A plant forest in an aquarium?

red devil

red devil

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Jan 7, 2003
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Related to my other post, is it difficult/possible to have a part of an aquarium densely planted with vine type plants that grow 20" tall? My goal is very effective water filtration. I would like to plant the back 3" of tank with a vine type of plant that grows 18-20" tall to create a wall of plant. I am willing to add more lighting to make it work. that part of the tank will have about 3" of soil/growing medium.
 
Have you considered using jungle vals? I've grown vals in a 55 with medium light and no ferts to a length of over 6 feet. I have to trim them back every couple weeks now, and there in a 180.


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Most stem plants can grow to 20" tall.
 
Thanks! Those are two good suggestions. I am wondering...can anyone comment on the issue of DENSELY planting the tank, i.e. having one plant per square inch in a row along the back, and then another row in front of that, and then another row in front of that - similar to a cornfield? and maybe having 3" or more of this. I am sure that lighting needs are going to go through the roof, and tank maintenance will be a challenge...but anything else? It is my understanding that most truly aquatic plants to not have such a well developed root structure because needed water and minerals are so accessible above the surface of the ground and in the first inch or two of substrate. Another aspect of this...which plants are likely to be the powerhouse of water purifiers?
 
Jungle vals will be fine since they grow to the top and will not have to worry about the depth of the tank affecting the light. I have heard floating plants are good at cleaning the water, which would make sense because they have to get their nutrients from the water. Also the floating plants would probably not need a stronger light either.

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floaters and tall stem plants like wisteria and everything named above are the best at "water purifying"
 
red devil said:
Thanks! Those are two good suggestions. I am wondering...can anyone comment on the issue of DENSELY planting the tank, i.e. having one plant per square inch in a row along the back, and then another row in front of that, and then another row in front of that - similar to a cornfield? and maybe having 3" or more of this. I am sure that lighting needs are going to go through the roof, and tank maintenance will be a challenge...but anything else? It is my understanding that most truly aquatic plants to not have such a well developed root structure because needed water and minerals are so accessible above the surface of the ground and in the first inch or two of substrate. Another aspect of this...which plants are likely to be the powerhouse of water purifiers?
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Yes you can have a Jungle like this BUT it normally takes special needs. To get such growth in densitiy and height you will need to use top quality lighting thats High light. The light must penetrate to the substrate as much as it can. The 2 other needs for this will be the need of feeding the water Nutrients in the form of Ferts. Using a program Like EI dosing and giving non-limiting nutrients to the water column as well as providing nutrients to the substrate will be a needed thing to do. The final thing youd would need to do as due to the lights would be pressurized Co2. Without the Co2 and the nutrients with High light you would have an algae farm. But you combine the 3 along with adequate circulation in the tank it can be done is is done all the time. The goal is get balance in the 3 things needed. Will a tank like this be some work? Ohhh yea. Lots of care and pruning. Growth will be crazy. But if you dose the ferts do the water changes run the photo period with the appropriate PAR level and get the right amount of Co2 it will work. You would be VERY surprised at how much roots Stem plants get. Plants are very opportunistic in where they feed. If you have the rght sediment balance of nutrients they will go there first, If they cant get enough they will grow roots in the water column to feed. Ive got SEVERAL stem plants that have crazy roots under the substrate. Would be glad to show you.

As far as plants that are the "heavy feeders? Look specifically at the Hygro family. Plants like Hygrophila corymbosa 'Siamensis', Hygrophila Difformis, hygrophila corymbosa 'angustifolia', hygrophila corymbosa compacta, Hygrophyla corymbosa "stricta", and Sunset Hygrophila... There are more and other plants. But Hygro's tend to be nutrient hogs. This is why alot of the times thy are used in new tank set ups as well as over stocked set ups. One thing is Light drives Hygro very heavily on what it consumes. Higher light more need. Not enough need the plant develops holes and poor structure of the stem.
 
Hmmm i can be enlightened by high lighting...can suck upto CO2...but high maintenance...my middle name is low maintenance. I have already found a way to do complete water changes semi-automatically over 2 weeks...am shopping for fish/snails to help out with cleaning...automatic flake feeders...timers on the lights...always over filtrate and understock my tanks...the whole purpose of this exercise is to: provide my fishies with a more natural environment; to reduce the time that I have to spend taking care of the tanks. I realize that there will be a "honemoon" period when I will have to be more devoted to the tanks to find the right balance of nutrients, light and plants...but once it is set up, will I have to do much more than trim?
 
I have not found jungle vals to be very needy in the light department, personally. I have them as a background in my tank and I like it a lot. Water wisteria would also be very nice, and is generally low maintenance.

The only thing to be careful with is spacing. The way I read it, it sounded like you want to plant them in a pretty tight checkerboard pattern? You can plant densely in an aquarium, but you have to make sure that enough light is getting to the bottom. If it's too dense, the bottom of the plants won't get any light. It's not too difficult to find the right balance, but it's something to think about.
 
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