# Help with tank design/plants?-- update need plant ID



## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

Not sure if this should go in this forum or not. Here's my tank:










It's a 35gal, T5NO light, no CO2, I dose some liquid fertz about once a week (only a fraction of the amount the bottle says I should), HOB filter. My light is on for I believe 6 hours a day. My water is a bit hard with magnesium according to the last test my mom had done on our well. The pH in the tank is usually 7.6. 

I have some anubias petites and one nan. The "grass" is Lilaeopsis mauritiana and the taller grass is juncus repens. I have some sort of falling off fissidens fontanus on the driftwood. 

I have four glass cat fish (soon to get more--I want to have about 10 or so) 4 ottos, and seven amano shrimp. 

I think what I'm going to do is get some vallisneria nana or something similar and plant it all along the back. Do you think that would look good? Or should I keep it more to the left back corner, behind the driftwood? 

Also I'm going to add some crypt parva in little clusters and some eleocharis parvula to the "grass". My L. mauritiana just doesn't want to really get a foot hold despite my best efforts. It's looking good now, no more brown stuff (this picture is a week or so old) but it's just not wanting to stay rooted at all (as you can see in the pic). 

And then I'm hoping to sort of spread the juncus repens out a little bit in the back so it's not all just in one clump. But it has to grow more. I also want to move the anubias petites down lower on the "tree" and reposition the moss more on the "branches" (there's a clump on the back you can't see).

Also does anyone know where I can get a kind of round rock that won't alter my water chemistry? The driftwood is finally water logged and won't float *YAY* but it will tip forward so I need just a little rock to be at the back/base to keep it in position. You can see the piece of slate I have there now. I'm hoping to replace it with a round-type of rock that might look nice but since my water tends to be hard anyway I need something that wouldn't cause problems. 

Or do you think my set up is hideously ugly and I should re-do it? Please be honest, I don't mind. I'm not an artist and I'm apparently a terrible designer. This tank looked soo much better in my head LOL. I'm just glad it seems to be growing alright now. Just a bit of some green algae going on because my ottos apparently seem to be the laziest ottos on the planet--I caught one actually hanging out on the end of a piece of grass by holding onto it with is back fins. Too bad I don't have a picture it was hilarious.


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## F22 (Sep 21, 2008)

hide the heater, get a background. add jungle val behind the driftwood in one corner, and maybe some sort of stone amidst the "grassy" area.. I think that will help


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks. I keep meaning to get a background and move the heater. LOL

What kind of stone can I use that won't upset my water chemistry?

Also, I'm getting conflicting info on the eleocharis parvula. Some said it's fine in low light w/out CO2. Others say it gets infested with algae, it uproots easily and needs high light.


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## Betta Maniac (Dec 3, 2010)

Nothing ugly about it! 

Interesting discussion here with suggestions for how to test rocks to see if they will alter your pH:

http://www.aquariumadvice.com/forums/f15/marble-and-natural-stone-104840.html


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

Thanks Betta. You're too kind. 

Thanks for the link. You know what's sad. I'm a grad student in molecular biology. You'd think that I'd be able to figure out that if I put a bucket of water, tested it and then put a rock in, waited a few days and tested it again I'd be able to deduce whether the rock would be ok or not. OMG I'm so going down the wrong path for my career. 

Anyway, I have impulsed bought some plants. Very smart of me I know. :redface: I noticed that the LFS I was in had two plugs of a grass-like plant. The workers there who seem decently knowledgeable about fish (these guys have their own planted tanks at home) and plants swore up down and sideways that it was Lileaopsis mauritiana but my god it didn't look anything like mine (ok mine is kind of pathetic I admit) or pictures I've seen on-line. 

Never to be turned off by my instincts I bought the two plus and I put them in my tank. They look absolutely horrible in the tank LOL Just out of proportion. But I'm hoping that, if they really are L.mauritiana, they will eventually spread out and maybe I can trim them a little bit when they do? Or maybe they won't look so out of place once they've spread out. 

Here's a picture of the tank now:










And here's a picture of the "L. mauritiana" up close. What do you think? Is this really what it is or is this a different plant? And if it's a different plant do you think it will do alright in a low tech tank? If not I can take it back to the pet store. 










Oh and I had a _moment_ with one of my ottos. I've been fairly POed with my ottos since they have been digging up my substrate a lot (mostly they have these freak out moments if I approach the tank) and I never see them actually eating algae. But when I was trying to plant these things one of my ottos came up onto my hand and started cleaning my hand all over. It was so cute!


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

Well, I'm pretty sure it's a Lilaeopsis, but I rather suspect it's L. brasiliensis rather than L. mauritiana. .

It's in emersed form which is why it looks so different.

IME L. brasiliensis doesn't do that well without Co2. Tends to eventually poop out.


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

So if I add CO2 would it be ok? Or does it need bright light as well? Thanks for your help!

Here's my new idea but I need some more advice first. I'm thinking I can take this grass back to the store. Then I will buy maybe 8 pots of L. mauritiana from the same place I got my first batch and this time, don't try to spread it out, just plant each clump as it is. Perhaps I will also get some of the two plants I mentioned in my OP that I've read are ok for low tech and treat these the same way in terms of planting. So then I'll have a more lush "field" and I won't have to deal with planting individual plants (which is driving me slowly crazy).

But here's my big question that I need some advice about. The first batch of the L. mauritiana I got from sweetaquatics, all got very shocky and a lot of it died and turned brown and then it was a mess. It finally has gotten over that. I haven't had that happen with the other plants I've gotten from other places. Although at the time it was a pretty new tank and so perhaps that was part of the problem.

Do you think if I were to buy more L. mauritiana from the same source it would end up the same and I'd have a lot of brown die off to deal with? Not that anyone could predict that I understand, but I'm just wondering how likely is it that the cause was different water conditions from their tanks to mine vs. my tank being "young" and perhaps separating them made it worse?


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## lauraleellbp (Feb 3, 2008)

I think the issue was most likely going from emersed to submerged growth, and you'll experience the same with the other Lilaeopsis you have now. Most nurseries grow their aquatic plants emersed, so unless you buy from a fellow hobbyist, that meltoff during acclimation is just par for the course.


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## ponyo (Aug 9, 2010)

Ok. Thanks a lot for you help. Maybe I can find some L. mauritiana from other hobbiests but that hopefully are grown in clumps of some sort.


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