# How to arrange the plants in my tank



## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Hey guys i would like you to give me some advice on how to put the plants in my tank. Its a 20 gall. Here are the plants: 1 giant valisneria 4 java ferns (1 big and 3 small) 5 ludwigia repenses (1 big and 4 cuttings i can put them in 1 bundle) 3 cardamine liratas (i can bundle them) 1 bundle of egeria densa 1 anubias nana and 1 japaniese moss ball. Im going to take some pics later when i get back home. Peace.


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Here are the pics.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204423.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204451.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204432.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204511.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204522.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204532.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204542.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204440.jpg
I hope you can help me . The plants are a bit out of shape but i had to restart the tank and i added my co2 2 days ago and about the half blue half white gravel i had to get out the white because its too coarse for my plants and im changing it 50/50 because i dont want to recycle my tank.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Do you have a better pic of the driftwood so we can better see the shape? It looks a bit too small for the tank. Ideally, driftwood should reach at least halfway up the tank and take up a decent amount of floor space. While you can get by with smaller driftwood, it won't have as much impact.

A background is a good way to make any tank look better instantly. Just don't use one with plants or corals printed on it. The blue gravel looks like a good grain size for the plants, but you might want to add some root tabs. Are you dosing any fertilizers?

You have a good assortment of plants for this tank, but they are all going to grow pretty tall, so you really need some bigger hardscape to keep it from being hidden by the plants. You also have a huge marimo ball, which competes with your driftwood for attention. I would either move it to another tank or cut it up and use it to create a carpet in this one. The cardamine will probably keep growing sideways instead of vertically, so it will quickly overtake your tank, making it look cluttered. You might want to replace it with a foreground plant like dwarf hairgrass.

Using the plants you have now, here's a scape you could try:










It would end up looking something like this:










In this arrangement, the java fern, Vallisneria, and driftwood pieces mirror each other, but the extra plants on the right keep the tank from looking symmetrical. The Ludwigia acts as a focal point while working with the Egeria and marimo ball to soften the strong vertical lines of the driftwood and Vallisneria. The marimo ball's shape is broken up by the stems of the Cardamine to keep it from drawing more attention than the Ludwigia, and the Anubias (which is probably A. barteri, not A. nana) keeps the left side from looking empty, even though it's not as busy as the right.


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## Fishies_in_Philly (Dec 8, 2011)

http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-14204511.jpg

this plant isn't ludwigia repens, it is Alternanthera sp. http://www.plantedtank.net/forums/myplants/31-Amaranth_redroot_Alternanthera_sp.html

i have it in my tank. it's a beautiful plant, enjoy it! and fishly has it right on the money. i know you said you didn't to swap substrate, but a black substrate would make all the colors pop!!


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Woah man thanks for the sketch i really didnt know how to arrange them yes i dose ferts and about the moss ball how can i make it into a carpet?


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

What ferts are you dosing? And are you using CO2?

To make a carpet out of a moss ball, you could first cut it up into a few pieces, use fishing line to tie the pieces to plastic canvas, then superglue a rock underneath to keep it from floating. There might be other ways to do it, but I haven't heard of them.


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

I have co2 i dont have a co2 measuring kit but the ph dropped from 7.5 to 6-6.5 and my kh is arround 10 so i think its pretty stable . I dose ferts every week it has lots of trace elements the fert is easylife profito google it if you want its specs.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Looks like a good choice for a fert. How many fish do you have in the tank and what are your usual ammonia/nitrite/nitrate readings? What kind of lights do you have?


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

My aquarium is a bit overstocked about the no2 is arround 5-10 ppm i think and i still cant get a no3 reading. lights 2 x 25 w cfl.


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Later im going to give you some pics of the finished tank i replaced the rest of the gravel so its all blue now . About root tabs i dont need any IMO because i have tetra's complete substrate beneath the gravel. You can check it out on the net  .


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Here are the pics. Thank you my friend for making my aquarium look just right. About the moss ball i chopped it a bit and i made 2 moss rocks  i just tied some moss onto the rocks . Peace.
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-15195324.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-15195338.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-15195345.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-15195353.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-15195414.jpg
http://i1228.photobucket.com/albums/ee449/djjoni2/2012-03-15195422.jpg


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## Hobbes1911 (Mar 2, 2009)

djjoni2 said:


> My aquarium is a bit overstocked about the no2 is arround 5-10 ppm i think and i still cant get a no3 reading. lights 2 x 25 w cfl.


You're saying your nitrite is 5-10ppm? This will be a headache down the road as it will impact your fishes' health. 

I would very much suggest getting those levels down to 0 as nitrites are toxic to living things. Also, your tank is rather overstocked so I would definitely start doing water changes to control the nitrite. What is your ammonia reading?


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Im not sure at all about my readings im going to take some measurments and post them.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

Did you mean nitrite (NO2) or nitrate (NO3)? Nitrite is produced in the second stage of the cycle, after ammonia. Nitrate is the final product, and is (relatively) safe up to ~30ppm. I think nitrite becomes toxic above ~3ppm.

Your tank looks a lot better now. I think the moss ball would actually look better sitting behind the Anubias, with the moss-covered rocks sitting where the moss ball is now. And the Ludwigia/Alternanthera is a bit too centered; if you can, move it two or three inches to the right. Other than that, the tank looks great! Give it two or three months for the plants to grow in and perk up, and you should have a very nice-looking tank. A nerite snail might be able to help you with any algae issues that occur along the way. I think your tiger barbs would probably eat any Amano shrimp you put in with them.

If you want to make your pictures show up directly in your post, click the "insert image" icon:







. A small window should pop up where you can enter the URL of your picture. Click "Ok" and your picture will automatically have the necessary HTML tags attached to it. Click "preview post" to see what the picture will look like in the finished post.


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Im going out now to get some of those snails im going to get 3 of them.


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Here are the readings of my tank:
NO3 10
NO2 0-0.3
GH 7-10
KH 4-6
PH 6-6.5 
My test kit isnt very accurate but im gathering money to buy a professional kit. About the nerite snails i got 3 of them for 6 dollars (roughly) . Im acclimating them at the moment i hope that they will live in my tank there is plenty of algae on some of my plants and some on the walls. Peace.


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

Hey guys i read about them nerite snails and it said that they live in water with ph's over 7 and mine is about 6-6,5 will they survive in this environment?


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

If your KH is around 10, I think they should be okay. The problem with water below 7.0 pH is that the shells can end up being dissolved by the acidic water. But if the low pH is caused by CO2, I don't know if it will have the same effect.


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## djjoni2 (Feb 10, 2012)

I know also that fishes experience stress after kh/gh changes which increase/decrease PH. I hope that they will survive . About my a. barteri there is alot of black algae on the leaves and one of the snails cleared some of if it so id say that theyre pretty damn effective! Thanks for the tip there friend.


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## Fishly (Jan 8, 2010)

No problem.  

Why don't you start a journal for your tank? It'd be fun to see how it grows.


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