aquatic grass??

[TwanDizzle]

hey guys, here pretty soon, i'll be setting up my aquarium again... my plan so far is an artificially planted aquarium with some silver dollars, yoyo or striata loaches, and a school of other fish (right now, unknown, just some kind of active breeders)...

is there some sort of grassy looking stuff that i can use to cover what the artificial plants aren't covering, to make it look nice? would you even recommend that or just use the artificial plants and a gravel/sand substrate? also, which substrate? I've heard gravel is easier to clean, but sand may be more beneficial for the loaches... Also, i've read about people preferring dark substrate, some say it reduces glare from the lights, making the fish a little happier, AND i've read that it helps bring out the fishes' colors better...

Well, i've seemed to stray from the main question, but its all related in one way or another... so any advice would be helpful...


Thanks!

[Bk718]

i have black substrate and it looks great. almost all my fishes are light in color so yea i guess it does add some contrast.

About the plants and Silver dollars.. careful what plants you pick out.. I got 3 silver dollars yesterday and over night they have snacked on one of my ludwigias.. so make sure if you do get plants its one of those which the dollars dont enjoy munching on

[TwanDizzle]

yeah, that's why i've decided mostly on artificial plants... at least with artificial, there's less chance of them tearing it to pieces.. i hope... can a SD tear a silk or plastic plant? if not then the most i have to worry about is putting all the fake plants back in place when needed... maybe i could glue the plants down as the first step in setting up the aquarium...then add substrate, and finally the water... I've read in another forum that SD's can demolish a well-planted aquarium in a matter of days... one person even said that her SD's tore up a plant they normally wouldn't enjoy, just to tear it up... michevious little so-and-so's..... hehehe...

anyway, like i said, i was thinking about getting either a good hardy grassy plant that doesn't get more than a couple of inches, and grows fairly quickly... i would like this so when i get a school of actively breeding fish, the fry would have a place to hide out...

[Bk718]

I dont know.. at the moment they have snacked on only one plant.. so got my fingers crossed and hope they dont devour my banana plant or my java fern..

as far as some grass that only grows a few inches.. you can try micro sword.. Im seeking to find out if thats okay with the SD..

what kind of breeders you looking for?
You can also try java moss.. grows fast and provides perfect protection

[TwanDizzle]

well, i WAS looking at some fancy guppies, but someone said that they were a bad deal because of the loaches i want... something about loaches being curious and may nip at long fins... so they recommended a "deep bodied tetra", whatever that means... i'm thinking bleeding hearts or something similar... how are tiger barbs, as far as breeding? i really like the green tiger barbs

[Bk718]

well, i WAS looking at some fancy guppies, but someone said that they were a bad deal because of the loaches i want... something about loaches being curious and may nip at long fins... so they recommended a "deep bodied tetra", whatever that means... i'm thinking bleeding hearts or something similar... how are tiger barbs, as far as breeding? i really like the green tiger barbs

I dont know how green tiger barbs are but i do know when i had regular tiger barbs they would constantly chase each other around.. and then the larger one decided to claim the whole bottom of the tank as his property and would chase anyone away if they got close to the bottom.. so i returned them..

I tried guppies before but had no luck with them.. 2 females looked like they were about to drop a few fry.. but nope.. eventually my tank got ich and whipped out the whole tank.. 9 or so fish = dead

you can try mollies or platy or swordtails those are very easy to breed and they all are somewhat fast moving (atleast my mollies are) and dont think there will be any nipping going on..

My molly gave me 30 fry about a week ago.. my first time with fry so i went right away and got a breeder tank to put the fry in there.. so now they are there growing slowly.. and I will soon expect more fry on the way from the same molly..only a week and half has passed and shes already swollen as if shes about to spawn any day now..

[Plecosterone]

I think sand is easier to clean. The junk stays on the top instead of getting into it like in gravel. You just keep the vacuum above the sand instead of puting it into the substrate. For ground cover you could try Dwarf Hairgrass. You can see some in my tanks. http://www.aquariacentral.com/forums/showthread.php?t=134299

[Lupin]

well, i WAS looking at some fancy guppies, but someone said that they were a bad deal because of the loaches i want... something about loaches being curious and may nip at long fins...
Without being specific, the word "loaches" doesn't help much. Not all loaches nip. Botiine loaches sure do nip but it is more out of curiosity, which you are correct actually, than aggression. Pangios are always available and will be fine with your guppies and plants. Some loaches love to punch holes on foliage and botiine loaches mostly have a habit for that.

so they recommended a "deep bodied tetra", whatever that means... i'm thinking bleeding hearts or something similar...
We meant tetras that look on the contrary of slim torpedo-shaped ones such as cardinals and neons.

Here's a list of the deep-bodied tetras:

Black Phantom Tetra(Megalamphodus megalopterus)
Black Skirt Tetra(Gymnocorymbus ternetzi)
Bleeding Heart Tetra(Hyphessobrycon erythrostigma)
Blind Cave Tetra(Anoptichthys jordani)
Buenos Aires Tetra(Hemigrammus caudovittatus)
Diamond Tetra(Moenkhausia pittieri)
Emperor Tetra(Nematobrycon palmeri)
Flame Tetra(Hyphessobrycon flammeus)
Head-and-Tail-Light(Hemigrammus ocellifer)
Jewel Tetra(Hyphessobrycon callistus)
Kerri Tetra(Inpaichthys kerri)
Lemon Tetra(Hyphessobrycon pulchripinnis)
Red-eye Tetra(Moenkhausia sanctaefilomenae)
Red Phantom Tetra(Hyphessobrycon sweglesi)
Robert's Tetra(Hyphessobrycon robertsi)
Rosy Tetra(Hyphessobrycon bentosi)
Serpae Tetra(Hyphessobrycon serpae)
Silver-tipped Tetra(Hasemania nana)
X-ray Tetra(Pristella maxillaris)

how are tiger barbs, as far as breeding? i really like the green tiger barbs
I'd stick with Barbus pentazona which are not as nippy as the tigers.

[loaches r cool]

Lupin... he did say yoyo or striata in his first post ;)

For those two I havent personally seen any nipping ever. I'd say tiger barbs would be far worse nippers.

[j_chicago]

What kind of lighting are you going to use. For ground covering plants, most need some decent lighting, and for a AGA-sized 55g aquarium (that is to say a normal sized aquarium), you might need a little more then decent then lighting due to the depth.
You might want to try some java moss sandwiched between some fiberglass screens or tied to some rocks or driftwood. but if you are just running the factory issued lights, it might take some time for it to fill in.