Rearranging Planted Tank

[FishSeller]

Hey guys,
I'm rearranging/replanting a 29 gallon planted tank. Does anyone have any suggestions for making this go as smoothly as possible? Most of the tank is covered over in chain sword, so gravel vaccuming hasn't been done in a year. Subsequently, there is a thin layer of detritus under the plants. I suppose there isn't really a way of doing this without making a mess. On that note, is there any supplement I should add to the gravel/plant mix to re-enrich the substrate? It's a 2:1 mix of commercial aquarium plant substrate and gravel (I cannot recall the brand). I use plant tabs frequently, so they'll be randomly mixed in the gravel as well.

Mostly, I'm replanting because I'm not thrilled with the layout of the aquarium altogether. Plants include:

Various Vals
Various Crypts
Anubias
Echinodorus x Red Melon
Echinodorus x Kleiner Bar
Driftwood covered with Java Fern
Narrow Leaf Chain Sword
Saggitaria Subulata

6 Florida Flag Fish
Approx 25 Amano Shrimp
6 Ottos

Lighting consists of 2x65 pc with 1- 65k bulb and 1- 88k bulb.

Co2 is provided by an Eheim Carbo Plus. It's a pretty simple unit that does what I'd like without overcomplicating things.

All lights and Co2 are run on timers- all are on for approximately 12 hours.

I'll be honest: I'm not nearly as religious nor meticulous in fertilizing my plants. I usually "eyeball" dose with Flourish, Flourish Trace, Flourish K, and Flourish Iron about twice a week. If things begin to look a little washed out, I bump up dosing to three times a week and add more ferts.

What do you guys suggest as a decent midground plant? I'm looking for something that will fill in nicely without requiring too much pruning.

How about background plants? Does anyone know of something other than the typical rapid-grow bunch plants that will cover the back/corners of the tank?

Thanks and have a good one!

 

[Captain Hook]

If you have gravel tabs in there now, make sure you have your gravel vac and bucket ready to go. When you are pulling and rearranging plants they tabs will break into the water. Try to suck as many bits out as possible with the gravel vac.

For a midground plant I think a lot of anubias would work there. Many crypts stay a decent size too.

Background I like vals, swords, and many different stem plant choices. The stem plants may be the best bet for you because you don't have a ton of depth front to back to work with. They will probably need more pruning.

 

[FishSeller]

I've tried using Crypts as a midground plant, but because the lighting is so high (~4.5 wpg), they don't do so well usually. In my experience, swords get too big. Anubias are a good option though. I may pick up some more and create a relatively dense group.

 

[Captain Hook]

Ok I didn't realize you had that much light. You have 2 - 65 watt PC bulbs over that tank? That's a lot of light if you do!

In that case your options are much better than I originally thought. Here's a good site that has plants sorted by their placement in the tank. Some are a little off but overall pretty good suggestions.

Plantguide - Aquascape Placement

 

[FishSeller]

Thanks Captain,
I do indeed have 2x65 power compacts over the tank (I work in the fish business. I get some deals). That's where one of my problems lies: I have so much light and enough CO2 going into the tank that fast growing plants take off! Subsequently, many of the lower light plants don't do well unless they're planted under driftwood or bunched plants. It's a catch 22. If I get big groups of bunched plants, I find myself trimming and pulling out tremendous amounts of excess growth. If I go with low-light plants (especially crypts), they end up perishing.
Obviously tank maintenence is tank maintenence and I'd imagine it sounds kind funny to say that my plants grow too quickly! However, this is the case.

 

[Blinky]

Just an idea, if you're totally redoing the tank and like Crypts, you could try loading the tank up with mostly Crypts and getting rid of the nutrient-sponges - IME without the competition of stems, they'll do really well with high light/CO2.
I realized that all the stems and chain swords in my 65g were really taking a lot of time to maintain. My work schedule increased, so I decided to completely overhaul things so I could keep the tank lower-maintenance - pulled out ALL the fast growers, planted the entire floor with groups of C. wendtii brown, C. wendtii green, C. wendtii 'Tropica', C. willisii, C. willisii x 'lucens' and my favourite, C. undulata. There are also a few Anubias barteri var. nana and a ratty-looking Java fern attached to the bogwood. At first the Anubias looked horrid and I figured maybe the Crypts were outcompeting them, but since I've raised the PO4 from 0.5-1ppm to 1-2ppm they're growing in nicely with no green spot algae.
Under high PC lighting (4.6WPG over 65g) with 30-45ppm CO2 my Crypts are consuming loads of ferts and growing like mad. The Tropicas are a phenomenal salmon red, the wendtii browns are a deep, shiny brown - with competition, I never saw my Crypts look more than mediocre, but they've really come far since the overhaul.