A plant forest in an aquarium?

[red devil]

"Getting light to the bottom" was one of my concerns also. Without light to the bottom the plants will loose their leaves at the bottom, causing more problems. I might be able to help this out by installing a "wave maker" that has a short cycle, to cause the plants to sway side to side. Another way might be to light from the rear, but this can make viewing from the front difficult - getting light into the viewers eyes.

 

[constevens]

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?

Here is the thing to remember. When you talk about wanting a Jungle it refers to a VERY heavily planted VERY full grown in tank. To get that it takes High light, Co2 and ferts. Weekly water changes and you will get growth enough that your trimming 3 to 4 inches off plants every week or two. It isnt necessarily what your possibly looking for. Especially the work part into it. Sounds to me your looking more towards EL natural or Walstead. Very little maintenance. Lower light, Lower work. Slower growth. So you really have to figure out what your wanting to really do. If your main thing is trying to provide plants that help you maintain the water by sucking up nutrients. Then a lower light tank can do it. Especially with lower stocking levels. You may have to add some ferts once a week. Very simple. very little water changes. BUT with the right plants you can do what you want and let it grow in over time. A jungle doesnt necessarily lend itself to be a nutrient sucker..... Unless you are doing as im talking with High light/Co2/Ferts and the work behind it. I listed a BUNCH of plants that are great and easy. If you do them right they will really help suck the nutrients from the water and substrate. Also having creatures that do jobs Like Amano shrimp, Nerite Snails, MTS and specific fish to help as well can go a long ways in your maintenance.

 

[Khemul]

It can be done with low light, no co2 and no ferts. But it would take some very good plant selection. Broadleaf ludwigia, water sprite, elodea/anacharis, and some of the long grass-type plants come to mind. The problem isn't so much about getting enough light. It is about placing the light. The plants will grow towards the light. Tall plants may turn away from the area you are trying to direct them.

But with the right setup you could get plenty of growth without a lot of maintenance (except plant trimming, but you can't get great growth without that). Id say experiment with some ludwigia species (broadleaf grows very fast for me) or water sprite.

 

[constevens]

I guess it boils down to this op. Are you just looking for growth? A jungle? Or are you looking for plants that are going to aid you in keeping the maintenance lower as they suck the nutrients?

 

[kcartwright856]

I think that you can have the best of both worlds with a little compromise. If you go medium-tech, it will open up your plant options without too much maintenance after everything is initially set up. You can have a very nice low-tech tank, but it will take quite a bit of time to get the jungle you're looking for.

 

[red devil]

Thanks! I always enjoy the discussion that arises out of these kinds of questions because it helps clarify the issues. I will go back to the drawing board...another idea that has "sprouted" is to position the 8 trays of wheat grass that I want to grow over my fish tank. Only 5 of the 8 will be able to take advantage of the nutrients from the fish tank (the first three trays will be sprouting) but it should be a fairly constant level of need because I will be cyling all trays over and over. I might even consider doing some other kinds of aquaponics - basically using "dirty" aquarium water to feed other plants in my living room.