I need ideas

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demon_surfer

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Jan 28, 2003
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I orginally planted my 55 gallon tank badly, i trusted petsmart to sell me good plants and got burned for it. Most of what i got from them bit the dust. the tank now looks kinda empty. Now i need some plant ideas. I have what is probably best considered Low lighting, 2 standard fluresants (by standard i mean they came with the hood). i have started using a fertilizer which was recommended by a good LFS called Flourish Iron. The fish load is 4 angels, 1 blood parrot, 5 black- skirt tetras, 1 columbian tetra, 1 berry tetra, 1 scissortail rasbora, 2 brilliant rasbora, 10 neons, 11 glo-lites, 4 ottocinclus, 1 upside-down cat. By the way of plants i have several clumps of java moss, a bronze leaf(petsmart surviver) 2 clumps of greenhedge(petsmart surviver) and a tall bottlebrush type plant that i dont think petsmart even had labeled. OH and a anubis flowering plant...i think =/. hehe you can see i really looked into this before buying =/

anyway i would really appreciate if anyone could tell me some names of plants i could try, they need to be low light , and if possible some that are diffrent colours. Oh my filter is an aquaclear 500.
 
Java Fern does well in low light.. Flourish Iron isn't a complete fertilizer by the way. I figure you have about 80 watts? You would probably be better off with one of the more complete aquarium fertilizers which contain traces, iron, and also potassium. In the low light arena, the fish feeding can often provide enough nitrogen and phosphate. Your tank could still benfit from the use of CO2 even if of the DiY type.
 
As Tempest says, Java Ferns work well. In my experience they don't do as well in substrate as they do if attached to driftwood or the like.
I would suggest anubias of any variety, and my favorite, cryptocornes also of any variety. Both of them are low light and the crypts can be found in green, reddish brown or a few other shades. Also, there's the old standbys.....amazon swords and wisteria. I've had success with all of them.
And lastly, I would look into DIY CO2, or if you have the money pressurized CO2. With a 55 it would be more sensible to go pressurized. You won't believe the difference in grow when you add it. Let us know how you make out.
Len
 
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Eww, hmm.. I don't think 30 watts would be sufficient to grow much.

Somefinn- Hadn't looked close at the fish actually. I dont know squat about blood parrots but some of the larger tetras will give angelfishs trouble picking on them. 4 angelfish with the smaller schools of tetras and the catfish would about be the limit of space in a 55 gallon. There can be problems having more than two mature angelfish in a tank also. Some people do get away with it.
 
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