Looking for suggestions

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EBJD

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Oct 11, 2011
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Hey guys my old 120 has been collecting dust since I moved and I'm about to get it and set it up in the living room of a new house

I want to try something different, I haven't been here in a while but my last tank ran great for about 5 years til I moved (it was in my parents house)

I want this to be more of a show tank, pretty heavily planted and stocked well, I will have no problem doing weekly 50% water changes, I have media from a 55 gallon I can jump start the cycle with.

My question is what plants will do best?, I'm going to change the substrate to a mix of gravel and aquarium soil, probably seachems line and probably a layer of sand on top

My ph is around 7.6, GH of 4 and KH of 5

I plan on stocking it with 7-8 angelfish, rams, apistos, Cory cats, and handfuls of mixed tetras, rummynose, cardinal, etc possibly some Otos or zebra/gold nugget pleco my lfs is pretty good about keeping them in stock, I know algea will be an issue with a tank that has lights on ~12 hrs a day

I don't want to get into CO2 but I do need suggestions for plants, lights (aquarium is 60x18x24 and just has the stock lighting, 2 24" florescents, would like to not spend a lot on lighting but I will if it will work out better) and soil, clay, rocks, or sand.

I would like a mixture of carpeting or other thick plants for foreground and some tall growing plants for the background

Thanks for any suggestions
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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the light you will use will define what plants you should use. And the actual dimensions of the aquarium... 2 standard fluorescent lights is unlikely to grow much of anything,.

as well as whether or not you will supplement CO2 in the aquarium.


and I would define exactly which of Seachem's aquarium soils you will use, I'm pretty sure they have more than one.
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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Kudos to Sprinkle for volunteering to support any issues coming from a 'dirted' tank.
 
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Sprinkle

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Mar 21, 2020
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Kudos to Sprinkle for volunteering to support any issues coming from a 'dirted' tank.
Thought i made a spelling mistake. Cant edit now. Eh.
And i dont quite know if you mean it good or bad, i usually give bad advice but there may be some issues. As ammonia spike, tannins (tannins not bad at all if you like the look). Or larger particles floating up or dirt rising up like I had the issue but the dirt went back to gravel at last. If water is some sort of brown/cloudy, add more cap. Cap should be 1”, maybe 1.5-2”, but as I said, if any issues at all, add more cap.
 

dougall

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Mar 29, 2005
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I mean it that I won't support anyone setting them up.


it's just not my bag, as there are too many potential pitfalls, especially if it's an only tank, and for someone not too experienced.
 

EBJD

AC Members
Oct 11, 2011
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the light you will use will define what plants you should use. And the actual dimensions of the aquarium... 2 standard fluorescent lights is unlikely to grow much of anything,.

as well as whether or not you will supplement CO2 in the aquarium.


and I would define exactly which of Seachem's aquarium soils you will use, I'm pretty sure they have more than one.
Full disclosure I'm a huge fan of seachems their products havent really ever let me down

The one I have looked at is seachem's flourite black, or black sand flourite

And the flourish fertilizer, but there is alot of different types (I don't know much about this stuff), it would be alot of trial and error for the first couple months, I'm not expecting massive plant growth right away or anything

Aquarium is 60"long 18"wide and 24" tall

I did look at one light I think it was by fluval but it was only 48" long but the arms would extend to 60" (i would have a dark area on each side )it was LED and around 220$ which is ok for my budget

I also have some driftwood and rocks that will be going inside the tank so I guess anubias are what attach to those easily(at least some of what I've read)

Also have looked at Amazon swords and ludwigia super red

The foreground is what I'm really wondering about, shorter plants that will fill in gaps if planted around 1.5 inches apart, or big leafy plants that don't get too tall, I'm really open to any suggestions for things to look at

Easy growers that I can start with as I occasionally try new things
 

NoahLikesFish

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Dec 1, 2020
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Noah
is the tank set up rn? If it isn’t you should make a extremely low tech hornwort-tope and maybe like ludwigia ludwigia pantanal bacopa moneri and other American plants
 
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