# Aquascaping ideas



## houseofcards (Mar 21, 2009)

If your lighting is at least medium light you will need fertilizer. Even low light you would probably need some form of ferts. I'm not sure you level of knowledge but the Anubias and Java fern you don't bury in the substrate you attach them to a piece of wood or rock. Those would probably go in your midground somewhere. All the other plants seem to be background plants unless I missed something.


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## Straight shooter (Nov 26, 2015)

I'm sorry but those plants won't be at all compatible. There has never been an aquascape featuring those plants together. Some species included are aggressive to other plants. Ludwigia hate Cabomba. This is a well established fact. At the root level, ludwigia and cabomba have boxing matches over territories, sometimes escalating to kick boxing. This happens at night when we're not looking. 

Sword plants and java fern are also bitter rivals, often displaying aggressive leaf-for-leaf "stand-offs" that play out over many months. Next time you spend time around a tank with these two plants, watch them grow... one throws up a leaf, the other throws up a leaf... basically saying "stuff you buddy, I'm the best plant here", then the other says "no way man, I'm the best plant here". It's awful to watch it play out in front of your eyes, gives a beatuiful aquascape this undercurrent of aggression that causes unease for the viewer. 

When your plants arrive just throw them in the bin. Knitting is a nice hobby, maybe give that a try. Or competitive dog grooming:


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## Diana (Jan 14, 2010)

Looks like a nice mix. Get them going, and see which ones like your set up the best, and you can take cuttings or in other ways reproduce the best plants. Then fill out the tank.


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## lnstevens (Aug 9, 2010)

Matching the plants to what they are is going to be hard because I don't exactly look like when they're supposed to when they're immersed. These plants were grown emersed I believe. I'm saying that because I ordered the same package.

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## Blackheart (Jul 5, 2011)

Straight shooter said:


> I'm sorry but those plants won't be at all compatible. There has never been an aquascape featuring those plants together.
> When your plants arrive just throw them in the bin. Knitting is a nice hobby, maybe give that a try. Or competitive dog grooming:


This is a bit rude and condescending don't you think? Give the user a chance to learn and see what works best for them and how things grow.


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## Kegan Clark (Mar 17, 2016)

I can't resist posting my new aquascape in my 29 since you asked for ideas ^.^










Bump:


Straight shooter said:


> I'm sorry but those plants won't be at all compatible. There has never been an aquascape featuring those plants together. Some species included are aggressive to other plants. Ludwigia hate Cabomba. This is a well established fact. At the root level, ludwigia and cabomba have boxing matches over territories, sometimes escalating to kick boxing. This happens at night when we're not looking.
> 
> Sword plants and java fern are also bitter rivals, often displaying aggressive leaf-for-leaf "stand-offs" that play out over many months. Next time you spend time around a tank with these two plants, watch them grow... one throws up a leaf, the other throws up a leaf... basically saying "stuff you buddy, I'm the best plant here", then the other says "no way man, I'm the best plant here". It's awful to watch it play out in front of your eyes, gives a beatuiful aquascape this undercurrent of aggression that causes unease for the viewer.
> 
> When your plants arrive just throw them in the bin. Knitting is a nice hobby, maybe give that a try. Or competitive dog grooming:



Ugh. I guess there are pretentious unfriendly elitists in every community--even one as gentle and tranquil as aquascaping. Who knew?


Don't let this guy discourage you--this hobby is about trial and error, learning as you go. You can read and read and research and talk to your LFS guy and watch youtube videos but you will still make mistakes and not know things--that's what it means to explore something new.

Usually when you combine high light and low light plants, algae problems develop. It's best to stick with plants that all have the same lighting needs, and then light the tank accordingly. Or vice versa--pick only plants that fit the lighting you have, and try not to mix high and low light (until you have more advanced understanding of lighting options)

When I was first starting out I considered buying one of those plant mixes, but ultimately opted to just select the exact plants according to a layout plan. If you're not too picky about how it will look in 6 months and you just want the plants for their utility (cleaning water, producing oxygen, creating hiding places/safety), then your plant mix is fine.


