# Help Aquascaping



## KrazyCrusader (Oct 26, 2004)

I currently have a 
75 Gallon E Tank
Rena XP3
250 Watt Ebo Jager Heater
1 Piece of Drift WOOD DIY'd with Slate
Pool Filter Sand for Substrate 100 LBS
40 Watt 48in Florecent Light with a Glass top.

I am looking to aquascape this tank for a Shoal of RBP's and I would like to have some live plants. I know that having 2/3 of a watt per gallon is too low for a thriving forest of Plant life so I may try to get another light fixture setup.

The tank is not cycled yet and I will be starting to cycle it on like Thursday or Friday. I plan on throwing a couple Barbs, a Couple of Danios and a Couple of Rasbora's in there and then after the tank is nearly cycled then adding vegitation. Once it's grown the way I want then adding the Piranha's.

Thoughts?


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## PiranhasaurusRex (Feb 23, 2004)

Some aqua plants thrive in very little light. I would go to a barnes and noble and do some research on it. Thats what I did. You will most likely have to order any plants you find for low light on line though.


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

you can add the plants the first day with no problems, i've read many accounts of people doing this, but personally, i waited it out till the tank was nearly cycled and nitrates were showing. good luck, i'm still working on my planted tank.


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## KrazyCrusader (Oct 26, 2004)

I suppose I can go out today and get a plant or 2 to try out hee hee.


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## Gumby (Aug 13, 2004)

You'll probably want a few more pieces of driftwood. It really helps to give the tank a more natural feel. The RBPs also LOVE hiding under driftwood overhangs. I've got 3 gigantic pieces of driftwood in my tank and my RBPs spend most of their time chilling in it.

I hate to say it but the lighting you have is a little low for a lot of plants. One 40 watt floro won't support much growth. Some plants you've have great luck with are Java Moss, Java Fern, African Fern, Anubias, Cryptocorne, Anacharis, Hygrophilia, and some species of Rotala and perhaps a Tropica Sword. Avoid plants with reds in them. They tend to be very high light and need a lot of iron. Good luck finding some of those plants though... A lot of them are making their way into the invasive plant species list very quickly







I was lucky enough to get some Hygro from a friend who had some befor it was outlawed.

The substrate could be a problem. I'm not sure how deep you're planning on making the substrate or how coarse it is, but if sand sits too long it will become compacted and that will strangle root systems and it also allows for build up of toxic biproduct gasses... which can harm both the plants and the fish. I always reccomend very small gravel for planted tanks.

As far as when to put the plants in, I'd wait untill after the cycle. Some plants are amonia/nitrite sensitive. Also, there won't be a whole lof of nutrients in the tank in a sterile tank(unless you're adding ferts) and you'll get the ugly roots coming off of the leaf nodes of some plants.


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## KrazyCrusader (Oct 26, 2004)

I added a dual bulb 4' shop light. It's putting out 40 watts at 3000 lumens per bulb plus I have the 40 watt bulb that came with the tank. Yeah for me having 120 watts. That's nearly 1.5 Watts per gallon. I'm 1337.


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## SpAzZy (Mar 30, 2004)

just make sure you buy the right bulbs. homedepot has 48" long flourescent philips"Plant and Aquarium" bulbs. they're relatively cheap, but i don't know how effective they are. i own one right now, but it's not doing so well. it's 15w, in my 10g and i only have anacharis right now. i'm not forced to buy a powercompact setup for my tank, i wanted to just see if the bulb was good enough to keep basic plants.


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## Umbilical Syllables (Dec 16, 2004)

I'd recommend buying some java fern. I've always had luck with it, and it looks great if you get it growing on some driftwood. It's also very low maintenance, meaning it doesn't need copius amounts of light, and the leaves that die turn into the roots of a new plant fairly quickly if your fern is growing strong. I've got a bunch in a 60 gallon with a few krypts in sand and i think it looks great.


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