites are gonna be all is good.My male is very particular how his tank looks.lol
There is a short video here
https://www.ukaps.org/forum/threads/brichardi-cichlid-juveniles.55593/
With Cryptocorine and other rooted plants U can get some 1-1.5 cm thick coarse foam pads and put the plants roots trough before planting this will anchor them and prevent fish of digging near the base
Regards Konsa
 
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