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## lnstevens (Aug 9, 2010)

I've grown a lot of those plants together before. This was my 40 breeder I used to have with a mix of highlight and lowlight plants with a t5ho dual fixture and pressurized CO2. As you can see the plants all were doing fine.









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## loach guy (Jun 2, 2014)

The best advice I can give you is to research off of these plants. Learn about them and other species like them. Play around with them. Plant them in your tank largest in back, smallest in front. If you don't like the way they look, move them around. Planted tanks are extremely fluid. Experiment and have fun with it all. If you have questions, post them in this forum. There are plenty of great people willing to help out here.

Best of luck!


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## Darkblade48 (Jan 4, 2008)

Please keep the conversation here friendly and on topic. Also be reminded that profanity is not permitted, even if censored.


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## gregorylampron (Mar 28, 2016)

Straight shooter said:


> I'm sorry but those plants won't be at all compatible. There has never been an aquascape featuring those plants together. Some species included are aggressive to other plants. Ludwigia hate Cabomba. This is a well established fact. At the root level, ludwigia and cabomba have boxing matches over territories, sometimes escalating to kick boxing. This happens at night when we're not looking.
> 
> Sword plants and java fern are also bitter rivals, often displaying aggressive leaf-for-leaf "stand-offs" that play out over many months. Next time you spend time around a tank with these two plants, watch them grow... one throws up a leaf, the other throws up a leaf... basically saying "stuff you buddy, I'm the best plant here", then the other says "no way man, I'm the best plant here". It's awful to watch it play out in front of your eyes, gives a beatuiful aquascape this undercurrent of aggression that causes unease for the viewer.
> 
> When your plants arrive just throw them in the bin. Knitting is a nice hobby, maybe give that a try. Or competitive dog grooming:


This is negative. While your advice is useful, telling someone to give up on the hobby because they ordered a plant pack is not right.

I ordered the 20 pack form these folks and it was not great. Don't know if any of them will live, but I feel like this is a better opportunity for experience rather than elitism.


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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

Yeah, I don't know anything about planting, or lighting. That's why I picked a mixed pack and asked for IDEAS. And that's the way everyone starts a hoddy, trail and error until it's no longer enjoyable. But you haven't discouraged me. In fact you showed what kind of person you are, everyone sees it and now even more people don't like you... anyway, thanks for the info about the plants. When I get them in, I'll do research on each one and plant the best way I can and hope for the best. 

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And that dog grooming looks pretty cool too. 

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## lnstevens (Aug 9, 2010)

Aquascaping is personal in a lot of ways. I would recommend doing some reading on the various types of tanks and then Google for pictures of tanks with the various plants you are getting. That will help.

Make sure to read up on the height and recommended placements as well.

Then you can start to get an idea of what the tank mine look like in your head with plants in various places.

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

Yeah I been googling images this what I have now








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The blue rocks were supposed to look like a puddle of water but I think i need sand for it to look better

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I painted the back black too

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The white rocks I got out of my yard and the plants are actually river plants lol. I put them in my 38 gallon tank first to make sure there was nothing harmful for the fish... I know that was a big no no in the aquarium community lol

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The lights right now are just standard daylight leds that came with the tetra kit

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That's my 38 gallon (rough, I know) i need to clean it up, but its what I use for testing plants and where my bad fish go lol. I've also been testing fertilizer in it. 

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

My new light came in














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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

And after searching I think since I'm not a pro at aqua scaping and I have alot to learn about each plant, I decided to go with potted plants. So I went to walmart and got clay pots and stuff to use to paint them.








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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

I'm gonna glue these to the head board of my tank. I think it will look nice on black








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## Natasha (Nov 22, 2015)

Wait, why do you think you're not a good aquascaper? I think you just need more plants! I would look into vals, swords, and crypts. They are all pretty easy to grow and will fill out the tank nicely. Stems tend to be tougher without CO2 and dosing, IMO, along with a lot of the short carpeting plants.

