questions before i start out.

[your_eviltwin]

Hi,
I have a few questions that i would like to ask,

I have been intrested in Aquascaping for some time and now that i have the time and extra money to hand i would like to venture into it,

I currently have a 4ft tank and my my first question is twofold, what "bottom" Feeders or cleaner would you use, I currently have two clown loaches and two Plec's, the plecs however are now quite large and i getting a little concered that two plec's is a bit over kill i should add that they are both around 6" inlength.

Secondly, I am currently using a substrate bedding with an under floor heater. Was I correctly advised when i was told that the plants would grow better with the heater in place.

 

[nayr88]

Hello mate and welcome to the forum,

I havnt owned a tank that large planted or owned plecs and loaches I could imagine them being quite boisterous and tearing or eating more delicate plants, but please don't take that as 100percent wait for someone else to jump in and shoot me down haha.

Most bottom feeder/ clean up crew seem to be either amano shrimp cherry shrimp also to otto's and for larger tanks school(spelling?) Of corydoras.

Obviously depending on the theme and style of the plants you can fit the fish around it, personally if you was going for a iwagumi style tank (rock layout with only 1 or 2 plant species) than I'd say go amano shrimp if a jungle with sand base then corys are great with a mixture of amanos and other shrimp (aslong as nothing in the tank will eat them) and the samewith Nature aquariums you usually better of with less boisterous heavy feeding fish and opting for shrimp and ottos.

I think the tale of the heater cables growing plants is abit old now, I don't know anyone here growing one and have never seen them advised, 🙁 sorry.

Its late and ill re read this tomorrow to make sense of the rambling haha....

Good luck mate, you've definitely come to the right place 🙂

 

[George Farmer]

Hi and welcome to UKAPS.

With regards bottom feeders, there's no requirement for them to help maintain a planted aquarium. Weekly maintenance done by you and healthy plant growth should provide all the necessary maintenance. An algae crew to deal with background levels of algae is ideal, but they should not be relied upon to deal with algae issues alone. Siamese algae eaters are ideal for larger aquaria.

Clown loach and large plecs are considered unsuitable for some of the more delicate plants.

I would consider epiphytes i.e. plants that attach to decor. Java fern and Anubias are the classic choice and these are low-light tolerant and undemanding too. With a decent hardscape layout i.e. lots of nice wood, you can make an impressive aquascape almost instantly by using a good qty. of planting.

Crypts may also work. If given the chance to mature (without the loaches digging them up, or the plecs eating them), they make wonderful specimens and are also low maintenance.

Fast growing weeds maybe an option too such as some Rotala, Ludwigia, Hygrophila, Limnophila sp. Some of these are more demanding and may require more light and CO2 injection.

Depending on how large your tank is you may wish to consider rehoming your fish in the longer term, leaving your aquascaping options much more open.

Clown loach prefer to be kept in groups and can grow over 30cm in the right conditions. Depending on what plec species you have, these can outgrow all but the biggest of aquariums. Common plecs can reach over 45cm.

Finally, substrate heating does no harm, but equally does not promote plant growth. There's plenty of literature about this on UKAPS and all over the web.

All the best, and good luck with the aquascaping!

 

[your_eviltwin]

Cheers guys for the replies, has given my much to think about.

I thought I'd have to re-home some of my fish,
My next step i think will be to obtain a CO2, as the tank i own is around 200L do you guys have any suggestion to which diffuser i should use, i seems to me that the 200L mark is in-between the in-line filtration and in-tank variants.

also, will the amounts of plants in effect the amount of CO2 that is pumbted this could affect the chooise between diffuse or reactor. just for info im i am kinda keen of the nature aquarium style and would like to attemp something like that.