# planted tank design



## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

I've been searching and have come up with everything I need to know on building a low tech planted tank. The only thing I can't find is how to design my aquascape and how many of each plant to use. I took a look at aquaflora website and the selection is overwhelming, I really have no idea which plants to get and where to put them. I plan on having it pretty densely planted. I'm looking for plants that are easy to maintain for a beginner. I don't like the look of stemmed plants. 

I tried searching for design plans that would tell me which plants to use and where to place them but couldn't come up with anything. Any help would be much appreciated, thanks.


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## katienaha (May 9, 2010)

well...start with a focal point, whether thats a plant/rock/driftwood and work out from there. try figuring out what plants grow tallest, if you have carpeting plants, etc. and decide where you want the eye to travel when you aquascape. height of plants, colour, and leaf shape is a big step in starting out your aquascape.


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## Luke78 (Apr 24, 2010)

Tropica Aquarium Plants - Home is a nice site to check out if your getting into planted setups.They have a variety of plants they grow and distribute through out the world and theres info on each and every species.Plenty of information and videos to help you get started.Hope this helps you out , good luck with your project.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

Always leave room between stems for growth, its not always best to jam as many plants as possible into a tank, let them grow out, and for bushy plants give them room.

Adding onto the focal point comment, sometimes an area with an absense of plants can be focal enough.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

Luke78 said:


> Tropica Aquarium Plants - Home is a nice site to check out if your getting into planted setups.They have a variety of plants they grow and distribute through out the world and theres info on each and every species.Plenty of information and videos to help you get started.Hope this helps you out , good luck with your project.


Thank you for the link. It's exactly what I was looking for.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

One more question regarding lighting. I wasn't able to find an 18" flourescent tube that comes in more than 20w. They are all rated at 15w. If I were to buy a light strip that houses two flourescent tubes, would two 15w bulbs be sufficient lighting?


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## Acipenser (Apr 21, 2010)

Is this for a 10 gallon tank ? that is a lot of light - you would be better off with less light, unfortunatley there are really no shortcuts with a planted tank, you cant just add more light with out increasing other things- like co2 and on it goes.

I would do a bit more research, I have a medium tech 10G and a low tech 5G and am planning on a high tech tank quite soon.

If you want low tech stick to less light because on shallow tanks like a 10g the lighting rules dont apply, even on my 5G I am only using a 8w light regular gravel with just sera root tabs and I just started dosing the water column.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

Nope this is for a 20 gallon. I wasn't sure if 2x15w = 30w. I'm aiming for 1.5wpg as this is my first setup.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

I'm goign to use the layout in the link posted above. I made a few changes of my own. If anyone has any suggestions on what to change or add, please let me know. I'm a complete newb to planted tanks. Keep in mind this is low lighting/no c02.


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## Bien Lim (Apr 21, 2010)

you can start on doin ur hardscape first, after youve done this it will be easier to decide where to put the plants. generally we put the smaller plants in front and taller at the back. HG or (E. Parvula) will most definitely go to the front and crypt, i like to put the some anywhere in the middle. I'm not sure how big is ur tank but u might want to think about the Bleheri coz this plant will turn into a giant soon enough...thanks


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

definitely better to start getting the decor first and then figuring out the exact placements of the plants, It can get disappointing finding a piece that is the perfect fit and you'll likely be redoing the layout 

I used to go all out with my layouts, until i figured out that i never really was able to stick to them due to not finding the hard scape or unable to obtain the plants i wanted. Of course that was when King Ed's was my only source of plants, language barrier made it a bit difficult to get what i wanted and there was no one i knew like CRS Fan.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

Fortunately I already have my hardscape. I have a peice of large driftwood currently in my 20 gallon that's going to make a perfect centre peice. My crabs have been picking at it over the years and it looks really nice. I thought they would destroy it but the wood definitley benefited from them doing their work. I'm still going to brose around, see if I come up with anything nicer. I may add a rock not sure yet. I picked some up a few days ago but they're quite small and flat.

If I'm not happy after a few months with the setup, is it ok to swap out/add new plants? Or would this cause an imbalance in water quality/nutrients.


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## neven (May 15, 2010)

very little in my opinion, only imbalances happen when you do massive overhauls. best do do a section at a time, if you do a massive rescape, then water change afterwards. The biggest issue with scapes is if its an old substrate, there could be gas pockets that can poison the fish if disturbed, which is why small changes are often recommended over rescapes. IF you are one of the types who constantly moves plants, then you dont need to worry


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

great, thanks for all the help. I think I have all the info I need to start my first planted aquarium. Can't wait.


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

The echinodorus bleheri will over take the 20 gallon.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

I was thinking of going with Cryptocoryne Mi Oya instead of the bleheri. Better choice?


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## EDGE (Aug 24, 2010)

yes. You will like the C wendtii 'mi oya'. Under dimmer lighting, the leaves will be green on the top and red underside. 

The wendtii species doesn't get tall. 3-6" under 1-2 wpg. and 6-10" under 2.5 wpg up (fluorescent lighting wpg).

If you are looking for more of a bush in the corner. C. xwillisi lucens is a better choice. This plant can easily reach 8"to 16" tall and is more rigid.

C. wendtii variety has a tendency to grow flatter first until the plant start crowding and push itself upward.

Both variety forms clumps of plants. new plants are off the main rhizome.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

cool, thanks. I researched some pictures of C. xwillisi and it's exactly the look I want


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## ncutler (Apr 26, 2010)

I noticed you mentioned crabs - crabs/lobsters will tend to cut any stem based plant. Though lobsters are worse than crabs, be prepared to pull them if you keep finding plants on the surface.


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## KBS1664 (Nov 9, 2010)

My current setup is for crabs yes. But once my crabs have lived their lives I'll be doing the planted tank with fish and shrimp. Crabs are great but I rarely get to see them. They only come out of hiding when I feed them or at night. As soon as they see me they jolt at the speed of lightning to the nearest hiding spot. I did have a crab who was quite social and actually interacted with me but I'm pretty sure that's rare to come across. It would be nice to have some inhabitants I can actually view. Noone beleives me I have pet crabs as they can never see them!


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