I would look into TPT's Gallery>Tank Shots and save a bunch of pictures that you like to your computer. I did the same thing, and I periodically flip through them to get a reminder of what I do or don't like (i.e. densely planted, prominent "hardscape" like driftwood or rocks, mostly stem plants, mostly swords, light or dark substrate, etc.) and then use that to inform my "scaping". I personally think its a lot of trial and error, unless you are going to precisely copy someone else's tank, which isn't too much fun IMO.



That being said, if you want to try potted plants, all power to you. I might be a little wary about the paint leaching/melting away in the aquarium, so I'd stick to plain pots.

https://i.ytimg.com/vi/oIVFhfgEDuQ/maxresdefault.jpg
http://petdiys.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/DIY-Potted-Aquarium-Plants1.png
EA81B87A-A62E-41BD-941F-683226372E0F-1904-00000115C5375F17_zps2d995cad.jpg Photo by Megans_Aquariums | Photobucket


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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

I have diy co2.... and the paint might have been a mistake, it started to pull away from the pot, but it could be cause I didn't give it but a few hours to dry. Tomorrow I'm going to try to dip one again. ... I'm not too worried about the fish at this point. I added 10 neon tetras and they have spreaded something through my tank, 6 died, 4 bettas, 5 guppies and 2 dojo loaches.... everyday something dies. I've been treating the fish and doing water changes. It looks just like NTD which has no cure so I'm pretty sure everything else will die too. And I can't move them to other tanks cause I don't want them to infect the other fish.... but I did order another verity pack today. It had different plants than what the first pack had. 

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

It was dishwasher safe paint, so I assumed it would have a strong hold 

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

Well I let it dry over night. For some reason the paint never stuck to the tiny pots. Maybe they had a coating and need longer to dry. But large and medium pots dried good. I put a few of my plants I already had in them. When my new plants get here I'll put some in pots but will also plant them in the ground around them.... now I'm just waiting on the dust to settle








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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

After the other pots being in the tank all day, the paint started to peal from them too. So round 2. I decided I'm gonna hot glue shells and rocks to pots. But the painted pots won't go waisted, I have a porch in need of some pretty plants too. 








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## sohankpatel (Jul 10, 2015)

I advise against painting things that go inside your tank, unless it is aquarium-safe epoxy, or superglue, nothing chemical-based goes in my tank. The tank looks like it is coming along nice! nice angel as well!


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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

I got it finished. Just need my plants to start filling everything in. It actually might be too over crowded so I'm probably gonna make my other tank the same theme. I used some little mason jars for puts too. Put 2 little vases in for hiding. Once the plants are here I'll sprinkle more shells and rocks.... I think it was a good thing the clay pots didn't work out cause I like this theme better.












































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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

My final creation. Put the shells in a different tank. Just stuck to rocks and added some little garden gnombs. 


























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## Iwagumist (Jan 4, 2016)

Awesome roud:! It looks like a cute little garden! Keep up the good work and don't let anybody tell you what you can't do (unless its helpful advice:wink2.


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## Joshism (Nov 26, 2015)

Don't let negative folks get to you. The worst thing that could happen with plants is that you'll have to find an alternative. Browse through everyone's setups and pick and choose what you like, and experiment.


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## mdeck (Feb 29, 2016)

I think that if you like it great! Just a thought and not to be negative. The items that have paint on them. Keep a close eye on them{paint chips were bad to eat when I was young} wouldn't want to lose any fishes. Love the words on the hood. Adds a very personal touch.


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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

Thank yall. Once I added everything I let it sit in the tank for a day. No paint chipped. I then added a few fish, they survived another day. So I finally added my angel fish. They all seem to be doing good plus the plant already have new leaves coming in. I think that light is doing really good. 

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

My new growth pictures after 3 days with the new light


























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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

I planted them Monday afternoon and it's now Wednesday. 

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## pinkkiwi1230 (Feb 15, 2016)

Also I kinda put all the plants in sections. On the left I used the plants that attach to wood. In the middle I did all the stems and on the right I did plants. 

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