HELP! 40 gallon planted community tank

[koi18]

You DO NOT, I repeat DO NOT want to mix male and female bettas in a community tank. It will end badly. You need to pick one or the other.

Corys or smaller loach species (kuhlis, Y. sidthimunki, etc.) would be better than clowns.

if that is the case, i'd go with the females...

thanks for your reply..it's a big help for me...

 

[cicrush13]

According to my LFS that all the plants i bought were all low light plants...

View attachment 191628View attachment 191629

thanks for all your answers...it helps a LOT!!

So I've never heard of Japanese rush or Fountain Plant.

The fountain plant based on your pictures looks a lot like an amazon sword plant (pretty easy to care for plant).

The Japanese rush looks like a vallisneria of some kind.

Not sure what labels your LFS is using but after looking these up, I found some good info for you.

Fountain Plant (http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plants/StemPlants/FountainPlant.php)
I believe this is also called Green Mondo Grass and this is NOT a true aquatic plant.
I believe you have a sword plant (prob an amazon).

Japanese rush - is a grass like species call acorus.
(http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plants/StemPlants/JapaneseRush.php)

I think your LFS definitely got the labels all screwed up.

I hope this helps!

 

[koi18]

Fountain Plant (http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plants/StemPlants/FountainPlant.php)
I believe this is also called Green Mondo Grass and this is NOT a true aquatic plant.
I believe you have a sword plant (prob an amazon).

Japanese rush - is a grass like species call acorus.
(http://animal-world.com/encyclo/fresh/plants/StemPlants/JapaneseRush.php)

I think your LFS definitely got the labels all screwed up.

I hope this helps!

so should i keep them or not?

 

[koi18]

here's how my filter works....:headbang2:

 

[cicrush13]

so should i keep them or not?

Yup you can. These are very easy to care for and will grow in nicely.

It just seems like your LFS didn't get some of these plants right.

That makes me ask what else they have mislabeled?

I'm someone who likes to make sure I'm getting what I paid for when it comes to my plants.
If I don't know what it is, I don't buy it until I look it up and find out more about it.

For your filter pics, the right side is the intake?

I've never seen a filter like this before.

 

[koi18]

here's how it works.. it's a filter/pump...i'm amazed that many of you haven't seen a filter like this...

do you think that i need to buy more plants for my tank? i'm thinking of filling it up with sprites and java ferns.
and also is it advisable that i make a co2 reactor like while i'm cycling my tank?

 

[jpappy789]

so should i keep them or not?

If they are the plants as labeled then I wouldn't keep them.

 

[cicrush13]

View attachment 191657

here's how it works.. it's a filter/pump...i'm amazed that many of you haven't seen a filter like this...

do you think that i need to buy more plants for my tank? i'm thinking of filling it up with sprites and java ferns.
and also is it advisable that i make a co2 reactor like while i'm cycling my tank?

To be honest this seems like a very old filter system.

I use HOB power filters or canister filters on all of my tanks.

If you want to add more plants that is up to you.
You can add CO2 at any point.

Do you know how many gallons/hr you filter with that filter?

 

[koi18]

Do you know how many gallons/hr you filter with that filter?

it says 1000L/hr.. is that a good or a bad thing? should i buy a different one?

this is my first time with large tanks and if i can be successful with this one, i know i'll buy another 40g..

 

[cicrush13]

That's about 260 gph (~6 times the size of the tank), which is a good thing.

I'm just not sure how this thing works.

It looks like you are using a powerhead to pull the water into the filter, but then what happens from there?