I currently have a 5 gallon Fluval Spec 5. I have 2 Amazon sword compacta, 2 anubias nana, 1 anubias congensis, 10 small tufts of dwarf hairgrass and the rest is staurogyne repens. The only area I don't have anything planted is in the middle where I have a decorative house. Is this considered heavily planted?
What is considered "heavily planted"?
- Thread starter Jennifer G.
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That is decent. Many of those plants are slow growers so that takes away some of the impact of increase in plant mass you could see in some types of heavily planted tanks. How much of the light over the tank falls on plant leaves versus on non plant surfaces in the tank?
Here's my tank. I apologize for not linking the pic in my first post. Newbie to the forums : ) I just posted a pic, well the plan was to post 1, but a duplicate somehow happened. I'm new to the forums...still ironing out the kinks
Please excuse the diatoms...been "dealing" with them for over 3 weeks now. My tank is 2 months old. I inject co2, using lights that came with tank and dose with Easy Green and have a root tab at each sword. I borrowed some of my kids LEGO's to raise the light to see if it would reduce the green hair algae that had started last week. So far so good but I'm concerned I have created some shadier spots.
That is working in the direction of well planted, but doesn't have enough growing tips to be heavily planted.
Compare yours with something like this heavily planted tank.
http://www.aquascapingworld.com/gallery/images/1/1_4.jpg
Compare yours with something like this heavily planted tank.
http://www.aquascapingworld.com/gallery/images/1/1_4.jpg
Wow that is simply beautiful! Thanks so much for sharing that. Is it yours? As for my tank, it's my first in 22 years. The plants I purchased were what were available in my local big chain pet store. I picked what didn't look half dead and what were guaranteed to not have snails. I googled on the spot to make sure my options weren't going to grow too large. I wanted real plants to help with water quality. Since setting up my tank I have found websites with sooo many plant options I'm seriously considering an entire rescape. I already had to pull the piece of mopani wood i had as it was messing with water circulation so i opted for the house instead. Well, I'd like to thank you for responding as i now understand that just because you have what seems like a good amount of plants, faster growing ones play a part in it. Useful to know as I'm sure the amount of ferts you dose should be taken into consideration with the types of plants that are actually planted
I would honestly say that is lightly planted for right now.. and will likely go towards medium planted as you prune or whatever.
Normally the level of planting will be more about the overall plant mass, not the specific number of plants overall. And therefore how much they will use in the way of nutrients.
I would personally be worried about the swords, and the size they may reach in your tank (and the amount of roots in there too)
But it looks good, and should grow in well.. I would be interested in the CO2 setup, what your CO2 level actually looks like, and the photo period of your light too.
Dosing Excel or such might also help with the algae too.
But be patient and see how it grows
Normally the level of planting will be more about the overall plant mass, not the specific number of plants overall. And therefore how much they will use in the way of nutrients.
I would personally be worried about the swords, and the size they may reach in your tank (and the amount of roots in there too)
But it looks good, and should grow in well.. I would be interested in the CO2 setup, what your CO2 level actually looks like, and the photo period of your light too.
Dosing Excel or such might also help with the algae too.
But be patient and see how it grows
When I originally planted the swords the leaves were much much taller. Since they weren't in water when I bought them, those leaves went through some ugly changes and have since been all trimmed off. The new growth has stayed much more compact and I'm seeing on average 2-3 new leaves per week.I would honestly say that is lightly planted for right now.. and will likely go towards medium planted as you prune or whatever.
Normally the level of planting will be more about the overall plant mass, not the specific number of plants overall. And therefore how much they will use in the way of nutrients.
I would personally be worried about the swords, and the size they may reach in your tank (and the amount of roots in there too)
But it looks good, and should grow in well.. I would be interested in the CO2 setup, what your CO2 level actually looks like, and the photo period of your light too.
Dosing Excel or such might also help with the algae too.
But be patient and see how it grows
I've had 4-5 new leaves grow on each of my 3 anubias in 2 months, but from what I understand they are slower growers.
My S. Repens were frail tiny little things, which melted away completely. Everything that has grown back in has been stalkier, leaves are bigger and darker green (trust me, under the diatoms...they're green!) I'm worried the diatoms will hinder the plants since they can't possibly be getting any light.
I got an Aquatek with solenoid for a tippmann paintball canister. 1 bubble just quicker than 1 per second. My drop checker liquid is blue before it gets turned on, and is mid green by the end of the day. My lights go on the same time the co2 does, but I'm thinking of setting it to go on an hour before the lights do. Lighting is on from 10 am to 8 pm. Both co2 and lights are off at the same time.
I was previously dosing liquid co2 via Seachem Flourish Excel before I got the paintball canister. My ferts was Seachem Comprehensive and currently have 1 of their root tabs under each of my swords. I have since been using just paintball canister co2, root tabs are still in place, and am now dosing with Easy Green for my ferts.
Excel will do more than just be a source of carbon in the water, it also acts to kill algae, which is more why u suggest it here.
Dosing less ferts might also help with the algae... Or some fast growing plants, to use nutrients before the algae does.
But keep an eye on the swords, just in case. Their roots can get everywhere.
Dosing less ferts might also help with the algae... Or some fast growing plants, to use nutrients before the algae does.
But keep an eye on the swords, just in case. Their roots can get everywhere.
That was a random tank chosen from an "aquascaping" image search on duck duck go. It happens to be one by the late Takashi Amano.
